Catshanghai

We never thought we would ever see The Slits appear on a poster promoting a Shanghai event, but that day has arrived thanks to 88 New Wave who have been quietly putting on offbeat punk parties at Cs Bar. We like their eclectic and open take on punk, enjoying everything from Gang of Four to Salt ‘n Pepa.

Tomorrow night is themed around feminine punk grrrl power so it’s time to get out your favourite PJ Harvey and Siouxsie and the Banshees CDs. We had a chance to catch up with Cai Bao of 88 New Wave who told us a little about the parties they put on.

Do you have a brief bio for each of the DJs and promoters?
Sure. There are six of us involved in these parties: three DJs and three promoters. DJ Rou Bao is from Sweden, studying Chinese at Fudan for the year; I’m from San Francisco in the States, teaching English at public schools around town; and DJ Xiaolong Bao is from Boston in the States and does teaching and freelance writing. The other three guys, Anson, Chris, and Joey are from Inner Mongolia and throw parties around town as Top Party Productions in addition to their day jobs.

What events have you put on in Shanghai or elsewhere?
We’ve really just done the 88 New Wave parties together as a group; the first one was back in December, and this one will be our fifth since then. Last month we did a party with a robot theme that was probably our best one, but they’ve all been fun. The Top Party guys have been at it a little longer and have done a variety of small-scale parties all around the city.

How did you get the idea to put on 88 New Wave Grrrl?
Essentially we missed no-frills dive rock bars where we could drink and dance on the cheap to our favorite music.Rou Bao has a couple of friends here from Sweden, Frida and Karin, who are really into grrl punk, so we thought we’d invite them to play and stay with the theme all night since it gives us an opportunity to focus on some of our favorite bands.

What do you think about Shanghai’s party and music scene?
I haven’t been in Shanghai too too long so it’s hard to generalize, but there seems to be a pretty diverse range of things to get into if you don’t mind looking around some. We’re all pretty into the local band thing because it seems like a lot’s happening there; also it’s nice being to events that have a more integrated Chinese-foreigner crowd.

Do you want this to be a regular event?
It’s already a regular event. But we may also do some additional one-off thingies this summer.

Ladyfest has been very successful punk feminist movement putting on events in the US and the UK. Would you like Ladyfest to happen in Shanghai?
Hmmm… Actually dunno too much about that event. There are lots of women in good bands, like Booji and Ferris Wheel, around town though, so it might be worth doing. I would definitely go!

What are your future plans?
A few more parties, finishing up our respective semesters, polishing up our Chinese, traveling around the country, and then re-evaluating what we’re doing with our lives at the end of the summer.

88 New Wave Goes Grrrl is tomorrow night, 9pm to 2pm at Cs Bar, 685 Dingxi Lu (between Fahuazhen and Yanan Lu). Entry is free.

Crossposted on Shanghaiist