As the wings of the airplane touched the sky on my return flight to Toronto, the sinking feeling in my stomach was more than just anxious paranoia of international air travel.  My ears were still slightly ringing from the barrage of crescendos at the recent 刺猬／Hedgehog show on

Saturday night at Logo bar. Some 25 enthusiastic local Chinese and expat fans filled the floor around the band that seemed to be relishing the intimacy of the venue. The crowd bumped, yelled and writhed together to each note in the narrow space around the bar. Loud cheers and friendly requests filled the bar after each song. This, for me, reflects what I will miss while away from the Shanghai music scene.

In Shanghai like no other place I have seen in recent years there remains a healthy lack of pretension surrounding the music scene. Instead, there is an appetite that absorbs the screams and music of bands into itself still remaining open for more afterwards. I believe the Buddhist tradition explains this phenomenon as ‘hungry ghosts’ (with mouths the size of pins and bellies the size of oceans). Shanghai audiences, when they are on, are some of the most enthusiastic and respectful around. Each time Hedgehog’s small but powerful Atom (阿童木) would bring down hell’s thunder on the drums the crowd would match her ecstatic pounding with rapturous yells. Although the size of the audience was not as substantial as previous Logo shows the focus and welcoming nature was intact.

I will not say that Shanghai has a confident relationship with underground music, as has been written; the majority of the time the venues are empty or half the crowd is hoping for more house music to come on. What I will say is that at times (which are becoming increasingly more frequent, thanks to the S.T.D. crew) Shanghai audiences offer an open appreciation towards bands, whether they are good or bad, which is unique in its sincerity. Because the “indie” scene is still quite young locally I feel a certain anxious anticipation when I know out-of-towners such as 刺猬 /Hedgehog or Snapline are coming in to play. These bands challenge and encourage local bands and audiences to engender unique voices for Shanghai’s music scene.

With two expanding indie labels (Modern Sky, Maybe Mars) signing bands in Beijing the incentive for Chinese musicians grows. If Shanghai translates some of its sincerity as audiences towards generating new music I am optimistic it would not be long before a wealth of talent arises. With bands like Muscle Snog, Cold Fairyland, etc… and the Noishanghai and S.T.D. projects, Shanghai has begun to make a credible mark upon Chinese underground. I have been lucky enough to be around for the past 2 ½ years to witness some of the awful and exceptional shows that have graced Shanghai’s stages. No matter what, I have left with a feeling of satisfaction having the opportunity to get away from the shitty pretensions that envelop most of the expat bars and clubs in town. To gong out with a crowd of Shanghai music-lovers in front of a band that is doing the same cannot be beat.

刺猬 /Hedgehog is definitely not one of my favorite bands in China but I did very much appreciate their bursts of energetic rock. Always a band I would see again, especially in Shanghai. I believe that this city occupies a unique moment in time in terms of underground music. There is a certain level of simplicity (lack of historical baggage) that binds audiences and bands together in the act of music making. Shanghai crowds, Chinese and expats alike, offer an enthusiasm that goes beyond the limitations of pre-conception and judgment that often ends in a furious appreciation of live performance. Hedgehog played a patient and dynamic show and deserved the calls for encore they, (of course), received from the Shanghai crowd.

While I’m back here in Canada for the short holiday I will try to catch a few shows, but with ‘indie’ music in the west being overly saturated with bands and fans I am certain I will be bothered by the excessiveness. To be honest I am not very excited at all to stand in an audience of self-proclaimed critics and biographers to watch a band that is most likely already disillusioned with themselves. I would rather my eyes were burning from second hand smoke in Logo with people who are hungry for performance.

            Only thing… fix the bass amp at Logo!

Jordan Small