Why they open, why they close and what goes wrong
I've recently had people ask me why I never cover the dance music and club scene. Let me explain: Dance music is silly and per the club scene, it's impossible to cover. The moment I start writing, they shut. An epidemic known to some as "The Shanghai Syndrome."

It's of no surprise that clubs here have more ups and downs than a Tongren Lu "masseuse's" arm on a Saturday night, but why? For what reason does this city see more grand openings and quick closings than anywhere in the world? How many opening parties did you go to last year? Remember Wynn Wynn? BRB? That horrible Absolut Ice (Hole) Bar? There has to be a recurring theme with all of these.

Now usually, this is where I would step back and let those in the industry explain who does what wrong, but of the six people I contacted (all of them friends), none would get back to me. This could mean that they're super busy, but I'm guessing I hit a sore spot here.

Maintaining their air of pretension is the first explanation that comes to mind for my silent phone. Exclusivity sells, and we eat it up. We like to be treated like shi*t, which is something that the promoters know--build a large place with a few Mongolian bouncers outside the door and charge US$15 for a drink and we'll line up. But this is a worldwide attitude among bars--so my friends' silence this time couldn't be that.

Could the industry just simply be uninformed about the market? I keep hearing this as a possibility. Everyone is simply so desperate to be here that no one really cares about the instability, it's simply being able to say, "We have a club opening in Shanghai soon," that lures the investors. But c'mon, surely people didn't make their money by not researching their market. That can't be it either.

I truly think the rash of club closing comes down to arrogance--a different kind from the one I've mentioned earlier and the same type that sees many a white male return back to Shanghai after spending a few months back home. Granted, this takes a few months to acquire, but for some reason, clubs show up here with all the machismo of a Da Marco crowd chanting along to the White Stripes "7 Nation Army” expecting you to come to them once they make the first move. How can you say no? I think it's a case of too much pride from both club owners and club goers-- but we were here first.

Aric S. Queen