Rock organizer Brad Ferguson turns Windows Tembo into the hottest and sweatiest rock shack in town, with a little help from PK14

Sleep

9:30am The phone wakes me up-it's Yang Haisong, PK-14's lead singer, calling to let me know they made it to Shanghai and are on their way to the hotel. I tell him to call me if he runs into any problems, then I turn off the ringer and go back to sleep.
2:00pm I'm awakened by the phone again, vibrating this time. It's time to get up anyway, so I shower, pack my bag and walk my girlfriend to the Xujiahui Metro station. While she goes off to work, I grab lunch at Burger King and check my email.

Gear Run

3:00 A friend emailed that the vintage audio store at the Fuxing Lu market just got in some new tube gear, so I take the subway to Shaanxi Lu and walk over to take a look.
3:20 I hate this street and its all "Hello looky looky" guys, but mostly I hate the people who actually buy cheap fake bags from the touts, thereby encouraging them to be more annoying.
3:30 In the relative quiet of the electronics market I smoke cigarettes and talk tubes with the audio guy. Everything he sells is overpriced, so I tell him to call me next time he gets in any interesting stock.
3:45 More annoying touts.

Prep at Tembo

4:20 I arrive at Tembo early. There are construction workers welding in support beams for the mezzanine. After last week's show there was some concern that it wasn't built to support 100 people moshing ... it looks sturdier now.
5:00 The sound engineer, the band and their entourage arrive for sound check. While we set up the stage, we discuss the state of live music in Shanghai. The band is disappointed that more Chinese people don't come to the shows. All I can say is, "That's Shanghai."
5:45 The band finishes setting up and runs through their first song. My boss comes by to check on the construction.
6:30 We finally get the sound right-at least for the front half of the room-and the band goes off to dinner. I suggested the Xinjiang restaurant just across Yan'an Lu. The bar staff have started to arrive, so I get a couple of people to help me move extra benches and tables out to the hallway.
6:45 I should've gone to eat with the band. Instead I walk down Weihai Lu for a plate of fried noodles.
7:30 I hate the time between sound check and doors-waiting, never knowing if people will show up or not. We don't have anyone to sell tickets tonight, so the task falls to Donnie, the bar manager. I tell him to expect around 300 people, but I'm secretly hoping for 400.
8:00 I forgot to prepare a play-list for tonight, so I set iTunes on shuffle and let it run. The DJs should be here in an hour or so.

First Beer of the Night

8:30 I start on my first beer of the night as people start to trickle into the bar.
8:45 The band is back from dinner, so we set up their merchandise table.
9:30 Michael, one of the DJs for tonight, comes in and takes over with his own rock playlist.
10:00 The place is filling up-nearly 300 people already. My mood improves and I drink more beer. I tell the band to be ready to go on in half an hour.

Rock Action

10:30 The band takes the stage and I make my way to the front to check on sound, then back to the door to help manage ticket sales. Why do so many people think it's cool to try to sneak in?
11:30 Wow, PK-14 are still going strong. The place is packed, and there's still a line at the door. We're down to the last book of tickets.
11:45 The band plays their final encore and DJ Fish jumps right into his set. As hot and sweaty as it is, quite a few people get into it and continue dancing. Half the crowd is now outside cooling off, so I pass out flyers for next week's show.

More Beer

12:00am The night is looking like a success. I grab a couple of rounds of drinks for the band and congratulate them on a great show. A few more beers and I go off to mingle.
1:30 Some friends show up already wasted and open a bottle of scotch. I feel obligated to help them drink it.
2:30 The crowd is dying down, but my table is working on a second bottle.
3:30 My friends finally decide to call it a night, and I've been here for 10 hours, so I stumble outside, flag down a taxi and head home.
4:00 Sleep.

What we think

Brad doesn’t think of himself as the savior of Shanghai rock, but we do. From putting 4Live on the live music map to rescuing Windows Tembo (Windows Underground as of May 31) from terminal obscurity, Brad’s been putting together shows in Shanghai longer than pretty much anyone else in town. Hats off to Shanghai’s missionary of rock ¡®n roll. Tell Brad what you think at http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/dayinthelifeSH.