S.T.D. turns one and, of course, parties in the celebration
It's hard to believe that it has only been a year since the controversially monikered S.T.D. (Sonically Transmitted Disease) party burst onto Shanghai's (over-inflated) event scene. As purveyor of Shanghai's alternative crowd, this motley crew set out to hit Shanghai with a bang and create a family, if you will, for all the indie lovers that were searching for a live music scene. Li Sisi, S.T.D. co-founder, explains, "What we really want is to find the best bands and have them play at our parties." This crew has always had your best party interests at heart.

"For our first party, about 250 people turned up and we handed out free condoms to all who walked through the door," says S.T.D.'s R3. It was a play on their controversial name and by all accounts, a successful one. A lot has changed since that first party. "The first was nerve racking," R3 says. "We only had about two days worth of promotion, but luckily there was great word of mouth and we ended up with this massive street party, people inside watching the band and people sprawled outside partying as well." This spontaneous street party feel is something that continues to this day, says Anna Mclean, S.T.D. regular. "The fun of an S.T.D. party is never knowing what is going to happen next. You could be inside watching R3 dance his little heart out, and the next moment be outside handcuffed to a complete stranger--true story."

Now with their one-year anniversary coming up, the S.T.D. crew decided to make the celebration of their birth a month-long event including a big, weekend-long bender featuring New Pants, Cold Fairyland, Re-Tros and Banana Monkey, just to name a few. Another reason these party planners stand out from the crowd is that their benevolence doesn't just extend to your ears. All proceeds from the big bash birthday weekend bar sales go to children who have lost parents in Sichuan and to aid organizations in Burma, giving you one more excuse to turn up and know that even though you behaved shockingly, you did at least one good thing on the weekend.

After reaching the one year mark, has it all gone to their heads? R3 says, "We were ambitious from the get-go. We wanted to achieve a lot, and knew it couldn't be done. We plan to do this as long as we can, but still, the one year mark is pretty humbling.

Krisha Bartlem

Details

When: Friday, June 13-15
Where: See event listings
Email: symmetryofsilence@gmail.com