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Forget About LOgO, Yuyintang, and Shelter. Let’s Go to CLUB OBAMA!!!!!!!!!
I remember awhile back, during the dark Bush days, Murs (the formerly independent rapper from LA) said that Kanye West must be on Bush’s payroll because he distracted people from real issues by being crazily popular and rhyming primarily about money, cars, and hoes.
Whoever thought that Obama, America’s savior, would be playing the West role in Shanghai music’s dark days (with some help from Shanghaiist and other local digital fish wraps)?
OK, we’re talking about Shanghai’s newest stupid club, not the President, but we are also talking about a major distraction from significant events that are getting little to no coverage at all.
Check out the difference between this and this. Sick, isn’t it?
I thought it was a telling factor that the Shelter blurb writer’s most salient question was, “What am I going to do on Friday and Saturday nights?” Don’t you understand this isn’t just about your social schedule? Guess not. I realize they weren’t passing out free passes and booze at the LOgO harassment or the Yuyintang and Shelter closings, but come on now. We get a full photo essay, write-up, and videos(!) on the opening of the cookie-cutter Club Obama and three paragraphs combined for threats to some of Shanghai’s most unique and beloved venues? Talk about weapons of mass distraction! I guess Shanghaiist knows who butters their bread. I don’t know if this is a case of self-censorship or enforced censorship, but there is definitely something missing here.
Mache has been asking the question repeatedly: “Why are they taking our venues? Why aren’t they closing down the Babyfaces and the M2s of the world?”
People who visit the jiggy clubs are more likely to get fucked up, shake their booties, and not remember what happened the next morning. No time for worrying about human rights, censorship, or the rising cost of living in that busy schedule. These clubs and the people who frequent them are “reliable” in the eyes of The Man. Trust me, no rebellion has ever been fomented to the metallic garble of Britney Spears’ “Toxic”.
People who support underground venues are (for the most part) more likely to give a damn and do something about it. They worry about Freedom of Expression because they are actually expressing themselves. That, in the eyes of The Man (who has something to hide), is dangerous. At least, we think that’s the reason. There is so little explanation for these closings, we don’t know if we’ve done something wrong or something right. Maybe both or neither at all. We just know that we lost our hearts and can’t do much about it. That’s what’s distracting us.
But, in the end, we will grouse about it a bit, then go back to what we were doing or whatever else is on offer. That’s what The Man is counting on.
Club Obama next weekend, anyone?
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Exactly right, Zack.
What’s worse, Club Obama is just another gaudy Shanghai club but bigger and which decided that calling itself ‘Obama’ would have story hungry writers falling over it.
They were right. People are dumb.
You are also right in pointing out the common thread in venues that get visited by the man. They are always places that are deemed a threat ideologically.
See Brad’s comment on my latest post for a great juxtaposition of the ‘reasons’ for closing the venues and the Expo situation itself. I may have to make it into it’s own post.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the kind of thinking that motivates these situations.My problem with it, it’s that it seems really unreasonable when you see it from what is understood as common sense, and even from what is understood as a smart management style that takes all the possible profit of a project. Closing places that are actually producing positive services for the people does not make sense, specially when they are clearly contributing to the community.
It’s also strange that they were closing wet markets, and forbidden the use of pajamas on the streets, I mean, isn’t obvious that those things are attractive to people, and that also they create character to a city? isn’t it? .. i really don’t mind that the dvd shops are now having to dress as gadget stores, or whatever stores. i can take that one. it’s of course illegal in the rest of the world to sell unauthorized copies. but why should a wet market close and moved to a dirty smelly building? and why should the music stop? shouldn’t we show proudly that we have such cool places as these? (and please, i’m talking about yuyintang, the shelter, logo, and all the others that are actually producing something interesting… clearly not obama)
I don’t want to think the minds behind our country are senseless, and blind to opportunities. So I’ve been considering this thing I heard that actually the expo will attract more people from china than from the rest of the world. If this is true, and if organizers know this, then, they could be trying to make shanghai look as the dreamed city of china, in a chinese way of course, and so okay, we don’t want to be seen in pajamas, and neither selling the weird food we eat so freely. well, that isn’t so so senseless. but again, why music? specially music that is not really creating a rebellion, but collaborating with the evolution.
It’s a pretty annoying not understanding the motives that rule our home as you said Zack, and it’s also insulting to be treated as a dummy, when it’s just not necessary to do so.
@Andy–
Yeah, that was a full-on dissection by Mr. Ferguson. I was just reading Archie and I thought his contention that the Expo is protecting its roost by harassing the clubs and keeping their gigs exclusive sounds like a pretty salient point, also.
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