Where to go this weekend? Hmm…Thailand? Just kidding. I would never abandon this city’s hot blacktop for warm, luscious, sandy beaches. There’s music to be listened to, people! Listen!

Thursday

Dada’s World of Sounds

Not sure which nation is the subject of tonight’s spotlight, but I hope it’s Lithuania. Or maybe Djibouti. Dammit, I should have gone with the Uranus joke! I pulled back at the last moment.

Dada, 115 Xingfu Lu, FREE

One Lick Less

Pertaining to what, may I ask? A popsicle? A lollypop? The cold, dead hand of a mortal enemy? What? I can’t take it anymore. I must go to this show and find out. Isn’t it bothering you?

Yuyintang, 1731 Yan’an Xi Lu, 35 RMB

Friday

S.T.D presents New Pants and Go Chic

I really want to see New Pants, but I probably won’t go to this show. I am not in the over-paying for underwhelming crowd anymore. I was, but I’m done with it. I don’t care how many DJs you stick on the bill or how much ice cream there is in the alley out front (Coldstone’s gonna be there) I’m just not doing it. Not when there is quality local music to be seen and heard for more affordable prices. Now, just let me get off of my soapbox and we can get on with the picks.

MAO Livehouse, 570 Huaihai Xi Lu, near Hongqiao Lu, 120 RMB

Old Doll and Stegosaurus?

The preceding question mark does not connote the fact that I’m not sure if this show will happen. It’s going down and it’s gonna be awesome. It’s just that Stegosaurus decided to put a question mark at the end of their name, which makes it funny to type and also to say. It’s not easy to phrase a dinosaur in the form of a question. But they will be bringing new songs so it’s OK. Old Doll is a ska band (those still exist?) from out of town.

Yuyintang, 1731 Yan’an Xi Lu, 30 RMB

Saturday

DJs Seed and Orawan

The Shelter seems to always bring it in the summertime and, like my parents’ basement, it’s cooler downstairs. This week they’re bringing in Thai DJs. What? Someone came FROM Thailand to wallow in the blistering dog days of Shanghai? We should probably go to see these lunatics, like a train wreck from which you can’t look away.

The Shelter, 5 Yongfu Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu, 50 RMB

Angry Jerks, Pairs, The Instigation, and Beat Bandits

Gosh, this will be a real good show, a hootenanny for sure. I’m running out of personae and this is the bottom of the barrel, Clevis the Hillbilly. I’m just picturing rednecks trying to listen to psychobilly played by AZNs and it’s really freaking me out right now. Beat Bandits return us to normalcy at LOgO after the main show.

Yuyintang, 1731 Yan’an Xi Lu, 35 RMB

After-party at LOgO, 13 Xingfu Lu, near Fahuazhen Lu, FREE

Sunday

Sulants of Swing

Why does this day have to be? It’s merely the domain of pantslessness, open mics of hopelessness, and me making fun of this band’s name-ness. I need to interview this band if only to find out why they willfully spell their name wrong time and time again.

Yuyintang, 1731 Yan’an Xi Lu, 30 RMB