Advertisement
Found out the club was actually within walking distance, at least for me, so I decided to go even if nobody else was down. But Brendan and Joey said they'd come...after a few drinks, then Sean and Matt decided to tag along too. I knew the general way to get there, but it ended up being about a 20 minute walk through some very convenient construction and what would be sketchy areas if guards weren't everywhere. On the way, I guy dressed in some hip-hop garments approached us, so me being way too distracted by the prospect of finding other bboys I said what's up, shook his hand, and asked if he was a bboy or was headed to the Shelter....bad idea, ha. He answered yes, but then in response asked if we wanted the "good-stuff" and considering the story I heard from last year about how a student saw a drug seller get shot and executed on the street in public, I quite blatantly and loudly refused and hurried the inebriated Brendan along.
We made it to the Shelter around 10:30pm and I immediately liked the place, we had to go down some deep stairs and through
a narrow tunnel until we got to a very smoky, open area with some a few couches and tables, a bar, and the DJ's box with a microphone in front. Most everyone in the club could speak English, so it was a great place to try out first, especially for expats. Didn't look like anyone was dancing, so I just warmed up and did a few bboy sets to see if any other bboys were there and wanted to jam, only to be disappointed...but the music was mix of smooth Jazz improv provided by live bongo players and an awesome jive trumpet player layered over the DJ's breakbeats and house tracks. The atmosphere was really chill, and really dark, you can't see anything in the video, but it's more just for the music, ha.
I talked to a French guy named Ben, who had decided to live here 3 years ago after he visited on a student exchange program...and just never went back! He said this was truly the only underground (literally too) scene in Shanghai. He made a bit fun because we didn't know exactly where Provost, France was (worldly ignorant Americans, ha), but he was pretty
cool and told Brendan and them a good club to try to hook-up with girls called the Windows. I didn't really care, that's not why I came to Shanghai, ha. But he also said the club was a bit sketch and half the girls there were probably hookers. After that I threw out a few more bboy sets and then talked to some ladies at the bar who told us about an art exhibition happening on Saturday. We left around 1am and I didn't notice until I got all the way back to my room that my hands and arms had a layer of smoke and black dust all over them, haaha, place was still cool.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.137s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 5; qc: 50; dbt: 0.1091s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
damom24
charmaine
Never thought I'd hear the word chilling and Bomb Shelter used in the same sentence together, just doesn't sound grammatically correct for some reason, since I can remember the days of the bomb shelters here with the slogan, "Duck and Cover!" Now in your case it's "Drink and Recover!" Heh-heh.... However I do want you to know I have my concerns with this when I heard you were going to go out alone. You need to show me on the map where this Gymn is you talked about using instead of the one on campus.