Bar Reviews
Thursday, 21 January 2010 04:01
Written by Helen Elfer

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Hand on heart, this place does have the potential to become the stuff of rock legend. It already has the large but intimate magic of San Francisco’s The Fillmore, the sticky floors of CBGB’s in NYC (rest in peace!), and a sound system to rival London’s Brixton Academy.

The set-up is perfect: wide stage, fantastic lights (anyone at the recent Mono show can testify to that) and a spacious standing area. The drinks are cheap enough to ensure a few authentically wasted teenagers are part of the scenery – no great gig venue is complete without floppy-haired kids gulping surreptitiously from plastic cups.

Somehow Livehouse has also got itself a great atmosphere already, and there have been some cracking shows over the past months. Pet Conspiracy and Richie Hawtin are just two of the gigs that really made the most of the venue.

Of course, all this doesn’t mean it’s failsafe. As countless closures in the past have demonstrated, there’s just no guarantee of success, and considering the relatively immature music scene, filling an 800-capacity venue night after night is going to be no easy task.

But Mao Livehouse does have one trump card other new enterprises don’t: Basically, everyone desperately wants it to succeed, don’t they? If you’re a local act dreaming of making it big, you need a stepping stone between playing Yuyinytang and Hongkou Stadium. Bigger bands from overseas are gagging for somewhere in Shanghai with Mao’s capacity and, ultimately, its gravitas. At last we have a venue which could develop real world-class status, and with the city’s music fans behind it, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.

Daily 10pm-late. No cards. No. 23, Lane 570 Huaihai Xi Lu, by Hongqiao Lu (6227 7332) 淮海西路570弄23号, 近红桥路

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