Preview: The final month of The Shelter

Over the past nine years, The Shelter has been the epicentre of underground clubbing in Shanghai, a space with no VIPs, no presale and an unwavering commitment to authentic music. In October, it was announced that at the start of 2017 due to being unable to get their appropriate license renewed.

There are rumours that some of the team are looking to open another venue in the not-too-distant future, but The Shelter will be the place to be this New Year’s Eve, and before that there’s a whole month of goodness to look forward to. There are a few big names, but co-founder Gareth Williams told us ‘the main aim was to bring back some old friends, give some space for some new friends and hopefully give a nice round up of what the Shelter is and was.’

They kick off on Thursday 1 with a biggie – witch house pioneer oOoOO, known for his haunting beats and visual spectacles when playing live, tours for the first time in three years and is joined by Faded Ghost and Serbey Gubka. Then Friday 2 sees the club celebrate their ninth birthday with the final outing for wax love-in Soul Crates, and Shelter co-founder Gary Wang is bringing in two international guests for an all-45s special – funk master Kuroda Daisuke and Beat Junkies member Shortkut.

D’n’b crew Sweatshop are in for a final bow on Friday 9 with iconic vocalist Stamina MC topping a huge bill of crew members. Saturday 10 sees Shanghai’s OG techno crew VOID present Ceephax Acid Crew for his Shelter return. Expect kicking old-school rave, acid-house, Atari-era chiptune and other left-of-field, 8-bit-informed offerings.

Sonic crew Genome host a special night on Saturday 17 with Berlin-based experimental producer Mobile Girl making a stop on her Asia tour, before a Sub-Cinema special on Sunday 18 (more details nearer the time). Friday 23 hosts a Do Hits takeover featuring Zaliva-D and Organ Tapes, before Chen Tianzhuo's Asian Dope Boys take over on Christmas Eve.

All this leading to The End on Saturday 31. The night will feature 20 DJs each playing 20 minutes, most of whom will be members of The Shelter’s crews from over the years. Of course it’s likely to be crazy busy, so they’ll be opening early at 8pm. True to form they’re doing no presale – advice is arrive either well before or after midnight to have the best chance of getting in.

See full info on all these shows by cliking 'read more' below.

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