The Antidote’s music was similarly discordant. The night started out with punk rock and My Bloody Valentine tracks from San Francisco’s Ozone (“I’ve been DJing since 1987,” he likes to tell fans) and moved on to IDM and Kaos Pad effects from local audio alchemist and graphic designer B6, with almost every conceivable genre making an appearance in between.

The crowd, a mix of clued-up and very artsy-looking Chinese and clued-up and very drunk expats, loved every minute of it. They were moshing in the early hours and still draining the bar of cheap beer at the end. After all, it’s not every night that you hear the Gotan Project’s nu-tango in a basement party in Shanghai. All told, there were probably 250 people packing out The Antidote’s first edition; an excellent turnout considering that it was a Thursday night at C’s Bar.

The Antidote’s appearance on the Shanghai party scene gives the city’s nocturnal nervous system a timely curative shock. Who needs table service and gyrating bar girls when you’ve got fine music, smelly toilets and sweat dripping off the walls?

The Antidote
Date: August 25th, 2005
Place: C’s Bar
Address: 685 Dingxi Lu, Shanghai
http://www.smartshanghai.com