Several years ago, Shenzhen only had a few spots to hear live music: Brown Sugar Jar, B10, a few bars in Coco Park and a few clubs in Shekou. Thankfully, we’ve caught up with the times and suddenly have a veritable cornucopia of choices to titillate our ears.
On Stage is the latest addition, appropriately located in a neighborhood that didn’t even exist two years ago. Seemingly overnight, the Keyuan Hi-Tech Park was built, just a five-minute walk down Xuefu Lu from Keyuan MTR exit A. Host to many tech companies like Seeed Studio, it also held the enormous Maker Fair earlier this year.
On Stage is a Bear’s Coffee cafe during the day, taking advantage of the thousands of workers craving caffeine and lunch in the neighborhood. Illy coffee is used for the brews, pairing well with food like the seafood spaghetti (RMB32), which comes Japanese-style, served with Kraft parmesan cheese and tabasco sauce. It’s weird, but tasty – once you get used to it.
At night, Bear’s Coffee has partnered with a local startup incubator to become a live music venue and bar. The two most popular cocktails are the Long Island iced tea and the Cuba libre (both RMB38). The latter is traditionally made with coke, rum and lime, but On Stage’s recipe is rum, rum and rum. If a pirate’s life is for you, it’s definitely a great cocktail (includes a slice of lime to fight scurvy).
Non-alcoholic fruity soda drinks (RMB35) taste brutally bitter, but perhaps that is what one is supposed to drink while listening to jazz?
The night we show up, a cool local jazz band plays, scatting in a mix of Chinese and English. They look devilishly handsome in their tailored suits. Clearly, the locals already know about the great rotation of live music all weekend as the joint is packed by 8.30pm.
As for On Stage’s aspirations, management hopes to keep hosting and supporting local acts while becoming a destination for great international groups touring the world.
Price: Approx. RMB80 for two drinks
Who’s going: Jazz cats, pirates
Good for: Local acts, rum
// No. 10-13, Block B, Bldg 4, Shenzhen Software Industry Base, Haitian Yi Lu, Nanshan District 南山区海天一路深圳市软件产业基地4栋B座裙楼10-13号 (186 8225 7049)
0 User Comments