Song: New Super Venue in Beijing

With talk of USD100,000 to USD200,000 being paid by national Olympic committees to rent venues during the Olympics, now's a good time to open a decent pub or club in Beijing. The latest place to open (in a location previously occupied by a failed club and bar) Song sounds special.

Described as a “contemporary Chinese style where the steps of the Paddy fields and soft contours of China’s south combine with the colour and flair of contemporary China,” Song “will be a physical home for creative people” goes the press blurb. The club/restaurant in the Place mall on 9 Guanghua Lu is run by local promoter and DJ Neebing. For people who like “lounging, talking and dancing” the whole thing looks very Scandinavian. Sure enough house DJ and Swede Nils Krogh will be there often on the piano and the decks – he’s billed as a “pioneering musician” who “heavily influenced the Swedish nu jazz” scene. The Swedish embassy are sponsoring his presence.

Chinastylus.com did the identity design and art direction. Looking like Rod Stewart, blond-haired Jonty Scruff from London has been brought in from London’s “coolest cutting edge clubs” for December 22 and 24 as well as New Year’s Eve. Pfadfinderei is a Berlin based design collective putting on a December 14 VJ/DJ session (Neebing on decks). That the group is more known for live installations for corporations like Louis Vuitton (Paris flagship store) says something about Song’s future plans and location – in the vast but soulless faux classic Place mall which opened in 2006. We wish them well, and hope they make it to the Olympic pay day. More later, we're going there tomorrow night.

Find Song at:

B108 The Place

song@songbeijing.cn