The best of the week
2016 IAAF Diamond League Shanghai
Saturday 14, Shanghai Stadium, 50-680RMB
Diamond League athletics returns to Shanghai, with Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, Renaud Lavillenie and David Oliver among those set to compete. Tickets are available now, for prices ranging from 50RMB to 680RMB. Tickets for this annual series of track and field meetings are available via Damai or via the booking hotline on 400 610 3721 or 1010 3721.
MYTH Festival
Saturday 14 - Sunday 15, Expo Garden Park, 340-620RMB
Making its debut on Shanghai's festival scene, MYTH is run by the same people (and is on the same site) as Strawberry Festival two weeks previously, but has an explicitly electronic leaning lineup with notable acts including Diplo, DVBBS, Goldie and Knife Party. If you're still hung up on The Prodigy's last-minute Strawberry cancellation, maybe this will go some way to filling the void.
L'heure Espagnole
Saturday 14, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall, 180-580RMB
Maurice Ravel is often twinned with Claude Debussy as giants in 20th century French music, as well as the only two worthwhile impressionists. But he had his own style. Ravel had set out to reinvent the Italian opera buffa (comic opera) by adding French language and Spanish flavour, which is exactly what he did with the farcical L'heure Espagnole. While the music is vastly superior to the story, director Li Wei is China’s king of comic opera, and this is right in his wheelhouse.
Captain America
On General release in cinemas across Shanghai now
Does any of this sound familiar? Two iconic heroes duking it out over two-and-a-half epic hours… Angsty agonising over the collateral damage that ensues… Cameos from multiple costumed crusaders, just to make sure we’re suitably hyped for the next ten movies. Luckily, Captain America: Civil War is packed to bursting with the one ingredient its rival superhero smackdown Batman v Superman lacked: joy. Read our full review online.
Ratatat
Saturday 14, MAO Livehouse, 150RMB
New York duo Mike Stroud and Evan Mast have been blowing audiences away for 15 years now, but their rock and electronic project Ratatat is showing no signs of losing momentum any time soon. Even as the boundary between electronic and rock has become permeable to the point that bands taking elements from each camp have long been unremarkable merely on this basis, Ratatat continue to forge a sound more absorbing than most - which is why their show is our pick this week.
And last but not least, a Shanghai institution is saying goodbye this week with JZ Club's Fuxing Lu location closing its doors. They're putting on a series of farewell shows, culminating in a night of celebration on Saturday with the JZ All Star Big Band conducted by Alec Haavik. And there are plans for a new JZ location to open later this year - keep an eye on Time Out for more details.