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Get ready to rock and roll
December 10, 2009, Thursday
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BEING a rock musician in Hangzhou doesn't exactly rock these days - musical tastes are tamer - but seven top bands will throw a New Year's Eve bash to remind fans that rock is a blast. Xu Wenwen reports. On an autumn night in 1997 at Halin Club, a show titled "Music Subway" brought all of Hangzhou's subterranean rock bands together for the first time and raised the curtain on the above-ground rock scene.
From 1998 to 2002 was the heyday of Hangzhou rock, but these days the scene and the tastes have changed. There's not much non-mainstream and alternative.
Local rockers describe the scene as "gloomy."
But on December 31, seven top local rock bands in Hangzhou will rev it up and celebrate 12 years of rock at 798 Bar on Baochu Road. (The show organizers like to call it the 10th anniversary show, as rock has been a presence on the music scene since 1999).
It promises to be a cool show with well-known performers of metal, noise, punk, indie, regae and combinations.
It's a risky venture. To break even, at least 200 fans each need to buy the 40-yuan (US$5.85) tickets. That's not much, around US$1,200.
Performers include "noise artist" Li Jianhong, October Capricorn band (both performed at the West Lake Music Festival), Yuren band, Mr Wukong, Feng Yuan, Bricks and Escape Again.
Organizers Big Zhong and Duan Qiuming hope they can unite top rockers in the city.
"We encourage Hangzhou's rock bands to hold more rehearsals and more shows, because only in this way can the bands improve and the market expand," they said in a statement.
Zhong is the guitarist in Bricks, and Duan is the guitarist for October Capricorn. Joining them in an interview are Mai Tian, lead singer of Bricks, and Yu Tianheng, bassist of October Capricorn.
Duan, born in 1980, was a high school student when he first was swept up by rock. And he remembers the glory days.
It was in March 2000 that a rock show bar Yuan Yin (Original Sound) opened on Xueyuan Road. Though it was demolished 72 days later since the building was a squatters' house, the bar staged more than 20 live rock shows. It's a landmark in every Hangzhou rock fan's heart, and in Duan's as well.
"Any raised voice could excite the whole audience. No one cared about the content and no one cared about the sound equipment," recalls Duan.
Liu Huan (singer and songwriter of "You and Me," theme song of the Beijing Olympics) says of China's rock scene in early days: "Compared with foreign rockers, Chinese rock at first only imitated Western rock and audiences just loved the super-loud music."
Zhong, Duan and others agree.
Chinese rock would develop its own characteristics and the Hangzhou rock scene flourished from 1998 to 2002.
One landmark was the Yuan Yin bar. Another was the first local rock magazine Yinyue Xiaochong (Music Bug) founded in 1998. Some bands put out EP (extended play) records and a notable record in 2000, "From Sandun to Wulin Square," combined Hangzhou's alternative music.
More shows were held in colleges and bars and many rockers received enormous attention.
After 2003, it was gone. Audiences wanted different and less crazy noise, bands weren't as creative, they lacked money and opportunity. The climate throughout China for rock was not encouraging.
"Playing rock is tougher than most people think," says Zhong.
Rockers may give the impression that they're passionate, supercool, nonconformist and rebellious. Duan wears his beard braided, bassist Yu wears long hair and Zhong favors a second-hand US Navy coat bought on the Internet.
But many of them have dreary day jobs. Duan is an IT professional in a small company, Mai owns a small software company, Yu is a student majoring in bass and Zhong runs a recording studio.
They don't make money playing rock - it's expensive to rent rehearsal and performance space to maintain instruments and record music.
"If I didn't play rock, my life will be much better materially," says Mai, lead singer in Bricks.
But there are no regrets.
Yu Tianheng, the 21-year-old bassist in October Capricorn, was born into an artists' family and has played hip-hop and rock.
Five years ago, he and his pals could earn thousands of yuan for giving one hip-hop show, but it was so commercial that he turned to rock.
There are some good signs, says Zhong, the guitarist in Bricks. Converse, the sports footwear maker, has invited Beijing's rock band Queen Sea Big Shark to be ambassador and Levi's has invited Brain Failure. Maybe something similar can happen in Hangzhou.
Zhong and Duan set 40 yuan for the show's ticket price, knowing it's a bit risky to break even. But if they get more than the break-even number of 200 fans, then they plan to take their friends to dinner and celebrate.
The show
Date: December 31, 8:30pm
Venue: 798 Bar, 2 Baochu Rd
Tickets: 40 yuan
From 1998 to 2002 was the heyday of Hangzhou rock, but these days the scene and the tastes have changed. There's not much non-mainstream and alternative.
Local rockers describe the scene as "gloomy."
But on December 31, seven top local rock bands in Hangzhou will rev it up and celebrate 12 years of rock at 798 Bar on Baochu Road. (The show organizers like to call it the 10th anniversary show, as rock has been a presence on the music scene since 1999).
It promises to be a cool show with well-known performers of metal, noise, punk, indie, regae and combinations.
It's a risky venture. To break even, at least 200 fans each need to buy the 40-yuan (US$5.85) tickets. That's not much, around US$1,200.
Performers include "noise artist" Li Jianhong, October Capricorn band (both performed at the West Lake Music Festival), Yuren band, Mr Wukong, Feng Yuan, Bricks and Escape Again.
Organizers Big Zhong and Duan Qiuming hope they can unite top rockers in the city.
"We encourage Hangzhou's rock bands to hold more rehearsals and more shows, because only in this way can the bands improve and the market expand," they said in a statement.
Zhong is the guitarist in Bricks, and Duan is the guitarist for October Capricorn. Joining them in an interview are Mai Tian, lead singer of Bricks, and Yu Tianheng, bassist of October Capricorn.
Duan, born in 1980, was a high school student when he first was swept up by rock. And he remembers the glory days.
It was in March 2000 that a rock show bar Yuan Yin (Original Sound) opened on Xueyuan Road. Though it was demolished 72 days later since the building was a squatters' house, the bar staged more than 20 live rock shows. It's a landmark in every Hangzhou rock fan's heart, and in Duan's as well.
"Any raised voice could excite the whole audience. No one cared about the content and no one cared about the sound equipment," recalls Duan.
Liu Huan (singer and songwriter of "You and Me," theme song of the Beijing Olympics) says of China's rock scene in early days: "Compared with foreign rockers, Chinese rock at first only imitated Western rock and audiences just loved the super-loud music."
Zhong, Duan and others agree.
Chinese rock would develop its own characteristics and the Hangzhou rock scene flourished from 1998 to 2002.
One landmark was the Yuan Yin bar. Another was the first local rock magazine Yinyue Xiaochong (Music Bug) founded in 1998. Some bands put out EP (extended play) records and a notable record in 2000, "From Sandun to Wulin Square," combined Hangzhou's alternative music.
More shows were held in colleges and bars and many rockers received enormous attention.
After 2003, it was gone. Audiences wanted different and less crazy noise, bands weren't as creative, they lacked money and opportunity. The climate throughout China for rock was not encouraging.
"Playing rock is tougher than most people think," says Zhong.
Rockers may give the impression that they're passionate, supercool, nonconformist and rebellious. Duan wears his beard braided, bassist Yu wears long hair and Zhong favors a second-hand US Navy coat bought on the Internet.
But many of them have dreary day jobs. Duan is an IT professional in a small company, Mai owns a small software company, Yu is a student majoring in bass and Zhong runs a recording studio.
They don't make money playing rock - it's expensive to rent rehearsal and performance space to maintain instruments and record music.
"If I didn't play rock, my life will be much better materially," says Mai, lead singer in Bricks.
But there are no regrets.
Yu Tianheng, the 21-year-old bassist in October Capricorn, was born into an artists' family and has played hip-hop and rock.
Five years ago, he and his pals could earn thousands of yuan for giving one hip-hop show, but it was so commercial that he turned to rock.
There are some good signs, says Zhong, the guitarist in Bricks. Converse, the sports footwear maker, has invited Beijing's rock band Queen Sea Big Shark to be ambassador and Levi's has invited Brain Failure. Maybe something similar can happen in Hangzhou.
Zhong and Duan set 40 yuan for the show's ticket price, knowing it's a bit risky to break even. But if they get more than the break-even number of 200 fans, then they plan to take their friends to dinner and celebrate.
The show
Date: December 31, 8:30pm
Venue: 798 Bar, 2 Baochu Rd
Tickets: 40 yuan
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