Culture

Midi Festival and The Future of Chinese Alternative Music

By David Friesen

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Whilst many people during the May Holiday donned their travelling boots and went off in search of new experiences outside of their respective homes, I was once again stuck in Beijing. However, there was some small consolation in the fact that the annual Midi Music Festival was on in Haidian Park. Missing my traditional forays into the summer festival scene in the UK, I knew that this was where I would be spending at least some of my holiday time.

I had been the year before, and thought that the atmosphere was great – lots of beer and lots of decent food, and a small independent feel about the festival. On the downside, however, the attendance seemed quite low and most of the bands were, well boring. The line-up for this year looked far more promising though, with a greater collection of recognisable Chinese bands and even a few popular western acts thrown in.

When I arrived on the first day, I was greeted by a massive queue. Although queuing in 30 degree heat is not exactly my idea of fun, I was pleased to see such a good turnout, as good crowds are often what make a festival. This increased turnout was even more surprising because of the increased price from the year before – 50 kuai a day rather than 30. Once inside, the festival was laid out much the same as the year before, with a flea market, rows of food stalls, beer tent and the various stages. This year the amount of stages had increased, with a main stage, a hip-hop stage, dance tent, Gibson stage and another smaller stage for lesser-known acts. It was a glorious day and all-in-all looked very promising.

However, there were some things which still showed the festival has some way to go. Firstly, let's get to the practical aspects. There was a lack of toilet facilities, although this is basically the blight of every festival. The food selection was not as good as the year before, with a generally lower quality feel about it and less choice. Also, the queues for drinks were insane, and at one point the venue even ran out of beer for about 30 minutes. Now, whilst this may seem trivial for some people, it is in fact a crucial element of festival frivolity. Despite this, the 5 kuai a glass prices more than made up for any inconvenience.

So, what about the music? Well, although I checked out a variety of stages, most of my attention was focused on the main stage; because a festival is really only as good as the main stage bands that they can get to play. This year really was an improvement on previous years, with some fairly high level European bands appearing, including Sweden's Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Norway's El Caco and Denmark's premier live band Hatesphere. All these bands gave the festival a much-improved sense of quality, and showed the signs that Midi could definitely challenge the other big Asian festivals such as Fuji in Japan in the years to come.

Although all these bands were enjoyable, what I was most interested in were the Chinese bands. Not necessarily because I am a huge fan of any of them, but because it is interesting to see how the alternative scene in China is growing. Beijing is renowned for its alt music scene, in particular punk and metal bands. However, having seen a number of these types of bands before I have never really been particularly impressed by them. The bands either suffer from a lack of originality or a lack of skilled musicianship. This of course is the same in any fairly new music scene, and these things take time to develop. My expectations were not high, but I was hoping to hear at least some gems that could possibly break out of the Chinese market and put Chinese alternative music on the map.

Overall, I was definitely more impressed with the quality of Chinese bands compared to the previous year. Of course, there were a fair few unoriginal and frankly poor bands, but this is often the case, especially at smaller festivals. However, there were a few bands that stood out from the rest. The first of these was Beijing-based Queensea Big Shark, also known as Houhai Sharks. Their blend of energetic garage rock and punk with a female lead singer is reminiscent of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Singer Fu Han bopped and jumped around the stage with aplomb, and they gave the impression of a band with much promise. Their sound works, and they have played together enough to pull it off even on this fairly big stage.

There were plenty of other fairly solid bands, such as New Pants, Yaksa and Brain Failure. Their particular brands of rock, metal and punk were all well-performed and received good responses from the crowd. I would happily watch these bands play again, although I am not sure they have what it takes to break out of the local market. They are solid, but nothing spectacular.

Although this may be down to personal taste, the one Chinese band that impressed me the most were Suffocated (窒息, zhìxī).  A Chinese metal/thrash band, they are the only band I have heard so far with the originality and technical flair to keep up with the European and American acts. Although not to everyone's taste, they are clearly a band who could break out of the scene with the right promotion. I have listened to their album and it is quite well produced, and very solid overall. Whilst it is all sung in Chinese, this is hardly a problem in a scene which doesn't have mass appeal anyway, and people can see past such minor issues. After all, different languages have not stopped bands in Europe such as Dimmu Borgir and Rammstein making it big.

Although there is clearly still a way to go for the Chinese alternative music scene, in a short time it has developed well and the future looks bright. As more quality bands emerge, a few of them should eventually break into the wider market, and this will fuel further innovation. The Chinese alternative music scene has the potential to be one of the best, and could bring something completely original and new as the overall quality of bands improves.

With the Midi attracting a record 15,000 people on the first day alone, the passion for the music is clearly there – and the quality is sure to follow in the very near future.

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