Resumo de Chinese Rock ?n? Roll: It Was 20 Years Ago...(1)

"It was 20 years ago
today?" The lyrics from the Beatles? famous tune Sgt.
Pepper?s Lonely Hearts Club Band may well suggest Chinese
music fans? nostalgia. However, it couldn?t even secure
"sold-out" 20th anniversary concerts for Chinese rock music
held in Shenyang, Liaoning Province in mid-June. Cui Jian,
the "godfather of Chinese rock ?n? roll," emphasized in
an interview that rock is not dead yet in China but
admitted the musicians are finding it difficult. ?

Between June 16-18 hundreds of Chinese rock fans were
treated to live performances by 20 legendary or new rock
musicians such as Cui Jian, the Tang Dynasty band, Wang
Lei, Wang Feng, Xie Tianxiao and the Subs. Fans came not
only from Shenyang but also from Beijing, Chengdu and
Xi?an, though the numbers were not great. ??

The three-day concert titled "If There Were to Be Another
20 Years" began with Cui Jian performing his classic song,
Nothing to My Name. The 44-year-old rock legend appeared
with his traditional outfit -- a white cap printed with a
red star, just like 20 years ago when he first performed
the song in a concert at the Beijing Workers Stadium on May
9, 1986. This date is recognized as the beginning of
Chinese rock music. ?

Some of the best new musicians in the country played at the
five-hour carnival including Sound Fragment and Subs, a
high energy punk band that was featured in recent
headlines. The bands played music ranging across a variety
of genres -- from pop punk to indie rock, folk to
electronica and metal to grunge -- showcasing the depth and
range present in China?s fast-growing rock scene. ??

But the attendance was disappointing. Only about 600 fans
attended the first concert in a local gym that can
accommodate 3,000 people. The next two concerts attracted
larger crowds but the venue was never packed. ????

According to the Shanghai Morning Post less than 30 percent
of tickets for the first concert were sold. The local
promoters are said to have lost 1 million yuan (US$125,000)
due to the box-office failure. They blamed it on the
concert dates, which clashed with the ongoing soccer feast
World Cup. ??

"Too many rock fans are also diehard soccer fans," Jiang
Xiaoyu, the general organizer of the concerts, said on June
19. "It must be the problem with the date. However, if we
make these anniversary concerts into a brand, we may
succeed in the future by choosing the right dates." ??

But fans without tickets to the concerts told Shanghai
Morning Post that the high admission fee is another reason
why the concerts have failed. The lowest price is 200 yuan
(US$25), perhaps an acceptable price in metropolises, but
very expensive for rock fans who are usually students or
daydreaming youngsters. ??

"The so-called ?anniversary? is meaningless if we don?t
use the opportunity to go forward," Jang said. "We don?t
miss those old corrupted rock music pieces any more;
instead, we want to launch rock?s new power and new
generation." ?

He may be right. Rock?s new generation has strong
intentions of replacing the old rockers themselves. For
example, the lead female vocalist "Kang Mao" from Subs
wrote in her blog, "Cui Jian led the 20th anniversary
project and I supported him for he is a real man. But I?m
very sick to see the media reports still stuck on those old
folks, some of whom I think are just has-beens. It has been
20 years! Will another 20 years be for these has-beens? How
I hate it!" ??

But the rising new stars of the Yufeimen band said, "No one
can replace Cui Jian and the Tang Dynasty band because
their fans are still there -- growing old with them. Our
audience should be targeted on youngsters. We don?t have
to compare something like this." ??

Even Cui Jian himself doesn?t want to be called the
"Godfather of Chinese Rock." "The image of ?godfather?
may be painless and conservative, but I hope the
?godfather? will die," he said. "I prefer to be a
grandson of myself. As an ordinary man I feel great joy
when I?m doing music but not being as an icon." Also as
the executive art director, Cui invited many rock musicians
from the "new generation" to attend. ???

When a punk bar named "Howl" was launched in Beijing in
1998, many new performance venues started to emerge. These
are great locations for new rockers to develop their
fanbase. ??

Jiang Xiaoyu said the bad economic situation for those who
had rock dreams has changed. "When your rock music is
unique and soulful, and has content, you will be rich
enough to survive and develop yourselves.".

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