We’ve seen debacles before – Oasis, Linkin Park II, Hohhot Green Flag, Midi 2008, but this is as serious a China moment as we’ve seen to date. Apparently, no foreign bands will be allowed to play Modern Sky festival this year. Boss Shen Lihui was phoned this morning by the local PSB and told this really rather rubbish news.
It has been a source of confusion for us since Modern Sky announced that their festival would be held in Chaoyang Park during the 60th birthday celebrations of China’s communist party. It was claimed that the festival was going to be a part of the celebrations – we did laugh at the prospect of 70′s punk band the Buzzcocks playing the official birthday party for this harmonious regime.
This is a sad day for China’s music industry, which has recovered from similar blows before, but this is hugely worrying for the future of Chinese festivals…
You can add the ‘Dirty Three’, that excellent Australian post-rock band, to the debacle list, when their Shanghai gig got double-booked, and everyone was kicked out of the theatre before the gig had ended…
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