Apologies to Craig Finn. We couldn’t resist.
All joking aside, 2012 has seen many casualties in the live music department. The cancellation of Caliban’s China tour is only the latest in a long string of postponements, reschedulings and cancellations which have ranged across genres and cities in China. The largest of course have been the ongoing lack of large outdoor festivals, for somewhat obvious reasons that involve the number 1 and 8 and the month of October. Just off the top of our heads, there won’t be a Black Rabbit, Kama Love, Music Funhill or Midi Rizhao this year. Both Megadeth and Caliban have announced the cancellation of their China tours and no murmurs from the top brass at Modern Sky regarding the traditional October festival. The only large scale music festivals happening in the near future are either in third-tier locales (Qingdao, Guiyang), have a truly staggering amount of local government investment (Max Star), or both (Inter City in Qingdao). As the time of increased political sensitivity draws nearer, we’re both curious and apprehensive to see exactly how cultural activities will adapt to the (hopefully temporary) period of increased scrutiny.
In the meantime, we leave you with this entry from Shanghai’s very own GIF meme Tumblr. We’re not really sure whether to say to its author “Thanks for your support” or “Haters to the Left,” but either way, GIFs could totally create world peace.