Looks like there will indeed be a direct time conflict between Beijing’s Midi and Modern Sky festivals, with the former scheduled for Sept 29 – October 2, and the latter confirmed to start one day later and wrap on the 2nd as well. We wonder if concert goers will choose to hop between Haidian Park and the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, rather than committing to Midi with the RMB 150 4-day ticket (day passes to the festivals cost just RMB 50 for Midi and 60 for Modern Sky). Midi hasn’t gotten a license yet, much less confirmed its line-up, but Modern Sky has scheduled 40-odd acts (not including 25 DJs), among them Re-TROS, New Pants, Carsick Cars, Queen Sea Big Shark, and Joyside.

This could be music to the ears of those who plan to spend the October Golden Week holiday in Beijing: double the noise, double the moshing, double the porta-potties. But will the overlap of the festivals, combined with the fact that neither Midi nor Modern Sky are booking any international acts this year, lead to a tug of war between the two events? DJ/promoter Michael Ohlsson, who’s booking DJs for both festivals, tells us that “there’s a lot of drama around [Midi and Modern Sky]…and a bit of a debate over exclusivity.” Though neither festival has a formal exclusivity requirement, apparently one of the Midi organisers has demanded that none of the acts he’s booking play Modern Sky. Continue reading →