We have made the pilgrimage to Beijing for the October holiday to catch up with all that is holy in our crazy Northern neighbour. Honestly, with all the parades (check out the ace timelapse done by the Guardian below) and the festival confusion (HERE, HERE and HERE), we knew we were in for a treat.
China’s 60th Anniversary national day – timelapse and slow motion – 7D and 5DmkII from Dan Chung on Vimeo.
So what did we find out.
- So all the international bands at Modern Sky were cancelled, but the same censorship did not apply to infamous US rockers Skid Row. Somehow, these paragons of virtue played the Star Live on the NIGHT of the 60th birthday celebrations, for the infinitely more important 10th Anniversary of Midi. Ticket prices were 290/290/690 (which is crazy high) and the venue was around half full. Not many of those 700 people paid.
- Modern Sky Festival was an ambitious undertaking, undermined by local governments, but it happened, the sun shone, and it was a fun day out – even though there was NO BEER ON SITE.
- Modern Sky are also running an electronic music festival called Zoo (link HERE). It will be held at the Haidian Exhibition Centre and will feature the likes of the Death Set, DJ Spooky and Drop the Lime alongside local heroes Sulumi, R3 and Pet Conspiracy.
- Pet Conspiracy have upped the ante for “Chinese” bands. They played with the Dream Team in Yugong Yishan and the production was pretty crazy – a big Daft Punk style pyramid with the DJ on top, the drummer inside and the singer, guitarist and backing vocalist out the front. Great lighting, flashy outfits and good sound. It’s really an interesting development for local music.
- We met with the Beggars Group China team – they have some very interesting plans for the next 12 months. You can read the announcement HERE.
We will be posting more on Modern Sky Festival, including a review of day 1 and more about the international band debacle over the next couple of days. Happy holidays…