As2016the new year's first day drew to a close, the Shenzhen New Year's Eve Midi Music Festival also wrapped up successfully. During the two-day performances that marked the transition between2015/16the years, leading Chinese rock acts such as Painkiller, Escape Plan, Reflector, Sound Toy, and Suffocation, along withArms&Sleepers,Scare the Childrenand other internationally acclaimed overseas bands, delivered stunning performances for both live audiences and those watching via livestream. Under the call of the annual Midi Festival theme2016"Midi Festival Theme for the Year"“Stay Away from Drugs, Get Closer to Music,”tens of thousands of music fans celebrated the turn of the year together, embarking on the new year alongside music and friends.
Within the festival venue at the Shenzhen Longgang Universiade Center, the four stages — Tang, Warring States, Little Acoustic, and Kid’s Music — each offered their own distinctive performances.The Kid’s Music stage area featured a New Year’s wish wall that was fully covered with colorful drawings by fans,open-air movie screenings at the NuLan Cinema, cultural booths, and a food street, providing a rich variety of cultural experiences for audiences who chose to ring in the new year with music. Rigorous security measures ensured the safety of all attendees.2015/16The Shenzhen New Year's Eve Midi Music Festival came to a perfect close thanks to the joint efforts of musicians, fans, and organizers.
Performances on the first day kicked off from the Tang stage with the winners of the “I Want to Be on Midi” band competition, Pubic Bone and Five Fingers.“I Want to Be on Midi”The Midi Festival has always been committed to discovering talented young bands, providing them a platform to showcase themselves, and offering audiences fresh and outstanding sounds amidst an increasingly homogenized festival scene. Bands from Xinjiang like Loulan Box, Yunnan’s Da Hong Pao, Beijing’sSUBS,France’sScare The Children,Japan’sAsAlliance, the Netherlands’Fara, and Spain’sRise to Fallallowed fans to experience diverse musical styles from around the world. Sound Toy, which has won four awards at the China Rock Midi Awards, as an outstanding representative of China’s 2016 rock scene, gradually elevated the atmosphere with beautiful melodies and2015China'smelancholiclyrics.
The Kid’s Music stage on the second day remained a sea of joy, with standout performances by the Little Rascals Family, the young drummers of Drum Tang, andGreen Blues, Tornado, Blue Dreams, and other young bands showcasing how nurturing children’s creativity through music is everyone’s responsibility. The independent rock band from Changsha, Damu, closed the Kid’s Music stage. Popular performances by local Shenzhen bands such as Ruimandou from Quanzhou, Green Bus, andNewAirbrought the Little Acoustic stage on the second day to a perfect close.
As one of the most representative bands to emerge from the MIDI Music School and the stages of the MIDI Festival, Pain Youth has just showcased the electrifying energy and timeless tenderness of China’s middle-generation rock bands to a national television audience on the show "China's Star." Their return to the MIDI stage this time feels more like a homecoming after shedding the excesses of fame.“Homecoming”the same2016Their first performance of the year felt like just that—a homecoming—where Pain Youth unleashed all their passion right from the start. After a few classic tracks brimming with youthful fervor, lead singer Gao Hu stripped off his shirt, returning to his most relaxed and natural state. It was reminiscent of him going barefoot on stage during the "China's Star" performance, and even more so of bassist Zhang Jing dancing shoeless on the MIDI Festival stage a decade ago. These are the most beautiful memories shared by Pain Youth, the MIDI Festival, Chinese rock music, and its fans—all brought vividly back to life in the songs sung at the start of the new year.
The encore song performed by Pain Youth was "The Most Beautiful Day of My Life."2016On the first day of the year,amidthe first MIDI Festival of the year,the event concluded safely and smoothly at the Shenzhen Universiade Center.Fans who couldn’t bear to leave embraced one another under the stage—a first reunion of MIDI friends for the year, as they whispered promises of meeting again.(Text by Chen Xiaobei, Photos by Yan Min, Li Lewei, Piaoran Kuanye, Xia Yuxuan)