On December 31, another edition of the Shenzhen Midi Music Festival kicked off at the Longgang Universiade Center in Shenzhen. Spanning two days across the turn of the year, it became China’s last music festival of 2014 and heralded the first notes of Chinese rock in 2015.
The magical night a year ago when tens of thousands of fans and China’s finest original musicians shared the same stage remains fresh in memory. The year 2014 faded away like fireworks at midnight, tracing a brilliant arc before vanishing. But as 2014 drew to a close, the Midi Music Festival brought together 50 of China’s best rock bands to usher in a brand-new wave of brilliance.
On the first day of the Shenzhen Midi Music Festival, veteran mid-generation mainland rock bands such as Tongue, Twisted Machine, Hedgehog, Big Wave, and Mittschalk, along with the most representative rising acts, performed on the Tang, Warring States, and Kids stages. Acts from Hong Kong, China—Chochukmo, Evil Is Power, and New Youth Barbershop—and Macao, China’s Fall To Fly, as well as the UK’s The Bottom Line, delivered diverse and dynamic performances, showcasing the musical diversity and inclusiveness of Shenzhen, a gateway city to mainland China.
Tongue, who took the stage at the Tang Stage just before midnight, are one of the most legendary bands from China rock’s “Shu Village era.” As early as 2000, they participated in the inaugural Midi Music Festival, and their emotionally charged performance at the 2001 festival, along with frontman Wu Tun’s words, “Seeds must be buried underground, in the soil, so they can grow into trees, into torches you need,” have served as a source of inspiration and resilience for Chinese rock youth for over a decade.
Tongue performed some of their most classic songs. Having been away from the public eye for a decade, they remained as fierce and unyielding as ever. Their music has always been like bones—or sharp knives—supporting forward movement through thorns and brush. When performing "Copier," Wu Tun invited Gao Hu, frontman of Pain Youth, to join them in performing this Tongue classic. Two of Beijing’s Shu Village’s finest musicians from the late 1990s reunited in Shenzhen, a city that symbolizes an era, creating yet another legendary moment in the history of Chinese rock.
Before the excitement stirred by Tongue could settle, midnight was approaching. Nearly 20,000 fans in the audience counted down the final seconds together with the numbers displayed on the Tang Stage screen, stepping over the threshold of time as 2015 arrived amid a flurry of fireworks. At just the right moment, Pain Youth’s music began, and everyone exchanged wishes and gifts. Having undergone a stylistic transformation, Pain Youth now draws musical inspiration from life journeys and encounters, singing about joy and love. As the audience and band joined in a massive singalong, the countdown and opening concert of the 2014–2015 Shenzhen Midi Music Festival came to a romantic close.
Music may cross the threshold of time, but it never ends. Artists such as Ershou Meigui, Mo Shengzi Shi, Mumaa, and Buyi will bring more surprises during the January 1 performances at the Shenzhen Midi Music Festival. Additionally, the annual Chinese Rock Midi Awards will announce their final prize winners, marking a yearly milestone for Chinese rock. Here, we look forward to every fan picking up the pen together with Midi. (Text by Chen Xiaobei, Photos by Yan Min and Lü Ran)