Exactly five months ago, as fireworks lit up the Shenzhen New Year’s Eve Midi Festival, time transitioned from2015to2016. Over these five months, we’ve experienced holidays big and small such as Spring Festival and Qingming. But for Chinese rock music fans, the most important festival is yet to come.4th30, the Taihu Midi Festival — the most important Midi Youth Festival in the hearts of Chinese rock fans — finally arrived as scheduled by the shores of Taihu Lake in Qidu Town, Wujiang District, Suzhou.
Perhaps the five-month wait was too long, as many fans set off on their festival journey early. Several fans who drove all the way from Gansu had been on the road for days, with the starting point just1972.8kilometers away from Suzhou being where their youth journey began. Along this trip, the closer we got to the Suzhou Taihu Midi Camp, the more like-minded travelers we encountered. They were gradually approaching the same destination through planes, trains, buses, chartered vehicles, or bicycles — home.
This is probably the most uniquely independent tributary within China’s massive population migration. Their migration isn’t about moving to the city or returning home, but about gathering for a rock music event. To them, Midi is like coming home. On the day before the official opening of the Taihu Midi Festival, the pre-opened camping area had already registered over2016Midi fans. Though covered in dust, they put down their luggage and started playing instruments and singing — the festival had already begun.2100fans had checked in. Though covered in dust, they put down their luggage and started playing instruments and singing — the festival had already begun.
By the time of the first official day of performances, nearly 30,000 fans had gathered at the Taihu Midi Camp. The Warring States Stage, curated by330metal music, stayed true to the consistent spirit of the Midi Festival, showcasing the power of China’s most hard-hitting heavy music to the fans. Long-standing and new bands like Sin, Tombstone, Screaming Christ, Xiaoyu, Judge, and Face delivered one metal style after another — extreme, melodic, fast-paced — bombarding the fans’ ears. International acts from Poland,Scream Maker, and Canada,The Order of Chaos, demonstrated the shocking standard of global metal music. The performances at the Kids’ Stage were meticulous yet playful. The children on stage, some as young as ten or even younger, along with the “Rock Generation 2” fans who came with their parents to be immersed in rock music, may well represent the future of Chinese rock — and original music as a whole.
The highlight of the first day’s performances was on the Tang Stage. China’s veteran rock bands like Dafantian,Ko Ko Morecommended by the China-France Year of Culture, and the popular Spanish folk bandEls Catarreseach brought their distinct styles. Sound Toy, which won four major awards at last year’s China Midi Awards, performed the festival’s theme song “Tomorrow You’ll Still Be By My Side,” earning a full chorus from ten thousand fans. After sunset, the iconic band Twist Machine — who have been rocking for 18 years and have become an irreplaceable force in the history of Chinese rock — took the stage. That day happened to be the 10th birthday of their bassist Lao Dao’s son. He dedicated his most rock-infused vocals to his son, and to what he calls “the only truly rock-oriented Chinese domestic music festival in his heart.”
Pain Young closed out the first day of the festival. Having devoted 17 years to the path of rock music, Pain Young has become a flagship of youth culture, growing alongside the nearly age-mate Midi Festival and etching an indelible mark on each other. Those young people dancing joyfully at the annual parties back at the Midi Music School over a decade ago might never have imagined that today, on this radiant stage, they would be singing together with tens of thousands of fans, celebrating the most beautiful day of life — celebrating the love, hate, reunions, and farewells of countless people.
2016The first day of performances at the Taihu Midi Festival came to a close, and the celebration of nearly 30,000 people is just the beginning. Tomorrow, more friends will join Wan Xiaoli, Zhang Ling, Life pie, Xie Tianxiao, China’s most representative metal forces, and outstanding bands from the UK, Korea, France, and Canada at this rock haven far from the hustle and bustle. (Text: Chen Xiaobei / Photos: Yan Min, Yuxuan, Zhou Jie, Qi Lei)
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