The second day of the 2014 Shenzhen Midi Music Festival — the New Year’s Eve spectacular produced by Kaisa — combined performances with the 5th China Rock Midi Awards ceremony, setting a precedent for hosting an awards show at a music festival. Xie Tianshao, who won three major awards, was the biggest winner of the night, while other accolades also found their recipients. The performances on the second day were equally spectacular: Escape Plan’s performance saw tens of thousands of fans lighting up their phones, creating a dazzling “artificial starry sky” over the festival grounds. Legendary Chinese rock band Tang Dynasty merged rock music with motorcycle culture, and the sight of dozens of heavy motorcycles revving in sync with the music deeply moved the audience.
Cantonese Opera
Winners of the 5th China Rock Midi Awards
1. Best Annual Rock Album: Xie Tianshao – “Hallucination” — Awarded by Lü Bin, CFO of A8 New Media Group, and Xu Xiaofeng, President of National Music Industry Base
2. Best Annual Rock Song: Wan Wan Youth Inn – “Pawnshop of Dark Clouds” — Awarded by Gao Hu, lead singer of Painkiller
3. Best Annual Rock Band: Wan Wan Youth Inn — Awarded by Bu Junlei, Chairman of Jiawen Company, and Li Hongjie, Founder of Zhangbei Music Festival
4. Best Annual Male Rock Vocalist: Xie Tianshao — Awarded by Mao Chuan, lead singer of Escape Plan and winner of Best Male Vocalist in 2012
5. Best Annual Female Rock Vocalist: Fu Han — Awarded by Shan Wei, Executive Vice President of Midi Live
6. Best Annual Hard Rock Band: Velvet Road — Awarded by Yang Jian, Founder of Shenzhen Base, and Zhou Xiaochuan, CEO of China’s largest record distribution company, Star Star Music
7. Best Annual Metal Band: Warhammer — Awarded by Macro, CEO of Litchi.com
8. Best Annual Rock Instrumental Performance: Wang Wen — Awarded by Postman (Xiande Yu), Founder of Tianya Music Critics and Council Member of Chinese Music Media Awards, and You Wei, Secretary-General of Chinese Golden Melody Awards and Global Chinese Music Alliance
9. Best Annual Rock Live Performance: Xie Tianshao — Awarded by Riz, Lead Singer of Hong Kong King Lychee and winner of Best Hard Rock Band in 2012, and Liu Jiang, CEO of Howling Records
10. Best Annual Rock Newcomer: Nine Treasures — Awarded by Liu Yang, DJ of Feiyang 971, and Chen Huanzhong, Producer of Music Paradise Multimedia
11. Best Annual Album Design: P.K.14 – “1984” — Awarded by Li Wenfeng, Producer of Haishi Music, and Chen Lingwei, Judge of Chinese Music Media Awards
12. Best Annual Folk Award: Song Dongye — Awarded by Jiang Ming, Founder of Chinese Pop Music Media Awards, and Lao Cai (Cai Yuning), Founder of “Urban Folk Night”
13. China Rock Contribution Award: Zhang Youdai — Awarded by Ding Wu and Zhao Nian of Tang Dynasty
14. Special Award from the Standing Committee: LeMusic — Awarded by Yang Li, Deputy District Chief of Longgang District, Shenzhen, and Zhang Fan, Principal of Beijing Midi School of Music