Pioneers of rock music in China chug on
SHANGHAI: Pioneers of rock music in China are chugging on.
That’s the observation from a three-hour high voltage gig at the 18,000- seat Mercedes-Benz Arena here over the weekend.
It featured Cui Jian, Zheng Jun and Hong Kong singer Steve Wong Ka-keung, all in their 50s.
If you thought they’d most probably be hobbling along and sounding like a jarring cement mixer, you got it wrong. In their fifties when most rockers are wrestling with prostate cancer and a wide range of other ailments, they seemed energetic enough to shake the rafters.
Zheng, 51, had the crowd from the first chords of Shooting Stars, an adaption of British rock band Coldplay’s hit single, Yellow.
But the gig clearly belonged to Cui Jian, 57. His high- energy set and versatility on the trumpet and guitar got the crowd craving for more.
He let it rip with best known hits such as Nothing to My Name, A Red Cloth and Wild on the Snow.
The crowd went wild, with a large section of the crowd of middle-aged fans singing along.
Tickets, priced between 380 yuan ( RM239) and 1,680 yuan, were sold out long before the show started.
It was more like “a carnival or a get-together party” for Chinese rock music lovers, said Wang Jiang, a pop music critic in Shanghai, after watching the show.
“People welcomed the return of these rock stars with true love, although their performance was not as good as when they were in their prime,” said Wang.
On social media posts, rock fans grabbing the concert tickets are called “Old Cannons,” because the audience born in the 60s and 70s joked about their forever young spirit.
“What does rock and roll mean to you?” A short video recording street interviews was displayed during the concert, showing taxi- drivers and restaurant staff answering the question.
The answers were very much alike — “Be young, forever young.” “Be true to yourself.” “No matter how hard life punches you, you fight back and never give up.”
The concert reached a climax near the end when Cui Jian returned to the stage and belted out Greenhouse Girl.
“You asked where I’m heading, and I pointed to the sea. I wanna be back, back to my old country road,” the audience roared with the singer as the lyrics moved them to tears.
“In China, 1980s and 1990s were the golden age of rock. At that time, Chinese rock music, which was full of idealism and vitality, exploded like a music bomb among Chinese youth,” said Wang.
But the influence of rock music has since gone on the wane, as the new millennium saw rapid economic growth in the country. People were too busy to pursue the so- called rock and roll spirit, he said.
“Going to a concert can be very nostalgic. Rock music has eternal classics. They remind us of the era full of faith,” said audience member Naomi, who was born in the early 1970s.
“I’m glad I came tonight. The rock and roll spirit is still alive in China. Rock never dies,” she marvelled.
People welcomed the return of these rock stars with true love, although their performance was not as good as when they were in their prime. Wang Jiang, pop music critic in Shanghai