The show, as they say, must go on and, as recovery blooms, bands take to the stage, Chen Nan reports.
Indie rock band Miserable Faith performs in their first show after the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province, on May 15. The concert was livestreamed as a pay-to-watch gig and was warmly welcomed by nationwide music fans. (HASONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)
The beat goes on. Guitars, drums, the rhythm of life. The electronic pulse of recovery is beating strong. Chinese indie rock band Miserable Faith livestreamed a concert on May 15. This was their first show after the COVID-19 outbreak. Nearly 400,000 people watched the online concert which cost 18 yuan (US$2.52) per ticket. More than 4,400 people watched at 29 live-music venues in 23 Chinese cities.
The band performed their hits, including West Lake, Sing for You and Road Song during the 90-minute gig. They also expressed their gratitude and respect for health workers who fought against the pandemic with May Love Be Without Worries.
But the emotional best was saved to last. At the end of the concert, lead vocalist Gao Hu asked: "Do you know where we are? The Yangtze River is right behind us. We are performing in Wuhan." The location of the concert had been kept a secret. The reaction could have been picked up on the Richter scale.
On April 8, Wuhan, the city hit hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak, lifted outbound travel restrictions after 76 days of lockdown. People in Wuhan are embracing the city's rebirth, as daily life－restaurants, shopping malls, transportation, delivery services and manufacturing－gradually recovers.
Gao Hu, lead vocalist of Miserable Faith, performs at a recent concert held in Wuhan, Hubei province. (HASONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)
"We've been fighting together and everything will be fine," Gao said on stage. The band donated medical supplies worth 1 million yuan to Wuhan on Jan 24.
"I really miss the atmosphere of watching a rock show at a live-music venue," says 23-year-old Liu Xiao, one of the audience members who watched the show online from Beijing. "Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, there have been no shows for months. When Miserable Faith announced their online concert, I was very excited and bought the ticket. Although it was not a real concert, where I could enjoy their music live, I still felt great. Live music is going to come back when everything gets back to normal."
According to China's indie record label Modern Sky, organizer of Miserable Faith's Wuhan concert, it has released a series of online concerts with a pay-per-view model to support indie rock musicians with all the revenue going to the bands. The project, titled Strawberry Nebula 2020, also collaborated with over 60 live-music venues across the country to invite people to watch online shows with a limited capacity.
"We chose Wuhan not only because the city has been so strong during the fight against the pandemic but also because it's a must-go place for indie rock bands when they launch nationwide tours," says Zhang Chongshuo, who is in charge of Strawberry Nebula 2020. He adds that Wuhan is known for its vibrant indie music scene, especially punk rock.
Ouyang Haopeng of another group, Jiulian Zhenren, performs in the band's first virtual concert on May 17. (ZHOU CHEN / FOR CHINA DAILY)
Veteran drummer Zhu Ning, who is also the owner and founder of Vox, Wuhan's first live-music venue for indie music, joined in Miserable Faith's Wuhan concert as a drummer.
"Since January, we have canceled all our shows at Vox. It was not until April 8 that we went back to work," says Zhu, 48, who was a drummer of Wuhan punk rock band Shengming Zhi Bing (literally meaning "bread of life"). He left the band in 2000 and the band was renamed SMZB afterward. He named the venue Vox, referring to the voice of youth and freedom.
On May 15, over 100 fans watched Miserable Faith's Wuhan concert at Vox together.
According to Zhang, live-music venues have been affected severely by the pandemic, and it's unclear when they will begin to recover. Since February, some live-music venues have closed due to the lack of income, such as Tu Space in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and DDC in Beijing.
Strawberry Nebula 2020 also aims at helping live-music venues to recover from the heavy blow of the pandemic.
"Live-music venues gave birth to many great Chinese indie rock bands. With the pay-to-watch model, those live-music venues will get some income when people watch those online shows together," Zhang says.
Besides Miserable Faith, other Chinese indie bands have tried to reconnect with their fans by holding pay-to-watch online shows.
Veteran drummer Zhu Ning, performs at a recent concert held in Wuhan, Hubei province. (HASONG / FOR CHINA DAILY)
On May 17, the three-piece rock band from Lianping county, Guangdong province, Jiulian Zhenren, gave their first ever online show, which attracted about 120,000 audience members. The show cost 12 yuan per ticket.
"Since all the ticket revenues are given to the bands, it guarantees the bands' income during the pandemic," says music critic Deng Ke.
The young band, which sings in a combination of Mandarin and the Hakka dialect, celebrated their second anniversary on May 4. Band members are lead vocalist, guitarist and singer-songwriter Ouyang Haopeng, vocalist and trumpet player Mai Haipeng and bassist Ye Wanli.
They rose to instant fame after making their debut appearance on the reality show, The Big Band.
"We've been planning to perform our first concert for a long time but our plans were disturbed by the COVID-19 outbreak, which was very disappointing," says Ouyang, 26, who's also a primary school art teacher. Three years ago he quit his job at a film and television company in Shenzhen to return to his hometown. "The first show was very special to all of us."
Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn
