Chinese rock seems to be in good hands

Like, stunningly good

I just went to a really great show at B10 in Shenzhen (a venue that does a brilliant jazz festival every year, if you’re into that), for a showcase event with four not-that-well-known bands. For 20 yuan (about 3 USD) a ticket we got to see…

灰色拳头 (Grey Fist) These guys, the final act of the evening, were actually the low point. I think they were really competent rockers, but they were just outclassed by what came before. Appreciate them first! This song is a bit of a downer, apparently inspired by the collapse of a school building that killed a bunch of children…

罗德信箱 (no idea what this band name means) These guys brought the poppiest energy of the evening. They had a zheng player, which is always popular, and a really charismatic frontman. This recording is of the performance I just watched.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1nw4m1k7HD

北暮和蓝色机器 (Bei Mu and the Blue Machine) This act got the thumbs up from my 13 year old. It was pretty cerebral rock, with quite a lot of electronic music elements, but a really distinctive drum sound, a singer who wasn’t afraid to scream a bit, and very heavy guitars. I was thinking at the time, it’s a bit like a balladeer meets Sepultura.

This is the venue’s video of the concert I just watched:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1uw4m1k7XV

索廷和深海坠落 (Suo Ting and Ocean Aircrash) kicked the evening off. The first few songs had a real Led Zep feel to them, which made me fall instantly in love. The heavy guitars, the rasping singer, plucked strings for contrast, and some pounding melodies - it was outstanding. I guess, not original, but the quality of the playing was extraordinary. Then they took a much poppier turn for the last few songs, which I didn’t love as much, but that’s OK!

Again, here’s the venue’s video:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1yr421M7xi

Overall, I was blown away. I try to go to a concert every few months or so (part of pretending not to be middle aged), and I don’t think I’ve seen as much energy and sheer talent as this in forever. They had technical music chops, and a strong punk energy, and loads of creative juices, so that it all sounded original. I saw a similar portmanteau show in Xiamen a couple of years ago, and it was good, but nothing like this quality. These are bands good enough to fill stadiums. Unfortunately, in the underdeveloped, underappreciated, and censor-ridden environment of China, they’re still doing group shows in tiny arenas. If you like rock, check them out, and support them if you can.

(Censorship story: it’s still pretty grim. I was at an Alan Walker concert a few months ago - anodyne Eurodance that even Chinese officials couldn’t object to. But his warmup act here in Shenzhen was a Hong Kong rapper, performing in Cantonese. I couldn’t understand a word, but only one song into the warmup act, the whole stadium was suddenly plunged into darkness. “Technical fault,” they announced, as the rapper disappeared. Two things were shocking: (1) The abruptness with which they censor in front of your eyes and lie about it; (2) my own slow reactions - it wasn’t till after the concert was over (with no further ‘technical faults’) that I suddenly realised, hey, that fault wasn’t technical at all. Anyway, this is what these bands have to worry about, if they ever wanted to write something that might offend some Party apparatchik.)