Society
Bob Dylan is coming to town
By Chen Nan (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-04 08:41
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BEIJING - Bob Dylan's Chinese fans will finally see this legendary musician after years of waiting.
The event organizer, Live Nation, has confirmed that Dylan will give two full concerts for the first time in China. Tickets go on sale next week for the singer's gigs at Beijing Workers' Gymnasium and Shanghai Grand Stage on April 6 and 8.
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"We've been trying to hold Mr Dylan's concert in China for years and finally we've made it," said Wei Ming, general manager of Gehua Live Nation. "Chinese fans will see an authentic Dylan concert like in New York, Sydney, or any other city in the world."
The China concert dates fit perfectly into Dylan's world touring schedule, according to the organizer. Wei said he believed the concerts would be sold out given that fans here have been waiting for such a long time.
Ticket prices will range from 280 ($42.60) to 1,280 yuan. The organizer will also market a VIP ticket, priced at 1,961.411 yuan, which will have on it the date, April 11, 1961, of Dylan's first official gig in New York.
There was talk of Dylan giving concerts in China last April but this was later seen as only a tentative probing into the Chinese market.
Although the official announcement of Dylan's 2011 concerts in China has not been made public, fans have expressed online their eagerness to see the singer perform live here.
"I've been keeping my eyes on Dylan's official website and the website published his concert in Hong Kong on April 12. Although Beijing and Shanghai have not been put on the schedule, I hope this time it will happen," said Ni Xiaobei, a 29-year-old wine dealer from Hebei province who has been a fan of Dylan since he was 15 years old.
"I will definitely go if he is coming. He is 69 years old and he is a living legend," Ni added.
Zheng Jun, the 44-year-old Chinese rocker who is also a big fan of Dylan, expressed the same wish to see the concerts.
"It would be a rare chance for Chinese fans to watch such a great musician's live performance," said Zheng, who founded his first band in 1987 and covered lots of Dylan's classic songs.
"His music inspired me a lot and he was one of my heroes when I started doing music back then," he added.
Cui Jian, the godfather of Chinese rock 'n' roll, who has been compared to Dylan, John Lennon and Kurt Cobain by Western observers due to his talent and importance to Chinese rock music, once said in an interview that he wanted to be like many other Western rock legends who can still sing on stage at the age of 60 or 70.
And his homegrown rock songs, which were also influenced by Dylan, have become a spiritual guide for many young rock fans.
"Chinese rock music is still growing and developing and we need big international stars to come," he once said.
Before welcoming Dylan, fans in Beijing and Shanghai will see another established band from the West, the Eagles, perform on March 9 and 12.
Dylan and the Eagles are among the latest in a growing tide of Western acts hoping to enter the vast new entertainment market of China.
For the Western music industry, China is an emerging market, which cannot be ignored.
"The level of infrastructure and services are great in China, especially after the Olympic Games and World Expo," said Luke Hede, vice-president of promotion for Live Nation Asia Pacific.
"And for the musicians, the thrill of playing to crowds who may be seeing their live shows for the first time can be intoxicating.
"We can see that audiences in China are terribly hungry for live shows from big foreign stars like Dylan."
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