Pitching it just right
When Liang Heping went to British pop group Wham!'s concert in Beijing in 1985, he had never heard of the name, like most of the audience that night.
"It felt as if most of the audience were watching a peep show. When George Michael encouraged the audience to clap to the beat with him, and when some performers came down the stage to dance among the audience, few people reacted to them," recalled Liang, who was beginning his career as a rock keyboardist at that time.
The Rolling Stones' debut concert in China last April was a huge success, but most in the audience were foreigners. |
Wham! was one of the first Western pop groups to perform in China since China opened up to the world in the 1980s. The embarrassing scene Liang described was later included in a documentary film titled Wham! in China Foreign Skies.
Almost 20 years later, Liang went to another concert in Beijing, Whitney Houston at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium, only to witness another embarrassing scene. Houston performed at a venue with just 60 percent of the seats occupied. While she tried her best to lead the audience to sing along with her, few did.
"It seems that Wham! came to China too early, while Houston came too late," said Liang. "In the former case, Chinese audiences were not ready yet for such kind of music, and in the latter, Houston's music had already become outdated."
In the 1980s, Liang would go to the concert of every visiting Western group, because there were so few of them. In the 1990s and 2000s more and more Western pop musicians have performed in China, but Liang believes that the Chinese market for live pop music is still not up to international levels.
Paul Simon and Bjork performed in China in the 1990s, but both failed to attract much attention. Besides the barrier of language, the difference in terms of music aesthetics prevented most Chinese from enjoying their performances, according to Liang.
"In general, the Chinese are a melody people," said Liang. "Paul Simon has begun to adapt more rhythmic elements in his music at that time, while Bjork's music was too experimental for most Chinese audiences."
The recent Rolling Stones concert in Shanghai in April 2006 can be considered a success. They performed to an enthusiastic audience that filled the Shanghai Grand Stage, though the top class of tickets cost as much as 3,000 yuan ($385). However, more than 90 percent of the audience were foreigners.
"The show was great, but I felt as if I was not in China," said Shanghai music critic Sun Mengjin, who was among the few Chinese present in the audience that night. "This concert was meaningless for Chinese rock fans."
Liang said the success of a Western pop concert in China depended on many factors, including a suitable time, venue, appropriate ticket prices and a social climate of openness to foreign cultures. According to him, the most successful concert by a Western group in Beijing was by the Swedish group Roxette in 1995.
"When Roxette came, their music was very popular in China because of the dissemination of their CDs and their song in the film Pretty Woman," said Liang. "Their concert was a very interactive one, as the Chinese audience kept singing along with them."
Liang points out that in recent years most concerts of Western pop music in China were given by established musicians, for presenters were afraid young Western artists were not influential enough to guarantee the takings.
Rock legend Eric Clapton stages his first live concert in Shanghai on January 20. File photo |
Jiang Hong, chief editor of the New Century Weekly and a music critic who is better known as Ping Ke on the Internet, agreed with Liang's views on the current performance scene.
"I would like to see more shows of new bands, but what we can see in China now are always Western musicians who have passed their golden period," said Jiang. "We often go to these concerts in a nostalgic mood, for we have been listening to their music for many years and this might be the only chance to see them live, but we also need shows of new bands or singers so that we can enjoy the music of this age."
Still, Jiang said he would travel to Shanghai for Waters' concert on February 12, for Waters is a very important figure in the history of rock music. At the same time, he hopes that the annual Beijing Pop Festival and Beijing Midi Music Festival will bring more new bands to Chinese audiences.
Jiang said Beijing and Shanghai cannot be considered cosmopolitan cities in terms of music performances, and he usually grabs the limited opportunities to enjoy live music shows.
"I keep going to live shows because they keep thrilling and exciting me," said Jiang. "Listening to CDs is a one-way process, but a live show is an instant two-way exchange that involves not only sound but also a visual and physical experience. In terms of the quality of live shows, we have much to learn from the West."
Fortunately, more Western pop groups and singers are planning to perform in China. According to Sun, China concerts for Linkin Park, Coldplay, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney and Sting are all under negotiation.
"At Eric Clapton's concert in Shanghai on January 20, at least 40 percent of the audience were Chinese, and I'm expecting to see more Chinese at Roger Waters' concert," said Sun.
(China Daily 02/07/2007 page18)
