Big gigs ahead

Beyonce Knowles rocked the Shanghai Grand Stage on Nov 5, with 10 silvery hot costumes and 32 songs, including hits Crazy in Love and Baby Boy. Soon after the American R&B mega-star's concert, Linkin Park, a group of rap-rock titans with worldwide sales of 45 million, played in Shanghai to crowd of 25,000.

A month earlier in Beijing, Karen O of the New York rock band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs strode onstage at the Modern Sky Festival looking wild and futuristic in her cape of silver wings and blue-and-green striped tights. Shouting to 10,000 mud-soaked fans who shouted her lyrics right back at her, she thanked them in halting Mandarin: "Xie xie ni!" Just a couple of days earlier the Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli was at one of the capital's gleaming new clubs.

They are among the latest in a growing tide of Western acts hoping to explore the vast new entertainment market of China. So what do we have to look forward to this year?

Let's begin with Bjork.

More than a decade after her first visit to Beijing in 1996, Bjork will return to China with a new album, Volta. The Icelandic pop star will hold a concert at Shanghai's International Gymnastics Center on March 2 with an all-female brass band. Ticket information is already available on China's ticketing websites. Prices range from 300 to 1,600 yuan ($40 to $210).

Two other big Western acts will perform at the same venue in March: Grammy-nominated singer Harry Connick Jr, on March 9; and US pop rock band Maroon 5, on March 22.

March will also see one of the world's most popular groups, Backstreet Boys, perform in China as part of the worldwide Unbreakable tour. The group's shows in Nanjing on March 4, and Hangzhou on March 6, represent the first time that a mainstream Western pop group has performed in either city.

One of the world's best-selling female artists, Canadian singer Celine Dion will play her first concert in China this April and has submitted an entry for the Beijing Olympics theme song competition. Dion's Shanghai and Beijing shows, to be held respectively on April 11 and 13, are part of her upcoming Taking Chances World Tour 2008, which starts in South Africa in February.

"I am excited about my first ever Chinese mainland concerts in April," Dion said via video link at a press conference. "I can't wait to see everyone in China."

Dion's repertoire will include her hits My Heart will Go On and The Power of Love. Emma Entertainment CEO Jonathan Krane says the concert will also be a celebration of the upcoming Shanghai 2010 World Expo.

For the Western music industry, China is a mix of new challenges and familiar frustrations. But despite existing obstacles, the broad commercial potential makes the country an irresistible target.

Five years ago, a concert by Kenny G was big news. Now Chinese cities frequently turn up on touring itineraries. Last year Christina Aguilera, Eric Clapton, Nine Inch Nails, Avril Lavigne and Sonic Youth all played in China.

Linkin Park has already toured in Southeast Asia and the band reportedly grossed $750,000 from its single concert in China. It's little wonder then, that the group has decided to return this year with shows planned for Shanghai and Beijing.

During the past year, Beijing missed out on a few of the big names due to venue renovation for the Olympic Games. However, the capital has also hosted its share of foreign acts. January, alone, has seen shows from metal bands Dark Tranquility, Dream Theater, Nightwish and Skylark. In March, US rockers Incubus will play at Beijing's Starlive.

To capitalize on this emerging market, international touring companies have set up braches in China. William Morris opened a Shanghai office in 2004. Last year, Ticketmaster bought a majority stake in Emma Entertainment, a Chinese promoter and ticketing service responsible for luring acts like Linkin Park, Celine Dion and Bjork. Meanwhile, many domestic record labels are eager to introduce foreign music toChina.

"China is on the tip of everyone's tongue and there is huge number of fans there and they are hungry for foreign voices," says Jiang Wei, from Guitar China, the company which brought over Dark Tranquility.

Strolling through the festival grounds, clubs and venues like Beijing's Workers' Gymnasium, feverous fans, dressed in Burberry shirts and white sneakers, are everywhere. The Internet has flooded China with Western music, building an appetite for rappers like Talib Kweli and mainstream bands including Linkin Park.

Jiang says that since Guitar China started introducing Western singers and bands into China in 2001, it has been losing money. But he insists that they will continue to bring more acts here. When asked why, Jiang looks at the crowd of young Chinese lining up outside Yugong Yishan where Dark Tranquility's concert was held and says: "It's the future".

(China Daily 02/13/2008 page7)