Way to go Chengdu! We were spoilt for choice this weekend; it’s really encouraging to see such a strong contribution of class acts come from outside the big smokes. We’re hoping the perception that “it all goes down in the top tier” is going to shift as more developing cities step up to the plate and get their scenes organised. Here’s a wrap-up of what we hope you didn’t miss:
Douban’s “公告牌之外” series comes to a close
Douban has been actively supporting underground artists since May with this series of live shows. On Saturday “公告牌之外” culminated in a line-up featuring Chengdu’s Hiperson and The Sound and the Fury at XP. We’re hoping Douban will pick up on this next year and are expecting some more great things – 2013 saw acts from Xi’an, Dalian and in this final show as said, Chengdu. One of the comments we’ve been hearing a lot recently concerns live houses not having enough fresh talent through the doors. Douban is helping remedy that – without massively commercialising the initiative – how refreshing.
Made in Chengdu back for another year
On the very same day Chengdu’s Fanmate Art Museum hosted a big show, featuring 14 local acts including Gajin 尕金，Tree 树子，Crow’s Feet 鱼尾纹 and Monkey Legion 猴子军团. The event is pretty much a pure celebration of music: no logo slapping, low prices, good intentions all around. This reflects the intentions of the masterminds, which include Gao Xin (高欣 – The Trouble’s frontman / Mosaic drummer), Zhuo Yue (卓越 – Mosaic’s guitarist), Tan Geng (谭庚 – a booking agent / radio DJ) and Jef Vreys (owner of New Noise label). You can read more of the backstory here.
(Here’s a preview video of the event.)
