BEIJING POP FESTIVAL 2007: Do Believe the Hype!
What do Trent Reznor, Chuck D and Flavor Flav, Marky Ramone, David Johansen and Silvain Silvain,
Brett Anderson, and Cui Jian all have in common? a) Each one of them has had an historic impact on the direction of modern music b) They each have a large and dedicated following with the local Chinese c) They will all share the main stage of the Beijing Pop Festival on Sept. 8th and 9th.
China’s premier music event is back for the 3rd year in a row and will feature a famed set of international headliners. One of the most important and innovative bands of the past 20 years, Nine Inch Nails, will close out the festival on Sunday night. PE, universally regarded as hip hop’s greatest group and, celebrating their 20th anniversary, will close Saturday night with a career spanning set. On both days we will be treated to two of punk music’s most iconic artists: Marky Ramone, the most visible surviving member of the legendary Ramones and their longest serving drummer, will play a Ramones greatest hits set before NIN. The original line up of the New York Dolls, one of the most influential bands of all time, will perform on the Saturday. As the only non-US international headliner coming this year and as the only returnee to China,
Brett Anderson, the founder and voice of Suede, a Britpop legend, will play a set mixing solo and Suede material between PE and the New York Dolls. Finally, we are honoured to have Cui Jian, China’s very own rock ‘n’ roll godfather, perform on the Sunday for his very first outdoor gig in Beijing! With the names participating this year, one would be hard pressed to find a more diverse and legendary mix of artists at any music festival around the world. It’s also a pretty forthright group of individuals to be performing in the middle of China’s capital. And, as far as progression from the ’05 and ’06 line ups go, it is clear that the bar is being raised from previous Beijing Pop Festivals.
Chaoyang Park is again the venue and we have worked hard to improve the general festival area. The 2007 BPF will continue to feature exciting side stages. Hit FM will host one stage that will showcase some of China’s rising talent. This stage will be headlined by the wonderful Swedish band Mando Diao. The eccentric Japanese garage rock outfit-
The Crimea, The Tumbleweed, Doc Holiday & Apache Train will also perform.
This year, the BPF received over 120 band requests for the Rock For China main stage alone. We are excited that a variety of top local artists like Xie Tian Xiao, Brain Failure, Thin Man, Muma, The Honeys (from Shanghai), Joyside and many others will play. In addition, the RFC stage will also feature Rize, who are one of Japan’s biggest rock bands, and Mumiy Troll (one of Russia’s most popular acts and will be a gig that is sure to be a highlight for Beijing’s enormous Russian contingent).
Putting on an event like the Beijing Pop Festival is particularly challenging in China- there are issues one simply does not have to deal with if the event was being held in any other country. But it is necessary that China have its own major music festival that can invite and handle top line international acts while continuing to support the local music scene. The BPF is now, after 2 successful events, the only music event in China that is recognized on a global scale. To this end, Rock For China is very grateful to the BPF’s generous sponsors: Mastercard and RR Donnelley & Sons continue to support our vision to make the BPF one of Asia’s most significant music events. Hennessy VSOP, Christian Dior, Sports Illustrated, and Gibson also continue to make this festival grow.
Finally, the Beijing Pop Festival will continue to have the least expensive tickets of any major music festival in the world. Advance tickets are 200RMB for one day and 380RMB for the weekend. Show day tickets will be 250RMB. Quite simply, these figures are even less than one off shows at local venues by smaller bands and is in line with Rock For China’s policy of keeping ticket prices as low as possible regardless the size of artist.
The Beijing Pop Festival looks forward to seeing all of you at Chaoyang Park on the weekend of Sept 8th and 9th. Till then, try revisiting some of the greatest albums of all time like NIN’s ‘The Downward Spiral’ or PE’s ‘Fear of a Black Planet’. Or blast one of the many anthems by the Ramones. This is the music that defined a certain period of all our lives and we look forward to reminiscing with you soon. Hey Ho! Lets Go!
