Forget Christmas carols, romantic melodies and anything cheery.
For rockers, there's only one destination tomorrow night - the rock
bar Yuyintang for the long-awaited comeback concert by Tongue. One
Shanghai critic has called the band "powerful, shocking and
impressive."
Tongue, a veteran rock band
from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has distinctive
characteristics of northern Chinese rock bands — concrete and
majestic.
The veteran rock band from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
disappeared from the scene two years ago shortly after its last
performance in Beijing. Tomorrow night's performance in the small,
300-seat venue marks the reappearance of the revered band with new
guitarist Zhou Shenjun who joined two years ago.
The band last played in Shanghai four years ago. Shanghai has no
rock scene to speak of, Yuyintang is one of the city's only rock
venues and it is quite small, so fans are puzzled by the choice of
Shanghai for the comeback.
The band members live in Beijing, the center of China's rock
scene that has its roots in the north. The southern music scene,
like southern art, is considered milder, more gentle and fluid by
comparison.
"I have waited for two years, there is no way I will miss the
live show tomorrow night," said Cao Jun, a fan from Beijing who has
lived in Shanghai for a year.
For many, Tongue is king of the underground, and it always rocks
the house.
Tongue sees itself as people's musicians and would prefer to
sing on the streets. It sings of China today; some songs are angry
and funny, jeering at the middle class and pursuit of wealth. No
love songs by Tongue - they sing of sex not love.
Tongue was founded in 1995 in Xinjiang by young Han Chinese.
They moved to Beijing in 1997. In 2004, the guitarist left and the
band went through a major two-year readjustment - only now are they
ready for their comeback.
Now the band has Wu Tun as vocal, Wu Junde on bass, Zhu Xiaolong
and Zhou Shengjun on guitar, Guo Dagang on keyboard and Wu Wei on
sound control.
Since all members are from Xinjiang and the band has been based
in Beijing for 10 years, Tongue has distinctive characteristics of
northern Chinese rock bands - concrete and majestic, like the vast
tough terrain and rough people - very different from the delicate
style and sound most bands in Shanghai go for.
The Chinese rock scene is commonly divided into north and south,
with bands, fans and atmosphere considered quite different.
"I think the biggest difference is in audiences. In Beijing, I
feel that the performers on the stage and the audiences there are
all rockers. They all wear slack T-shirts with metal decorations
everywhere. Audiences are very involved, they get crazy with the
bands," said John Fei, a local music critic.
He thinks the Shanghai audiences are pretty tame. "In Shanghai,
well, there are definitely crazy ones, but most audiences seem like
they just got off from work."
In fact, Cao takes a dim view.
"There is no rock scene in Shanghai," declares fan Cao who hails
from Beijing but now lives in Shanghai. "The north, especially
Beijing, is always the center of rock. There are so few live
performances in Shanghai and they cannot be compared to the ones in
Beijing at all. Most times, audiences don't move at all. I mean,
they are not there to listen to opera or something. It is
rock."
That's probably why many Shanghai bands simply quit and many
live houses, such as Music Warehouse, disappeared.
"Due to the lack of a rock environment, only a few Shanghai
venues are willing to hold rock shows, and then only a few
performances. It's almost impossible to maintain a venue relying
solely on rock shows," says Joecy Wu, marketing director for
Yuyintang.
In turn, it's difficult for rock bands to survive on so few
performances, so they quit. And rock culture is difficult to
sustain without good bands. "So the whole scene becomes a vicious
circle," said Wu.
Tongue vocalist Wu, a veteran rocker from the north, takes a
more positive view of the Shanghai music scene.
"There's a clear difference between the two sides but I don't
think we can say which one is better," he told Shanghai Daily in an
interview. "Rock music in Beijing is often more solid, like a large
piece of dough while the music in Shanghai is more liquid, flowing
freely."
Some city rock fans, such as Wang Shubin, share his view.
"Though Beijing has more rock bands, most of them are all the
same while the few bands in Shanghai have very distinctive styles."
Moreover, Wu also sees a promising future for the Shanghai rock
scene.
"I hold a positive view. In a few years, let's say five, the
whole scenario will be very different. After all, Shanghai is the
fastest developing city now and a strong economic foundation would
definitely help the music scene."
However, critic Fei is skeptical.
"Rapid economic development certainly would bring something to
the music industry in general, but would it really do something for
underground-style music? I doubt it."
Still, Fei welcomes Tongue to Shanghai, calling them "powerful,
shocking, and impressive, especially in live performances." He
attended a couple of live shows four years ago and finds their work
intriguing.
"When Wu Tun sings, he doesn't hop like most rockers. Other band
members do, they can go crazy and keep moving and jumping on the
stage. But Wu Tun does not, he stands with one side to audiences
and sings without moving. The sharp contrast between the vocalist
and the musicians is very interesting."
Tongue is well known for blending performance art into their
shows. The musicians once wore white robes and painted each other
while singing "Painter." They are not the only ones using
performance art, but they produce one of the best mixes of sight
and sounds.
Tomorrow night at Yuyintang, there will be no luxurious
designer's decorations, just a wall of pictures from Tongue's live
performances.
No sparkling lights and fancy stage, but a space to be rocked.
Tomorrow night, stick out your tongue and yell with Tongue.
(Shanghai Daily December 25, 2006)
