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Rating: A while ago, I read on a website that it seems there are no venues in Naples suitable for hosting concerts. This is probably true, based on my experience in Neapolitan clubs I can seriously state that none are particularly valid to allow the audience to enjoy the music from the stage in a dignified way, whatever its quality may be.
A similar discussion can be made for Beijing, where despite the exorbitant number of clubs, bars, and venues offering live shows, the sound quality is almost always terrible, a victim of volumes too high for spaces too small, resulting in an indistinguishable mixture of the sound of various instruments and voices. Often in an evening with multiple bands performing, one gets the feeling that they all sound the same. And often, they really do. But I'll reserve the discussion of the originality or lack thereof of much of the music proposed for another occasion.
Conscious of this fact, I went yesterday evening to yet another rock show of the Beijing spring. The chosen venue was Star Live, where exactly a year ago Sonic Youth made themselves protagonists of a show that was really sloppy, full of an irritating and disrespectful arrogance and carelessness for people who had paid around 40 Euros (a fortune for an average young Chinese) to witness mistakes, last-minute rockstar attitudes, and abruptly or inexplicably interrupted songs. Let's leave it at that.
The star of the evening was Muma (??), a singer riding the wave for some years with his mix of post-gothic-dark (keep them coming) rock, whose latest work "The Jelly Empire" (????) had really impressed me positively for the originality of the proposal. Supporting groups included a guy who won the Chinese American Teen Idol (I don't know his name) and Joyside, a band I've long since decided to do away with their singer Bian Yuan (??) for his continuous affront to rock and roll and his blatant and failed imitation of Jim Morrison (whom he would pay tribute to during the evening with two covers, an inconclusive "Hello, I love you" with his band and a successful version of "When the music's over" in a duet with Muma).
I arrived with my girlfriend at 9:00 sharp, the gates had just opened, and people began to fill the venue with great calm. To give an idea, you can easily compare Star Live to the Saschall theater in Florence, only a bit smaller. The place is not huge, but the first impression is that it is empty by more than half, a phenomenon not unusual in these parts, perhaps because rock is still seen as something dangerous, or perhaps because the 10 Euro ticket didn't appeal to many young rockers.
The audience is divided between the hardcore fans of Muma and Joyside and the crazy fans of the teenage type that might not be all that bad in the end.
At 9:15, to my great dismay, Joyside took the stage. Drunk as usual (not surprisingly, their first album is titled "Drunk is Beautiful") they unleashed their usual repertoire of wild rock and tear-jerking ballads. Bian Yuan, as usual, is more out of it than the others, failing to notice that for the first songs people can't hear a blessed thing of what he mutters, worrying instead that the wide-brimmed hat that distinguishes him (and unfortunately has become a must among his fans as I can see around me) looks good on his head. This time the audio is a bit better than a few weeks ago, when I unfortunately had to witness their 4th anniversary show, but the basic problem remains the same: this band is the worst imitation of the worst British bands of the last 7-8 years (read Libertines, Babyshambles, Arctic Monkeys...). The singing in Chinglish is pathetic, their impeccable outfits and shimmering guitars fresh from the shop make them top of the class in terms of fashion style, but last in terms of emotions conveyed through their music. The pieces follow all the same until the touching ballad dedicated by the rebellious singer (who my girlfriend assures me looks identical to one of her little cousins) to the recently deceased grandmother. I hold up a lighter as an ironic gesture, but am misunderstood and everyone imitates me. The lowest point of my career.
Finally, they leave, and I'm happier.
Meanwhile, I notice that practically everyone is going in and out of the backstage, so I decide to throw myself in as well. To the security, I assure them that I am a journalist from an important Italian magazine and they let me through. In the dressing rooms, the atmosphere is cheerful, so I take a few photos with the band members (excluding Bian Yuan), steal a couple of beers, and return to the crowd.
Meanwhile, the pretty boy has already started with his repertoire of dedications to eternal love, complete with rock support from the two guitars by his side. Mid-performance, provoked by Muma supporters who want him off the stage immediately, the guy gets pissed and states that given the audience's rudeness, he has decided to keep playing until they kick him off. The audience fears he might be serious and falls silent instantly.
After another couple of soft rock songs, the dear unknown leaves, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
About 20 minutes later, a voice from the loudspeaker introduces the evening's headliners, Muma & Third Party. The first to take the stage is the guitarist, with a Hendrix hairstyle and a ridiculously floral outfit. Muma is slender and has a pirate-like look, he impressively reminds me of Marc Bolan. They start with some tracks from the album that will be released shortly but that everyone already knows. The audio is surprisingly good, except for the vocals being a bit too loud. The new tracks aren't bad, although in my opinion, the style is dangerously shifting towards more commercial and melodic shores. Part of the audience doesn't know the songs, so the band starts pulling out the classics, taking advice from the fans in the front rows. I'm also there mainly for the classics, so as soon as the young man starts ___, ___, ___, ____ the venue is practically filled with a thousand screaming voices, including mine, the only foreigner present and looked at with great curiosity and sympathy. The band is really good at what they do, the show is engaging, and the connection with the audience is really excellent. The only flaw is the final invitation to have Bian Yuan from Joyside on stage for a "When the Music's Over", sung only by me (many later asked me what song it was, to my great incredulity).
Before midnight (in accordance with Chinese laws), everything is already over. I head out into the warm Beijing night and return home, happy to have had the chance for the first time to listen to some music in fairly decent conditions.
I've had enough of Chinese rock for this weekend.
P.S. If anyone is interested in listening to this or other Chinese bands, just go to the site www.verycd.com, enter the name of the band, and download with eMule. Something is not bad if you listen without prejudice.
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