Music festivals on a roll

More than 20,000 music fans descended on the ancient town of Xiangcheng, Huoli Island, Suzhou, Jiangsu province, last weekend for the Holisland Rock Festival, featuring Cui Jian and Canadian punk band Simple Plan, among others.

In the next two months there will be six more music festivals across the country, including Guangzhou in Guangdong province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and Erdos in Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

With the success of the Midi Music Festival, Modern Sky Music Festival and Strawberry Music Festival, music festivals are quickly becoming part of the mainstream - a mixed blessing for a genre that has prided itself on being underground.

"The spirit of rock has been building in recent years among fans connected with the underground indie rock music scene," says Shen Lihui, the founder and organizer of Modern Sky Music Festival and Strawberry Music Festival, which have drawn nearly 100,000 people during the past three years at Beijing's Chaoyang Park and Tonghuihe Riverland Park.

Shen, who founded the indie music label Modern Sky in 1997, has signed contracts with over 100 indie bands and artists - such as New Pants, Joyside, Queen Sea Big Shark and Carsick Cars - who have become the main focus of outdoor music festivals and live shows around the country.

"I started when the country's music scene was still at an embryonic stage and rock musicians were largely ignored by the local media," says Shen, who was the lead singer with pioneering punk band Sober. "But in the past few years, we've seen a boost for rock music. And it seems that music festivals have become a trend in cities. I'm glad to be a part of it."

"Unlike our generation's rockers, who were poor and lacking stages, today's indie bands have more opportunity, especially at music festivals, which have over 10,000 fans screaming for you. It's very exciting," he says.

Mainstream music in China has long been dominated by Cantopop and Taiwan pop music acts that emphasize image over musical ability.

But now, the situation has changed and Chinese rock has a mass audience.

From Aug 27-29, Shen's company will hold the Greatwall Tanglewood Forest Music Festival in Yanqing county, under the Great Wall. With three stages in Tanglewood Forest Valley, the music festival will feature over 100 rock bands and singers.

And it's not only Beijing. Last year, Shen took the three-day Strawberry Music Festival to Xi'an, Shaanxi province, which attracted more than 20,000 fans a day.

Midi Music Festival, started by the Midi Music School, moved to Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, last year, with Cui Jian headlining.

"The entire independent music scene has come into the spotlight, which has brought rock back into the mainstream," says Liu Yifan, one of the organizers of InMusic Festival, which attracted nearly 100,000 fans over three days in August last year.

"With the support of the governments and music fans, I think it's a good time to be an indie rocker in China."

"The problem wasn't lack of bands, but lack of venues, stages and media attention," he says. "These music festivals are more like carnivals than just music. We have beer, grasslands, pollution-free air and tents here."

Taking place on the grasslands of Zhangbei county, a two-hour drive northwest of the capital, InMusic Festival will be held for the first time between July 30 and Aug 1 this summer.

Last year, fans had big acts like English trip-hopper Tricky and local rocker Xu Wei. This year features some of the top Chinese rock music artists, such as Zheng Jun, Xu Wei, as well as international musicians such as Las Vegas-based rock band Panic! At the Disco and the indie-rock band CocoRosie.

Liu says not all the music festivals are making profits but the situation is improving.

"China has emerged onto the international stage with the Olympic Games and Shanghai World Expo attracting lots of world attention. There's been a change. It's slow, but it's happening.

"I'm booking more Chinese bands these days to help the rock revival. I am confident of building up InMusic Festival into an international music festival, which will have world-class artists such as Lady Gaga joining in."

With many young rock talents appearing, rock music has been blended into TV shows, movie soundtracks and commercials, which has changed its image.

Once wary of rock music, the government is now more accepting. "There are old concepts about rock music and singers associated with people who drink, meet girls and are violent," says Sun Xiaohan, the Party Secretary of Zhangbei county. "But when we saw people coming here and having fun, we felt that we should shake off those negative images about rock music."

Sun says this year the government has invested 3 million yuan ($442,800) in the InMusic Festival and audiences of more than 30,000 a day are expected to attend.

"It's not that rock is strange, it's not that bizarre - it's simply a little ahead of its time in China," the rock pioneer Cui Jian once said in an interview. "China needs rock 'n' roll to come back."