Support the Indie Music Scene!

Recently, I went out to Cyberport to support Rock Raiser- an outdoor rock festival featuring local and Beijing-based indie rockers. Rockraiser was supposed to happen last year but sadly it was rained out- even after they had already flown in all the bands. The organizers brought the same exact line-up here again this year but somehow, this time around, the PR for the event didn’t create as big of a buzz as it did last year. Hence when I got to Cyberport, though it was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon, the place seemed fairly quiet. There were however a few music veterans there such as Quan Yeomans of Regurgitator who came not to perform but to enjoy the performances. The crowd became more enthusiastic as the more well known bands came out to play.

The line-up was really interesting- particularly the last few bands. Local group Chochukmo woke everyone up from their lazy Saturday slumber with their hard-rocking metal meets rockabilly meets ‘90s grunge. The singer has a really amazing vocal range and managed to hit a bunch of screaming high notes quite impressively. My only complaint was that the band needed some kind of image overhaul. The only one that didn’t look like he was a uni student was the tattooed Mohawk-sporting guitar player.

Queen Sea Big Shark was next. They are a trio of too cool-for-school Beijing musicians that play post punk, nouveau new wave music with a dash of electronica thrown in. As soon as they took the stage, people who were previously hanging back came forward to rock out!

New Pants was the last band I saw. I remember seeing the video for ‘Dragon Tiger Panacea’ at a New China Design exhibit at the Tate Museum in London and thinking how cool it was. Since then, I’ve really liked their futuro-melodic synth-rock sound that has a nod to the Ramones as well as to traditional Chinese music. New Pants is easily one the most successful bands out of Beijing and I was really excited to see them live! Their set was a bit broodier than Queen Sea Big Shark but it was still very entertaining. I especially enjoyed the robotic dance that one of the band members did. It looked like something I’ve done before in an aerobics class.

The unfortunate thing about Rock Raiser was there wasn’t a huge audience, hence not much moral support for the bands. You’d think with an event that had such awesome new musicians, some of which are super famous in China, that the turnout would have been 10 times better. The crowd there was responsive but not as enthusiastic not as passionate as other concerts I’ve been to. It’s difficult for the performers to put on a fantastic show when they are not getting energy back from the audience.

Rockraiser was meant to promote the love of rock music but it was also created to raise money for the Child Welfare Scheme, an organization that helps disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people in Nepal. Click here to find out more about the charity and to find out what you can do to help, or how you can donate.

I jetted directly from Rock Raiser to Grappa’s where British Sea Power was playing to a packed house of mostly expat Anglo Saxon males. Everyone was clamoring over each other and spilling beer on each other in the process. British Sea Power is not super famous yet but they are well on their way to international stardom which their catchy indie-rock riffs and decidedly British style.

The crowd at Grappa’s was super responsive and the fans in the front were dancing jumping up and down screaming, dancing and having a grand old time. I’ve only heard a few of their songs before but the tunes were so catchy, they just stayed in your head even after the first time listening to them. I particularly liked the songs that the pale guitar player with the muscle-bound veiny arms sang. I also thought it was very cool that they incorporated a female violin player into the rock and roll mix.

I think Hong Kong residents need to make more of an effort to support the arts music scene in Hong Kong! Hiphongkong is a vehicle to find out about upcoming art and music happenings. Here is some stuff coming up soon. Help support art and music in Hong Kong!

http://hiphongkong.com/content/clockenflap

http://hiphongkong.com/content/owl_city_grappas_cellar

See all the photos and videos from Rockraiser here!

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