Poshangcun plays to a swooning crowd at The Sound Stage Music Awards 2014. The event was held at Hit FM Live in Beijing on October 24, 2014. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Cui Chaoqun]
Independent music in China may be more independent than music produced in other countries, due to the small number of independent music labels in China. So Chinese bands tend to create the music they want without so much pressure about what "the labels" want. But the scene as such is definitely flourishing, and anyone wanting to see proof need look no further than The Sound Stage Music Awards show.
Now in its second year, the event was held in the expansive Hit FM Live club (formerly Tango). Texan Jonathan Alpart, spearheaded the show and is also its gregarious host. For the Friday night show, Alpart was joined by EZ FM's Wang Wei, and the pair led the crowd through the raucous event of loud music, prizes (including a Stratocaster guitar, courtesy of Fender). Alpart even proved his punk rock credentials in a beer guzzling contest with audience members.
October 24's The Sound Stage Music Awards show recognized some of China's foremost independent music acts, predominantly chosen by The Sound Stage. But this year also included voting via Baidu Music (a Chinese search engine's music page) for categories including Best Live Performance and Best New Band. Only one vote was permitted per Weibo (a microblog) account.
Alt-pop band Escape Plan took the prize for Best Live Performance, garnering both the loudest cheers, though a few indie scenesters rolled their eyes. "I would've chosen P.K.14 or Re-TROS as the bands that have extra power when they play live," shrugged Lolly Fan, who works in the local music industry.
Of course, the awards were just part of the evening, and an impressive line-up of bands performed throughout the evening. Poshangcun played their Beatles-esque brand of Britpop, gaining new fans along the way, as evidenced by the number of hands waving in the air like teenagers'.
Residence A played an impressively energetic set: frontman Gou Zhaozhao's stage presence and strong vocals paired with some of the catchiest songwriting in China had the audience rocking throughout.
Never Before's stoner rock stepped up the abrasion with a hard rock set, strutting and swaggering like rockers should. Beijing hard rock devotees have always been a part of the scene and this was their chance to pump their heads back and forth, fists in the air.
The night wrapped up with a performance by the quintessential Beijing indie rock band, Hedgehog. They played a set of new and old (alt-pop, a la Jesus and Mary Chain) songs from their seven-year repertoire. Hedgehog has been an anchor in the Beijing indie scene so it was only appropriate to round things off with the fuzzed out tones of ZO's guitar.
After the show, Alpart was obviously enjoying the fruits of his labor. But he still had one eye on the future. "Wait 'til you see what's coming up next," he smirked. "If you think that was good, you ain't seen nothing yet."