Music Roundup: August 2009
When it rains, it pours. Nothing else quite explains the music storm you’re about to head into.
First, fasten your seatbelt and return your tray table to its upright position, because Pilot Records is about to take you on a month-long ride. If you’re lucky enough to read this before the end of the month, you still have a chance to catch the first day of Summer Pilot 2009, which kicks off with local legend Xie Tianxiao (aka XTX; see photo, above) on July 31. The five-week concert series takes place at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium (not to be confused with the National “Bird’s Nest” Stadium just across the road).
If you don’t have the good fortune of catching the opening day of Summer Pilot, you still have every weekend until the end of the month to make up for it. (Plus, XTX will be at the InMusic Festival; more on that below.) Individual lineups are listed by day in Events, though be forewarned that organizers were still swapping bands around at the time of press. Best to call the festival’s English hotline (6417 7845) or check the website (http://i.damai.cn/summerpilot2009_musicfestival) in case of last-minute changes.
As promised, more on InMusic, which, true, isn’t in Beijing, but isn’t that far away, either. And if a two-hour bus ride to the spectacular Zhangbei Grasslands (leaving every 15 minutes) is too much to ask in exchange for a music extravaganza featuring over 60 bands, including Tricky and The Soundtrack of Our Lives, then maybe you don’t deserve to be there. At least the organizers don’t plan on waiting ten years (like Woodstock) for a rerun; if all goes well, the festival should happen annually for the next decade. More info at www.inmusicfestival.cn (Chinese only).
It’s been a while since Beijing saw the opposite of the hippie – that is, a big-time popstar like Kylie Minogue, who came to Beijing way back in December. Enter Mya. You know, that R&B singer who danced nasty with Sisqo ten years ago? The quiet one on the “Lady Marmalade” remake of 2001? Oh, just see photo, below. With her most recent release on Japanese label Manhattan Records distributed only in Japan, Mya may have her eye on getting into the Asian market.
Well, if she does, she’s got some competition, and for what it’s worth I’m putting my money down on Dizzy Hemmy (aka “DH” of DH & Chinese Hellcats). Not that Hemmy’s the type of pop princess to dance nasty. Quite the contrary. She’s got an arm full of mean tattoos and pipes to blow your mind. And swingin’ style, too. Ding ding!