On the heels of the Black Eyed Peas and the Rolling Stones, big name international artists are a-knocking on China’s concert door.

Four young Brits dressed in sharp black suits step onto a brightly lit stage. The quartet have hardly picked up their guitars or drumsticks before the crowd erupts into a rock-fueled standing roar. It's the inaugural Shanghai Red Flag Rock Festival and groupies scream with wild abandon as Coldplay, Oasis and and Justin Timberlake successively take the stage. This wet dream for concert aficionados isn't quite a reality yet, but if recent China line-ups are any indication, China is well on its way to becoming a permanent tour stop on the world stage. In January, Eric Clapton played to a sold-out audience of 9,000 at the Shanghai Grand Stage. In the spring and summer of 2006, the Rolling Stones and Black Eyed Peas incited equal electricity amongst buzzing Chinese audiences. A still nimble Mick Jagger tore up an auditorium packed to 80 percent, while a well-endowed Fergie shook her ass in both the capital city and in Shanghai to sold out venues.

“The first time I ever saw an audience at the Shanghai Grand Stage stand from start to finish was at the Black Eyed Peas concert,” reminisces Robb Spitzer, whose company, China West Entertainment, pulled off the knockout show.

When a band like The Rolling Stones comes to China and sells out, it signals to the world that China has arrived.

Jonathan Krane, president of Emma Entertainment—the concert organizer and promoter behind Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones and Backstreet Boys—says that, “When a band like The Rolling Stones comes to China and sells out, it signals to the world that China has arrived. After that concert, we experienced an increase in inquiries from international artists.” Indeed, 2007 boasts an impressive line-up of international vocalists, rock bands and hip hop groups. Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters is set to please on Feb. 12, while Kenny G and his saxophone will serenade Shanghai on March 29 and Beijing on March 31. According to sources, big names like Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera and Linkin Park are toying with a China stopover. These international acts indicate that Beijing and Shanghai have a very real potential to one day supplant Hong Kong and Japan as Asia’s leading world-class music destinations.

You now see more bands who are willing to make concession and scale down their show to play here.

This mutual love between inter-national artist and Chinese audiences is a new phenomenon that’s just recently begun to make noise in concert-planning circles. “If you’d called these artists up four or five years ago, they would have hung up on you,” says Steve Sybesma, the executive director and CEO of China West. “But today many international artists are excited to come to China; they’ve heard about it, they're curious and they want to experience it for themselves.”

Furthermore, for international artists, China just makes good business sense.

“China is the anchor of Asia, the most lucrative future market for such artists,” says Krane, pointing to China’s potential untapped market of 1 billion wallets. For the time being, however, ticket prices must remain low enough to attract Chinese buyers, which does not always gel with an artist’s financial expectations. “We’ve had to turn down artists who typically play to large arena crowds—18,000 seats—when no such venue exists in Shanghai,” says Adam Wilkes of China West. Currently, China’s still-developing market can't handle a 25,000 seat or more show (like at the Shanghai Stadium), but “you now see more bands who are willing to make concessions and scale down their show to play here,” says Wilkes.

Both Emma and China West predict that as second tier cities like Guangzhou and Chengdu continue to develop economically, the mainland will soon be able to support three to four major concerts per artist. This will set it apart from Singapore and Hong Kong, where there is only one major city to play, perhaps even one day rivaling Japan, which now hosts six to seven concerts per artist and is currently the world’s number two concert destination, attracting stars like Pink, Lenny Kravitz, Sheryl Crow and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as hosting the annual Fuji Rock Festival.

Bringing a hot international act to China, however, involves a new breed of challenges through which international concert organizes must maneuver.

One of the biggest difficulties is luring a local audience to an artist who they do not know. When Macy Gray made a guest appearance at 2006’s Grand Prix, China West organized a duet between Gray and Chinese favorite Karen Mok. “We brought Macy to Shanghai as an international element to complement a number of top Chinese artists who were performing at the Grand Prix. We'd like to arrange more such duets that allow international artists to collaborate with Chinese artists, while simultaneously exposing Chinese audiences to new music,” says Spitzer.

Sourcing equipment poses another challenge. “We have to accommodate artists and insure that they get the same caliber of show they get in the rest of the world,” says Sybesma. For Robbie Williams's concert (ultimately cancelled due to the artist’s personal reasons), that meant a list of 150 hard-to-find pieces of equipment. "The level of Williams' production and the size of his stage and technical sets have never been seen before in China," says Sybesma. "In our process of trying to get things done, we were repeatedly told 'no, no, no' by venue management, but eventually we would have gotten everything we needed for a world class show. The job gets done, and working in the same venue will be easier next time."

We have A-list artists now saying, ‘We’ve played everywhere else, let’s try China next.'

Despite the potential hurdles facing concert organizers and promoters, the Chinese crowd wants concerts and, it seems, the artists want China. Krane is optimistic about the future of concerts in Beijing and Shanghai and says that, “We have A-list artists now saying, ‘We’ve played everywhere else, let’s try China next.’”

It all started with just a few concerts here and there and now international rock stars are begging to put China on their tour map. Here's a little international China rock history.

1980

Wham

When George Michael and Wham burst into Beijing in 1985, the best word to describe the seminal music event was epic. Big hair and '80s fashion collided straight with a brand new People's Republic of
China, setting the stage for every major act thereafter.

2004

Elton John

This eclectic British piano man sang a few tunes at the Shanghai Grand Stage in September and arguably put Shanghai on the concert tour map.

Whitney Houston

American vocalist Whitney Houston sang for both Shanghai and Beijing in July. Houston purportedly said that China was her “favorite country.”

Backstreet Boys

This tweenie pop band has played China, twice. They first stopped in Beijing and Shanghai in September, right on the heels of Elton John. They donated a portion of ticket sales to China's Special Olympics organization

2005

Diana Krall

When jazz vocalist Diana Krall debuted in Shanghai, she brought along hubby Elvis Costello. The performance competed against the memory of a hit Norah Jones concert, forcing organizers to space out their talent and think "venue" more when booking acts.

Robin Gibb

Former BeeGees member Robin Gibb showed Shanghai he's still stayin' alive. If you ask us, he's just barely. Will somebody feed him please?

Norah Jones

This Grammy award winning darling of the blues, soul and jazz world sold out Shanghai and Beijing 10 days before her March shows. A long line of nearly 1,000 forlorn fans stood outside the venue, ticket-less, the day of the performance.

2006

Backstreet Boys

They said they'd be back, and back they came to Shanghai in January as part of their Never Gone tour.

Black Eyed Peas

This group sold out shows in both Beijing and Shanghai in July, and shook their junk in the truck to a starry-eyed audience

James Brown

This soul man sold out Shanghai's Yunfeng Theater to a mainly expat crowd. Brown enjoyed the intimate show so much that he was planning to return in 2007

Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger and his stadium-sized blow up dolls drove Shanghai concert-goers in to a frenzy. It was possibly the country's biggest rock and roll success so far.

Macy Gray

This sultry singer played a short, garbled set of songs with Karen Mok at the Shanghai Grand Prix. Promoters look to pair more Western singers that aren't well known in China with popular Asian artists to broaden the horizens of Chinese audiences.

2007

Roger Waters

The Oriental Pearl Group LiveNation is bringing over Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, who first merged classical music and rock in 1966. He'll be at the Shanghai Grand Stage on Feb. 12.

Christina Aguilera

Fergie loosened China up first, paving the way for Grammy-award winning (1999-Best New Artist), sexy pop diva Christina Aguilera who purportedly has a Back to Basics Asian tour planned for 2008.

Kenny G

This saxophonist is an old China hand whose CCTV 9 interview recently re-aired. Kenny G (the G stands for Gorelick) will return to Shanghai thanks to China West in March for another concert. He first visited back in 2002.

Bugz in the Attic

These nine nonchalant artists make music that will make you want to dance like you've got ants upstairs, such as 2004's "Booty La La." They play anything from jazz to hip hop to electro and Spli-t Works is bringing their crazy stage antics to Shanghai and Beijing from March 16-17.

Sonic Youth

This just in: Rumors abound that Indie headliner and rock inspiration Sonic Youth will blast into Shanghai and Beijing this April for their debut China performance. Stay tuned to CW for more information on dates and venues.

Ziggy Marley

Breaking News: This reggae icon and son of legendary Bob Marley will bring his Jamaican grooves to Beijing this spring. A major moment for China's reggae movement.

Linkin Park

Ticketing websites are already advertising a supposed Linkin Park concert on Apr. 14 in Shanghai. But don't get all worked up yet—we all remember what happened when the media reported that Jay-Z was supposedly coming. But unlike Jay-Z, these boys don't curse, so vulgar lyrics shouldn't be a tripping point.

Bon Jovi

In April 2006, John Bon Jovi played six concerts in Japan but skipped over China. Rumors, however, say that he is considering a Shanghai stop in 2007. We're Livin' on a Prayer.