Glastonbury, Woodstock and now Haidian Park. Upwards of 60,000 live music fans will converge in Beijing from May 1-4 to be entertained by some of the most famous names in Chinese and overseas rock music. Bigger and better than ever, the eighth instalment of the Beijing Midi Music Festival, China’s largest rock event, will feature 65 Chinese bands and 20 foreign acts on five separate stages from noon to 10 p.m. each day.

Even though half of Haidian Park is currently a construction site, festival organizer Zhong Sheng says, “It’ll all be done by May 1, don’t worry. I’m really excited about this year’s event. Midi is a spiritual thing. It's against mass culture. It’s against consumerism. It’s against tradition. It’s against the mainstream. It’s about the younger generation enjoying music and freedom, and having the right attitude.”

Joining perennial Chinese favorites such as Reflector, Subs, Muma, Voodoo Kungfu, AK47, Second Hand Rose, CMCB and Ouyang will be a host of top international bands including the critically-acclaimed Swedish group The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Rock Hard Power Spray and Hatesphere (Denmark), Wufgang (Iceland) and from England Mishkin, The Crimea and Mohair. Dave Stewart, one half of the former supergroup the Eurhythmics, will also be making an appearance in connection with Greenpeace.

MIDI SCHOOL—WE BUILT IT, AND THEY CAME

THE HISTORY

Performing an annual pilgrimage to check out their favorite rock bands entertaining the masses, 21-year-old Liu Tao and his friends had no problems enduring a 20 hour train journey and sleeping rough for a few nights. “Last year was our third time—it's like a tradition now,” he says. Like thousands of other young people from all over the country, Liu and his friends gathered in a Beijing park to watch more than 40 bands at the four day 2006 Midi Music Festival.

This year more music fans than ever are expected to journey from every corner of China, and further afield, to attend the eighth installment of what is rapidly becoming China's very own Glastonbury. Expect young Chinese spitting beer, hundreds of impromptu guitar and bongo sessions and the latest in punk fashion.

“Our goal is to develop this into China's biggest and best contemporary music festival,” says Zhang Fan, festival director. Zhang, principal of Beijing's Midi School of Music—China's only school teaching rock, jazz and other modern genres—watched Midi grow from a concert for student bands in 2000 into an international event attended by tens of thousands of people. “We are successful," says Zhang, "because the music has always come first.”

Sun Ye, Midi School's management officer, is positive about the way that the Midi Festival is developing: “Events like this are still really rare in China, so Midi will definitely drive the development of the whole music industry, especially rock. Midi also gives young people an excuse to have fun and enrich their lives. After all, this is our Woodstock!”

The progression of the Midi Festival from its humble beginnings is mirrored by the Midi School's own development. Started back in 1993, the school received no government support, with only one classroom and ¥100,000 to buy equipment. In 2001, however, the school moved to its present, well-equipped campus and there are plans to set up their own record label and recording studio, a publishing company and a live house for weekend rock concerts.

Last year half of the performing local bands were Midi School graduates, and 80 percent of all musicians were at one point students. “The Midi Festival works to promote mutual learning and helps local bands show themselves,” says music teacher Li Guobiao. “Every year some new bands are introduced at Midi, which pushes the local music scene forward. The festival is free for Midi School students, and is actually a part of the teaching program. Talented students are encouraged to perform in and out of school. The Midi Festival is perfect practice!”

If all that wasn’t enough, the party in the park will continue after hours in the Apres Midi series of events, designed to give audiences a second chance to enjoy a selection of top foreign bands. Overseas acts will be paired up to perform each night of the festival at Beijing’s newest live music venue, The Star Live. Rock on!

1-2-3!

GET SCHOOLED IN THE ART OF MIDI

1 THE PEOPLE. The audiences of Midi's past were graced by stars of the stage and screen. Expect to get your head-banging hair tangled with the likes of famed singer Wang Fay and the husband of her child, Li Yapeng, who were present at last year’s festival. Also rumored to show is rock legend Cui Jian and well-known actress Zhou Xun, who recently appeared in "The Banquet."

2 THE SOUND. With its eclectic mix of nearly every genre imaginable, Midi is the melting pot of music. Past performers included: Hang on the Box (punk), The Verse (British pop), The Cold-Blood Animals (grunge), Chunqiu (progressive rock), Tomahawk (death metal), Buyi (folk) and Sand (blues).

3 THE CLOTHES. It’s warm. There's beer. And more than a touch of punk fills the atmosphere. Minimal clothing is the way to go. The typical outfit of past Midis goes something like this: converse, torn up shorts, band shirts and safety pins. Ultimately, consider wearing something that can survive beer spills, grass stains and sweat—the makings of a fine music fest! — Whitney Rosenburg

not to MISS

TSOOL tools up for MIDI

Swedish sextet The Soundtrack of Our Lives, or TSOOL as their fans call them, is taking a break from touring to record a new album, but when the chance to play Midi came up, they couldn't resist. “We've been around the world. We've played just about everywhere, including weird places like Greenland, and we've always wanted to come to China,” TSOOL frontman Ebbott Lundberg tells City Weekend after a recent one-off show at the Mercury Lounge in New York. “We really thrive off the challenge.”

TSOOL broke big in 2002 as part of the Swedish new wave which included The Hives and The International Noise Conspiracy. Their music is grounded in punk (Minor Threat and Black Flag are two of Lundberg's all-time favorites), but sounds post-psychedelic. Lundberg likes to call it “space folk,” describing it as “existing somewhere in the limitless field between the center of the universe and planet Earth.”

TSOOL is no stranger to outdoor music festivals. “When it's good, it's fantastic,” Lundberg says of playing in broad daylight to a hundred thousand fans. “When you get that mental thing going on, it's pure love, it's redemption. We aim to create a sanctuary of music.” TSOOL will provide a welcome contrast to the string of hard rock and metal bands slated for Midi, showing the festival audience “it's not all about screaming, dragons and demons.”

TSOOL's groovy space folk jamboree ranges across guitar pop hooks, sweet organ music, exotic percussion and Lundberg's own Beat-poet lyric parade (“I'm an astrological burnout that keeps knocking on your door.”). The result is an ever-changing swirl of musical color forms. “As it should be,” Lundberg says with a laugh, “otherwise it wouldn't be the soundtrack of your life.”

TSOOL's psychedelia bears distinct imprints of Eastern influence and though Lundberg laughs off the “bearded mystic” tag, he's a philosopher at heart.

“It feels like there is a big transformation coming,” Lundberg says. “We can't let ourselves get too hooked up into the illusion. We have to be careful about who we really are.” — Lee Mack

TENTS=FUN!

Theres More than Music at Midi

PUNK OUT YOUR HAIR, FILL UP ON BEER, HIT THE FLEA MARKET!

While the bands are the primary attraction, there are loads of other goings-on around the grounds. Last year, Midi-goers with drab dos got their locks funk'd up a bit at the hair styling tent (liberty spikes anyone?). And an onsite flea market brimmed with homemade bags, pins, clothes and other crafts for sale. Scores of food stalls and cheep beer make it impossible to neglect your tongue while your ears are getting most of the action. And when your legs get a little wobbly, retire to a rented tent to rest and digest between sets.

MIDI 2007

THE BANDS

BANDS TO WATCH FROM BEIJING AND BEYOND

• VOODOO KUNGFU China

Six-member Voodoo Kungfu (Ling Yi) is said to have “the most pummeling visual sense” and “the most mysterious religious aspect” of any rock group, ever. With the stage presence and image of an Eastern Slipknot, this band could very well be China's answer to Rammstein. Voodoo Kungfu's music is new wave metal, grounded in heavy metal, with the addition of Mongolian and Tibetan elements.

Li Nan, the creative force and spirit of Voodoo Kungfu, studied abroad in an European Catholic school where he came to strongly identify with the rock 'n' roll spirit of rebellion (he lists Ozzy Osbourne as his major inspiration). This led him to feel that “God is embodied in man,” and his expulsion from school soon followed. After returning to China, Li started his band in 1997, crafting a unique musical style which incorporates roaring chants, scrolls and images of various gods and spirits.

Li's music is not merely for people to listen to, it is sung in tribute to the divinity in his heart. His band plays for “everyone who has felt lost in his or her faith, for those who are caught between their ideals and the reality around them."

This will be Voodoo Kungfu's third Midi Festival.

• MISHKIN U.K.

Hailing from Leeds, U.K., the progressive rock band Mishkin formed in 2003. Blending an eclectic range of musical genres, the 20-something quintet create a funky, jazzy, metallic mix of energy and emotion that ranges from full-on head banging intensity to melodic psychedelia. While they may still be a little raw, there's a great “unsafe” feeling of unpredictability about this group's music—from the haunting guitar and vocal harmonies to the visceral and primal screaming of heavier sections, Mishkin keeps their fans happy with constant innovation and intensity.

• ROCK HARD POWER SPRAY Denmark

Formed in 2003, the Danish hard rock quartet Rock Hard Power Spray combine old-school punk rock energy with the riffs and hooks of the 80's hard rock scene. Listing The Sex Pistols, Guns ‘n' Roses and Nirvana as their main sources of inspiration, Rock Hard Power Spray released their first major album, “Commercial Suicide,” early last year. After winning the Emergenza Festival in mid-2005, Rock Power Hard Spray joined the Universal label later that year. The band is now working on their second album after a year of intense touring. www.rockhardpowerspray.com

• WULFGANG Iceland

Icelandic indie rock quintet Wulfgang formed in 2004, and describe their music as “new-age rock with a twist of rebellious hippie-tones and a dash of psychotic sentimentalism.” Wulfgang's self-titled debut album will be out soon. The main concept on the album is life and death. Lead vocalist Hugi explains: “Our music is supposed to reflect the full human emotional scale, from anger to happiness and everything in between. We see Wulfgang as our own offspring and we will always portray him exactly as we wish. If we wish to dress young Wulfgang up as a schoolboy in a suit with a neck-tie and a lollypop, we will. And if we wish to shave all his hair off, give him an anarchist tattoo on the forehead and make him throw rocks at the government, we will.” Cool. www.myspace.com/wulfgangtheband

• THE CRIMEA U.K.

East London indie band The Crimea began life as The Crocketts, signing to a major U.K. label, V2, in 1998, but were later dropped. Unwilling to quit, Davey MacManus and Owen Hopkin formed The Crimea. Comparing The Crimea to their former band in an early press release, MacManus commented, “If the Crocketts were four cavemen banging stones together, then this is the sound of four Tchaikovskys banging Kylie Minogue.” The Guardian described their songs as “mini-epics” that reduce front man MacManus to “spasms of jerking anguish.” The band signed to Warner Bros Records following a showcase at the 2004 SXSW Festival in Texas. And their debut album, “Tragedy Rocks,” came out in 2005, with the first single from the album, “Lottery Winners on Acid,” released in January last year, entering the U.K. singles chart at No.31.

In regards to this year's Midi, The Crimea say, via band member Hopkin, that they are honored to attend and are “looking forward to heading East, plugging in and playing in a country we've admired from afar for so long. We also look forward to hitting the stage, hitting the sights and then hitting the bars for a week we hope we'll remember for a very long time.” www.myspace.com/thecrimea

• MOHAIR U.K.

Formed in 2001, Britpop quartet Mohair have been likened to a British version of Jellyfish, with heavy influences from Sweet, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Queen. Their latest album, “Small Talk,” was released in 2006 to rave reviews, and is an extraordinary collection of multi-faceted pop.

"Small Talk" was barely complete when the legendary management duo of Q Prime's Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein signed them to their new Grunion label, putting them in the same family as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and Muse. Last year also saw a U.K. Top 10 single, the establishment of a self-owned U.K. label and tours across England and the United States. www.mohairmusic.com

Midi Moment

Paul Murray—writer/artist

Before I went to Midi I hadn’t realized how big the live music scene has become in Beijing. Sure you can head down to Yugong Yishan or D22, but it's not the same as jumping up and down with 10,000 happy people, in the open air, to the sound of some really good tunes.

The day I went I generally hung around the Yen dance stage—Mickey Zhang came on just as the sun was going down. As it got dark more and more people turned up to dance, and there was a special atmosphere when the lights came on and everybody cheered. There was no feeling of us and them—just a bunch of laowai and a bigger bunch of Chinese enjoying themselves and letting off steam.

DETAILS

Midi tickets: ¥100 for a four day pass / ¥50 for one day

Apres Midi tickets: ¥50 / ¥40 students

Check The Beijing Entertainment Guide on pg. E8 for more Midi 2007 details or log onto

www.cityweekend.com.cn or www.midifestival.com.

WE'VE GOT MIDI FESTIVAL TICKETS AND WE'RE GIVING THEM AWAY!!! LOG ONTO www.cityweekend.com.cn FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN.