Something Happening There (Not Here)… UPDATED

Is it just me, or are we seeing, lately, a sudden increase in Rock and Roll with capital aarrrrrrrr!s? (UPDATE: Turns out, it’s not just me; it’s other folks, like, oh, the New York Times for example) Rock seems to be doing more – or, if not doing more, gaining attention for what it’s trying to do, and what it Stands For.

From Indonesia to Russia and Uzbekistan, rock and roll is making itself heard, and, though it’s meant hard times for those who rock, on another level it’s a great thing to see.

Continue reading “Something Happening There (Not Here)… UPDATED”

From the Vaults: The Foreign (Musical) Experience

Fans of This American Life were treated to a bit of China this week, with an episode entitled “Americans in China.” With that in mind, I figured I’d drop a little piece of my own China experience; an article that the Globe and Mail published back in May of 2005. Literally every foreign musician playing in China will have similar stories.

This is one of those stories.

Continue reading “From the Vaults: The Foreign (Musical) Experience”

North by Northeast by China…

NXNE, Toronto’s counterpart to Austin’s massive SXSW, takes over the city from June 11-17. A part of that chunk of time is for films. This year, a China documentary is on the bill. Down: Indie Rock in the PRC is a film by Andrew Field and Jud Willmont, and looks at a few bands that the filmmakers came upon in their search to document the yaogun scene in 2007.

I’ve been asked to attend the screening and be a part of the post-film Q&A session, and have graciously accepted. The screening goes down Thursday June 14 at 12.30 p.m. at the National Film Board (150 John St.). There’s more info here.

It was twenty-three years ago today…

Twenty-three years ago, it was June 4, 1989.

I lived in Beijing through ten anniversaries, but the significance of the date, in what must sound, to those who didn’t live there over the past few years, odd, seemed to shrink over my stay. Until, however, I looked into yaogun’s history, and saw that the movement that brought thousands to Tiananmen Square was nourished at the same teet as was the passion for rock and the drive to yaogun. Citizens in the Square and yaogunners on stages were after the same thing: It was about possibilities. There was so much that was new, and there was a hunger to discover it all, and more. And there was so much hope.

Continue reading “It was twenty-three years ago today…”