Photo by Ren Hang. Check out his amazing work here
This post is specifically about the Shanghai underground rock live circuit. However, it may still make you think about similar situations in your own city so there you go.
As usual, there are premises. Shanghai gigs tend to fall into three categories:
1) The audience is almost all locals who are often students or have lower incomes.
2) The audience is almost all international with a lifestyle that allows them greater flexibility.
3) A very rare crossover of the two.
There is an exception. Some bands have built a specific following that they can rely on to come to any given show.
For longer term scene/following building we would all hope that more and more younger locals get involved. Everyone knows this and talks about it. There's no need to expand on this here. So, after keeping an eye on things for a few years and being surprised at how this has not changed much at all ... I give you, the cut off point
<<ticket price 40 yuan and/or the main band running over 11.00 p.m.>>
This also translates into visible anxiety when the band the fans are there to check out have not taken the stage by 10.00 p.m.
This must be observed unless you are super famous and on TV or something. Of course, if you are not interested in long term building, it doesn't matter.
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