Punk music in China is now less rebellion, more depression and apathy but still draws fans
As the Chinese punk scene soldiers on, bands increasingly perform to relieve pressure and release negativity, one insider says
Young fans, some sporting spiky mohawks, slam-danced and stage-dived as the music blasted into the night. One wore a metal-studded jacket with what looked like vintage Sex Pistols buttons.
Several hundred people packed 9-Club early this year for the “Unite Punk Music Festival” in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, a tech hub in the country’s southeast also known for its scenic West Lake.
The mostly young crowd shouted out lyrics and raised clenched fists under blinking red lights. Some had pierced lips. Others looked like clean-cut college students.
Then the body slamming began. About a dozen people in front of the stage slammed into each other as if possessed by the thumping beat. There was chaos, but no fights.
Punk rock burst onto the scene globally in the 1970s with groups such as the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. It took longer to reach China, but witnessed explosive growth there in the late 1990s, when influential bands such as SMZB, Brain Failure and Queen Sea Big Shark inspired hip young people to sport mohawks and leather jackets.