Text: Wan Ming

Editor: Xiaoying

Editor's note:

When consumption downgrading has become a new normal, more and more people are starting to re-examine their consumption habits and lifestyles. People pay more attention to spiritual pursuits than material satisfaction. Rather than achieving ambitious goals, people are looking for "nearby life" and looking for activities that bring instant pleasure and emotional resonance.

In this context, "free concerts" are becoming more and more people's spiritual comfort and emotional outlets, busy workers, tired middle-aged people, want to feel freedom and romance through "free concerts", and find back the edges and corners and dreams that have been smoothed by life.

"Why is it so difficult to grab a ticket for a concert?"

For example, Phoenix Legend's Beijing concert in April, 80,000 tickets were sold out in seconds; Andy Lau's Beijing concert had more than 30,000 tickets, and when it went on sale in June, it attracted more than 1.2 million people to grab tickets online at the same time.

Those who couldn't grab tickets found a "concert replacement" instead, and began to brush up on "free concerts".

There are young people who go to free concerts almost every weekend; There are those who are desperately busy during the graduate school week, just to squeeze out time for free concerts on the weekend; There are middle-aged people who are tired of life and haven't seen a concert for many years, and rely on free concerts to regain their youth and rekindle ......their dreams

Since last summer, there has been a roadshow boom on the streets of Beijing, and many amateur music lovers have started a small music roadshow on the streets with a microphone and stereo.

Gradually, some music groups became more and more appealing and larger, and the roadshow with only a few dozen audiences developed into a public concert with thousands of people at every turn.

This summer, the popularity of these concerts has increased. Some large parks and shopping malls, in order to attract visitors, even take the initiative to invite roadshow bands to hold open-air concerts.

Source: Xiaohongshu Yidu Pro Remittance

According to incomplete statistics from One Pro, there were at least 30 public concerts in Beijing's large parks and shopping malls on the nights of Friday, Saturday and Sunday from July 12 to July 14 alone. In addition to Beijing, similar situations are also playing out in Xi'an, Guiyang, Changsha, Tianjin, Lanzhou and other cities.

When night falls, the breeze blows, and the lights are colorful, nearly 1,000 music-loving people gather together to perform a "chorus of 1,000 people" with the singers on stage, and enjoy a free carnival with a very low threshold.

In free concerts, going crazy and healing together has become a way for many contemporary migrant workers to relieve stress.

01

"Free concerts" are on fire, and migrant workers achieve "concert freedom"

Once, in order to watch a concert, migrant workers set an alarm clock and went to the official website to grab tickets, and after being stimulated by being sold out in a second, they also asked scalpers to buy them at a higher price, even so, it was not easy to get an admission ticket.

Nowadays, some migrant workers are attracted to free public concerts. "I heard from a friend that there is a concert near the Beitou Shopping Park in the North Third Ring Road, and I walked past after eating, I thought about walking after dinner, but I didn't expect it to be unexpected, the scene is very popular, and the atmosphere is very good!" A migrant worker shared on social platforms.

A lot of people get hooked after attending one. It's only Wednesday that some people are anxiously asking concert planners, "I haven't heard enough about the end of last week, where is the concert venue this weekend?" "The most anticipated and important thing someone looks forward to every weekend has become going to a free concert.

There are also people who slowly change from listeners to singers in the center of the stage. A Beipiao from the Northeast, who works as a bike-sharing operation and maintenance worker during the week, became the "Godfather of Rock and Roll" on weekends after joining the "Fengming Music Festival", releasing the unrestrained side of his genes at the concert site.

"Godfather of Rock and Roll" sang

Migrant workers who are "hard controlled" by their jobs are increasingly inclined to find happiness and freedom through free public concerts. Of course, this is also inseparable from the growth of the number and scale of concerts.

On a Saturday night in June this year, in the square around Fengtai Wanda alone, there were three groups of people doing roadshows, some of which entered the open mic session, where the audience could spontaneously order songs and stand in front of the stage to sing, and some music lovers played and sang by themselves.

In fact, since last year, Beijing's street roadshows have become popular, and many music groups have emerged that started from street roadshows. Gradually, the scale of street roadshows is getting bigger and bigger, and after more than a year of precipitation, some music groups with strong appeal can call for hundreds or even thousands of people every time they hold a concert.

Mr. Yu, the lead singer of "Starlight Concert", used to be a performance manager and is also an original singer. He told Yidu Pro that needless to say, the control during the epidemic was needless to say, even if it was difficult to do music roadshows in many places before the epidemic, but since last year, the control has opened up a small opening for some small-scale music roadshows.

Large shopping malls and parks, for the sake of the flow of people and passengers, will also take the initiative to apply for approval and invite some music groups to come to the office to hold concerts. Beitou Shopping Park's Sunken Square, Shijingshan Shougang Park, Chaoyang Park, Nanyuan Forest Wetland Park, Longtan Zhonghu Park, etc., have also become popular venues for holding free concerts.

Mr. Yu mentioned that the "Starlight Concert" held in Fengtai Nanyuan Forest Wetland Park in July, the audience had already exceeded 1,000, and in the later stage, because there were too many people coming, the entire Feiyan Terrace was crowded.

The scene of the starlight concert in Nanyuan Forest Wetland Park

"There was another time when I held a concert in Orson, but because there were too many people on site, I had to cancel the event for safety." Mr. Yu said.

Music groups who love music, audiences who are in dire need of emotional outlets, and large shopping malls and parks that are happy to see it happen, are pushing free concerts to a new climax.

02

Free concerts, a romantic with a very low threshold

"No money, close to home" is the first point of these free concerts to attract migrant workers, but after really immersing themselves in a concert, everyone will be emotionally touched.

Just imagine, listening to a beautiful song, looking at the sea of lights brighter than the starlight in front of you, blowing the free evening breeze, and what more romantic atmosphere can make people feel relaxed?

In reality, everyone is under tremendous pressure, they may be busy graduating, they may be migrant workers with heavy KPIs, and they may be middle-aged people who are old and young. Especially after experiencing the depression of the epidemic, everyone needs an outlet.

Fengming Music Gathering scene

The concert just gives everyone who is tired of running a chance to escape the pressure of reality for a short time. During the hours of the concert, everyone was able to be themselves, leaving behind all other identities and just existing as part of a love of music.

Most people are attracted by the free atmosphere of the concert. "The moment the glow stick is waved, all the irritability and anxiety is cured".

Some people compare celebrity concerts with free concerts, the former is to listen to the star sing, and the latter is to sing by yourself. When the concert chorus sounds, everyone is releasing their emotions in the most direct and simple way.

Starlight concert scene

Mai Mai, the captain of the "Starlight Concert", said to Yidu Pro that at the performance site, there are often people who cry when they listen to it.

It's no surprise that free concerts are going viral. Mai Mai believes that there is a very important reason that the general environment has changed.

In the past, the whole society was on the upward channel, and it was almost possible to get results with hard work, and when the positive feedback was strong enough, the workers were willing to roll. However, after the general environment has changed in the past two years, migrant workers often put in 120 points of effort, and may not even get 20 points.

When efforts become more and more ineffective and it is more and more difficult to make money, many people are downgrading their consumption, but they are more willing to pay attention to "nearby life" and are willing to spend more time on "eating, drinking and having fun".

It's not just young people who need free concerts as an emotional outlet, but middle-aged people even more so.

As the guitarist of the "Starlight Concert", Mai Mai, a post-80s generation, has been doing music as a hobby while having a main job for more than 20 years. When he and Mr. Yu co-planned the Starlight Concert in June and July last year, on the one hand, he continued his hobby, but he also felt that when people reached middle age, they needed some moments to escape.

Mai Mai is a native of Beijing, and the desire for freedom permeates his bones, which makes him desperate to find an outlet to escape from the tedious life and return to himself.

It is also in one concert after another that the concert planners have also gained countless touches.

The Starlight Concert team mainly chooses classic songs, so the age span of the audience is very large, but what particularly touched Mai Mai is that "every time after the performance, there will be many private messages and comments, saying that it feels that there are few moments in life that can be so relaxed."

Feng Ming, the founder of Fengming Music Collection, still remembers that he went to a roadshow one night last year, sang until more than 10 o'clock in the evening, and was ready to catch the last subway home, but a family of three at the scene did not listen enough, and finally sang until 2 o'clock in the morning, and the family of three sent him home before returning happy.

03

Crowds come and go, and the heart of freedom is eternal

When a concert is over and the crowd disperses, there may be countless more music performances, but many musical groups quickly fall.

"First, the venue is not easy to find; Second, the group members are uncontrollable, and many people are doing it as hobbies; The third is that it is good to have an audience in the early stage, let alone attract fans", Mr. Yu said, "There are very few who can persevere."

Free concerts usually don't sell tickets, have few brand sponsorships, and need to invest in their own equipment, so the organizers can only "generate electricity for love" at first.

Feng Ming, who works as a primary school teacher, told Yidu Pro that last year he just pulled a stereo by himself, and if he wanted to sing, he found a place that didn't disturb the people and started singing. However, as more and more friends gathered, it was inevitable that I wanted to be a little more formal.

Around April this year, after spending more than 20,000 yuan to upgrade audio and other equipment, Fengming began to officially do the "Fengming Music Collection", and now, the amateur singers who have gathered together because of their hobbies have reached 60 people.

But after only three or four months, Feng Ming already felt that it was difficult to persevere, "To hold a concert, you have to count the singers in the early stage, make a song list, and always look at the weather to determine the date and venue of the concert. ”

Mai Mai observed that many music groups that were still in full swing last summer have fallen silent this year, "There are not many audiences, and the frequency of performances can be said to have dropped again and again."

Mr. Mai Mai and Mr. Yu sang live

Commercialization is not easy for these music groups that do free concerts.

Even today, some music groups with strong appeal have just begun to explore commercial performances.

Mr. Yu and Mai Mai, the two main creators of the Starlight Concert, often cheer each other up and comfort each other, "Don't worry, be more patient, and then precipitate, when the influence becomes stronger and stronger, maybe you can go on a bigger stage." ”

Due to the poor living environment, a group of music groups has fallen, and a new group has risen, but the energy that the audience has gained from each concert will not dissipate.

A North Drifter who listened to a free open-air concert last year still remembers the night last year when he waved his mobile phone and gathered into a little starlight.

Even though it's been almost a year, every time I am overwhelmed by work, I always think of the freedom and romance of that night. The power of this precious memory has made her still believe in the existence of beauty, and she has survived many difficult moments in this year.

"Gathering is a fire, scattering is a sky full of stars", the concert may end in an hour or two, but these people's pursuit of freedom and happiness will never change.

The picture comes from the official website of the photo.com, invaded and deleted.

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