Debra Li

debra_lidan@163.com

A DAY before Hong Kong songstress Karen Mok’s “The Big Show” live concert at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center, a free intimate concert at the Sunset Theater by the lake outside the stadium was not as glamorous but just as charming and perhaps even more heart-warming.

Several hundred people attended the “Rhythms of Folk Music” concert at the outdoor theater on Friday evening and enjoyed a 120-minute performance by Lai Weijun, Qiu Lin, Zhang Yang, and also Sama, a band from Northwest China’s Xinjiang.

Opening the show was the 16-year-old frontman and bassist Zhang Yang and his 142857 Band, including drummer Lin Li, guitarists Li Ming, and Zhang Xike. They performed four songs from Zhang Yang’s first album “Hi, Future,” released at the age of 12. “Escape From the Earth” sings of the tension between parents and a son who has awakened to a thirst for freedom and independence, while “The Song for You” is a moving song he wrote for his grandma who passed away when he was 5. “In some unknown place, you sleep in peace; can you still remember my mischievous face,” goes the opening line of the song.

Zhang Yang was the youngest singer-songwriter in China to release an album, with the lyrics, music, and orchestration independently completed by himself. A mixture of pop and rock, his songs speak of sentiments many teens can relate to, such as nostalgia for the treasured memories of innocent childhood, an anxious anticipation for the future, and the stress of balancing between study and hobbies.

Lai Weijun, a representative of Hakka pops, performed a humorous number inspired by Hakka mountain songs, singing about an old married couple who join in a joyous duet in the indigenous singing art. Lai and his Elephant Band also performed a heady new song, expressing the ambitions of young Hakka people to reach for the moon and change the world. However, the audience was most touched when he sang a melodious and melancholy old song he wrote years ago about a young man missing his hometown and love interest when pursuing his dream elsewhere.

The four-member Sama performed a few original numbers, accompanied by a guitar, a bass, a hand drum, and a rawap — a traditional plucked string instrument predominantly found within the Uighur, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, and Tajik communities. The band’s drummer Xie Shengli, at over 80, showcased his impressive skills and energy on stage.

Concluding the performance was Qiu Lin, who won the best Hakka album at Taiwan’s Golden Melody Awards in 2018 with “Da Ling Jiao Xia” (“At the Foot of Daling Mountain”). In addition to the songs from his previous albums, which speak about the loneliness of a bride whose husband has traveled to Southeast Asia to earn a living and send money back to his family (“Moonlight Bride”) and the joyful memories of a busy country fair (“Country Fair”), the singer performed two recent songs.

His band also consists of bassist Old Deng, percussionist A Zhen, and wind performer A Fei, who plays Chinese folk instruments such as the suona (Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument), bamboo flute, and hulusi (gourd flute).

“Qiu’s performance is unforgettable,” commented a high school student in the audience. “I’m of Hakka origin, but since I was born in Shenzhen, I don’t really speak the dialect, and I totally had no idea that people sing pops in the dialect. All the songs are surprisingly good,” he said.

Curated by Longgang Hakka Pop Music Association (LHPMA) and subsidized by Longgang’s culture and tourism authorities, the concert will be performed again this month, perhaps at another venue, according to the association’s chairman Zhang Jianfeng.

Longgang, home of Hakka people in Shenzhen, has witnessed repeated efforts to revive their traditions. LHPMA, founded in 2018, is one of them. The association has organized concerts like Friday’s event to promote Hakka pop and arranged exchanges and performances for Hakka musicians.