Chongqing
“The biggest city you’ve never heard of”
There’s already a dozen posts raving about Chongqing and how it’s fast becoming one of the world’s mega cities. The best of which you can view :
here
So I’m instead going to dedicate this piece to Linkin Park and talk about the musical time warp that China seems to be stuck in.
Linkin Park? Yeah. They’re touring China right now and playing Chongqing’s Olympic Stadium tomorrow night.
I bought my tickets about a month ago.
Not just any tickets either. I went all out and bought the best tickets in the whole damn venue, because YOLO, and I can actually afford to. I have no idea what to expect.
To put it into perspective, this is Chongqing’s Wembley Stadium. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to comfortably afford the best seats Wembley has to offer, for anything I’d like to see, so this is something like an experimental experience for me.
While we’re at it, I still really like Linkin Park — albeit not as much as I did back in school, but I genuinely enjoy the moment one of their songs comes on when I’m least expecting it. This is fortunate because here, they’re still regarded as a pretty popular band and it’s not shameful to like them. Randomly, loads of the KTV (karaoke to you) places blast In The End through their doors throughout the day.
Music is everywhere in Chongqing. Just like the shops back home, they’ve got the latest pop blaring through their speakers on repeat. But then you hear something unholy. Something you haven’t heard since primary school. Something like… Backstreet Boys.
I can proudly, and honestly, proclaim that I was never a fan of Backstreet Boys, NSync or E-17 or any other boy band that was apparently super hot back in the day. I did go crazy for Spice Girls but was sadly never really on that Destiny’s Child hype (until Charlie’s Angels came out).
But seriously. It’s actually amazing how out-the-loop China is with regards to music. The Cranberries — Zombie, is well known, well loved and madly overplayed. It’s also perfectly acceptable to sing at KTV despite it being a depressing song. Usually when I’m at KTV I try and pick upbeat songs that my Chinese friends can recognise or at least dance around to. Madonna tends to go down a treat, as does Fleetwood Mac, but otherwise my efforts are quite pointless.
I eventually give them free reign to choose whatever western songs they like and I’ll happily sing whatever they want. I’ve discovered since being here, that I can’t get enough of karaoke and will accept any invitation, no matter how awkward the result. Twice now I’ve ended up in a KTV booth with only one other person for at least an hour, and not cared, cos I love karaoke that much.
As a result of this musical subsidy, I’ve sung more than anyone’s fair share of Katy Perry, Rihanna, even David Guetta’s Titanium. I do draw the line at Taylor Swift, but the list of guilty pleasures goes on quite exponentially. Think things like Abba, The Beatles, The Carpenters and you’re on the right track.
Hotel California is another one that everyone knows, loves, and never tires of; though I find the phrasing a bit of a challenge. This, coupled with the few Cranberries songs I know, means I’m a hit if there’s ever a guitar laying around.
My love of KTV has not gone unnoticed.
Last week I had a lesson which explained festivals (not the music kind) and instructed my students to create three different festivals that might interest me. One group made a festival about computer games, another chose food. The final group came up with a karaoke festival called Lucy-OKTV.
It would last an entire day, in which everyone goes and sings at KTV. When I inquired as to what time it starts, they said when I wake up. Then when I asked when it happens in the year, they gave a very specific date: tomorrow — and that they’d booked a KTV booth if I would be so kind as to join them.
I nearly cried.
The whole thing is just a completely different experience here. You pay about £8 each and have an incredibly luxurious room (for about 6 hours) with a great selection of songs and more alcohol, snacks and beautifully cut fruit than you can ask for. There’s a button to call for assistance, for anything, even just to open your drinks, or bring you a lighter. Some even have their own bathroom. The super fancy ones have a little platform with one of those old fashioned vintage microphones.
I can’t believe how shit karaoke is back home. Then again, I think we’re much more shy and reserved about singing in general. I feel like we judge more and this hinders any desire to sing around others. It’s sad, but the UK is definitely not ready for mad KTV parties. (Yet.)
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For the record, I’m pretty sure none of my friends can tolerate Linkin Park anymore, and I can accept that. I just felt compelled to share my excitement with you all.
