These days, everyone is trying to pull off the "first-ever this" or the "first-ever that" in Beijing, so it's actually quite refreshing that the Beijing Pop Festival is poised to come in "second"– or, more specifically, it will be the second major outdoor concert in Beijing this year. 　　

Following on the heels of this summer's successful TransMusicales fest in Chaoyang Park, which saw an enthusiastic crowd of music fans getting down on the grassy knoll to a program of high-quality French acts (jumpy security guards and all), the day-long festival goes down on September 17th and promises a similarly well-rounded lineup of techno, rock and hip hop, featuring former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown, techno pioneer Derrick May and rap sensations Common and Lex. 　　

Backed by positive and funky rhythm tracks, Common’s lyrics are poetic diary entries that narrate the trial and tribulations of daily life in Black America. Considered by many to be the ‘Marvin Gaye of hip hop,’ his set will showcase tracks from his new album Be (see Music Reviews, p22). Opening for him will be up-and-coming Oakland MC Lex, who spits in English, Spanish and putonghua (he’s a Harvard man who majored in East Asian Studies). 　　　

Ian Brown has indeed been ‘adored’ for well over a decade – even after his old band, Manchester’s legendary Stone Roses, bombed a show in 1996 and called it quits. Festival organizer Jason Magnus promises that Brown’s Beijing debut will include a slew of Roses’ songs that broke the Manchester scene back in the late 1980s and early 90s. 　　

Also in the line-up is Detroit techno legend Derrick May, who will return to the capital with his repertoire of Motor City music madness. From 1985-95, May, along with Juan Atkins, made his hometown synonymous with techno, pioneering a sound that fused the analogue blips of Kraftwerk with a scoop of P-Funk groove. Although he doesn’t make tracks anymore, his records are ubiquitous, spun from Canada to Croatia, and now China. May is excited about coming here again because he’s seen techno grow in Japan and remarks that it is now “a part of their culture … it can also truly happen in China,” he adds, “I want to be a part of breaking in and developing the music.” 　　

Besides the foreign imports, Gao Qi and Overload, Muma, Kungfu, and Tang Dynasty will represent the home team. Long time veterans of Beijing’s music scene, their presence will ensure a sizeable Chinese crowd, which will hopefully stick around to take in the foreign acts. A ‘Battle of the Bands,’ hosted by Hit FM88.7 and sponsored by a slew of corporations, rounds out the festivities– who knows, perhaps lurking among them is Beijing’s own breakout band?