Elite Chinese Politics and Political Economy

international school kids and guards


Hardgroove and guards

A bit of a side item, though one I find very interesting (and a relief from all this talk of the 17th PC). Recall that this blog showed an article on an unprecedented rock show in Chaoyang Park where Nine Inch Nails, Public Enemy, and Cui Jian played. One of our readers, the bass player of Public Enemy--Mr. Hardgroove, called me yesterday and provided some interesting insights into the show. In essence, there was massive security presence (not police, but hired guards), which got into a bit of a scuffle with the audience. It turns out that it was just a bunch of spoiled international school kids. Interestingly, Hardgroove tells me that the participating bands urged the audience to not antagonize the security guards, even though these bands are some of the most rebellious outfits out there by reputation. Below, I paraphrase part of what he told me, as well as his pictures of the show. Thank you Hardgroove, and I hope to see you in China!

HG: Public Enemy could not be advertised as such, but instead was named PE in the publicity material. All the bands received warning from the organizers to not antagonize the security guards.....

HG: The security guards there were very young boys, and they were security guards instead of the police. When Marky Ramone was playing, there was commotion, where I saw foreign kids (Australian, New Zealand, US, German) yelling at the security guards. One kid grabbed the hat of the security guard and passed it around. It was the fault of those irresponsible kids, who were international school kids with little accountability in a sense. I felt that it was not a political incidents. I actually went to the kids and tried to quiet them down. It was my obligation to do it.