Article by Ka Yeen Chan
Photo by Jialing Shen
The weather has been good to us. Two days ago, it didn’t seem that we would get together and enjoy the Modern Sky Festival NYC 2015. This year, Modern Sky Festival NYC was only held for one day, Sunday, October 4, 2015 at the Central Park Rumsey Playfield. Although it wasn’t a full weekend like last year, the ambience and the excitement of the show remained! And AsianInNY is proud to be the festival’s media sponsor again this year.
This year the lineup was Lower (DK), Hedgehog (CN), Miserable Faith (CN), Song Dongye (CN), Gang of Four (UK), New Pants (CN) and Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band (US).
Lower, the Copenhagen punks, are composed of Adrian Rothstein (vocals), Simon Formann (guitar), Kristian Emdal (bass) and Anton Rothstein (drums). Lower was a great band to warm the stage with their emotional, raw and honest delivery. Hedgehog was established in 2005 and is made up of two men and one woman. This indie-rock band created their own individualism by having both a female vocalist and a male vocalist.
Miserable Faith was composed of five members, Gao Hu (vocals), Tian Ran (guitar), Song Jie (guitar), Zhang Jing (bass) and Da Wei (drums). Miserable Faith was established in 1999 and still remained one of the most influential rock bands in China.
Song Dongye is the folk star from Beijing. He came solo with his guitar but got the whole audience to sing with him. In case you weren’t singing along, his hit song is Miss Dong.
Gang of Four is an English post-punk group formed in 1977 with Andy Grill (guitar), John Sterry (vocals), Thomas McNiece (bass) and Johnny Finnegan (drums). The band’s emphasis on the social and political ills of society was a much welcomed break.
New Pants definitely presented the youth of China. The band is made up of Peng Lei (guitars/vocals), Pang Kuan (keyboard/vocals), Zhao Meng (bass), and Kito Hayato
(drums). The band often brings out unexpected performances with a futuristic fashion senses.
Lastly, we had 82 year old Yoko Ono and her Plastic Ono Band. Plastic Ono Band was not only composed of professional musicians but also artists. It is a conceptual band that plays with Yoko Ono’s past art performances on screen.
The overall Modern Sky Festival 2015 ended with on a sweet note. It is definitely full of comfort and excitement for international Asians who are currently in New York and of course it is a great introduction of bands. This was a great way to end the Summer and celebrate the beginning for Fall.
If you missed the festival this year, just stay tune with us at www.Asianinny.com and join us next year!
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