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Dou Wei & E Band:"Existence"
Live, June 2, 2001, Xi'an China
Maybe i'd been home for long that i could stay calm and easy even in bustling situations, when the crowds were complaining and cursing and yawning about, i could still enjoy the music and my own imaginations despite of the noise around me. After the E Band made a short luring soundcheck, Dou Wei stepped forward to the microphone and announced the song title "Happy Meeting", the rhythm went faster with the drumbeat leading, then Dou Wei began singing his lines, which sounds more self-absorbed than songs off his previous album "Hallucination", i didn't try to catch the lyrics 'cause i couldn't hear clearly, i just indulged in the music itself, the ebb and flow of the melody was like the flickering clouds floating beyond the sky... In this windtight gym, my soul was taken away to a sereal world by a strand of magic wind... Who says that music can only convey one's real existence? The keyboard weaved some ethereal sound, the drums quiet down and the guitar slowed down, when this song finished, the drummer Xiao Fan went straight forward to the next song without any pause, i suddenly realised that the music i heard tonight should be rather like a full continuous symphony than just a few separated movements. I couldn't hear the song titles clearly 'cause Dou Wei's voice was quite blur, but the rhythm went intense so i guess it was the song "Chaos War: Brave Soldiers Fight Back", Dou Wei's vocal was raving along to the clangoring music, and the guitarist Ou Ge was swinging while playing, waved his hair handsomely once in a while, and the bassist Chen Jin was swinging, too, after he picked up another bass. All of a sudden someone among the audience threw a flashing stick up towards the stage and hit Ou Ge's guitar, he was confused and startled, i guess he must be as angry as i was. After a smooth bridge, the third song "How Come?" began, an improvisational intro, the rhythm marched ahead along with Dou Wei's monologue, sliding guitar sound, Dou Wei's droning hums, my soul was soaring again, my mood at that moment was so indescribable. It's so wonderful to get the tranquil and ethereal feeling merely in sound. And then a familiar tune began, i was excited, it was an old song "Feel So" off the 1998 album "Hallucination", i hummed along quietly. Then the music faded out. After some wah-wah sound, Dou Wei mumbled the song title "Rainy Murmur", and then, as the music drifted on, i kept telling myself "i like this song soooooooooooo much", please excuse me that i can't express my feelings in words, actually after all the words i had written above, i had gone cliche already. Music is for listening, not for talking. Dou Wei said "Thank you all", and took a bow, then the boys went on to some ad-libs, by this time the whole show was over.
I envy those journalists most, they could have the best seats very close to the stage, while i made all my way from west wing to east wing, standing there shooting video camera for hours, but it was all worth while. During the last two hours the lighting men had been complained by me all the time, for some spotlights were way too abrupt, but when Dou Wei & E Band were on stage, the lights were ok, especially one red flash kept focusing on Dou Wei for about 20 secs, while he held a graceful gesture, as the music was flowing very slowly, the vision and sound combined together all perfectly. I've got a silly idea: Dou Wei has gained pounds, could it be that he had quit smoking? In my personal view, he looked most fabulous when he did the live show in Hong Kong, 1994, but certainly the serenity and transcendency of him nowadays is best, heheh... (translated by krazy.)
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Comparing
to the previous fevering atmosphere when Zhang Chu and Xu Wei were
on stage, the hurrah to Dou Wei sounded not less. But i guess that
things happened in the following 30 mins were too hard for more
than 80% of the audience to understand, the man on stage looked
obviously rather different from the Dou Wei in their memories. (ed:
perhaps most fans like Dou Wei's old songs from his post-punk era,
while Dou's music has been changing all these years and nowadays
his works are much different from before.)
Later
after the show, all the crew that had performed the night went up
the stage again and horsed around, Dou Wei was playing his guitar
and brooding about back on the middle of the stage, Gao Qi picked
up the microphone and growled something, Li Yan Liang and some fellows
played guitars, Ou Yang and some fellows played basses, Wang Lan
and some fellows grabbed the drumsticks, a few kids rushed on stage
and asked for signatures, but i saw that both Gao Qi and Dou Wei
shied away and wouldn't sign for them, it was funny.
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