After two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ll sadly admit we’ve begun to get used to concert cancellations. But two members of the Beijing-based band New Pants want to remind us how painful this reality should be.
On November 4, a video of Peng Lei and Zhao Meng from the renowned Chinese rock band was uploaded to social media, showing the duo singing in an empty stadium in Suzhou after their November 6 concert there was canceled.
In the background of the footage, which was filmed the same day it appeared online, viewers can see the stage being dismantled.
The original video was posted to Weibo — China’s answer to Twitter — by band leader Peng, and the footage moved netizens. More than 72,000 people had liked the video at the time of writing.
One netizen commented, “Although a concert is at most three hours long, for people like me who have ordinary jobs and lives, we live on the experience of rock concerts. Other than that, I’m like a walking dead, just trying to fulfill my social responsibilities. I hope that I can still see the musicians I love soon.”
The song Peng and Zhao perform in the video is “I Have Nothing Except You.” The track is perfect for a cancelled concert and empty stadium, with relevant lines such as, “We are so far apart, and I can’t see your face; We don’t have anything except each other,” and “I’ve waited only for a disappointing outcome, that’s when I sing only for you.”
New Pants was formed in Beijing in 1996 and is now one of the most popular bands in China, especially after winning the first season of the variety show The Big Band. Their songs question the meaning of life and mourn lost dreams and the insignificance of human beings.
Inspired by netizens’ responses, Peng released a new video of himself singing on Weibo three days after posting the original video.
Cover image via Weibo
