On Saturday I went to the JZ music festival. The festival is now in its 5th year, and was taking place in Century Park, a very large public park which is only a couple of km away from my apartment. I run past the park all the time (or at least I used to, when I was running more regularly than I am now) but I'd never actually been inside to see what it was like. I was looking through a website on the Friday night about some upcoming events in Shanghai, and it mentioned the festival so I figured I'd go along and check it out.
A lot of other people evidently had exactly the same idea that I did, because there were hundreds of people making their way there when I wandered up to the front gate to buy my ticket ($AUD20 for a single day pass). After a very odd security inspection (where I had to line up with a whole bunch of other people that were having their bags inspected even though I had no bag), I was let through and headed toward the music.
The festival went from 1pm to 8pm on both Saturday and Sunday, and there were multiple stages set up with different types of bands playing on each stage. The first stage I came across was empty, so I meandered down to the next one and found a big crowd of people spread out on the lawn listening to a dixieland jazz band (think 1920s style music). They were pretty good, but unfortunately I'd gotten there towards the end of their set, so I only heard one or two songs and then they finished. At this point I moved over to the their and largest stage, where I found a funk band from the USA grooving up a storm. There were even more people listening here, but once again, this band were just about to finish, so I didn't stay there for long.
I spent the next few hours flitting (for want of a better word) back and forth between the stages (normally migrating when a band finished), soaking up the fantastic sunshiney weather and partaking in a few relatively cheap beers. I finally got out of there at around 6pm as it was dark by that stage and being dressed in only shorts and a t-shirt, I was getting a bit cold (it's that time of year over here where the days are nice and warm but the mornings/evenings can get chilly). On my way out I noticed that the first stage had been populated with some DJs who were playing some dance music (definitely not jazz!) - they had a pretty decent crowd up people starting to dance near the stage, so I stayed and watched for a little while before going home. I think a few of those people had been consuming some substances other than alcohol during the day, if you get my drift.
A lot of other people evidently had exactly the same idea that I did, because there were hundreds of people making their way there when I wandered up to the front gate to buy my ticket ($AUD20 for a single day pass). After a very odd security inspection (where I had to line up with a whole bunch of other people that were having their bags inspected even though I had no bag), I was let through and headed toward the music.
The festival went from 1pm to 8pm on both Saturday and Sunday, and there were multiple stages set up with different types of bands playing on each stage. The first stage I came across was empty, so I meandered down to the next one and found a big crowd of people spread out on the lawn listening to a dixieland jazz band (think 1920s style music). They were pretty good, but unfortunately I'd gotten there towards the end of their set, so I only heard one or two songs and then they finished. At this point I moved over to the their and largest stage, where I found a funk band from the USA grooving up a storm. There were even more people listening here, but once again, this band were just about to finish, so I didn't stay there for long.
I spent the next few hours flitting (for want of a better word) back and forth between the stages (normally migrating when a band finished), soaking up the fantastic sunshiney weather and partaking in a few relatively cheap beers. I finally got out of there at around 6pm as it was dark by that stage and being dressed in only shorts and a t-shirt, I was getting a bit cold (it's that time of year over here where the days are nice and warm but the mornings/evenings can get chilly). On my way out I noticed that the first stage had been populated with some DJs who were playing some dance music (definitely not jazz!) - they had a pretty decent crowd up people starting to dance near the stage, so I stayed and watched for a little while before going home. I think a few of those people had been consuming some substances other than alcohol during the day, if you get my drift.
Some pics of the day:
The first act during the day - a dixieland band
Perfect day for it. 25 degrees and sunny.
This was the main stage where the non-jazz acts played. And were loud.
The MC for the jazz stage. Love that suit.
This band was made up of musos from all over the world
The lead singer of the band was gorgeous...but wearing a dress that made her look twice as large as she actually was. Great singer.
Lots of people there throughout the day
The last act I saw before I left. Only three guys, but they were great!
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