Why international music acts are choosing Shenzhen over Hong Kong
Bigger and better venues, lower costs and cheaper visas are all seeing touring music acts opt for gigs in the mainland Chinese city
While Shenzhen is rightly famed for low-cost shopping, dining and family attractions, it is rarely talked about as a hotbed for live music. That could be about to change, thanks to a clutch of ambitious livehouses that have started luring international touring acts to the city – and away from Hong Kong.
Elsewhere, CH8 Livehouse in Nanshan district hosted US rapper McKinley Dixon on April 17 and will welcome Canadian hip-hop/jazz ensemble Badbadnotgood on July 19. The Shenzhen outpost of the MAO Livehouse chain, located at Sea World, has Brooklyn indie rockers DIIV performing on July 5.
That shift means artists increasingly see Shenzhen and Hong Kong as competing options when adding a Greater Bay Area stop to their touring schedule.
“One of the major factors that affects what kind of deal a promoter can put forward is the local venue options,” he explains.
“It’s well documented that Hong Kong needs more live performance spaces across scale, and I’ve lost count of the number of acts we haven’t been able to put on simply because there isn’t a suitable venue available on the date the artist needs for their tour routing.”