"That's why I'm sad, even though your fragrance still remains in my hands..." As the acapella song "Punishment of Impulse" sounded, Daolang, wearing a black T-shirt and casual pants, slowly appeared on the stage. He had a bald head, The figure has gained weight, and behind him is

"So I am sad, even though your fragrance still remains in my hands..." As the a cappella song of "The Punishment of Impulse" sounded, Daolang, wearing a black T-shirt and casual pants, slowly appeared on the stage. He had a bald head. , has gained weight, and behind him is a neatly organized young band. This is the opening of "Where Folk Songs Ring" Daolang's 2024 tour concert. In the past two months, fans from all over the world have rushed to the performance site to reminisce about the past together.

In August this year, Daolang's live online concert broke many records for video accounts. "Love Song of the West Sea" and "Love Is You and Me" once again became popular songs played repeatedly on various platforms. In September, Daolang started an offline tour. So far, 14 concerts in 7 cities have been officially announced, and three stops in Chengdu, Guangzhou and Nanjing have been successfully held. Daolang, who was born in 1971, is already 53 years old. In the performance market that is already saturated and showing signs of fatigue, it is difficult to get tickets for Daolang's concerts. Some premium tickets are more than 3 to 10 times more than the original price, and the popularity is comparable to that of many popular young singers.

Why can Daolang cause such a response? Became popular in the "Rain Ring Era", experienced controversy and silence, and became popular again with "Rakshasa Sea City"... Twenty years have passed by, and the once high-spirited and individual singer has turned into a middle-aged and fat bald uncle. is a familiar figure As the melody sounds, middle-aged "knife fans" look back on the past. Daolang's singing, lyrics, ups and downs go hand in hand with their life experiences, and those old memories and deep emotions come flooding back.

Emotional release, "Go to his concert"

The screen was flooded with Daolang's concert, as well as the fans in the audience who sang along with tears in their eyes.

At the Nanjing concert, when the prelude of "Love Song of the West Sea" played, Xiao Yang turned on the mobile phone camera to his father beside him: "Start recording." His father folded his hands on his chest and said softly: "Since you After I left, I lost my tenderness..." In the video, he gently swayed his body along with the melody, singing along without missing a beat. When he got up to singing, he even raised his hands to play the rhythm, enjoying himself very much.

Xiaoyang said that this was the first time for her parents born in the 1960s to watch a celebrity's solo concert. The family came to Nanjing from Changzhou. Compared with the previous concerts, she was a companion this time. "My dad has liked Daolang for many years. This time he finally met his idol in person. He sang along with many songs in the audience and asked me to videotape him as a souvenir." Xiaoyang is also a star chaser himself, and is particularly able to empathize with that kind of love. There were also many parents of the audience singing together, collectively immersed in this nostalgic ceremony, venting the emotions hidden by the years.

Photo provided by Xiaoyang’s father interviewee

“As soon as his voice came out, I couldn’t stand it.” At the first Chengdu concert in September, Daolang’s voice floated through the crowd into Lao Zhao’s In his ears, the looming figure looked completely different from that of twenty years ago, and his thoughts were also drawn back to twenty years ago.

"I was less than 20 years old at the time. I came to Chengdu from my hometown and worked in a hot pot restaurant. One day a customer came to the store. He was sitting in the car waiting for his friend, and Daolang's "2002" was playing in the car. "The First Snow", I was attracted by this song and found it very pleasant. "That was the first time that Lao Zhao heard Daolang's music. In that era before smartphones and music player software, Daolang's CDs could be purchased. It is a happy thing. At that time, in order to earn an extra 100 yuan, he took the job of guarding a hot pot restaurant. He worked during the day and slept in the store at night. Listening to music was his only way of entertainment. Daolang's "Memories Drifting in the Rain" accompanied him through countless hardships. night.

Nowadays, the way of listening to music has become diversified. The CD that carries the memories of his youth is long gone, and Lao Zhao is no longer the boy he was before. He has more identities, such as husband, father, and boss, but as long as he hears Daolang's singing, he seems to have returned to those green years.

At the Chengdu concert, tens of thousands of fans sang in the audience, and Daolang burst into tears on the stage. He laughed at himself because he was old and had poor emotional management, "Singing those old songs, many things happened vividly in my mind.I really want to thank you all. After so many years, I see many familiar faces below..." Many fans also cried with Daolang, and the scene became a sea of ​​tears.

Lao Zhao shed tears while listening to "Punishment of Impulse" It took a whole song. "I can feel that he had some difficulty singing the high notes, and time is not forgiving. After the Chengdu concert, a video of him bursting into tears went viral on social platforms, "I started to feel a little embarrassed. I am almost 40 years old and still crying like a child." Daolang also burst into tears. I felt that at a certain moment we resonated. ”

Middle-aged star chasers, vigorously “supported”

Daolang’s Nanjing concert was held at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park Gymnasium. The venue can accommodate 20,000 people and is the largest performance venue in Daolang’s tour so far. Data shows that, The age of the audience at Nanjing Station ranges from the 50s to the 00s, with over 60% of the audience from outside the province, 20% from the 95s and 00s, and half of the audience before the 1980s.

The fanaticism of star-chasing is as high as that of middle-aged people. A calm and restrained person may seem out of place, but the support culture common in the current fandom is not inconsistent with these middle-aged fan groups, and even seems more "powerful".

Daolang's Nanjing concert was packed with seats, and the outside was even more lively. , the "Dao fans" who didn't get the tickets still traveled thousands of miles to come outside the venue, and "supported" Dao Lang like most young star-chasers. They listened to "Leaking Sound" and sang together with fans "Emperor Han Sister" outside the venue. She often explains Daolang's works on short video platforms. Starting from the album "A Few Folk Songs", it has attracted the attention of 330,000 netizens in more than a year. During the Nanjing concert, she and other fans spent money on the LED screen of a commercial landmark. Posters were released to support Daolang: "Ning Hao! Daolang, I am big and small. "The scene was as good as that of popular stars, attracting many fans to come to take photos and check in.

In addition to the big screen support, there were also "delegations of knife fans" from different regions parading with signs held high, and some posted "2 parked on the eighth floor" Buses were driving towards Daolang’s Nanjing Concert. Some people distributed free drinking water to “Dao fans” on the spot. “Old Dao fans” in their 60s wrote handwritten lyrics to pay tribute to their idols. There were also a large number of fans who brought light signs, culture and music early in the morning. Flags, banners, bracelets, badges, T-shirts and other support items were given to each other at the scene to chat... Local Nanjing fan "Uncle Chao" made two 100-meter-long banners to invite fans to sign and send blessings. "One is 202.4 meters long. , representing 2024, and the other 101.2 meters, representing the opening date of Nanjing on October 12th. We also have a sister from Huai'an who donated 8,800 yuan to a charity fund in the name of a knife fan. "

middle-aged fans supported Daolang in a fancy way. The scene was vigorous, trying to show the idol's strength and pomp, and announcing the idol's influence in their own way. At the same time, they celebrated the reunion and paid tribute to the youth of the past. "There are about 20 songs of Daolang. Years later, I finally came to the venue and sang along to 25 of the 28 songs. Fan Xie Gang sang along at the Guangzhou concert at the top of his lungs. It was the moment when he was closest to his idol, "Every song he sings can bring people back to the past. When the music starts, I can instantly remember the song I listened to." What am I doing when I sing. This may be the reason why everyone sheds tears, remembering their past selves. " After the concert, the audience walked out of the venue one after another. On the way home, they sang together, and the singing lingered for a long time.

The "top performer" returned and sang folk songs

Daolang, who was born in 1971, is already 53 years old The last time he held a concert was the "Thank You" world tour in 2012. After the tour ended in 2013, he gradually faded out of the public eye. In July last year, Dao Lang's song "Rakshasa Haishi" caused a stir. The huge wave of the Internet brought back his fans and plunged him into a whirlpool of public opinion.

Regardless of the noise or silence, this maverick singer will continue to be himself. In December 2023, Daolang announced that he would stop updating social platforms, saying that he still has time. 3 album plans require time to do field work.In an online concert in August 2024, he sang 39 songs alone in a black T-shirt. There was no noise on the stage, only music. The middle-aged and fat Daolang was infinitely close to a pure singer-songwriter.

This online concert has more than 53 million online viewers and 600 million likes, breaking Jay Chou's previous live video record, and is also regarded as the beginning of Dao Lang's official "comeback". Starting from September, Daolang started a long-awaited offline tour. Six concerts in three stops in Chengdu, Guangzhou and Nanjing were sold out. Tickets for the latest Macau and Xiamen stops are hard to come by. On the secondary ticket market, tickets cost RMB 680. Grandstand ticket premiums range from 2,750 yuan to 3,029 yuan.

Since this year, the concert market has returned to rationality from fanaticism. Some concerts have experienced ticket discounts, promotions or even cancellations. Why has Daolang been able to "sweep" the performance market? Is it enough to just rely on those ancient "divine comedies"? Daolang's works may provide the answer.

"Yo ho ho... Hey Zuo! One, two, three, hey Zuo! Two, four, six, hey Zuo!" "Shipman's Chant" is the finale song of Dao Lang's concert. As soon as the "Sail the Boat" command sounded, everyone The audience responded in unison with "bloodline awakening", and the majestic chants pushed the atmosphere to a climax. The sound of labor full of vitality and true temperament shook the hearts of every participant. The theme of Daolang's 2024 concert is "Where Folk Songs Ring". He explained that its meaning is "where we live", and those true folk sentiments will turn into "folk songs" of every era.

It is the voices from the people, the land, rivers, and mountains that can arouse the warmest response.

In fact, the new album "Folk Songs" which contains "Luosha Haishi" also comes from the folk. As early as 2020, Daolang has quietly transformed, and has successively released albums such as "Tanci Huaben" and "Everyone in the World". "Tanci Huaben" combines elements of Kunqu opera and Pingtan, and uses pop music to interpret The Peony Pavilion and Du Shiniang. Folk stories such as "Jade Dragonfly" and "Pearl Tower" are also mentioned.

"Folk Songs" is consistent in creative concept with "Tanci Huaben". The work combines Liaozhai texts, citizen literature in the middle and late Ming Dynasty and various folk tunes, and is highly experimental. "Folk Songs" borrowed from the folk song collection "Folk Songs" compiled by the Ming Dynasty dramatist Feng Menglong. The citizen literature that emerged at that time was more "down-to-earth" than Chu Ci and Tang poetry, and was closer to the public, becoming a new aesthetic consciousness. The 11 songs in the album use 11 kinds of folk tunes, such as Hebei blowing songs, Guoshan tune, rice-planting chants, and embroidered purse tunes, to build a music ecology that combines pop music with traditional folk culture.

To put it simply, Daolang sings popular folk songs with a classical style. The fireworks in the traditional culture and the various situations of the world are all his materials. Combined with folk tunes, he creates "folk songs" that reflect the current situation in his heart. What Daolang wants to convey is as stated in the album introduction: "I see things from the perspective of myself, and the old things all have my color. Each era has its own pattern." Although these songs are more "earth-flavored love songs" than those in the early years. The popularity of songs is not as good as before, but songs from the folk can always reach the general public more naturally.

In the world set up by Daolang's concert, the old songs were touching and aroused the nostalgia of a crowd of middle-aged people. Those new songs originating from folk songs also let people see the down-to-earth creation that has not changed in the past twenty years. Singers, don't they evoke another kind of resonance - middle-aged people who have endured many pressures vent their emotions in the chorus, recall the years of youthful flying in familiar melodies, lament the damaged ideals of the past, and dissolve those similar joys sad.