Summer of the Bands was pretty exciting when it first came out! What? Rockers finally get to be on stage? Bands getting together for a variety show? I went to see it, and it really made me happy for a while. I feel that if bands can be marketed and make money from traffic, I'm still very happy for them, and with a financial base, I can encourage more talented young people to make their own kind of music in the future.
But the ad implantation in this variety show makes me very uncomfortable, I don't know if it's because I haven't watched the variety show for too long and I'm not familiar with the current formula, I feel like the ads are coming out every two minutes, the capitalization isn't forced like this, if the businessmen could have used other methods it would have been better, and it would have been better for the show's ratings.
What's more disappointing is that we didn't see the punks fighting? In the first episode, the hosts were emphasizing that the group would probably be at each other's throats, but then some of the bands that did worse had at most a penicillin vocalist spouting off, and then there was the PK session, where everyone kept the peace that was indicated and looked hypocritical. Some people say "I was wrong, the show is called Summer of the Bands, not Summer of the Rock", but being an indie band used to be the equivalent of being a rock band, so we fans would look forward to it. The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on some of the most popular bands in the world, and you'll be able to do that with the help of your own personal computer," he said.
All in all, the show has actually raised the profile of the previously semi-underground Chinese band scene, and the Cactus and Strawberry festivals have been selling better since the show aired, which I think is a good thing.