Nothing else changes: Same great music, same radness.
We have a new name.
Echo Park is now Concrete & Grass. For 2016, the future and beyond.
Why change a perfectly formed, awesomely cute name? We know too well that Echo Park was the heart of our festival’s identity, and it’s been heartbreaking for us to let it go.
To cut to the chase, we are no longer allowed to use the name ‘Echo Park’ for our much loved escape from the urban grind. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been mired in a complex tangle with China’s trademark system, and the change in name is the result.
BUT, and this is very very important to remember, Concrete & Grass will be the same amazing festival – same good vibes, same great bands, same awesome people.
Still on for this year, assuming smooth regulatory transition. Still featuring a kickass, diverse, deep music lineup with plenty of distractions on the side. We are 90% booked – just need those pesky permits.
That’s the TL;DR. Now, let’s get into the details for those curious.
We’ve been lucky enough to have been promoting amazing music in China for over a decade. It’s been quite a ride – sometimes brilliant, sometimes ecstatic, always challenging. The last few weeks have been rather too much of the latter.
We take festival naming really seriously. We spend weeks all together throwing around hundreds of options until we find something that just works. Echo Park was the result back in the first half of last year – that rare magical moment when something just *worked* for everyone, instantly.
Unfortunately, someone else had a similar idea, in actual fact, before we did. Echo App, a venture-funded tech and music company, launched before our Echo Park festival, and the people behind Echo App applied for the trademark around Echo a few months before we did.
When they decided to launch yet another festival in Shanghai’s Expo Park (with a rather familiar lineup) and wanted to call it Echo Festival, they obviously didn’t want another “Echo” twisting their melon, particularly one as hot and sexy as ours. Six weeks ago, the very well-funded people at Echo sent us a sharp, threatening letter, ordering us to cease and desist using the name for a festival that we’d already launched 7 months before. No phone call, no visit to our offices, just an aggressive lawyer’s missive and a summons from the Ministry of Culture.
It’s not really their fault – it’s not really our fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s the crazy trademark system here in China, but that is what it is. We’ll miss Echo Park, but if you still need that particular fix, you can always go to Echo at Expo to see some good old pop idols play.
But if you want rockin’ rock, hoppin’ hip hop and electric electronica, then you know where you need to be in September. We’re proud of our little emerald oasis in the middle of this concrete metropolis, where the livin’ is easy and the music is sublime.
It’s been quite a ride. Goodbye, Echo Park. Viva la Concrete & Grass.
Onwards!
Online:
Damai：http://www.damai.cn
Split Works: https://spli-t.com
About Split Works:
Split Works has been rocking in the free (ish) world since 2006. Working with inspirational artists from across the globe, the good people at Split Works HQ have been a key contributor to the continued rise of China’s music scene. Split Works has launched five music festivals and promoted over 400 tours to 30 Chinese cities, always striving to stay true to a familiar refrain: the music has to be special, every single time. From Godspeed You! Black Emperor to Sonic Youth, from Thee Oh Sees to Mac Demarco and Shabazz Palaces, from Black Rabbit to JUE and Wooozy to More Music, we love music, we love China and we love you.
About Damai Live:
Damai Live is a new international concert promotion agency, part of Damai Entertainment, the country’s biggest ticketing agency. It has the strongest resource platform in China, and leverages Damai Entertainment’s robust O2O operational systems. Damai Live maintains extensive relationships with leading global promoters and live entertainment agencies, and has expertise and capacity in event planning and promotion. Damai Live organizes live performances and creates original entertainment projects, striving to create high-quality, cutting-edge experiences for domestic audiences.