Xu Wei will start his concert tour, The Day, at Beijing Workers Gymnasium tomorrow. [File photo]

Xu Wei may be one of Chinese mainland's biggest music stars but he didn't look the part as he stepped on to the stage to announce his concert tour, "The Day," which kicks off at Beijing Workers Gymnasium tomorrow. Sitting around in black T-shirt, jacket and jeans, Xu answered questions in leisurely fashion and only warmed up when he picked up his guitar and started singing some of his hits, like "Journey" and "Blue Lotus." The chilly, cramped room suddenly felt more like an arena.

As it happens, Xu, 41, doesn't need to talk too much - tickets were sold out about a month ago. Back in 2005 when he held his second solo concert, "Forever Youth," his guitar skills and classic songs delighted 30,000 fans, who sang along on a glorious summer evening.

Xu is totally relaxed about how it will go at the same venue this time.

"I feel comfortable and relaxed because for me the concert is much more like a friends' gathering," he says. "All I need to do is sing for them and they will join in."

Born and raised in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, Xu's love affair with rock 'n' roll began when he got his first guitar at the age of 14 and since that is more than 20 years ago, his lyrics tell of a rebellious youth, courtships and yearning for lost romance. What lifted him to his lofty pedestal, though, was the heartfelt music that echoes in people's hearts.

Mainland singer Pu Shu, a guest performer tomorrow night, says: "His songs are my life. I remember sitting in my bedroom, listening to his albums and thinking 'How does he know what I'm going through better than I do?'". The two are longtime friends and share similar tastes in music but surprisingly, tomorrow will be their first time on stage together.

Xu has his own band called Fly, made up of like-minded friends from Xi'an. They joined the rebellious teenager in 1992 and hit the road to pursue their dreams, singing at clubs and small venues to make ends meet.

The gloomy music scene then meant times were tough and even a music contract with Red Star, an independent rock label in Beijing, didn't improve his living conditions.

Patience paid off, though, and a two-year wait for the release of his debut album, allowed him to reflect. It also brought him high-profile collaborations, like the singles he made for Tian Zhen and Faye Wong.

In 1994, he released his first single, "Two Day" but it was not until his debut album "Elsewhere" three years later that he made his name in Beijing. Produced by Zhang Yadong, the album is commonly regarded as a rock classic which sold 500,000 copies.

People identified with his struggle between dreams and reality, both embracing and escaping the material world. But he was deflated by Red Star's collapse and he retreated to his hometown's slower pace of life.

Xu made his second album "That Year" in 2000 with a small indie music label. He wrote, composed and produced all of the songs and the album sold almost 300,000 copies without any promotion.

The year 2002 looked like being his biggest year yet. He returned with the album "Time, Roam" under EMI and its blend of modern drum machines and traditional bamboo flute was testament to a profound change. People sensed in the album a much more peaceful and light-hearted mood.

His fifth album, "Love like Youth," which came out in last October, carried a message that life may pass us by but the feelings and memories of our youth never fade. From the rhythmic tone of "Story" to the funky bass and steady drum beat on "Four Seasons," each track is different but his fans have found all of them easy to relate to.

"The albums are like a reminder of what's happened to me the past few years and the way my life and thoughts have changed," he says.

Hailed as a modern-day poet, Xu says the pressure to be a great music figure became too much for him to handle. "The good thing is I don't have to worry about my next meal now," he jokes.

Songs from three of his albums reached No 1 on the capital's radio charts. The mainstream music station even had a "Xu Wei Day" in 2005, broadcasting all of his popular songs since 1995 and inviting people of different fields, writers, actors, singers, students and office workers, to share their feelings and experiences relating to his music. "That was the first such event in the station's history and we received lots of feedback, more than 100,000 text messages that day," says event organizer, Zheng Yang, a veteran DJ on Music Radio in Beijing. "We have witnessed how his songs touched listeners all these years and we are looking forward to his next 10 years."

(China Daily, April 9, 2009)