It's been a little cooler in town in recent days compared with last week because of the effect of Typhoon Pabuk as it heads toward Fujian Province. However, the multi-functional room on the ninth floor of Super Brand Mall in Pudong was totally heated up by the band May Day (Wu Yue Tian) from Taiwan and their young, passionate, and courageous fans.

Nobody expected the event to be so grand before entering the room. It was filled with more than 1,000 fans and lots more were waiting outside.

The night was just to announce Mayday as the new face for the male line-up of "Kobron," a local clothing brand targeting young men. A mini concert was supposed to follow the announcement but the one-hour "mini" ended up being a warm-up for the band's concert in Shanghai in October.

"I like them because they have very simple but good songs that just makes me happy to agree with them," said Angela Lu, a seventh grade fan waiting outside trying to find a ticket for the party inside. "And they are like their songs too, simple and innocent."

True, with all five members over 30, the band still manages to project an image of boyish innocence, with which many teenagers identify themselves. The contrast between the discreet wisdom about life and love in their lyrics and the naive appearance of the band on stage is probably why most of their fans are adolescent girls.

Unlike the image of many rock bands, the million-selling Mayday have never been seen smashing instruments on stage, drinking or doing drugs, getting angry with their fans or gambling.

Their songs, with common themes for youth of love, innocence, self-fulfilling loneliness and memories of childhood, attract many young people. Instead of presenting an angry face to those subjects, they sing happily and vividly, sometimes with a hint of slight melancholy.

"I've been to their concerts before - it has always been a great experience," says 16-year-old fan Ben Li. "They sing out the thoughts that have always been in my mind which I couldn't verbalize. So I identify with their songs right away."

"Love-ing," one of the most popular songs by the band, is a good example of their style. The melody is simple that everyone can follow and the lyrics simply illustrate what love and a lover mean to them - "water, air, vitamins" - a metaphor everyone can understand. On the other hand, they also had some rather encouraging and not-so-soft songs that sang about confidence and determination about oneself.

Officially founded in 1998, the five members - lead vocal and songwriter Ashin, guitarist Stone, guitarist Monster, bassist Masa and drummer Ming - had been singing together in pubs and lounges.

Their first songs were all in Minnan dialect, said to be much more emotional and touching compared with their mandarin songs. With the single "Peter and Mary," a song version of the story of "Romeo and Juliet" written by Ashin, the band shot to stardom in Taiwan. Soon, they also swept surrounding regions with their concerts, during which fans can be seen standing and hopping on chairs for the whole two hours and more.

In 2001, the band took a temporary break because three members were called up for military service. The other two members did collaborations with underground musicians while waiting for the reunion which happened in 2003.

"I like them even more after their reunion," said Li. "Their songs are softer but happier."

After the mini concert in Pudong, the band stayed for another couple hours to sign and sell the T-shirts for their upcoming concert in October.

(上海日報 2007/08/09 )