At 7:00 pm on April 8th, ROAN Band, a popular Polish band, opened their concert on Wuhan University’s Plum Playground. An enthusiastic audience included WHU students and visitors who gathered for the acoustic extravaganza.
During the 2-hour show, ROAN band performed more than 10 songs, some from their latest album. They also co-performed a Cantonese Song, Amani with Dongbin Xiong from the Cows in Rio, a WHU student band, as an encore. Many students lined up afterwards to purchase autographed CD and T-shirts.
ROAN Band at the Concert
According to Grzegorz, it is the band’s third time to Wuhan and their impression of the city grows stronger each time they come. “Wuhan is huge and crowded, but people here are very nice. Everywhere we go we would be welcomed with open arms. We visited the Yellow Crane Tower and it was just spectacular to look down at the Yangtz River. We went to the Jazz club in Hankou which I personally love very much. We also had a good time on the bank of the Yangtz River when we flew the sky lanterns. We love the city very much.” Asked about their gig, Grzegorz looked quite excited: We had much fun tonight; it is undoubtedly one of our best performances in Wuhan so far. Your students are so nice. We could see from their reactions that they were not just screaming aimlessly—they truly felt our music. This also made us more devoted so as to give them our best performance.
ROAN Band's Drummer Grzegorz with Student Correspondent
Dongbin Xiong from the Cows in Rio had nothing but praise for ROAN’s performance: “the entire 2-hour performance was just impeccable and the audience was fully engaged from the beginning to the end. It’s a special experience I’ll never forget. Though we only met yesterday and rehearsed once together, I can feel they are so amicable and lovely, never putting on airs like some stars.”
ROAN Band Signing CDs for Chinese Fans
ROAN Band is highly successful in Europe with six albums released so far and they have toured numerous countries including the U.S. and China. The band’s music tour in Wuhan aims to promote the cultural and artistic exchanges between Hubei Province and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (Kujawsko-Pomorskie in Polish). ROAN Band has signed with many internationally renowned record companies like EMI and BMG, and joined the Warner Music Company in 2009. Back in 2006, the band was invited to perform in China where they performed at four different venues. Eight years later, they have returned to China to release their latest album here for the first time. The album has been named “Journey” in memory of their long music journey.
(edited by Sijia Hu & Yoni)
