by terebikun

On Sunday, Nov. 25, I went to the first Taiwan Band Festival held in Huashan Cultural Park. It was drizzling lightly but overall it was possible to enjoy the event without umbrellas, which was what most people did. I ran into Tunghung and several old friends. He could probably provide more context to the logic of the festival, which certainly seems to resonate with the “creative agenda” discussed in the previous posts and comments. Basically, the Government of Information Office has this fund to support independent bands in order to prove that Taiwan could produce more than idols and the “Star Light Gang” (basically a televised singing show which has generated gangs of idols. My students can’t stop talking about them). At lease this is the logic in the promotion.

The result? Two days of bands performance, each band given 25 minutes (or three songs). Not very long. But enough to get a taste of different band styles. http://www.taiwanbandfestival.com.tw/bandlist.htm. Attaching a photo of the wild act, “Fish and the Bedroom Riot,” composed of various musicians who performed in Tunghung’s pub, Underworld, doing visual and performance experiments. On Sunday’s case, they were in various animal costumes and having way too much fun and too soft volume–due to the police (Taipei City) writing tickets for the “noise” sponsored by central government.