Stage with a Taiwanese flavor
The theme of the Taiwan Beats Showcase at this year’s SXSW was “transcending space and time.” First up in the video is the Taiwanese-language power trio Sorry Youth, and the venue is the 19th-century Lin Family Mansion and Garden, a national historic site in Taichung’s Wufeng District. The band stand on the Great Flower Hall stage, built for hosting banquets and theatrical performances, and sing the song “Pilgrimage,” which describes a Mazu pilgrimage, a major event in Taiwanese folk religion. The spirit of protecting Taiwan expressed in the lyrics echoes the history of the Wufeng Lin clan, who quelled civil unrest in the mid-19th century and fought in the Sino–French War of 1884–85.
Next, the camera lens turns to a glittering parade float cruising down a Taipei street in the dead of night. The mood is magical and fantasy-like, matching the musical style of the performer on board, DJ QuestionMark. James Minor, head of the SXSW Music Festival, had high praise for this performance format.
The performance venues for Taiwan Beats Showcase were carefully selected. Besides weighing how well the spaces were suited to the performers, the team also wished to display Taiwan’s diversity to the worldwide audience. For example, Chuang Mei Theater, the venue for the performance by Taiwanese-language songstress Olivia Tsao, is located in Tsao’s birthplace, Tainan. Moreover, Giang Giang has occasionally taken part in the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage since reaching adulthood. While doing so, he noticed that the music broadcast during the procession had electronic elements, heavy rhythms, and clear melodies, and this inspired the band to work creatively in the same direction.
In this year’s showcase, the Taipei electronic music venue Pawnshop appears on screen for the first time ever. This club, which hosts all kinds of themed parties and electronic music shows, has always prohibited guests from filming its interior space, giving it a mysterious ambience. It proved to be a very fitting setting for the performance by psychedelic experimental music duo Mong Tong, who use elements from Taiwanese religion in composing their mystical songs. Meanwhile the electronic/alternative rock band Sleeping Brain played at Venue, a multipurpose experimental site for exhibitions and cultural activities located in Tiaotong, an area of Taipei’s Zhongshan District with a rich Japanese atmosphere.
The last group in the video is Elephant Gym, an alternative “math rock” trio with the bass playing a leading role. They played at Kaohsiung Port, close to the recently built Kaohsiung Music Center. Kaohsiung is also home to the long-running Megaport Music Festival. For the band members, the city is the place where they grew up, so it meant a lot to them to perform there.
DJ QuestionMark scratches and plays the flute in a moving temple parade float.
Taiwanese-language songstress Olivia Tsao shot her video at the Chuang Mei Theater in Tainan, singing a song arranged with saxophone, guitar, and electronic beats. The song was inspired by the suicide of a friend and reminds us all to treasure friends and family.
