Music festivals
For the many people who may not have been to a live house before, music festivals are an important conduit for live performance. The main attraction of festivals lies in the colorful spectacle they provide; crowd size isn't restricted the way it is at indoor venues, and the audience can move around freely, sit down where and when they feel like it, and generally experience the spirit of freedom that defines music. Several such festivals in other countries have become musical icons, such as America's 1969 hippie-fueled Woodstock, and Glastonbury in the United Kingdom, which has been running for 36 years and attracts over 100,000 people each year.
Music fans in Taiwan currently have a selection of four different festivals, each with its own particular style and audience. These four festivals, the first in early spring and the last at the peak of autumn, are Spring Scream, Hohaiyan, Formoz, and the Migration Music Festival.
In the spring of 1995, American expats and musicians Jimi Moe and Wade Davis set about organizing their own festival, naming it Spring Scream. Fueled by a sense of brotherhood, the purpose of Spring Scream is to give musicians and fans a chance to relax and enjoy live performances in a setting of sun, sand, and surf. With no government funding, Spring Scream's primary source of funding comes from its NT$1000-ish tickets, and as a result while the performances and equipment may not be the pinnacle of professional quality, the relaxed and casual atmosphere is inimitable.
Each July, at the peak of summer, Kungliao in Taipei County plays host to the Hohaiyan music festival. Started in 2000 as a joint venture between the Taipei County Government and indie label TCM Music, Hohaiyan has seen increasing crowds in recent years, becoming the most famous of Taiwan's top four festivals.
Hohaiyan is primarily split into two sections, the shows and a battle of the bands. The shows themselves come in two flavors, the main stage, which boasts highly professional invited performers, and the smaller stage, where bands can sign up and play. While the performances on the smaller stage may be iffy and audiences hard to come by, occasionally one can catch a glimpse of something truly fresh and new. One example is the band Sodagreen, who were discovered by producer Will Lin while playing on the small stage.
The competition, the Hohaiyan Indie Music Awards, is open to entrants from throughout the Chinese-speaking indie music world, and offers a first prize of NT$200,000. Many bands and artists have got their big breaks through this competition, including Tizzy Bac, Won Fu, Totem, and Zhang Xuan, all of whom are now well-known "graduates" of the awards.
Offering free entry, Hohaiyan has gained the attention and financial support of both the county government and big business, and the crowds have exploded in size in recent years. However, while many people go for the rowdy, fun-filled atmosphere as well as the music, this has also become a cause for complaint from many. In 2006, due to differences between Taipei County Government and original organizers TCM Music, Hohaiyan split into two festivals, casting a dark shadow over the future of the event.
In contrast to Hohaiyan, the late-July Formoz festival, organized by the Taiwan Rock Alliance and headed up by Freddy Lin, vocalist for local metal band ChthoniC, began as a small festival for bands from universities and vocational colleges in northern Taiwan in 1995. In recent years the festival has come into its own, and now it spans three days, boasting over a hundred acts and ticket-purchasing crowds of over 10,000. Formoz has become the premier event in the Taiwanese musical calendar, and is Taiwan's most professional music festival. With crowds of people willing to spend upward of NT$1000 at the gate, it's a haven for the true music fan. They even make the pilgrimage from as far afield as Hong Kong and Japan, making Formoz one of East Asia's main music festivals.
Finally, in early October as autumn draws to a close, Trees Music and Art holds the annual Migration Music Festival. The average age of the audience is generally higher than that of the other festivals, and the event is more educational, largely focusing on folk and world music from around the globe. Migration Music Festival brings together ethnic minorities from all corners of the planet, adding discussions on migration, land, borders, and other such important topics to the mix, hoping to create a festival that is about more than simply listening to music, but also about understanding the issues that people from all different cultures face in today's world.
With these four festivals now well rooted in the local scene, music festivals have been on the rise in general in Taiwan. In the last two years, mainstream labels have jumped on the bandwagon, holding festivals like the Taike Rock Concert and the Urban Simple Life festival, and getting decent ticket sales. Some people have even called 2006 the "Genesis of the Music Festival," and consider this an indicator that Taiwan is leading the Chinese-language music world.
The rise of live performance venues in recent years has given young bands more chances to shine. This picture shows band Sodagreen performing as part of a concert series at The Wall.