Thanks, Taipei!!

Well, everyone involved with last night's premiere at The Wall is very, very pleased with the turnout and the evening's events. A complete surprise, since there were only two advance tickets sold as of Dec. 27th! A crowd of over 70 people showed up to see the movie and these Kaohsiung bands. This may seem like a small number for a typical Taipei show at The Wall, but for a bunch of lesser-known bands from the south of Taiwan, this is a huge victory!! Perhaps this is the first step towards Kaohsiung bands breaking into the tough northern market.

The film was well-received by the Taipei crowd, who laughed at the right moments (unlike the Womb Bloc show, where all the jokes went right over the heads of the home-turf audience). Immediately after the last credit rolled, the curtains parted, allowing KoOk to play an absolutely deafening set. This was by far the loudest I've ever heard them. Shy Kick Apple were next and played a very inspired set, with singer OEJ joking with the crowd, making light fun of the differences between northern and southern audiences. He also made references to the film itself, volunteering to "Speak English" to the audience, and even copying lines he said in the film!! Super-funny shit! Orange Doll were third on the bill, and played very well despite sound problems that plagued their whole set (their afternoon soundcheck didn't really do them any good at all). The soundboard folks worked hard to keep the glitches to a minimum, but it was still very distracting, and very disappointing that a brilliant set was marred by technical problems.

The final band was Fire Ex, who rocked the place in usual fashion. Sam admitted to the crowd that he was actually nervous about this show, because of the documentary screening, and also because that this was a big, big show for Kaohsiung bands. Here was a golden chance to prove their mettle to the Taipei audience.

A link to some absolutely stunning photos from the show:
David On Formosa's Flickr Sets


Post-show, kind words came from everywhere: The Wall's manager Orbis, White Wabbit Records' owner KK, Fire Ex's manager Mango, the actress/musician Enno, the president of Dreamosa Films Cheng Wen-Tan, and of course from the musicians themselves. Things are happening with the film, and are also happening because of the film. The Chinese paper Liberty Times wants to do a story about the film and the bands. Folks from other cities are inquiring about where and how to see the documentary. I would never be so audacious as to even attempt to predict what changes or opportunities this film might create, but after last night's show, it seems that my original (and only) motive to get these Kaohsiung bands more recognition is on the right course indeed!


Anyways, here's some video from the show, Orange Doll with a song from their self-titled EP, "逃到墾丁去".