Return of the Chairman

Formed in 1997 as a five-piece semi-political guitar driven rock band, the Chairman 3 (董事長樂團3), or The Boss Band as it was then known, played with much the same passion and clout as The Clash whenever it hit the stage, making it one of Taiwan's more exciting live acts. Sadly, however, the band never reached the lofty peaks of stardom many expected of it.

The independent record label it signed with in early 1998 folded shortly before the band was due to record its debut album. The band then spent nearly a year in and out of court trying to secure the rights to the material purchased a year before by the label.

Renamed the Chairman, the band released its well overdue debut self-titled debut album in 2000. Instead of being lauded by critics, however, the album bombed. The band's seminal punk sound and political lyrics had been dropped in favor of slower more radio-friendly material.

Accusations of rape were leveled at two of the band's members a year later. And although the charges were later dropped, the media attention the incident received was to spell the end for the band shortly thereafter.

Returning to the local music scene as a four-piece early last year, the Chairman 3, as the band is now known, released its second album -- Eleven Tai (十一台) -- a couple of weeks ago. The album not only sees the band returning to its roots with clashing guitars, pounding percussion and snarling vocals, but also incorporating DJs, loops and a smidgen of electronica.

As part of lengthy promotional tour, the Chairman 3 will be hitting the stage of Taipei's Riverside tonight and letting loose with a heap of material from the album plus some of the bands still popular older material.

The fact that band is now a four-piece thankfully hasn't stemmed its energetic live performances. Fans can still expect an evening of very tight and professional high-octane guitar fuelled rock when the Chairman 3 take to the stage.

The Chairman (董事長) will perform at Riverside (河岸留言) B1, 2, Lane 244, Roosevelt Rd., Sec. 3, Taipei (台北市羅斯福路3段244巷2號B1) at 9:30pm tonight. Tickets cost NT$300 at the door and include one free drink.