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For music, it's Formoz

To pick which foreign bands to invite to this year's Formoz music festival (野台開唱), the organizers gave fans an open ballot on their Web site. The number one vote-getter was Aerosmith, which organizer Freddy Lin said "would have cost five times as much as [last year's headliner] Megadeth! I know the fans were serious in their own minds, but we have to take it as a joke. I mean, come on."

So no Aerosmith. But the festival is still billed as "the biggest rock festival in the Mandarin-speaking world" and will this year showcase 68 bands on three stages, including six bands from Japan and six from Hong Kong.

Originally scheduled to begin today, the festival's start has been delayed until tomorrow by the unexpected arrival of typhoon Sinlaku. To compensate for the lost time, bands origianally scheduled to play today will play on Monday instead.

"The main lineup is indoors on Sunday, so that won't be affected. As for the rest -- originally we were going to build the [outdoor] stages Thursday night, but now we'll have to wait for the weather. Once it's okay, we'll get everything started," said Lin.

"It will definitely all happen this weekend," he added.

The event will put its main stage in the Chungshan Hall (中山堂) where Japanese headliners Brahman, Mono, Jack or Jive and Exias-J will perform with two local bands Sunday afternoon and evening for NT$950. One the typhoon lifts, the plaza out front of the hall will host three days and two stages of free music, including both local and foreign acts. In the middle of it all, there will also be a pro-wrestling ring, admission to which will cost NT$50.

As the venue is only a short walk from either Hsimenting or the Taipei Train Station, organizers expect around 30,000 to walk through the event during the course of the weekend, while they expect rock fans coming specially for the event to number between 3,000 and 5,000.

After shooting the moon in Megadeth, Biohazard and Yo La Tengo last year, the festival is scaling down its budget and focusing on Asia. Organizers are only paying fees to four bands, including the top billed Brahman, a Japanese pop-core group that has wowed audiences in the US and at Fujirock and sold around half a million copies of its latest CD.

Last year Formoz was aided by Fujirock organizers, the Smash Corp, to create its monster line-up. But "this year we're doing it independently. Now we have some experience," Lin said.

Lin also feels like he has established a name for the festival, evidenced by two bands from Japan and six from Hong Kong that registered without first being contacted.

"I think Formoz has established a position in the Mandarin-speaking world, so bands from other places know about us and just go on our Web site and register," he said.

Formoz is giving up a few dollars however, to help some of those bands cover their costs in making the trip. Lin said that the deals were individually negotiated and that one Japanese band, Blind Lemon Dog, is having its record company sponsor the trip. He further added that one Singapore band had registered and was keen to play the festival, but could not come in the end because of the festival's limited budget, which is only about one quarter of what it was last year. The TRA, as a matter of fact, is still paying off a mortgage used to fund last year's event.

To take advantage of the out-of-town talent, the TRA has organized extra gigs in the week following Formoz. On Monday night three Hong Kong bands -- Agony, Kindergarten and Fama -- and the Japanese band FC Five will team up for the Hong Kong Attack party at Zeitgeist, a Taipei live house.

Brahman will also play extra shows next Friday in Taichung and next Saturday in Taipei. Tickets for Brahman, Mono, Exias-J and Jack or Jive are on sale at Zeitgeist, located at 122, Sec. 2, Chungshan E. Rd., Taipei (北市忠孝東路二段122號) and at the venue. Formoz will be held in the plaza near 15 Yenping S. Rd., (延平南路15號). For more information, check www.formoz.com.

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