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Three bricks in the wall

When The Wall Live House opens its doors next week with Mogwai playing on the opening night the club will more than fill the void created when Zeitgeist Live House (聖界) shut down at the beginning of this year.

Zeitgeist had been the only venue in town -- with the short-lived exception of the Huashan rock house -- that operated as a live performance space for up-and-coming rock bands. There were the small bars-cum-concert spaces in the Shida and Taida area, but only Zeitgeist provided semi-decent equipment, lights and a stage for live acts.

"When Zeitgeist closed it had a huge impact on the local music scene. There was no other place like it to play in town," said Mika Wu (吳逸駿), guitarist for the band Nipples and head of White Wabbit Records (小白兔), which operated a small CD store in a converted broom closet at the club (the store was originally in the men's toilet).

Freddy Lin (林昶佐) -- the leader of the band Chthonic (閃靈) and the central figure behind Zeitgeist -- teamed up with Jimi Moe, one of the organizers of the annual Spring Scream festival, and A-chi (阿吉), lead guitarist for the popular rock band Chairman (董事長), to open up The Wall after the original investors in the proposed club pulled out of the venture in April in the midst of the SARS scare.

"The original investors had stores in Ximending that were losing money because of SARS, so they couldn't put up the money for the new club," he said. "We've all entered this in a perfectly even split. Now we have to figure out who's going to be in charge of operating the place day to day."

"Maybe we'll trade off each month," Moe said.

"Hey, that's a good idea," said Freddy, laughing.

Obviously, some of the details of the inner workings of the club have yet to be hammered out, but the club itself was coming along fine

yesterday.

The new space can accommodate up to 700 people and, according to Mika Wu, "the stage feels like it's large enough to fit an entire orchestra on it."

The measurable improvements in the new space will be the elevated and enlarged stage and the 5m-tall ceilings, as well as a bigger and improved sound system. The crowd area has also been thoughtfully designed with three split levels so that, with the elevated stage, even short people should be able to see the action. In the entrance area are spaces for cafes and stores, among them White Wabbit Records -- this time not in a closet or a bathroom.

"We've played in many countries with my band and I think the equipment will bring it up to international standards. In fact, it's better than a lot of places we've been," Freddy said.

Mogwai will give the new sound system a heavy-duty test run on Thursday with their famously loud music. And if Mogwai don't blow the speakers, then the Japanese death-metal band Zombie Ritual will have a go next month.

The club will open daily and has a full lineup for the next two months of local and international bands. Of note will be Cat Power, scheduled to play in January, but they're not likely to do any damage to the speakers.
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