While politicians continue to debate how to respond to Beijing's recent drafting of its "anti-secession law" and its continued warmongering, Taiwan's leading indie music organization, Taiwan Rock Alliance (TRA), is set to give the Chinese Communist Party the middle finger again this weekend with the annual Say Yes to Taiwan rock festival.
Established four years ago to bolster national identity among Taiwan's youth and to commemorate the 228 Incident of 1947, the Say Yes festival has traditionally been a one-day event staged at Taipei's 228 Memorial Peace Park.
To reach a wider audience, organizers have altered the popular format somewhat this year. Along with increasing the number of bands to 36, TRA has added a day to the festival and, in its boldest move, has opted to relocate the gig to Kaohsiung.
"We wanted to do something different this year," said TRA spokesperson Doris Yeh (葉湘怡). "[TRA] is always being asked why we don't hold gigs outside of Taipei, so we figured that because Kaohsiung was heavily affected by the events of 228, it was a good reason to hold a festival in the south."
Set to take place in the grounds of the Kaohsiung Museum of History (
Although previous Say Yes festivals have seen Taiwan's leading alt-rock bands joined on stage by their US, Australian and South Korean indie brethren, this year's event is solely a Taiwanese and Japanese affair.
According to Yeh, TRA had hoped to book the heavy metal combo Anthrax and the influential rap group Public Enemy. Sadly for Taiwan's large number of metal-heads and rap fans, neither group was available. Rumor has it, however, that at least one of these acts could headline this year's Formoz Festival in July.
TRA might have missed out on booking a couple of top international acts, but the local line-up features a smorgasbord of some of the top names in the domestic indie/alternative rock scene. And, with acts like politico-punksters LTK (濁水溪公社) and the popular Brit-pop-like four piece 1976 leading the pack, audiences should be treated to some great sets.
Other local bands of note include the downbeat/alt-pop trio Tizzy Bac, the award winning death metal act Chthonic (閃靈), the punk combo Fire Extinguisher (滅火器) and the folksy post-rock act Bad Daughter (壞女兒).
Along with the well-known bands, the bugger-Beijing bash is set to showcase several up-and-coming acts. These include the jazz combo Jazz Me, the grunge band Teenager, the blind folk-singer Xiao Huang-chi (蕭煌奇) and the local hip-hop figure Dog-G (大支).
Japanese acts featured at this year's Say Yes festival include the experimentalist combo 16 Reasons, alt-rockers Nature Living, post-rock act Quizmaster and the popular rock combo Akiakane, which will be making its fourth visit to Taiwan.
What: Say Yes to Taiwan
Where: Kaohsiung Museum of History, 272, Chungchang W Rd, Kaohsiung (
When: 2pm, Sunday; 2pm, Monday
Tickets: Admission is free
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