The annual Freak Out Da Beast (吵年獸) festival takes place this weekend at the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in Ximending with a lineup of more than 40 music acts playing on four stages and an independent arts and crafts market.
“Lunar New Year is a time of reunion, so we host the Freak Out Da Beast festival every year so friends can party with us,” says Jerry Fang (方宜正), a member of both promotion group Shibishou (詩筆獸), which is organizing the event, and electronica duo KbN (凱比鳥), which performs at the festival.
Now in its fifth year, the festival’s roster ranges from electronica to hip-hop to rock to folk and features some of the country’s most enduring acts, including KbN and indie-rock group The Peppermints (薄荷葉), as well as fresh talent.
“We’ve invited some new blood,” said Fang. “Pleasure Science (愉悅科學), My Skin Against Your Skin, Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車) and Plover are some cool new bands that are playing.”
Other notable acts include energetic garage rockers White Eyes (白目樂隊), who have been compared to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and shoegazer band Boyz and Girl, which is preparing to release its debut album. They will be joined by eclectic reggae/dub act Down in Air (盪在空中) and psychedelic space rockers The Tic Tac (小茶).
Electronica musicians and DJs are setting up camp inside the Red House Theater itself. Included in the mix is the video-game inspired fare of Unfamiliar Friends Party (不熟的朋友派對) and the experimental sounds of Zephec.
Handmade clothes, jewelry and fashion accessories comprise the majority of goods for sale at the arts and crafts market.
Freak Out Da Beast takes its name from the legend of the Nian Shou (年獸) monster, which emerges from the sea or else descends from the mountains to gobble up crops, livestock and even villagers (it is said to be partial to children) every Lunar New Year. The creature has two weaknesses: It is terrified of loud noises and hates the color red. On Lunar New Year’s Eve it is customary to set off firecrackers to scare the beast away.
“It’s a story from all of our childhoods” said Cheer Hsieh (謝青翰), also a member of both KbN and Shibishou. “Ask any Taiwanese person and they will know the story of the beast.”
Organizers originally envisioned a block party, but had to alter their plan so adjacent roads could remain open. Much of the funding for the event comes from the Taipei City government’s Cultural Affairs Bureau (台北市政府文化局), and despite the “endless meetings” needed to make such a collaboration possible, Fang believes the endeavor is well worth it as the week leading up to Lunar New Year is something of a cultural vacuum.
“We want to do something around Lunar New Year because everyone is leaving Taipei to go back home,” said Hsieh. “Why not throw a party?”
Freak Out Da Beast follows the same formula as the music and arts festivals held by White Label and CAMPO over the past few years. All of them share the same goal: to reclaim urban spaces on behalf of the community and to provide an opportunity for independent artists and musicians to perform publicly in an environment free from the pressures
of commercialism.
Shibishou, whose Chinese name is a homonym for one half of a Chinese idiom (施比受更有福) that means “it is better to give than to receive,” plans to keep fighting the good fight.
“Independent bands need a place, too. We don’t have many live houses,” said Fang. “So we’ve started to find new places.”
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