The problem of Ho-Hai-Yan music is mainly one of expectations. A free rock festival on a beautiful sandy beach for 80,000 people — or whatever crowd estimates they are giving these days — is basically a great thing. But do not expect Glastonbury or Fuji Rock or whatever your vision of an international festival happens to be. Ho-Hai-Yan has also been derided as a “night market on the beach” or a populist, government-sponsored tourist fair comparable to the Changhua Flower Festival, but that is also going too far.
The Ho-Hai-Yan Gongliao Rock Festival (貢寮國際海洋音樂祭) is a “rock” festival, but it is a mainstream Taiwanese one.
With two stages and around 90 bands playing daily from early afternoon to 10pm, it kicked off its 14th edition on Wednesday and was scheduled to continue until Sunday night, until it was cancelled due to Typhoon Soulik (see below).
Photo courtesy of the on fires
What is a mainstream Taiwanese rock festival, this beast that Ho-Hai-Yan has become? When Ho-Hai-Yan was founded in 2000, no such thing existed. The concert was the brainchild of Zhang 43 (張4十三), who headed of one of Taiwan’s first indie music labels, Taiwan Colors Music, and dreamed of establishing an indie beachhead on an island firmly in the grips of Mando-pop. At that time, only one real rock band, Mayday (五月天) — a group that came up through livehouses and music festivals, rather than put together by music industry producers — had achieved star status. Every other “band” was considered “underground.”
In its second year, Ho-Hai-Yan introduced the Indie Music Awards, cash prizes for the best indie bands, as decided by a jury of music industry insiders. Last year, the top prize was NT$200,000, with a second prize of $50,000. The awards have made a difference to some bands, notably Sodagreen (蘇打綠), Tizzy Bac and Matzka, who used Ho-Hai-Yan as a stepping stone to greater success. Most years, the Indie Music Awards — this year, the 10 nominated bands will play all day on Saturday — is a drag of mediocrity, and the gigantic main stage mainly drives home the point that these bands are not big enough for it.
But the good thing, possibly, is that the audience doesn’t seem to care. After all, this is a free festival. There are long rows of food stalls on the beach, selling aboriginal barbecue, squid on a stick and other night market fare. Beer is cheap. Last year three cans sold for NT$100, sometimes premium brands. The weather is usually gorgeous, and in the daytime one can swim, though only in a small, restricted area, with a line of buoys preventing anyone from getting more than chest deep. By sunset, the water is completely roped off.
In recent years, headliners have included pop stars, but this year the performers are all bands. The most famous are Mayday (which played Wednesday) and Sodagreen (closing act), and they will attract pop-star crowds. There are also a smattering of international acts, though none are very well known. And anyway, most of them played already (on Wednesday), though at least one, the Australian rock band The On Fires, will play in Taipei tonight (see below).
After 14 years, Ho-Hai-Yan has succeeded as a festival, though less so for its music. The hardcore music buffs are still waiting for Formoz in three weeks time.
The Ho-Hai-Yan Music Festival has been postponed due to expected effects of Typhoon Soulik, but will be back at Fulong Beach with shows from 2pm to 10pm daily. The New Taipei City Government is expected to announce rescheduled dates next week. Admission is free. From Taipei, take the train to Fulong Station (福隆站) and follow the crowds. Online, check: www.2013hohaiyan.tw
■ The On Fires is a rock band that sprung out of the fervid scene in Melbourne, Australia about a decade ago. When I call them rock, I mean “rock.” There is nothing “post” about them. Their sound makes you think of the big rock sound from the 80s, of bands like The Clash or AC/DC. The core is the girl-boy duo of Marty Xenoff on guitar and vocals and Max, a statuesque redhead who sings and plays dancy parts on a keyboard with a shoulder strap. Sometimes they have a drummer. Two years ago, they discovered the indie rock scene in China, and have been going back ever since, with three appearances to date at Beijing’s Midi Music Festival, two more at the Zebra Festival in Chengdu, plus assorted touring throughout the country. This is their first time ever to Taiwan, and outside of Ho-Hai-Yan, they made it a point to play a local livehouse show, which will happen tonight. “Our soundman knows their manager,” says 88 Balaz guitarist A-Qiang (阿強). “They got in touch with us by Facebook and said they wanted to play a local show, so we set one up.”
The On Fires play with 88 Balaz and BB Bomb tonight at 10pm at Revolver, 1-2, Roosevelt Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市中正區羅斯福路一段1-2號). Admission is NT$350 at the door, including one drink.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su