Toward the end of Michelle Shocked's set on Friday night at the weekend's Formoz Festival, her guitar was taken off stage for re-stringing and instead of idling on stage until it was ready again, she sang a solo piece without her backup trumpet player and without percussion. It was just her and a mic singing a Vietnam-era anti-war song and the crowd was stunned into a silence rare at the otherwise raucous three-day event.
A lot of bands at the festival had fun grooves and some truly rocked, but for anyone who caught Michelle Shocked's solo number, it was obvious why she was the highest-profile performer of the weekend: the lady's got soul. And throughout her set, not only in that one song, you could feel the depth of experience that the music comes from and the complete lack of pretension in her stage presence.
She joked with the crowd and made a few, but not too many, earnest political statements. But most of all, she sang her heart out. It would was hard, even for those in the audience who didn't quite understand her English, to not get swept away.
The NT$1,000 three-day festival pass would have been a justifiable price for her show alone, but there were over 100 other bands, singers and DJs at the festival and some, like LTK, played some of their best sets ever.
Friday night also featured American Analog Set, who, while not providing the most energetic stage show (the bassist had his back to the crowd throughout their set), played some stunningly beautiful music that should set the standard henceforth for Taipei's post-rock devotees. It might even spawn a small market for vibraphones.
Taipei's youthful punk scene was also on hand to worship at the feet of some of the Japanese hair bands that came, like rAIn and Envy. The enthusiasm for these bands might seem an odd phenomenon for those who thought Smells Like Teen Spirit put the last nail in the coffin of glam rock, but there it was.
Another Japanese headliner, Yoshihiro Hanno, was the star attraction Sunday of the festival's first-ever electronica stage. His blends of hip hop, drum 'n' bass and ambient soundscapes were perfectly arranged, but maybe because of the sweltering heat, or maybe because people got tired of staring at the lids of his two Powerbooks, the crowd dwindled toward the end of his show. (When will organizers of electronica shows finally start having video feeds of the computers' desktops so the audience can watch what's going on?)
The Album Leaf fared better on Friday at the electronica stage, thanks in part to frontman Jimmy Lavelle's mild charisma, but their music, while epic, was grandiose in the manner of an IMAX documentary soundtrack.
But beyond any one band's performance, the festival went forward, at least from the audience's perspective, without a hitch. The flow of people between the five stages located throughout Youth Park, where it was held, was surprisingly smooth and the corporate sponsor presence was more subdued than in years past, when Chunghwa Telecom seemed to be trying to ram its services down people's throats.
The crowds also remained civil, given the heat and uphill sight lines at a couple of the stages that meant short people did a lot of staring at people's backs instead of at performers.
Altogether, some 50,000 people were at the festival over the three days, and according to organizers Taiwan Rock Alliance, no one was arrested for violence or drugs. There was one police action, though, when an officer from a local precinct stormed the PA booth during Sobut's set and turned off the sound, complaining first that the music was disturbing his work and then that the foreign performers didn't have temporary work permits. After passports were produced showing all the appropriate paperwork had been processed for the foreign bands, the cop was sent on his way and the music played on for a great weekend and by all accounts the best festival of the summer.
But don't cry if you didn't make it to the festival. Michelle Shocked, Hong Kong's Primary Shapes, Korea's Mr. Funkey and American Analog Set will play at The Wall tonight. Tickets cost NT$900 for people without three-day festival passes, NT$150 for those with. Doors open at 7pm. The Wall is located at B1, 200 Roosevelt Blvd, Sec 4, Taipei (
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