Three indie bands that were invited to perform for the first time at Pop Montreal in Canada took to the stage last week after being introduced to the media and audiences earlier in the week.
Wang Fang-gu (王方谷), the leader of the groups that are called “Taiwan Waves,” said the three bands — The Chairman, Kou Chou Ching and The Clippers — wanted to present their music to the world and learn from bands from other countries.
The five-member band The Chairman wowed a Canadian audience at a concert on -Wednesday, boosting the confidence of the other two bands for their shows on Friday. The director of the event, Daniel Seligman, said he decided to invite the Taiwanese groups after he saw live performances by them and dozens of other indie bands in April at Spring Scream, one of the largest indie music events in Taiwan.
He was also quite impressed by the bands’ reputations after he talked with people in pop and indie music circles in Taiwan, he said.
Taiwan’s pop music has played a leading role in the Mandarin music scene, with 80 percent of the music being written by Taiwanese songwriters, Representative to Canada David Lee (李大維) said.
Taiwan’s pop music represents the quality of freedom, democracy and openness of its society, Lee said.
A forum titled “How Taiwan became the center of Mandarin pop music” that took place later also drew large crowds.
Geddy Lin (林正如), who runs Taipei’s well-known live-music venue Riverside, and Liang Jung-pin (梁永斌), secretary-general of the Taiwan Music Culture International Association, discussed various topics related to the development of Taiwan’s indie music scene.
More than 400 bands from around the world are performing at Pop Montreal, which is now its 10th year and concluded yesterday.
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