It seems strangely appropriate to begin with a video of a live performance at a venue that I never got the chance to experience. Thanks to DJ Leorio for playing this.
This live performance by 死蚊子 She Bang A is a great example of something I would have loved to check out in person. Enjoy.
Before I travel to new places, I usually try to research the music scene there and try to check out some music events happening locally. One of the places that seemed like a great fit for my music style in Taipei was a place called The Underworld.
I looked up the location on Google maps, checked out the street view, saved the location on my downloaded map and went about searching for this place. After having arrived at the correct location and double checking I had the correct address, I only realized at that moment that this place had closed down a few months before I arrived in Taipei.
Underworld was established in 1996 as an idealistic gambit to provide Taipei a home for underground music.
“One of the main reasons that Underworld could last for 17 years was that earning money was never a goal,” says Ho. “Bands knew that this was a place to cultivate and enjoy music, so they would not fuss about performance fees. Allowing bands to understand the culture of a performance space is very important, and even more important is the way they went on to form a major scene for this kind of indie culture. In 17 years, we have never taken one cent from the government or taxpayers.”
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2013/06/14/2003564743
More info: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2013/06/14/200356474 https://daybreak.newbloommag.net/2017/07/25/the-shida-underground-incident/ https://www.ashleybu.com/archives/989 She Bang A (FB): https://www.facebook.com/damnmosquito/ Underworld (FB): https://www.facebook.com/underworldtaipei/ Underworld (Blog): http://underworld-taipei.blogspot.com/