David on Formosa

Back in January 2009 I attended a screening of the documentary “Voices from the South: Kaohsiung’s Independent Music Scene” at The Wall in Taipei. The documentary, directed by Don Quan, was about the indie music scene in Kaohsiung. The film followed the fortunes five Kaohsiung bands and four of these bands (KoOk, Orange Doll (橘娃娃), Shy [...]

I have just spent ten days accompanying John Seed on a trip around Taiwan. John is an environmentalist from Australia well known for his efforts protecting rainforests around the world and also as a philosopher of Deep Ecology. I met John at the Taoyuan Airport on the morning of 28 March. We then took the high speed [...]

The Mega Port Festival (大港開場) was held over the weekend of 5-6 March in Kaohsiung. The festival featured a few bands from Japan and the UK and some big name Taiwanese stars in Wu Bai and Jeannie Hsieh. However, it was largely a showcase of Taiwan’s best contemporary indie bands. Bands played on three stages spread [...]

Every year the Taiwan Free Burma Network (台灣自由緬甸網絡) holds a concert on Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday. This year the event will be held on Saturday 19 June in Kaohsiung’s Central Park (高雄市中央公園) from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. The event features acoustic performances by Tonic (主音樂團) and Panai (巴奈). There will also be postcard signing for people to show their support [...]

Over the weekend I visited some of the areas affected by Typhoon Morakot in Kaohsiung County with a group of law students from Providence University. It is now more than eight months since the typhoon hit Taiwan. While there has been so much reported about the event in the media visiting these places provides a [...]

The Taipei Times today reports on three new live music venues opening in Taipei and Kaohsiung this weekend. Lovers of live music have ever more choices of places to go. The first and the biggest is Legacy located in the Huashan Culture Park (華山文化園區) in Taipei City. They have a great line up of bands [...]