Emerge Music Manager Chang
Wen-Jie (right) and events
marketing
planning supervisor
Fu Zheng-Wei (left) hope
everyone will bring their
families to celebrate a
rock-and-roll Christmas. |
Returning to the musical days of youth:
Christmas Rock 'N' Roll
Words and photos by Taichung City Government Cultural Affairs Bureau
By Bai Qian Hua Translated by S. Ying
Photography by Lin Sheng Zhong Photos provided by Emerge Music
In 1999, Naoki Urasawa published a long comical story, "20th Century Boys", which opens with an end-of-the-century setting and a main character who uses rock music to jump back to earlier memories. For Taiwanese born in the 1960's and 1970's, rock music is also an indelible part of their youthful memories, although those memories may be well tucked away amidst the daily responsibilities of work and family.
Taichung City Government has joined hands with a city-based music recording company, Emerge Music, to hold a rock festival during the Christmas period, in the hopes that it will help unlock and awaken those fond rock-related memories for participants.
Emerge Music, established in 1999 with the mission of discovering new music groups, has become the only independent music recording company in central Taiwan. It periodically releases albums by new-generation bands, and also organizes large-scale concerts around town via events such as the Rock in Taichung Festival, Taichung Instruments Carnival, and Taichung Jazz Festival.
With planning underway for the first annual local rock event of its kind, Emerge Music Manager Mr. Chang Wen-Jie points out that the focus of the festival is discovering the musical talents of a new, younger generation, as current bands have been around 3-4 years and there is a lack of fresh adult music groups. Towards this end, the event was heavily promoted at universities and high schools to seek student performers, with 10 student bands selected for the opening warm-up show. Chang is filled with praise for these young artists, who show potential for creating their own music.
Performances by local and overseas bands
Starting five years ago, Emerge Music began rolling out joint albums that included music from various bands, allowing more fans to become acquainted with local groups. For the upcoming "Christmas Rock-and-Roll" festival, it is planning a series of performances by invited Taichung bands such as Bike, Take a Deep Breath, One Step, White Noise, Vision for future, Hercules, Out of Survive, and Nuno's, plus big bands from other cities such as 1976, Back Quarter, PISCO, GONZO, and Suming. Musical styles will vary, including pop, rock, punk and heavy metal, and there will be other new creative elements that are bound to surprise music fans as they watch these performances during the Christmas event.
Events Marketing Planning supervisor Fu Zheng-Wei, who also plays bass for the band Take A Deep Breath, said that joining this music festival was a great learning experience, adding that she was excited about the opportunity to watch Japanese guest band As Alliance perform its unique musical styles.
Promoting holiday spirit with music
Holding a music festival during Christmas at City Hall is a rarity and the Taichung Information Bureau hopes that it will extend summer music fun into the winter season while providing a platform for encouraging further creation by young musical composers.
In keeping with the Christmas spirit, there will also be Christmas tree decorations and carnival-type activities such as 4-5 merry-go-round and rotating coffee-cup rides plus a large market fair selling merchandise and music albums, all allowing participants to simultaneously enjoy shopping, great music, and a chance to meet the musicians in person after their performances.
Emerge Music Manager Chang hopes this will be a family-friendly event and encourages participants to bring their families to the event, so that they can enjoy music, indulge in youthful memories of rock-and-roll, and make this year's Christmas celebrations extra fun.
New Rock-and-Roll Music Festival, Dec. 25-27, 2015
This is the first annual rock festival organized by the Taichung City Government and Emerge Music. The opening event will take place on Dec. 25 from 3 to 9 p.m. with a variety of carnival-type fun and market fair shopping. Activities and musical performances will run from Dec. 25 to 27, generating a happy mood for Christmas celebrations.
Location: Front square of New Taichung City Hall on Taiwan Boulevard.
|
November 2015
