TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The inaugural Soul Tower Party kicked off featuring a full slate of late-career indie rock bands on Saturday night (Sept 23).
Located near Bade Road, In Moo Jam (櫻木匠) is a sprawling underground oasis for musicians with half a dozen recording studios, a 200-person performance space with a miniaturized festival stage, and a spacious lounge and bar area.
BB Bomb, a local punk act formed in 2005, delivered a superb, high-energy performance to begin the party, benefiting from the venue's outstanding sound system and lighting.
Inhuman performing at Soul Tower Party. (Taiwan News, Sean Scanlan photo)
After the band’s performance, BB Bomb lead singer and vocalist Hsu Pei Hsing (許珮歆) said the band has considered calling it quits many times over their 20-year history. But parties or festivals like Soul Tower are one of the reasons they continue.
In fact, reuniting bands from the height of Taiwan’s indie rock scene (2000–2010) was the main aspiration for party organizer Sophia Chuang.
“I came up with the name Soul Tower, which is inspired by the red buns presented to elderly people on their birthdays. I chose this image as a way to honor all of these older bands from the heyday of indie rock in Taiwan," said Chuang.
Band merchandise on display and for sale. (Facebook, Soul Tower Party)
She added that many of her personal favorites are performing, such as blues-rock-based Celluloid (賽璐璐) as well as Pepper Cat (胡椒貓).”
Chuang says it’s the first major party she has organized. Prior to this event, she was a project manager for a local app and is skilled at online promotion as well as process workflow. She says the festival is an outgrowth of her personal vision and largely successful, except for the lack of food vendors.
Jelly Lee, the lead singer of Coach, bounced in through the front door, and though his band wasn’t playing tonight, he was here to cheer on some old friends and show kinship for Funky Brothers ( 放客兄弟 ), who have undergone many line-up changes in the past decade but continue to put on a lively show.
With so many friends onstage and in the audience, some of the performances did get a little messy, such as Funky Brother’s set, which was repeatedly interrupted by spontaneous toasts and drinks, clearly relishing the opportunity for so many senior musicians from Taiwan’s indie music scene to reunite.
