UMUSICLIVE Concert
Sunday, September 6, 2009
8:00PM
Plaza of Nations
750 Pacific Boulevard
To make music truly universal, unlimited and (yo)urs, the online music station UMUSICLIVE.com strives to provide a platform where more music, regardless of region, genre or popularity can be listened. UMUSICLIVE concert brings some of these musicians to the 2009 TELUS TAIWANfest to perform live. This year three bands from North America and Taiwan will be rocking together. The music will take the audience on a journey across the Pacific Ocean and back. Choice of innovative musicians will provide an alternative experience to the mainstream pop music. It will also provide musicians a chance to communicate and exchange through notes.
Representing Taiwan, Tizzy Bac is different from an ordinary band where there is no guitarist. All guitar effects such as distortion/overdrive are made by bass. Piano/keyboard is the mainstream of their arrangements, and thus they are well known as a "piano rock" band. The band recently released the third studio album in February 2009. Elements from various musical style and possibilities of fusing all kinds of expression can be found in the arrangement. http://www.tizzybac.com.tw/
The second band from Taiwan to perform in UMUSICLIVE concert is Van Fan and his band. While the movie, "Cape No. 7," whose box office is only second to "Titanic" will be played as part of the programming of TAIWANfest, the lead actor/singer, Van Fan is invited to sing at the concert. Began as a singer, Van Fan went through a rough patch before he found his other talent and passion in acting. Van Fan found him able to express the emotion in the songs better than before after the training as an actor. Inspired by Guns N' Roses, Van Fan's music is characterized with soft rock.
From New York, "Hsu-nami" is founded by Jack Hsu from Taiwan. The band is the first ever "Er-hu prog rock group" in the world. Its music features fusion of various styles from metal, psychedelic, prog rock to funk, incorporating the use of an amplified ''Erhu'' in place of lead vocals; it successfully showcases the cultural collaboration between the East and the West.
A Behind the Scene Story
UMUSICLIVE: "Screaming in Spring!" is an important part of music culture in Taiwan. Independent music creation is the true spirit of "Screaming in Spring!". Throughout the whole event, there are more than ten venues, and over two hundred bands entertaining hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic music lovers in southern Taiwan - suddenly, so called "underground music" becomes mainstream and Taiwan becomes the heaven of rock and roll. While sitting on the lawn and rocking to the music, Habourfront Centre in Toronto and the Plaza of Nations in Vancouver come to mind – three bands and three styles would transfer Canada into Taiwan, making Toronto and Vancouver another Kenting, and the TELUS TAIWANfest a "Screaming in Spring!" of this side of the Pacific.
Tizzy Bac: In an autograph session with Tizzy Bac in Taipei sometime ago, we saw the hard work and perseverance of the musicians and the passion and zeal of their fans. Tizzy Bac doesn't depend on packaging to attract music lovers, but uses its music to touch its fans' hearts. One can easily feel the bright future of Taiwan's transformation by just looking at Tizzy Bac.
