Well took my first venture out to check out what kind of music scene there is in Taiwan. Went to this placed called the wall to see some band called Fire E.X. I checked some of their stuff out on the internet and they sound pretty much like any other pop punk band of the blink 182, greenday variety. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I thought why not just go see what its about. So I get there and its pretty much like what you would expect to see at one of these types of shows, kids hanging out in the lounge smoking cigarettes, flipping through the merch, and doing whatever kids do at that age. To tell you the truth I couldn't really tell the average age of people there but it seemed similar to what you would see at Bouncing souls show. Anyway, I wander around a bit in the lounge and finally find the place to by the ticket with a little help from some guy who works there. So I get in and the show starts and the first band is straight up Screamo and the most annoying kind, singer says something in chinese and interjects every once in a while something to the effect of "fuck yeah" and "lets go" and then starts the set. The only saving grace is that they didnt play for that long. Unlike shows in NY or anywhere in the states, the time between bands is relatively short, at least tonight it was, it was around 5 minutes and the next band came on, they were some sort of electro pop band and we'll leave it at that. Finally the headliners Fire EX are on. Before they go on they play some sort of video intro . . . I think maybe one of their music videos or something. But the kids that are there go nuts for it. They are clapping and cheering everytime one of their favorite band member does a funny antic or poses in some manner. When its done Fire EX goes on. The songs were alright, i guess in my jaded old age I thought it was a bit generic, but I guess if I was a 16 year old kid from taiwan I would love these guys. The crowded at this show was pretty tamed, albeit the music wasnt that aggressive, their were momentary spurts of pogoing and what could loosely be called moshing but all in all the kids basically stood watching and showed their appreciation by the applause and cheers after the song. By 10:00 I had had my fill and left before the show ended. I don't think I could have stayed their any longer.

Highlights of the night: explaining to some japanese dude what "screamo" was and having two bar girls trying to sell me jagermiester drinks .

Outside of the Wall.
Outside lounge of The Wall

Oh to be young and angsty again. . .

Hipster haircuts and girl pants? where the hell am I? Willamsburg?! Prognosis: Worst band ever.

Second band of the night, no idea what their name is.

Kids watch a video intro. "Wow its almost like where at the show . . . oh wait . . . "

This band is called Fire E.X, which I guess is short for Fire extinguisher. Taiwan's equivalent to Japan's equivalent of blink 182. I don't know what more you can really say about a band that wears their own t-shirt on stage.

Caught in the mosh? Not really this all but lasted for 3 seconds. " Quick someone find little Timmy his ritalin before he moderately gets out of hand again."

Woaaahhh, woahhhh . . . "dude do you think we should write some other lyrics?" "Nah man, lets just add another 'Woah.'"