The legendary live venues and the changing music scenesAlthough not appreciated by everyone, they paradoxically gained a legendary reputation and
respect in the local indie music scenes. The venues did not flourish financially, but their unique
atmosphere, music taste, and member’s characteristics made them stand out from all the others.
This examination will explore the emergence, changes, and current state of affairs of the
rock music scenes in Taiwan and China over the past twenty years by discussing the important
legacy of the two live venues.^1 What made them so special in their local rock scene? What did
they contribute? How and why did they disappear? Our inquiry will take note of the chang-
ing traces of the local music scenes in Taiwan and China within a more globalized pop/indie
music environment.
Underworld (taipei 1996–2013)
Underworld was founded in August 1996 by a group of young intellectuals who participated in
the March Student Movement for democracy in Taiwan in 1990. Named after the movie they
loved, “Underground” (1995, Emir Kusturica), Underworld is located on Shida Road, within
Da’an district in Taipei. It is a particularly cultured and highbrow area in Taipei, with National
Taiwan Normal University (Shida), National Taiwan University, and National Taipei University
of Technology encompassing the same area. During 1996–2000 Underworld was more akin to
a café or bar, where social activists, young intellectuals, hipsters, hippies, and foreign residents
gathered. At that time live performances were not regularly scheduled, and the place was consi-
dered a “home” to its frequent visitors. They gave the place an intimate nickname, “hue-shia”(會社) ,
which means a community or a home in Taiwanese. In a corner of hue-shia, there was a book-
shelf loaded with literature, novels, and academic books. Experimental theater troupes often
borrowed the stage and performed in the afternoon, and lesbians in Taipei also loved to hang
out there. As the house DJ show became much more popular, Underworld started to schedule
routine live gigs in 1999.
By the early 2000s, Taiwan’s first and second rock generations had already flourished for almost
ten years.^2 Pioneering bands such as LTK Commune (濁水溪公社) and Groupie (骨肉皮), and
the bands that came after them, such as Quarterback (四分衛), the Chairman (董事長), ChthoniC
(閃靈), and Mayday (五月天), had all formed their different localized music styles. Whether it was
pop rock, punk rock, or black metal, all of the bands’ sounds were highly recognizable with influ-
ential lyrics. The expectation coming from the band generation had soon stimu lated the whole of
society. Respectively, in 1994 and 1999, the great success of the band Wu Bai & China Blue and
Mayday reached a new record sales peak for rock bands. Besides major record labels, indie labels
were also making records for indie bands.^3 One of the shareholders of Underworld, DJ Randy Lin
(林志堅), was the manager of the international department of Crystal Records (水晶唱片).
He founded Scum Workshop (實幹文化) to produce records for indie bands and then handed
distribution details to Crystal Records. These bands included the first Taiwan girl punk band
Ladybug (瓢蟲), the post-rock band Sugar Plum Ferry (甜梅號), and the Britpop band 1976.
The place where these bands performed most frequently was Underworld. By then the band
1976 was even called the “house band of Underworld.”^4 It was these bands that formed Under-
world’s gig style back in the early 2000s. It’s worth mentioning that since most live venues in
Taipei successively shut down in the 90s (such as Live A-Go-Go, the Growing Land [息壤] ,
Vibe, Scum, Zeitgeist Live House [聖界], etc.), Underworld became an important successive
venue for indie bands to perform. The subcultural music scene formed within Underworld had
attracted numerous young music fans, and encouraged the third and fourth rock generation to
chase their rock ’n’ roll dream and to make their own music.^5