Luo Dayou recently gave an exclusive interview to a radio station, during which he criticized Taiwan's music scene for losing to South Korea. He even accused young people of going to Dagang, a "small port" to sing, and criticized the Democratic Progressive Party for lowering the level of Taiwan's music. In this regard, Doris, co-founder of Dagang Kaishang and leader of The Shining, spoke out yesterday, reviewing the development process of Dagang Kaishang in the past 20 years with the theme "This Hong Kong side is grown together by everyone", and emphasized: "These 20 years and these weights cannot be erased in a few words."
"Dagang Sing" was first held in Kaohsiung Pier 2 in 2006. It has now become an international music festival, not only featuring more than a thousand groups of domestic and foreign artists on stage, but also attracting millions of people to participate. Luo Dayou's speech sparked a discussion among netizens, and many people clearly pointed out that the performance location of Dagang Kaixing was "Yancheng" and not "Xiaogang".
Doris, the curator of Dagang Opening. (Provided by Sunrise Music)
Regarding the doubts from the outside world, Doris responded: "Every once in a while, some people will give advice on the opening of Dagang." She recalled that 20 years ago, Kaohsiung was still known as a cultural desert. In 2006, the team held the first Dagang opening on Pier 2. It was not well received at the time. The team always believed that Taiwanese music should not have only one look. Multiculturalism is the nutrient of this land and the best soil for creativity.
Doris described that Dagang Kaisheng is also a creator, "We don't write songs, we create a universe." From the opening ceremony with the sound of the boat, to stages such as Nan Batian, Goddess Dragon, Sea Dragon King, and the annual Dagang Goddess, as well as Wang Caihua With cross-border combinations such as Quarterback, Miao Keli and Lily, Chen Yalan and the Blood Juice Machine, Yang Fan and the Fat Afraid Group, Luo Shifeng and Frank, and even bringing Chen Yilang back to Hong Kong through AI, these are the results of the team's many years of work with partners and artists.
Today, Dagang Open Sing brings together different elements such as pop, rock, electronic music, punk, metal, karaoke shows, comedy and children's songs, allowing various music types to meet on the same harborside. Doris emphasized that Aboriginal, Hakka, Taiwanese and multi-gender artists are invited to participate every year, including Hakka songs by the Shengxiang Band, Aboriginal singing by Ge Xiwa, and this year Li Zhuxin and drag queen Nifeiya performed on the same stage. "Taiwan is originally composed of so many ethnic groups and so many voices, and Dagang just puts it on the stage."
Doris believes that the exchange of music between different generations is also an important feature of the Dagang Kai Sing. Over the past 20 years, singers including Wu Bai, Shen Wencheng, Cai Zhennan, Chen Lei and other singers have sung songs for decades. The Dagang Kai Sing has received enthusiastic choruses from the younger generation. Next year, Taiwanese singer Hong Ronghong will also take the stage. Xie Jinyan has appeared as the goddess of Dagang since the first edition, and returned again this year, leading the audience to sing "Sister" crazily. When Xu Huaiyu returned, a large number of fans who grew up listening to "I Am a Girl" were also present. In addition, artists such as Cyndi Wang, Vivian Hsu, Lu Guangzhong, Jiu Yiyi, ØZI, Gummy B, Guo Shuyao and other artists have all appeared on the stage of Dagang Stage. This year Grandma Yang took the stage to sing, and Qiaohu and Grandma Fruit also joined the performance, allowing three generations to share music together.
Doris believes that the most vitality of Taiwanese culture is that people from different ethnic groups and generations can connect and sing together. She named "The Wind Blows" by Caodong No Party, "The Love Is Missing" by Five People, "The Prodigal Son" by Eggplant Egg, "Island Skylight" by Fire Extinguisher, "The Big Bad Love" by Meixiu Group, and "Brothers Are Not" by Xie Boy "Dreams Shouldn't Be", as well as Sunset Speedster, Elephant Gymnastics, Constant's Changing Ball, Blood Juice Machine and other bands' works, have all been sung by tens of thousands of people in Dagang, and are now bringing Taiwanese music to the United States, Japan and Europe.
The core positioning of Dagang Kaisheng is the "Music Festival of Life". (Provided by Sunrise Music)
In addition to bringing Taiwanese music to the international stage, Dagang Open Sing has also become a window for overseas musicians to understand Taiwan. Doris mentioned that Japanese actress and singer Mitsushima Hikari, Asian Kung Fu Generations, and the Grammy Award-winning The Flaming Lips have all appeared on the Dagang stage. This year, they also invited guests from the well-known animation "Rock of Loneliness!" 》The ending of walking out. She also specifically mentioned that when Mrs. GREEN APPLE debuted in Dagang in 2019, she was not well-known in Taiwan. Now she has become the first group of artists in Japan's history to have their entire works streamed over 10 billion times, and has been the most listened to artist on Spotify Japan for three consecutive years.
Doris said that the Dagang Opening Sing is now not only a music festival in Taiwan, but also a window for the world to hear about Taiwan. She described Dagang as a city that only existed for two days. Every year, she and her team continue to think about what needs to be corrected, how to do better, and what to do next.
Doris said emotionally: "We have gone through hardships together for our ideals. The men and women of Dagang have cried and laughed together. We will remember and will continue to have the shining days, the music festival of life." She believes that Taiwanese culture will continue to grow because of everyone who works seriously. She also left her hope for the 20th anniversary of Dagang Sing with "Next March, the boats will sound, we will see you at the harbor". Dagang Sing will be held at Kaohsiung Pier 2 Art Zone on March 20 and 21 next year.
