Emily and I made the trip through to Taipei last Saturday for the gig at DV8 – damn, I should have listened to the GPS when it told me to get off the highway (twice!). Instead, we got stuck in Taipei’s notorious traffic and arrived at the venue much later than anticipated; stressed way out! Finally met Viba (whom it feels like I’ve known for years) as well as Fyodor and Vladimir of KusoJ T. Club. My friend Andre who now lives in Taipei arrived soon after – I’m in the process of contributing some sax tracks for an experimental music project Andre is working on.
Finished my setup and soundcheck with 30mins to spare before my set. At that stage there was nobody there and I left the the venue with Em. and Andre feeling pretty sure that I wouldn’t have much of an audience. Was very happy to meet FanChiang of Kou Chou Ching outside when we returned 15 minutes later and was very surprised to find that the place had filled while I was gone. Taipei audiences are punctual! Amongst them fishLIN (Kou Chou Ching’s other rapper), Yiching (whose company Silent Agreement will be distributing Chill Dynasty in Taiwan) and Sunieda de Beer (another South African friend whom I’ve recently played sax for on her solo album).
My 45 minute set went over really nicely, I’m happy to say. The crowd was really appreciative and I think I gave a pretty good accounting of myself. Good to know that I have a set that works, especially with the prospect of a number of promotional gigs coming up over the following two months. Viba and KusoJ’s sets were equally well received – Viba and I’ll definitely be playing together in the future, since our sets complement each other rather well. Kudos to Viba and Fyodor for organizing and promoting this event – it was a real pleasure!
