Taichung has a small but active music scene with several venues holding regular gigs of live independent music every weekend. Taichung also has a free music festival called Rock in Taichung (搖滾台中) held annually in September.
Emerge Live House (台中浮現藝文展演中心)
No. 12 Lane 55 Xinxing Road, Longjing Township, Taichung County (台中縣龍井鄉新興路55巷12號)
Occupies the basement below the Peace Cafe. Quite a lot of local and Taiwan metal bands play here. They also sell a range CDs and DVDs with a focus on Taiwanese indie and metal bands.
Links: Indievox, Facebook, website.
IGOO Live House (魚骨文藝商業空間)
No. 60 Yude Road, North District, Taichung City (台中市北區育德路60號)
Small upstairs performance space and nice downstairs bar. The staff are very friendly!
Update: Sadly closed its doors for the last time on 29 May 2010.
Sound Live House (迴響音樂藝文展演空間)
B1-1 No. 429 Sec. 2 Henan Road, Xitun District, Taichung City (台中市西屯區河南路二段429號B1-1)
This venue has space for several hundred people and attracts a good range of Taiwanese indie bands.
The Refuge
No.151-2, Dongshan Rd, Sec. 2, Beitun District, Taichung City (台中市北屯區東山路二段151-2號)
The Refuge is described as "Taiwan's only Bohemian, Art, Music, Hippie, Writer, Truth Seeking Community!" It hosts the annual LUVStock gathering. More details in this article from The Wild East.
Links: Facebook.
89K
No. 21 DaGuan Road, Taichung City (台中市大觀路21號)
This venue is popular with the English-speaking community in Taichung. A new owner took over at the end of 2010. Read an interview with him from the Taipei Times.
Update: 89k was closed down by the Taichung City Government following the Ala Pub fire in March 2011 and remains closed as of May 2011. Check the Facebook page for updates on the situation.
Link: Facebook.
In addition to the live houses listed above there are also several cafes that host regular live music performances.
Retro (mojocoffee) is located at No. 116 Sec. 1Wuquan West Road, not far from the Fine Arts Museum. Check their blog or Facebook page for details about events.
Forro Cafe (呼嚕咖啡) is located at No. 47 Jingcheng 3rd Street (台中市西區精誠三街47號). Check their blog for details of upcoming events.
Also see the cafes and coffee shops page.
For more information about upcoming gigs check Indievox, GigGuide Taiwan, @2Taichung and Facebook.
