It was an ideal springtime outing at the Megaport Music Festival (大港開唱): The place was crawling with hip music fans genuinely excited to catch performances by 50+ bands over two days in March. The musical styles ranged from indie rock, acoustic, singer-song writer, math rock, rap, metal, punk, electronic and just good, solid rock and roll. All this set on the waterfront at Kaohsiung Harbor, in the part of the city where old industrial warehouses-turned venues and art spaces thrive, overlooking Taiwan’s expanding second biggest-skyline.

The Wall Music, one of the Taiwan’s main live music production companies, has their game together, with smart, easy access festival design hosted by friendly staff and packed with cool artists, live street art demos, skateboarding and an overall chill vibe.

And of course the most important parts of a good fest, bands and fans, were in full effect. It was a great time and left us impressed with the scene at one of Taiwan’s premier indie music gatherings. We recommend it to indie music and culture fans for next year.

Photos: Yussef Milburn

An excited fan catches a crowd surf while fans rock out to local Taiwanese band

Dog G (大支) keeps the crowd hooked as he shows off is his Taiwan style rap prowess.

The Telephones (Japan) They put on a wild, entertaining show – keeping it like a goofy dance party while rocking pretty hard!

Tizzy Bac bassist Che-Yu Hsu gets down with his rocker glasses during the band’s cover of LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem.

Toe (Japan) A mostly instrumental, post-punk-ish, emotive soundscape that closed the fest; and one of Ian’s favorites of the day.