By Darice Chang
Introduction
When legendary British thrash metal band Onslaught announced their Asia tour, Taiwan was missing from the list. Undeterred, one diehard fan recruited another and together three Taiwanese decided to bring the band to Taipei themselves. With no previous experience in event organization and driven purely by passion, the three fans – under the pseudonyms Somebody, Nobody, and Everybody – pooled their money and resources to make their dream a reality.
Aside from being an entirely fan-organized event, this was also the 30th anniversary of ‘The Force’, the second album by Onslaught and widely considered a canonical part of the thrash metal repertoire. To celebrate the band played the entire album in full, in album order.
Taiwanese thrash metal bands Mutation and Ashen provided opening acts.
We caught up with Onslaught after the show and see what they had to say about their debut in Taiwan.
Benjamin Ellis, Tour Guitarist
I only had 5 days to learn the guitar for this tour!
There was a lot of energy! I think only Japan comes close.
One of my favorite shows. Loved it!
Nige Rockett, Guitarist, Founder
We are honored to be in Taiwan for the first time.
We had an amazing time…a show put on by the fans, but the promotion and way we’ve been looked after has been amazing. It’s the first show they’ve ever done but it’s like working with a professional.
We can’t wait to come back already!
Everything we want — food has been great, crowd has been great.
Didn’t like the stinky tofu, but everything else has been nice and fresh, vegetables have been amazing.
Sy Keeler, Vocalist
Humbled, this has been a fantastic experience.
Only two days in Taiwan, but the first of what I hope many many visits.
It is a fantastic country.
And I hope next time we come we can see more of the city and more of the country; the people are wonderful.
I’ve been to so many countries, nearly 70 countries (Czech Republic, Japan, Venezuela…), and this is top 5.
Everything sets it (Taiwan) apart, mainly the people.
You visit a country and you get so much love from everyone, and we hope we can return that love.
It is a fantastic experience.
Taiwan, we hope to return for sure.
Hope to return very soon.
Conclusion
Onslaught recently toured South Asia and headlined the Thrash China Festival Tour which ran May 1st through 14th.
Photographs by Ciou Wei Li Photography, J.Su Foto, and Onslaught-The Force (Chinese Page).
Special thanks to Brutal Wei, Jill Su, Somebody, Nobody, and Joshua for their assistance.
AUTHOR BIO
Darice Chang is a translator, interpreter, and aspiring creative residing in Taipei. She has interpreted for stories appearing in BBC, The LA Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, L’Orange, Nepszabadsag, and Metal Hammer, among others. She was a Miss Taiwanese American Ambassador in 2014-2015. In her spare time she enjoys vegan food, learning new things, writing about those things, yoga, and rocking out.
You can find her adventures on Facebook and follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
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