The Shida Underground Incident
The Shida Underground Incident was an incident in which the live house Underground was closed because of complaints from local residents because of noise
The Shida Underground Incident was an incident in which the live house Underground (地下社會), a prominent incubator for up-and-coming independent bands and experimental music in Taiwan, was closed because of complaints from local residents because of noise in June 2013. With the closure of underground, non-commercial independent and experimental musicians had few other places they could go to perform, given the high prices in Taipei (台北) for venues. And, outside of highly commercialized nightlife, young people had one less place they could go to enjoy themselves.
Photo credit: 地下社會 Underworld/Facebook
Some question whether community opposition to Underground was genuine, or whether certain social forces saw spaces for young people as dangerous and needing to be restricted in the name of social conservatism. Either way, the closure of Underground, then, is reflective of how rising rents and lack of social support for the arts deprived Taiwanese young people of spaces they could call their own, contributing to the dissatisfaction of young people with present social conditions in Taiwan. This would, again, be a product of poor economic conditions and financial hardship for young people.