Mayday Mayday Mayday ..... top Taiwan music act set to rock Toronto for the

One of Taiwan's most beloved music acts, Mayday, are set to Rock out Toronto for the first time August 24 at Harbourfront Centre's Sirius Satellite Radio Stage. This all ages event (tickets $48 and $68) launches the Taiwan: Ilha Formosa festival weekend. Doors open at 7 p.m. The band is set to perform for two hours. Tickets and concert info can be obtained by calling 416-973-4000 or online at www.harbourfrontcentre.com/noflash/info/schedule.php?moreinfo=1417

The five member Mayday have been together since 1998 and have released six studio albums. Mayday is one of Taiwan's few million plus selling bands, and has had several sold-out international tours and numerous appearances on MTV Asia. The homegrown pop idols have several of Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Melody Awards and still hold the record for the highest Taiwan concert ticket sales (40,000) – previously held by Michael Jackson. The group (also known as Wǔyuè Tiān) sings in the Taiwanese Minnan dialect and Mandarin and are heavily influenced by The Beatles. They briefly disbanded in 2002 for stints in the military and in strange Spinal Tap fashion have gone through four drummers. The current drummer changed his name to Guan You because a fortune-teller said it would be luckier!

Their current Jump the World Tour has taken the band in front of 10,000 in Hong Kong to fans in Singapore and Beijing. In North America, they will play in Vancouver on September 1 and in Los Angeles. The tour's final shows are in Tokyo and Shanghai in October. Part of the reason they are so popular is shown by their current 2007 Taiwan concerts (where tickets were included in the new Born To Love albums). After one performance they had a marathon 11 hour autograph session for thousands of their fans which lasted from 1 a.m. until noon that morning. Fans in the Toronto area will be treated to a two hour autograph session Wednesday August 22 at Markham's Metro Square (3636 Steeles Ave East) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Please phone 905-940-3636 for more information.

For more info on Mayday visit www.maydaymayday.net/ and www.imayday.com
For more info on Jump The World concerts visit http://english.cri.cn/3086/2007/08/05/1261@257729.htm

Harbourfront Centre visits the vitality of current Taiwanese culture at Taiwan: Ilha Formosa (August 24 to 26). Coproduced by the Formosa Cultural Society of Ontario and the TCCS Special Events Association (who have run a similar festival in Vancouver annually since 1990), the second year of the Toronto festival has free family fun, stunning art exhibits, oodles of beef noodles and talent direct from Taiwan. The festival also features a ticketed concert by top Taiwan Rock icons Mayday. Tickets can be purchased by calling 416-973-4000 or online at www.harbourfrontcentre.com. All festival events are located at Harbourfront Centre (235 Queen's Quay West, Toronto). For public information please call 416-973-4000 or visit http://taiwanfest.ca/events/tcf07/toronto/

Taiwan: Ilha Formosa Media Site - http://taiwanfest.ca/events/tcf07/toronto/media.php
Harbourfront Centre Summer Media Site - http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/wr/media/