Taichung mayor-elect accidentally cuts into set of Taiwanese rock band, angers crowd

台中市長不小心打斷一組台灣搖滾樂隊，觀眾席憤怒

Due to miscommunication, Lu Shiow-yen unknowingly interrupted the performance of Fire Ex. at an event honoring baseball star Chang Tai-shan


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The newly elected mayor of Taichung Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) made a bit of a social blunder on Saturday night (Dec. 15) at an event celebrating the career of professional baseball star Chang Tai-shan(張泰山) who is retiring from the Taiwanese league.

Due to some miscommunication between event coordinators, mayor-elect Lu accidentally interrupted a performance by the Taiwanese rock band Fire Ex. (滅火器), when she walked out to address the crowd and present an award to Chang, before the band's set was finished.

Liberty Times reports that no one had informed the mayor that Fire Ex. was expected to play five songs. After the group had finished two, an organizer reportedly told Lu it was alright for her to address the crowd.

Chang’s presence before the audience may have added to the confusion, since he had joined Fire Ex. to excite the crowd before Lu made her appearance.

However, because Fire Ex. had not yet finished, and Lu continued to speak at length, not realizing her faux-pas, fans of the group grew restless and began booing Lu as she spoke to the crowd.

On Sunday, Dec. 16, a spokesperson from Lu’s office said that the mayor-elect was very sorry for the incident and the confusion. The spokesperson said that Lu sincerely hopes she might have a chance to meet with Fire Ex. sometime to apologize in person, reports Liberty Times.

Apple Daily reports that Chang Tai-shan also released a statement on his Facebook on Sunday, thanking everyone for their support, and apologizing for the confusion.

He said he knows that things were not organized perfectly, and the episode was a little embarrassing for everyone. Chang expressed his hope that there are no bad feelings, and that the event would be remembered as a happy occasion.