New five-piece rock band wins Filipino battle of bands competition

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/15
By: William Yen

Hsinchu County, Dec. 15(CNA) A new five-piece rock band from Taoyuan Sunday won a year-end battle of the bands competition in Hsinchu County that aimed to provide exposure for up-and-coming Filipino migrant worker music groups.

Dennis Relampagos Saldana, lead vocalist of "The Long Keys," who also won best vocalist at the competition said the band was only formed about two weeks ago when he got a phone call from other musicians asking him join the group.

The band, composed of a drummer, lead, bass, and rhythm guitar, covered three Filipino songs to defeat three other bands and win the grand prize trophy, said the 34-year-old Saldana, who hails from Davao City in the Philippines.

Edward Galleon, a 32-year-old factory worker from Taoyuan, said due to the relatively recent formation of the band, they only got to practice three times before the competition, which was held at Fengshan Community Activity Center in Hukou township.    [FULL  STORY]