Upcoming
The Stonely Planet comedy tour opens next Friday, Nov. 30, with four shows at the Comedy Club near National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei. Headliner Dan "Gonzo" Machanik is back with all new material gleaned from his tour of the Americas that will feature insights on his favorite South American country - Miami. Also scheduled to perform are Chris Wang, Huanger and special guest Hartley Pool. All shows are in English and are not suitable for the easily offended. No smoking. Ages 18 and over only.
▲ Tickets are NT$350. NT$80 beer specials at every show
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAN MACHANIK
▲ 10pm Nov. 30; 8:30pm and 11pm Dec. 1; and 8:30pm Dec. 2
▲ Comedy Club, B1, 24 Taishun St, Taipei City (台北市泰順街24號B1). Visit english.comedy.com.tw for more information. For reservations, call (02) 2369-3730 or e-mail social@comedyclub.tw
Theater
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Song Life of Trilogy (生命之歌三部曲)
is an experimental musical journey through different cultures and genres and brings together four musicians hailing from Taiwan and Japan, who are trained in opera, Indian tabla and sitar, classical and modern musical styles. The performance includes interdisciplinary theater art.
▲ Performing Arts School 36 (表演36房), 156-1, Muxin Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市木新路二段156號之1)
▲ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$500 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Happiness Part 2 (浮浪貢開花 Part 2)
is a light and carefree play by Golden Bough Theater (金枝演社) that tells the story of a young bohemian searching for happiness and the interesting places where it is found.
▲ National Sun Yat-sen University (高雄中山大學逸仙館), 70 Lienhai Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市蓮海路70號)
▲ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$300 to NT$700 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Those wanting a little comedy with their musical could do no better than check out LAN Creators' (嵐創作體) production of the off-Broadway musical I Love You, You Are Perfect, Now Change. The show, with its snappy dialogue and contemporary themes and narrated sketches a la Seinfeld, follows a time line in the lives of several different characters spanning five decades. LAN Creators is attempting something relatively new in Taiwan by having a one-month run with two alternating casts. This is the final week of the production.
▲ Crown Theater (皇冠藝文中心小劇場), B1, 50, Ln 120, Dunhua N Rd, Taipei (台北市敦化北路120巷50號B1)
▲ Every evening except Mondays at 7:30pm; Saturday and Sunday at 2:30pm; until Nov. 30
▲ Tickets are NT$750 to NT$1,500,
available through NTCH ticketing, Eslite Bookstore and Fnac, or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
暗殺Q3 … GO, Assassination
is a whodunit mystery complete with a detective who excels in criminal psychology and the methods of interrogation, an informant and murder witness. As this is a play in the tradition of experimental theater, so expect the production to veer off from the detective story and comment on contemporary theatrical practices.
▲ Experimental Theater at Taichung Warehouse No. 20 (台中二十號倉庫實驗劇場), 6-6, Ln 37, Fuxing Rd Sec 4, Taichung City (台中市復興路四段37巷6-6號)
▲ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm and tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$400 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Long-term Taipei residents often remember with fondness the exotic China Plaza (中華商場) before it was torn down in the 1980s. The market has now become part of the setting for Ping Fong Acting Troupe's (屏風表演班) play Apocalypse of Beijing Theater (京戲啟示錄). The work combines writer/director Hugh Lee's (李國修) childhood experiences with the market as a backdrop, his relationship with his father and the day-to-day reality of running a theater group. Li's father was a famous haberdasher for Beijing opera companies, which allowed the writer free reign to explore the operatic tradition throughout the 20th century.
▲ Cultural Affairs Bureau of Hsinchu County (新竹縣立文化中心), 146 Hsiencheng 9th Rd, Chupei City, Hsinchu County (新竹縣竹北市縣政九路146號)
▲ Tomorrow at 7:30pm; Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500 and are available through NTCH ticketing, Eslite Bookstores and Fnac, or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Classical music
The Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center, New York (紐約林肯中心室內樂-璀璨音樂會) will feature the outstanding chamber group performing a program including Mozart's Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano ("Kegelstatt"), K.498, Weber's Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B-flat Major, Op.34, and Schumann's Piano Quintet. The CMS, which was founded in 1969 has long been regarded as one of the major performance groups of contemporary American chamber music.
▲ Today, 7:30pm
▲ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$2,000 and are available through NTCH ticketing
Viennese Strings (NSO 名家室內樂系列1-維也納琴音) will feature Gunter Pichler as conductor and first violin performing with members of the NSO in a program including Lee Che-yi's (李哲藝) Fantasy for String Quartet No. 2, Schubert's String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, Haydn's Adagio from the String Quartet in G Major and Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel.
▲ Today, 7:30pm
▲ National Recital Hall, Taipei
▲ Tickets are NT$300 to NT$500 and are available through NTCH ticketing
Guitar and Percussion (彈擊之間-比利時吉他與打擊二重奏) will feature Boris Gaquere and Renato Martins, a highly regarded duo who have achieved great success with their combination of guitar and drum. The program features their own compositions.
▲ Thursday, 7:30pm
▲ National Recital Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$350 to NT$600 and are available through ERA ticketing
InArts Piano Trio 2007 Annual Concert (心心相藝-心藝鋼琴三重奏2007年度音樂會) will feature a trio of classmates from Ohio State University performing Haydn's Piano Trio in G Major, Debussy's Piano Trio in G Major and Dvorak's Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 21, among other works.
▲ Sunday, 7:30pm
▲ Chih-Shan Hall, Kaohsiung Cultural Center (高雄文化中心至善廳), 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市五福一路67號)
▲ Tickets are NT$100 and NT$200 and are available through ERA ticketing
Contemporary
Happy punk bands Children Sucker (表兒), winner of the battle-of-the-bands competition at this year's Ho-Hai-Yan festival, and Random (隨性) play tonight at Underworld (地下社會). Black Faith With Sonic Pace (黑色信念跟隨著音速腳步) join one of Taipei's best new indie-rock groups, screaming garage-band act Rabbit Is Rich (兔子很有錢), for a performance tomorrow night. Feng Lai Fang (風籟坊) and Mosquilephant (蚊子大象) play Wednesday.
▲ Bands start playing at around 9pm. The bar is open from 8pm to 4am on weekdays, 8pm to and 5am on weekends, and is closed on Mondays
▲ Entrance for shows is NT$300
▲ B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1).
▲ Call (02) 2369-0103 or visit www.upsaid.com/underworld for more information
Talented, hard-hitting garage-rock band The White Eyes (白目) make an appearance tonight at The Wall (這牆) along with Cosmic Man (宇宙人). Tomorrow, it's popular Brit-rockers 1976, who recently released a new EP. Mod's the theme Sunday with Johnny and Eeyore, Bitter and Kenny From Casino (賭場肯尼), all bands influenced by various phases of British rock 'n' roll. On Wednesday, punk bands Toss a Coin, Random (隨性) and grunge/funk group Mr Monster (怪獸先生) take to the stage. Thursday is another round of Challenging the Fire (火焰大挑戰), a battle of new and relatively unknown bands.
▲ Entrance is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$300 Sunday and Wednesday and NT$200 Thursday
▲ The music starts at 8pm, except for Thursday, when it begins at 7pm
▲ B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1).
▲ Call (02) 2930-0162 or log on at www.the-wall.com.tw for more information
Tonight, Riverside Cafe (河岸留言)
presents Terminal 2 (第二航廈),
which plays a combination of jazz and pop. Urban-folk singer Deserts Chang (張懸) and her band return to Riverside tomorrow night. One of Taipei's best live acts, funk-rock band Coach (教父), plays Sunday along with shredder Marty Young. Monday is open-jam night. Pop-rock group New Yorker (紐約客) and neo-prog rockers Formula mix things up on Tuesday. Indie-rock band Lucky Q and singer Bibi Chao (趙之璧) and her band perform Wednesday. Then on Thursday, it's Golden Melody award-winning folk singer Huang Chien-wei (黃建為) and his band, along with new arrivals Mirror (魔鏡).
▲ Shows start at 9:30pm
▲ Entrance tonight and tomorrow is NT$400. Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is NT$350. On Monday there is a one-drink minimum
▲ B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1).
▲ Call (02) 2368-7310, or visit www.riverside.com.tw
The Xue Xue Institute (學學文創志業)
features a show by laid-back acoustic act Smoke Ring (煙圈) as part of a series of concerts by contemporary artists that continues through next month.
▲ Today from 12:20pm to 3pm
▲ Tickets are NT$350
▲ 207, Tiding Blvd Sec 2, Neihu Dist, Taipei City (台北市內湖區堤頂大道二段207號). Log on at www.xuexue.tw/events/pm/opening.html for information on these and upcoming performances and links to the online ticket vendor
This Thursday it's Paradise Island - The Ultimate VIP Party at Plan B. The party is organized by the newly incarnated Black Reign, the Jamaican sound system formerly known as the O-Brothaz. DJs Lion, Youngblood, Taili, Katzu and Fyah B will spin the latest hip-hop remixes, reggae, dancehall and R 'n' B. Bring a flier - one can be found at the Eslite Music Store (誠品音樂) on Dunhua South Road (敦化南路), Grandma Nitty's and PS Cafe - and get NT$100 off at the door.
▲ Entrance is NT$400 and all drinks are NT$150
▲ From 10:30pm
▲ 29-1, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段29號之1). Plan B's phone number is (02) 2775-5855.
▲ Call (02) 2772-2089 or visit www.obrothaz.com for more information. Discounts for groups of five and nine persons can be obtained by e-mailing obrothaz@gmail.com
Tonight is Salsa Night at Grooveyard in Taichung, a non-smoking event with professional instructors who teach salsa and merengue to the tune of Cuban music. There's a jam session on Sunday; on Wednesday, which is ladies night, Russel Rogers plays Flamenco guitar and bouzouki; and Thursday is acoustic jam and open-mic night. Tomorrow at Groovecity, Taiwan's best roots and reggae band, Red-I and the Riddim Outlawz, perform at one of their favorite venues.
▲ Tonight's salsa runs from 8pm to 10pm. Red-I and the Riddim Outlawz take to the stage at 10pm. Sunday's jam is from 7pm to 11pm. Russel Rogers plays from 10pm to midnight. Thursday's open mic starts at 9pm
▲ Cover is NT$300 tomorrow. There's no charge for the other events
▲ Groovecity is inside Tiger City (台中老虎城旁停車場) at 120, Henan Rd Sec 3, Taichung City (台中市河南路三段120號老虎城). Grooveyard is located at 2F, 105 Huamei W Rd, Taichung City (台中市華美西街105號2樓). Visit www.grooveyardtaiwan.com or call 0939-574-737 for more information
City Fables, The 5th City on the Move Art Festival continues this weekend at the Taipei Brewery (see story on Page 15 of last Friday's Taipei Times). More experimental art festival than music festival, this event pairs musicians with multimedia artists in live performances that combine cutting-edge music, sounds and digital images. Performing tomorrow, in order, are post-rock group Weather Man (氣象人), DJ Point (許志遠), Austrian artists Bernhard Gal and Christof Cargnelli, and DJ Code (吳鍇帆). Tomorrow's scheduled performers are Vietnamese electronica artist Tri Minh, post-rock group 8mm Sky (八厘米天空), Bernhard Gal and Christof Cargnelli, and DJ Elvis (涂孝華). Also part of the festival are two areas with multimedia installations that will be open to the public between 9am and 9pm.
▲ Admission is free
▲ Tomorrow and Sunday from 3pm to 9:30pm
▲ Taipei Brewery, also known as the Taipei Beer Factory, 85, Bade Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市八德路二段85號). For more information, visit cityfables.culture.gov.tw
Japanese New Age and electronic music composer and multi-instrumentalist Kitaro brings his Love and Peace tour to the Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋). Over his decades-long career Kitaro - also known as Masanori Takahashi - has been nominated for two Grammys, composed the soundtrack for the Oliver Stone film Heaven and Earth, and collaborated with artists ranging from German electronic music composer Klaus Schulze to former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman.
▲ NT$800 to NT$6,000 tickets are available through ERA ticketing outlets or online at www.ticket.com.tw
▲ 7:30pm Sunday
▲ Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋), 2, Nanjing E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市南京東路四段2號)
▲ For more information, visit www.ticket.com.tw
Tomorrow at The Source, it's all-you-can-drink and DJs spin indie, pop, electro and folk for the monthly Ideoteque party.
▲ NT$500 admission
▲ Tomorrow from 10pm to 4am
▲ The Source, 1-2, Roosevelt Rd Sec 1, Taipei City, (台北市羅斯福路一段1-2號).
▲ Call (02) 3393-1789 for more information
It's a triple-header tonight at Bliss, with funk combo New Hong Kong Hair City, hard rock group Bad Monx and country band 2 Acres Plowed.
▲ The music starts at 9pm
▲ Entrance to the bar is free. Cover for the show upstairs is NT$200. Friday night is ladies night. Women get a free cocktail
▲ 148, Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市信義路四段148號).
▲ Call Bliss at (02) 2702-1855 or log on at www.bliss-taipei.com
Exhibitions
Kaiyodo and Otaku Culture - Desire and Consumption (海洋堂與御宅族文化-慾望與消費). Japanese manga, video games and animation have cultivated many subcultures, one of which is otaku: mostly made up of men obsessed with anime, comic books and other forms of escapism. Kaiyodo is a Japanese company that makes figurines and Garage kits and has grown popular since the early 1980s. The exhibition looks back on a wide range of Kaiyodo's products that reveal the fantasyland of otaku and brings to light the intricate play between desire and consumption.
▲ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 5:30pm.
▲ Call (02) 2595-7656
▲ Until Feb. 17, 2008
Play - Liu Shih-tung 2007 Solo Exhibition (Play不累-劉時棟2007年個展). Featuring 23 large mosaic paintings, the exhibition follows Liu's perception of creating art as synonymous with playing games. By blending imagery of human beings and flora and fauna into a multi-referential web, Liu creates a state of uncertainty and becoming, an aimless play that never ends.
▲ Main Trend Gallery (大趨勢畫廊), 209-1, Chengde Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市承德路三段209-1號). Open Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 7pm.
▲ Call (02) 2587-3412
▲ Until Dec. 15
Traditional Czech Puppets (波西米亞偶的家-捷克懸絲偶戲展).
In collaboration with the Czech Republic's National Museum founded in 1818, the rare exhibition aims to introduce the history, culture and aesthetics of traditional puppetry adored and performed by the Czech people since the 18th century when traveling puppeteers journeyed through villages and small towns to spread and develop the folk art form.
▲ National Taiwan Museum (國立台灣博物館), 2 Xiangyang Rd, Taipei City (台北市襄陽路2號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm.
▲ Call (02) 2382-2699
▲ Until Jan. 6, 2008
Rice for Thoughts - A Performance and Land Art Project by Lin Chuan-chu (晴耕雨讀-林銓居行為地景藝術展). For the second installation of the Museum of Tomorrow's mobile exhibition series, the environmental art project is a 1,000-ping (33,000m2) rice paddy created by Lin. Playing the dual roles of artist and farmer, Lin lives a lifestyle of yesteryear, cultivating on sunny days and reading while it rains.
▲ At the intersection of Jingye 2nd Rd (敬業二路) and Lequn 3rd Rd (樂群三路), behind the Geant supermarket in Dazhi (大直). For more information on the project, visit www.jut-arts.org.tw or call (02) 2578-5467
▲ Until Dec. 15
Have You Eaten Yet? Asian Art Biennial (食飽未-2007亞洲藝術雙年展). Featuring a total of 76 artworks by 38 artists and art groups from the Asia-Pacific and Europe, the exhibition showcases artists' varied ways perceiving, articulating and responding to Asian societies.
▲ National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (國立台灣美術館), 2, Wuchuan W Rd Sec 1, Taichung City (台中市五權西路一段2號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm.
▲ Call (04) 2372-3552
▲ Until Feb. 24, 2008
Highlight
More than 30 bands, singers, rappers and DJs take to the stage this weekend for the Taiwan Band Festival (台灣樂團節) at Huashan Central Arts and Literature Park (華山中央藝文公園) [Not to be confused with Huashan Culture Park]. The festival is sponsored by the Government Information Office (新聞局) and includes a broad spectrum of musical genres, from pop and hip-hop to electronica, post-rock and industrial. Notable acts include 88 Balaz (八十八顆芭樂籽), Sugar Plum Ferry (甜梅號), Coach (教練), Fish and the Bedroom Riot (Fish的床上暴動), Hao-en and Jiajia (昊恩家家), Faith Yang (楊乃文), Chang Jui-chuan (張睿銓) and DJ Point, Adia (阿弟仔), We Save Strawberries (草莓救星), Mrs This (這位太太), Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) and Totem (圖騰). The festival kicks off tomorrow with a parade at 1:30pm that originates by the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall's (中正紀念堂) front gate and travels east down Xinyi Road (信義路), north up Hangzhou South Road (杭州南路) road to the venue on Beipin East Road (北平東路).
▲ Admission is free
▲ Tomorrow from 4pm to 10pm and Sunday from 2:30pm to 10pm
▲ Huashan Central Arts and Literature Park (華山中央藝文公園). The venue is located on Beiping East Road (北平東路), between Linsen North (林森北) and Hangzhou South (杭州南) roads, just north of the Shandao Temple (捷運善導寺) MRT station's exit No. 6
▲ Visit www.taiwanbandfestival.com.tw/bandday.html for a map and complete schedule
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist