| Highlight | |
 Brit-rock band 1976 performs tomorrow night at The Wall.PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES | Taiwanese indie-rock institution 1976 plays at The Wall (這牆) tomorrow night. The group, whose Brit-pop sound endeared them to a generation of underground music fans, regularly appears at major local rock festivals. To date 1976 has released four albums, and last year the group released an EP, In Clubbing We Trust (撒野俱樂部). The band’s charismatic lead singer, Raykai Chen (陳瑞凱), is now an indie-music guru in Taiwan — he was chosen to be a judge for the Golden Melody Awards and is part-owner of a popular alternative coffee shop, Kafka on the Shore (海邊的卡夫卡). Chen told the Taipei Times in a 2006 interview that he was unsatisfied with his looks: “Good looks are absolute ... Anything can be changed and improved, except your appearance.” The band will play two sets tomorrow night.
▲ Tomorrow at 8pm ▲ The Wall (這牆), 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 visit www.the-wall.com.tw for more information ▲ Admission is NT$400 and includes one drink |
Theater
Winnie (維妮) by Mr Longni Creative Performing Group (Mr隆尼表演創意團隊) follows the story of a 25-year-old woman whose constant reflections on her troubled adolescence exert a profound effect on her relationship with friends.
▲ Guling Street Theater (牯嶺街小劇場), 2, Ln 5, Guling St, Taipei City (台北市牯嶺街5巷2號)
▲ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm; tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$300, available through NTCH ticketing
The Comma Theater Company’s
(逗點創意劇團) Wait a Moment
(成名在忘) explores the process of artistic production through the lives of an actor and a singer, and how their upbringing affects the creative process.
▲ Y17 (台北市青少年育樂中心), 3F, 17, Renai Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市仁愛路一段17號3樓)
▲ Today and tomorrow at 7pm; tomorrow and Sunday at 2pm
▲ Tickets are NT$300 to NT$700, available through NTCH ticketing
An early Hakka and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) musical,
April Rain (四月望雨) returns to the stage tomorrow. The multilingual
performance — in Hoklo, Hakka, Mandarin and Japanese — is based on the life of Teng Yu-sian (鄧雨賢), a Japanese-colonial era composer who has been hailed as the father of Taiwanese folk music. Teng is portrayed as an artist caught between different cultures and torn between idealism and reality.
▲ National Theater, Taipei City
▲ Tomorrow at 7:30pm; Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$3,000, available through NTCH ticketing
On Fire (賣番仔火的小女孩) by
Taiyuan Puppet Theater Company
(台原偶戲團), tells the story of a greedy grandmother who forces her granddaughter to work in a factory that makes matches. The girl befriends a little boy and together they discover that the matches are alive. One night, a disaster threatens the lives of both children and their match friends.
▲ Nadou Theater (納豆劇場), 79 Xining N Rd, Taipei City (台北市西寧北路79號)
▲ Tomorrow at 3pm
▲ Tickets are NT$200, available through NTCH ticketing
Classical music
Li Yun-di and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
(李雲迪與鹿特丹愛樂管弦樂團) sees the celebrity pianist Li Yun-di perform a program including Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in g minor, Op. 16 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The orchestra will also perform Ravel’s La Valse and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, “Eroica.”
▲ Tonight at 7:30pm
▲ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$1,200 to NT$4,800, available through ERA ticketing
Performing under guest conductor Jorma Panula, the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra (台北愛樂管弦樂團)
presents Dialog With a Master: Sibelius Series 3 (西貝流士計畫第3號—與大師對話). The program includes three pieces by Sibelius: Suite Pelleas et Melisande, Op. 46, Valse Triste, Op. 44 and Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43
▲ Tomorrow at 7:30pm
▲ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500, available through NTCH ticketing
The World of the The Kaleidoscope Trio — Having Fun With Music Ancient and Modern (萬花筒的音樂世界—古典與流行的翹翹板) finds the innovative group making their own interpretation of Rossini’s Overture to “La Gazza Ladra,” Astor Piazzolla’s Liber Tango, and Mozart’s Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro.”
▲ Today at 7:30pm
▲ National Recital Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$300 and NT$600, available through NTCH ticketing
For Classical Fever 4 — In Love With Tchaikovsky (古典發燒夜(四)戀上柴可夫斯基), the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra (高雄市交響樂團) performs under guest conductor Kuo Lian-chang (郭聯昌) with Tali Morgulis on piano and Ben Morris-Cline on cello. The program includes Tchaikovsky’s Marche Salve, Op.31, Piano Concerto No.1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23, Variations sur un Theme Rococo, Op.33 and Capriccio Italien, Op.45.
▲ Tomorrow at 7:30pm
▲ Kaohsiung City Concert Hall (高雄市音樂館演奏廳), 99 Hehsi Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市河西路99號)
▲ Tickets are NT$250, available through ERA ticketing
Contemporary
Jazz Your Mind appears tonight at Sappho de Base, the current favorite late night hangout for Taipei’s jazz musicians. Tomorrow it’s the Blues Vibrations (see story above). On Tuesday night, there’s a set by the Grace Jazz Trio, with an open jam afterwards. The Dafu Jazz Trio takes to the stage on Wednesday, and on Thursday it’s DJ Zulu, spinning what he calls “timeless and positive black sounds.”
▲ B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1). Call (02) 2700-5411 (after 9pm) or visit www.sappho102.biz for more information
▲ Performances begin at 10:30pm
▲ No entrance fee
Tonight at Italian restaurant
Capone’s, it’s Taipei’s most
authentic funk and blues band,
the Kenyatta Quintet, led by
drummer and New Orleans native Abe Nbugu Kenyatta.
▲ 312, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段312號). Call (02) 2773-3782 for more information
▲ Tonight from 9pm to 11pm
▲ No entrance fee, dinner seating
Appearing tonight at Underworld (地下室) are punk band Angry Young Men (生氣的年輕人) and
indie-electronica singer Veraqueen.
Taking to the stage tomorrow is La Petite Nurse (小護士樂團), which has been on the edge of the local indie scene for more than half a decade. The band will play two sets. YozTiger (包子虎), a former member of post-rock band Sugar Plum Ferry (甜梅號),
is the venue’s special guest DJ on Sunday night.
▲ 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
▲ Live shows go from 9:30pm to 11:30pm. The DJ on Sunday starts at 10pm. The bar is open from 8pm daily, closed Mondays
▲ Entrance on Fridays and Saturdays is NT$300 and includes one drink. On Wednesday’s it’s NT$100. Entrance this Sunday is free. Before midnight on Tuesdays and Thursdays, drinks are buy-one-get-one-free
Pan Africana, a drum ensemble
consisting of expats from Africa and the Caribbean, is on tonight at Bliss. The Paper Scissors Stone Band, which plays folk rock and classic rock covers “from the 50s to the present,” takes to the stage tomorrow.
▲ 148, Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市信義路四段148號), one block east of Dunhua South Road (敦化南路). Call Bliss at (02) 2702-1855 or log on at www.bliss-taipei.com. For more information on live performances
at Bliss, visit www.myspace.com/blisslivehouse
▲ Tonight and tomorrow at 10pm. Bar/kitchen open from 7pm daily. Ladies night on Fridays; women get one free cocktail of their choice
▲ Entrance to the bar is free; NT$200 cover for music shows
Popular Aboriginal pop-rock band Totem (圖騰) plays at The Wall (這牆) tonight. Tomorrow, indie-pop rockers 1976 take to the stage (See today’s Highlight). Punkhoo (胖虎) and metal core/emo band 831 (八三夭) play on Sunday.
▲ 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
▲ 8pm tonight, tomorrow and on Sunday
▲ NT$400 tonight, tomorrow and on Sunday. Admission includes one drink
Natural Q (自然捲), an ensemble whose sound includes vocals, acoustic guitar, violin and hand drums, appears tonight at Witch House. Folk Rice Public (愛吃飯合作社) takes to the stage tomorrow. On Thursday it’s indie-folk duo U.TA (屋塔樂團).
▲ 7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號). For more information, call (02) 2362-5494 or visit www.witchhouse.org
▲ Performances start at 9:30pm. Restaurant/bar with queer/feminist bookstore and large collection of board games open 11am to midnight Sundays through Wednesdays; 11am to 1am Thursdays through Saturdays
▲ NT$300 entrance includes one drink
Tonight is Fusion Night at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言), with drummer Shau Bai (李守信), keyboard player Lu Sheng-fei (呂聖斐), guitarist Eric Chuang, Ah-da (阿達) on bass and saxophonist Dong Sun-wen (董舜文). Indie-pop band Won Fu (旺福) brings their comedic act to the venue tomorrow night. Sunday features indie-rockers Love Manana (愛的大未來), followed by the Color Band. Monday is open-jam night.
▲ B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1), next to Taipower Building (台電大樓). Call (02) 2368-7310 or visit www.riverside.com.tw for more information
▲ Shows start at 9:30pm
▲ NT$400 tonight and tomorrow; NT$350 on Sunday. Admission includes one free drink. There is a one-drink minimum on Monday
Funk combo New Hong Kong Hair City, which just released a new CD entitled Walk On, plays tonight at 89K in Taichung, along with funk-rock combo Point 22 (.22). Tomorrow it’s Changhua expat rockers The DoLittles and experimental rockers Johnny and Eeyore (強尼屹耳).
▲ 25 Daguan Rd, Taichung City (台中市大觀路25號). Call (04) 2381-8240 for more information
▲ 10:30pm until late
▲ NT$300 entrance includes one drink
Every Wednesday night at the Cosmopolitan Grill there’s a blues open mic held by the Blues Society on Taiwan and hosted by Torch Pratt. All are welcome to bring their instruments and sit in on guitar, bass or drums.
▲ 1F, 218, Changchun Rd, Taipei City (台北市長春路218號1樓). Call 2508-0304 or visit www.cosmo.com.tw for more information
▲ 8pm to 11pm every Wednesday
▲ Free admission
The Diner’s (樂子) Dunhua South Road branch hosts The Diner Jam, an open mic every Thursday.
▲ 6, Ln 103, Dunhua S Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路二段103巷6號), just off Anhe Road (安和路), in the lane behind Carnegie’s. Call (02) 2700-1680 or visit www.thediner.com.tw for more information
▲ 9:30pm to midnight every Thursday
▲ Free admission
Exhibition
Camille Pissarro: Family and Friends — Masterworks From the Ashmolean Museum (印象畢沙羅：英國牛津大學美術館珍藏展). A central figure in the formation of the impressionism movement, Camille Pissarro’s (1830 to 1903) career in art represents many of the main trends in 19th century painting in the West. The works on display come from the collection of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford in England. The exhibition features Pissarro’s oil paintings, drawings, prints and letters, as well as works by his three painter sons and granddaughters. Paintings by Barbizon painters and Pissarro’s fellow Impressionists are also included to place the master’s influences among a wider context.
▲ National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院), 221, Zhishan Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市至善路二段221號). Open daily from 9am to 5pm; closes at 8:30pm on Saturdays. Call (02) 2881-2021 for more information
▲ Until Aug. 17
Coffee, Cigarettes and Pad Thai — Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia (咖啡、菸、泰式炒河粉—東南亞當代藝術). Featuring works by 17 artists from six Southeast Asian countries, this exhibition is being billed as the first to attempt to introduce to local audiences the great diversity of the region’s contemporary art. The works on display speak to the political, cultural and social changes occurring in the countries they come from in the era of postcolonialism and globalization.
▲ Eslite Gallery (誠品畫廊), B2, 243, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段243號B2). Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 11am to 7pm. Call (02) 2775-5977 for more information
▲ From tomorrow through July 27
Human, Body, Memory Series II (「人、身體、記憶」四人攝影展系列二). Veteran photographer Huang Tzu-ming (黃子明) has been invited to show his oeuvre at the second installment of an ongoing exhibition that runs until the end of this year. Tomorrow, from 2pm to 4pm at the gallery, Huang will hold a panel discussion with playwright and director Wang Muo-lin (王墨林), in which the two will discuss the development of photographic aesthetics in Taiwan.
▲ Cafe Noir (咖啡黑), 29 Siwei Rd, Taipei City (台北市四維路29號). Open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11:30am to 10pm. Call (02) 2325-6886 for more information
▲ Until July 31
Meme 2008: Antimatic III — Solo Exhibition by Junko Teresa Mikuria (抗衡III—陳超敏攝影個展). Born in Hong Kong and educated in Europe, the photographer is known for her originality in both the commercial and avant-garde realms. This exhibition features two series of images exhibited side by side. One consists of Polaroid pinhole shots of daily activities. The other is a collection of photographs of food inspired by Surrealism and its use of found objects to destabilize one’s sense of reality and suggest new possibilities.
▲ Hung Chien-chuan Foundation (洪建全基金會), 12F, 9, Roosevelt Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路二段9號12樓). Open Mondays through Fridays from 10am to 5pm. Call (02) 2396-5505 X122 for more information
▲ Until Aug. 29
When Humanity Intersects With Arts (人之域藝之境). The museum’s annual exhibition focuses on portraits of human characters. The paintings on display fall into two categories: in the first are realistic portraits in which the painters assume the role of observers; in the second are paintings that convey the inner thoughts of their creators.
▲ Juming Museum (朱銘美術館), 2 Sheshihu, Chinshan Township, Taipei County (台北縣金山鄉西勢湖2號). Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10am to 6pm; Saturdays from 10am to 9:30pm. Call (02) 2498-9940 for more information
▲ Until Jan. 11, 2009
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
On April 17, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) launched a bold campaign to revive and revitalize the KMT base by calling for an impromptu rally at the Taipei prosecutor’s offices to protest recent arrests of KMT recall campaigners over allegations of forgery and fraud involving signatures of dead voters. The protest had no time to apply for permits and was illegal, but that played into the sense of opposition grievance at alleged weaponization of the judiciary by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to “annihilate” the opposition parties. Blamed for faltering recall campaigns and faced with a KMT chair
Article 2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文) stipulates that upon a vote of no confidence in the premier, the president can dissolve the legislature within 10 days. If the legislature is dissolved, a new legislative election must be held within 60 days, and the legislators’ terms will then be reckoned from that election. Two weeks ago Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed that the legislature hold a vote of no confidence in the premier and dare the president to dissolve the legislature. The legislature is currently controlled
RSS