EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENT

By Noah Buchan

Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe’s (原舞者) newest production, Langod — The Tsunami (大海嘯), examines an Ami (阿美) tribe creation myth, which the group interprets as a love story. The troupe aims to preserve and revive the disappearing songs and dances of its members’ ancestors by exposing audiences to traditional Aboriginal stories and myths. In Langod, which takes to the stage at Taipei City’s National Experimental Theater beginning tonight, Keseng and Madapidap are the mythical progenitors of the Tabalong community in Hualien County. In the tale, their youngest daughter, Diamacan, is considered the most beautiful girl in Tabalong. While walking along the seashore one day, she is spotted by the son of the ocean god, Kariwasan, who immediately falls in love with her. But Kariwasan’s love becomes obsessive and when Diamacan rebuffs his amorous intentions, he creates a tsunami to entrap her.

▲National Experimental Theater, Taipei City

▲Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm and tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm. Tickets are NT$500, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw

BY Taylor Briere

She Bang-a (死蚊子) takes the stage at Underworld (地下社會) tonight. The three-piece, whose name is romanized Hoklo [also known as Taiwanese] for “damn mosquitoes,” is a continuation of a near decade-long collaboration between guitarist Stan Cash (錢史丹) and bassist Gus Ruan (阮國源). Their musical relationship began in 1999 as part of the art-core band The Stop, Look, Listen. Echoes of their experimental early work together can still be heard in She Bang-a, but the songs have been given more room to breathe with looser structures. Joining them on drums is Lin Yu-an (林昱安) from 88 Balaz (88顆芭樂籽). The band cites numerous influences ranging from John Coltrane to The Pixies, and its music runs the gamut from math rock to funk to noise, often including energetic, improvised jams with jagged, angular melodies. Sharing the bill are punks Inhuman Species (非人物種) and death-metal band Ashen.

▲She Bang-a, 9pm tonight at Underworld (地下社會), B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1)

▲Admission is NT$300, includes a drink

BY Ron Brownlow

The summer concert season isn’t over yet. Pop and dance group the Pussycat Dolls and electronica legends Underworld both visit Taipei later this month for separate shows at two World Trade Center venues. The Pussycat Dolls were formed in 1995 as a burlesque troupe and got their big break in 2005 when PCD debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with hit songs Don’t Cha and Stickwitu. Underworld has its origins in a musical partnership between Karl Hyde and Rick Smith that started in 1980 in Cardiff. The duo was joined by DJ Darren Emerson in the 1990s (who has since left Underworld) and shot to fame during the heyday of dance music with Born Slippy (Nuxx), known for its iconic lyrics, “Lager, lager, lager/mega mega white thing,” from the Trainspotting soundtrack.

▲The Pussycat Dolls, Sept. 25 at Taipei World Trade Center Hall 2 (台北世貿二館), 3 Songlian Rd, Taipei City (台北市松廉路3號)

▲Underworld, Sept. 26 at Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall (台北世界貿易中心南港展覽館), 1 Jingmao 2nd Rd, Nangang Dist, Taipei City (台北市南港區經貿二路1號)

▲Tickets are NT$2,500 for Underworld and NT$1,200 to NT$3,600 for the Pussycat Dolls, available through ERA ticketing outlets or online at www.ticket.com.tw