Classical music
The National Symphony Orchestra performs a program that includes Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges Suite, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. The evening features Italian conductor Oleg Caetani and Croatian pianist Dejan Lazic.
■ Tonight at 7:30pm
■ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
■ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$1,500, available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
The Vienna Boys Choir makes its annual return to Taiwan with its program of classics, international folk songs and contemporary compositions.
■ Monday and Wednesday at 7:30pm
■ Monday at Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall (高雄市立文化中心至德堂), 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市五福一路67號) and Wednesday at the National Concert Hall
■ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$2,000, available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Contemporary
Tonight Legacy Taipei hosts Sleep Party People, a Danish post-rock band, takes the stage with local post-rock heroes Aphasia as the opening act. Tomorrow’s show with Mando-pop artist Yen-j (嚴爵) is sold out. Another Mando-pop singer, Kang Kang (康康) performs on Wednesday.
■ Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), Center Five Hall (中五館), 1, Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市八德路一段1號)
■ 7:30pm tonight, 8:30pm on Wednesday
■ NT$1,400 tonight, sold out tomorrow and NT$400, NT$800 and NT$1,000 on Wednesday. Tickets can be purchased at ERA ticketing outlets, online through www.ticket.com.tw, www.legacy.com.tw and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
Tonight The Wall (這牆) hosts pop punk and modern rock outfit Go Go Rise, which is launching a new EP. The group shares the bill with punks Random (隨性樂團) and HiJack. Tomorrow it’s more driving indie rock from Mary See the Future and Queen Suitcase (皇后皮箱). On Sunday, metalheads can look forward to a “Day of Reckoning,” a show featuring American death metal band Cannibal Corpse and local headbangers Sigh, Impiety and Revilement.
■ B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Tel: (02) 2930-0162. On the Net: www.thewall.com.tw
■ Shows start at 8pm, except Sunday’s, which starts at 7:30pm.
■ NT$500 tonight and tomorrow, NT$1,900 on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.thewall.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Tonight Witch House (女巫店) hosts Mando-pop singer-songwriter No Name. Pop-rock duo Mars and Coara (火星熊) take the stage tomorrow. Fingerstyle guitarist Sujer (舒吉吉) and singer Shi Er (詩兒) perform on Thursday.
■ 7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號), tel: (02) 2362-5494. On the Net: www.witchhouse.org
■ Shows start at 9:30pm.
■ Entrance for music shows is NT$300
Noise and electronica artist 29 of Switzerland and Formosa Romance play tonight at Underworld (地下社會). Tomorrow J@plan and Honey Mud Horse (蜂蜜草泥馬) take the stage. On Wednesday, it’s Iron Boy.
■ B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1), tel: (02) 2369-0103. On the Net: www.upsaid.com/underworld
■ Shows run from 9pm to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays
■ Entrance for music shows is NT$300 on Fridays and Saturdays; Wednesday is NT$100
Tonight indie rock club Revolver hosts an evening of Cumbia and Balkan music spun by house DJs. Tomorrow is “L.I.L. : Groove Collection (On The Dance Floor) : Ballroom 2.0” with DJs Neon, Kids, Dino, Z and JJ. On Wednesday, the venue hosts live music from The Same Day (平凡生活) and Revolting Society (背骨). On Thursday, it’s more live music from Parachutes (降落傘樂團), Who Are You? (隱藏人物), Acidy Peeping Tom (微酸的偷窺狂).
■ 1-2, Roosevelt Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路一段1-2號), tel: (02) 3393-1678
■ Shows start at 9:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$250 tonight, NT$300 tomorrow, NT$150 on Wednesday and NT$200 on Thursday
Bobwundaye, a small pub on Heping East Road (和平東路) in Taipei, hosts an open mic every Wednesday.
■ 77, Hoping E Rd, Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市和平東路三段77號)
■ Shows start at 9:30pm
■ Free on Wednesdays
Veteran jazz combo JEG (這個爵士樂團) plays standards, Latin, funk, rock and fusion tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). Tomorrow, it’s pop rock band Soundboss and Tree of Life (生命樹).
■ 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), tel: (02) 2368-7310. On the Net: www.riverside.com.tw
■ Shows start at 9pm
■ NT$400 tonight and tomorrow and NT$350 Sunday.
Jazz vibraphonist Su Yu-han (蘇郁涵) takes the stage tonight at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館). Aboriginal singer-songwriter Suming (舒米恩) and Light Engine (光引擎) take the stage tomorrow.
■ 177 Xining S Rd, Taipei City (台北市西寧南路177號), tel: (02) 2370-8805. On the Net: www.riverside.com.tw
■ Shows start at 8:30pm
■ NT$400 tonight and NT$250 tomorrow.
The Yellow Lighter Dogma performs tonight at Sappho de Base, a late-night lounge bar. Tomorrow, it’s Latin-jazz group Musa’s Trio, and on Wednesday the Eiji Nonaka Jazz Trio of Japan takes the stage.
■ B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1), tel: (02) 2700-5411. On the Net: www.sappho102.biz
■ Shows start at 10pm.
■ Entrance is NT$200 for each show.
Acclaimed Aboriginal singer Samingad (紀曉君) performs every Thursday at EZ5 Live House, which hosts Mando-pop singers backed by a live band every night.
■ 211, Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市安和路二段211號), tel: (02) 2738-3995. On the Net: visit www.ez5.com.tw
■ Shows run from 9:45pm to 12:30am
■ Entrance fee (includes two drinks) ranges from NT$600 to NT$850, depending on the performer.
On Fridays at Capone’s, Taipei Swing holds dance socials with live music from electric blues band Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ). On Saturday, drummer Abe Nbugu Kenyatta leads a band playing music from his hometown of New Orleans. Iris sings “romantic chansons” Sunday nights and on Wednesdays, it’s Latin music from guitarist Roberto Zayas. Duo Blurrs Bros perform blues and American songbook tunes on Thursdays.
■ 312, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段312號), tel: (02) 2773-3782
■ Live music from 9pm to 11:30pm on Fridays, 8pm to 11:30pm on Saturdays
■ On Fridays, minimum charge of one drink. On Saturdays, minimum charge is NT$300
Hipster pop rocker Sadon (山東) takes the stage tomorrow at Kaohsiung’s Pier 2 Arts Center (高雄駁二藝術特區), and Sleep Party People, a Danish post-rock band, plays on Sunday, with local post-rock heroes Aphasia as the opening act.
■ 1 Dayong Rd, Yancheng Dist, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市鹽埕區大勇路1號). On the Net: pierer-2.khcc.gov.tw, www.thewall.com.tw
■ Shows start at 7:30pm
■ NT$300 tomorrow, NT$1,200 on Sunday
This weekend two Tainan-based bands play Kaohsiung’s The Mercury (水星酒館): Pop-rockers Overtone and post-punk/grunge group Zebra Man (斑馬人大樂隊).
■46 Liwen Rd, Zuoying Dist, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市左營區立文路46號), tel: (07) 550-8617. On the Net: mercurybar.blogspot.com
■ Starts at 9pm
■ Entrance is NT$200
Theater
Operas Old and New by Li Bao-chun (李寶春精演新老戲) presents a program of established works, including classics and new productions created by the Taipei Li-yuan Peking Opera Theater (台北新劇團). The series opens on Wednesday in a show that Li Bao-chun (李寶春) has made a classic, Boar Forest (野豬林), followed by Horse with the Red Mane (紅鬃烈馬) on Thursday. Next week Li will reprise his innovative reworking of Mozart’s Rigoletto in The Jester (弄臣), followed by his reworking of Zhao Kuang-yin (趙匡胤).
■ Wednesday at 7:30pm (Boar Forest) and Thursday at 7:30pm (Horse with the Red Mane)
■ Novel Hall (新舞臺), 3-1 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路3-1號)
■ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$1,500; available through ERA ticketing and online at www.ticket.com.tw
Nanke Dream (南柯夢), a new, big-production of a kun opera that forms one of the four great romances of the Chinese stage. Written by Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu (湯顯祖) during the late Ming Dynasty, this seminal work has been brought to life by the Jiangsu Kun Opera Theater Company (江蘇省演藝集團) and is directed by Wang Chia-ming (王嘉明).
■ Tonight at 7:30pm (Part 2), tomorrow at 7:30pm (Part 1) and Oct. 21 at 2:30pm (Part 2)
■ National Theater, Taipei City
■ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$2,500; available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
The Goodbye Girl (再見女郎), an adaptation of the Neil Simon play of the same name by Taiwan’s Godot Theater Company (果陀劇場), a company that specializes in bringing major works of western drama to the Chinese stage. Starring seasoned performers Sam Tseng (曾國城) and Megan Lai (賴雅妍) in the parts of Elliot Garfield and Paula McFadden, characters immortalized by Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason in the 1977 film of the play.
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm
■ Performing Arts Center of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Hsinchu County (新竹縣文化中心演藝廳), 146 Hsiencheng 9th Rd, Chubei City, Hsinchu County (新竹縣竹北市縣政九路146號)
■ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500; available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
kavulungan — The Breathing (kavulungan — 會呼吸的森林) has claims to being Taiwan’s first Paiwan Aboriginal contemporary dance. It is an exploration of the relationship between the aboriginal community and the forests which nurtured them. The performance premieres tomorrow in Kaohsiung before coming to Taipei in the first week of November.
■ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm; tomorrow at 2:30pm
■ Wei Wu Ying Center for the Arts (衛武營藝術文化中心), 449-1 Nanjing Rd, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市南京路449-1號)
■ Tickets are NT$400 (today’s show is sold out); available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Mau Dance from New Zealand visits Taiwan as part of Novel Hall’s Asia and New Look dance festival. The performance showcases the work of Samoan choreographer Lemi Ponifasio.
■ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm; Sunday at 2:30pm
■ Novel Hall (新舞臺), 3-1 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路3-1號)
■ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,000; available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Last week, Viola Zhou published a marvelous deep dive into the culture clash between Taiwanese boss mentality and American labor practices at the Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) plant in Arizona in Rest of World. “The American engineers complained of rigid, counterproductive hierarchies at the company,” while the Taiwanese said American workers aren’t dedicated. The article is a delight, but what it is depicting is the clash between a work culture that offers employee autonomy and at least nods at work-life balance, and one that runs on hierarchical discipline enforced by chickenshit. And it runs on chickenshit because chickenshit is a cultural
By far the most jarring of the new appointments for the incoming administration is that of Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) to head the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). That is a huge demotion for one of the most powerful figures in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Tseng has one of the most impressive resumes in the party. He was very active during the Wild Lily Movement and his generation is now the one taking power. He has served in many of the requisite government, party and elected positions to build out a solid political profile. Elected as mayor of Taoyuan as part of the
Moritz Mieg, 22, lay face down in the rubble, the ground shaking violently beneath him. Boulders crashed down around him, some stones hitting his back. “I just hoped that it would be one big hit and over, because I did not want to be hit nearly to death and then have to slowly die,” the student from Germany tells Taipei Times. MORNING WALK Early on April 3, Mieg set out on a scenic hike through Taroko Gorge in Hualien County (花蓮). It was a fine day for it. Little did he know that the complex intersection of tectonic plates Taiwan sits
When picturing Tainan, what typically comes to mind is charming alleyways, Japanese architecture and world-class cuisine. But look beyond the fray, through stained glass windows and sliding bookcases, and there exists a thriving speakeasy subculture, where innovative mixologists ply their trade, serving exquisite concoctions and unique flavor profiles to rival any city in Taiwan. Speakeasies hail from the prohibition era of 1920s America. When alcohol was outlawed, people took their business to hidden establishments; requiring patrons to use hushed tones — speak easy — to conceal their illegal activities. Nowadays legal, speakeasy bars are simply hidden bars, often found behind bookcases