Theater
Dream Hotel (夢想大飯店), a modern musical by the Taipei Philharmonic Theater (台北愛樂劇工廠), features 20 original songs ranging from blues to Bollywood and plenty of big dance numbers to create a contemporary musical spectacular.
■ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm; tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
■ National Theater, Taipei City
■ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$3,000; available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
The Happy Prince (快樂王子) by the contemporary puppet troupe Puppet Its Double (無獨有偶). The group presents the classic Oscar Wilde story through a mixture of performance and puppetry.
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
■ Tainan Municipal Cultural Center (台南市立台南文化中心國際廳原生劇場) at 332 Zhonghua E Rd, Tainan City (台南市中華東路3段332號)
■ Tickets are NT$350; available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
A brand new production of Blooming Enlightenment (花蕊渡河) by the U-Theater group (優人神鼓) featuring most of the material from the original show that proved such an enormous success at the Taipei International Flora Expo (台北國際花博) last year. Added to this is new material and performances featuring the theater group’s youth division.
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm
■ Chiayi Performing Arts Center (嘉義縣表演藝術中心演藝廳), 265, Jianguo Rd Sec 2, Minsyong Township, Chiayi County (嘉義縣民雄鄉建國路二段265號)
■ Tickets are NT$350 to NT$1,800; available through NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Contemporary
Legacy Taipei, located in a former warehouse at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. Indie-folk duo katncandix2 (棉花糖) performs tonight. Currently on her 10th anniversary tour, Japanese pop singer and actress Yo Hitoto makes her Taipei stop at Legacy tomorrow.
■ 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)
■ Shows start 8pm
■ NT$900 tonight and NT$2,000 tomorrow. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased at ERA ticketing outlets, online through www.ticket.com.tw, www.legacy.com.tw and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
Japanese alternative rock band The Back Horn is scheduled tomorrow night at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists. On Sunday, it is the release party of three-piece indie outfit Manic Sheep’s debut album. Silent Toads (啾吉惦惦) and Matzka appear on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
■ 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
■ 7pm tomorrow, 8pm on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday
■ NT$1,500 tomorrow, NT$200 on Sunday and Wednesday and NT$800 on Thursday. Tickets for all shows, with discounts on advance tickets, can be purchased online through www.thewall.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Tonight at Underworld (地下社會), a small basement club and a favorite indie rock hangout in Taipei, it is the release party of indie rock band HiJack’s third EP, with Pumpkiney Fan Club (南瓜妮歌迷俱樂部) also performing. Punk outfit BRTD and Who Are You? (隱藏人物) play tomorrow.
■ B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1), tel: (02) 2369-0103. On the Net: www.underworld-taipei.blogspot.tw
■ Shows run from 9pm to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Underworld is open daily from 9pm, closed on Sundays and Mondays
■ Entrance for music shows is NT$300 on Fridays and Saturdays, which includes one drink
Tonight it is hardcore breakcore spun by Sonic Deadhorse, Tech Yes as well as DJs Fish, Neker and Ted-E at indie rock club Revolver. Windy City 4, Blind Acid Date and DJ Marcus Aurelius appear tomorrow. On Wednesday, it’s live music from funk and soul band The Shiznits and Mike Mudd, followed by Dirty Fiction, Under the Moon and Triple Dear on Thursday.
■ 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 10pm tonight and tomorrow, 9:30pm on Wednesday and Thursday
■ Entrance is NT$250 tonight, NT$300 tomorrow, free admission on Wednesday and $200 on Thursday. Admission includes one free drink.
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), tel: (02) 2377-1772.
■ Shows start at 9:30pm
■ Free on Wednesdays
Noisy experimental rock group The Sign of Human (記號士) plays tonight at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館). Tomorrow, Real (阿沁), the guitarist from FIR (飛兒樂團), takes the stage, and on Thursday, it is jazz band ReDefine.
■ 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 on Thursday, NT$500 tomorrow. Tickets can purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Mando-pop artist Tseng Ching-wen (曾靜玟) appears tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言), followed by acoustic guitar trio Tiaolang (跳浪樂團) tomorrow. Solo acoustic act Barbarian (野人) takes the stage on Sunday. On Tuesday, it’s 36 Roundhouse Kicks (三十六迴旋踢). Long-running indie rock band La Petit Nurse (小護士) and The Linlaus (拎老師樂隊) play on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
■ 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 tonight, tomorrow and on weekdays, 7:30pm on Sunday
■ NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$350 on Sunday and weekdays. Tickets can purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Ash & Friends perform tonight at Sappho de Base, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows. Tomorrow promises to be a night of hip-hop jazz featuring Leo 37 along with drummer Ed Schaefer, pianist Jason Haiyashi and bass player Eugene Yut. On Wednesday, it’s Singaporean musician Eunice Png (方恩沁), and Trio J.T plays on Thursday.
■ 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
■ 10:30pm tonight, 10pm tomorrow, 9:30pm on weekdays. The venue is closed on Sundays and Mondays
■ Entrance is NT$200 tonight and NT$300 tomorrow, free on other nights
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. Other highlights include Mando-pop songstress Julia Peng (彭佳慧) on Tuesdays and male crooner Shin Lung (辛龍), who performs every Saturday.
■ 211, Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市安和路二段211號), tel: (02) 2738-3995. On the Net: 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 Italian restaurant 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 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 8pm to 10pm on Sundays and 8:45pm to 10:45pm on weekdays
■ On Fridays, minimum charge of one drink. On Saturdays, minimum charge is NT$300
The Wall (這牆) programs regular live rock shows at Kaohsiung’s Pier 2 Arts Center (高雄駁二藝術特區). Tonight, the venue hosts indie rock group Miss Stocking (絲襪小姐). Indie band Enfys (恩菲斯) shares the stage with P!SCO tomorrow.
■ 1 Dayong Rd, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市大勇路1號), tel: (07) 521-5148. On the Net: www.thewall.com.tw
■ Shows start at 7:30pm
■ NT$400 tonight and NT$300 tomorrow. Tickets for all shows, with discounts on advance tickets, can be purchased online through www.thewall.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Event
Taipei Discussion and Learning meets every Sunday at Wisteria Tea House (紫藤廬) to hear lectures and discuss topics such as philosophy, science, anthropology, globalization and alternative medicine. All discussions and lectures are conducted in English. This weekend’s lecture is titled Hurricane Sandy: Failure of Integration, Complexity and Perception.
■ Wisteria Tea House (紫藤廬), 1, Ln 16, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段16巷1號)
■ Every Sunday at 8pm
■ Entrance is free. For more information visit www.taipeidiscussionandlearning.blogspot.com
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
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
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
A fossil jawbone found by a British girl and her father on a beach in Somerset, England belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating to 202 million years ago that appears to have been among the largest animals ever on Earth. Researchers said on Wednesday the bone, called a surangular, was from a type of ocean-going reptile called an ichthyosaur. Based on its dimensions compared to the same bone in closely related ichthyosaurs, the researchers estimated that the Triassic Period creature, which they named Ichthyotitan severnensis, was between 22-26 meters long. That would make it perhaps the largest-known marine reptile and would