Contemporary
Legacy Taipei, located in a former warehouse at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. Hong Kong’s openly lesbian singer Denise Ho (何韻詩) plays two shows tonight and 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)
Photo courtesy of Riverside
■ Shows start at 8pm
■ NT$1,500 in advance and NT$1,800 at the door. 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
Canadian dream pop/Indie electronic musician Grimes arrives tonight at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists. Japanese synthpunk star Polysics makes debut concert tomorrow, with post-punk/new wave band the telephones as the opening act. It is Taiwan’s dance rock group P!SCO, Lazy Lady and pop-rockers Lumei (露魅) on Sunday.
Photo courtesy of Riverside
■ 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
■ Show starts at 8pm tonight and on Sunday, 7pm tomorrow
■ NT$1,700 tonight and tomorrow, NT$200 on Sunday. Tickets for all shows, with discounts on advance tickets, can be purchased online through www.thewall.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Photo courtesy of Riverside
Indie rockers The Motions and Pilots in the Sky and on the Sea (旅人) take the stage tonight at Underworld (地下社會), a small basement club in Taipei. Five-piece rock group M.O.W.A and Pingtung-based rockers Jump play tomorrow, followed by Corner and Doherfy (盜飛) on Wednesday.
■ 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. 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, and NT$100 on Wednesdays
In celebration of Roxy’s 31st anniversary, Roxy Rocker, a basement hangout for indie rockers and fans in Taipei, organizes a five-day musical festival starting on Wednesday. The lineup features a troupe of Taiwan’s top indie acts including My Skin Against Your Skin (激膚樂團), alt-pop band 13 (拾參) and garage rock favorites 88 Balaz (88顆芭樂籽). The event also doubles as a Spring Scream pre-party.
■ B1, 177, Heping E Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市和平東路一段177號B1), tel: (02) 2351-8177. On the Net: roxyrocker.com
■ Shows start at 8pm. Roxy Rocker is open daily from 8pm to 4am, closed on Mondays
■ Minimum charge NT$200
Noise band She Bang A (死蚊子), post-punk rockers Macbeth (馬克白) and Roxymoron hit the stage tonight at Indie rock club Revolver. Tomorrow promises to be a night of live Gypsy music with Marko and Damier. It’s Taipei Rocket 88 Blues Band (台北火箭88) on Wednesday. Thursday’s show features alternative rock band 3.D.B (參噸半樂團) and Who Are You (隱藏人物).
■ 1-2, Roosevelt Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路一段1-2號), tel: (02) 3393-1678
■ Show starts at 10pm tonight, tomorrow and on Wednesday, 9:30pm on Thursday
■ Entrance is NT$300 tonight, NT$200 tomorrow and on Thursday, free on Wednesday. Admission includes one drink
Pop rockers Red Flower (紅花樂團) take the stage tonight at Pipe Live Music, a main venue for indie music and parties. Tomorrow’s roster is of eight indie acts from Japan and Taiwan including Inhuman Band (非人物種), Children Sucker (表兒) and Office Voids. It is Italian gothic metal band Graveworm on Sunday.
■ 1, Siyuan Rd, Taipei City (台北市思源路1號), tel: (02) 2364-8198. On the Net: www.pipemusic.com.tw
■ Show starts at 7:30pm tonight, 3pm tomorrow and 7pm on Sunday
■ NT$400 tonight, NT$600 tomorrow, NT$1,000 and NT$1,500 on Sunday, one drink included. Tickets can be purchased online through www.walkieticket.com
Pop/rock idol Bobby Chen (陳昇) and his New Treasure Island Band (新寶島康樂隊) perform tonight at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館). The venue hosts Mando-pop female crooner Ren, aka Hsia Yu-tung (夏宇童), tomorrow. Indie acts Eggplant Egg (茄子蛋) and Belabus (白蘿蔔) hit the stage on Thursday.
■ 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$800 tonight, NT$400 tomorrow and on Thursday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
It’s fusion jazz tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言), featuring Huh? (蛤樂團) and Fusion Planet (融合星球). Aboriginal folk icon Panai (巴奈) shares the stage with Indie folk singer and actress Enno Cheng (鄭宜農) tomorrow. Tuesday’s lineup is pop-rock outfit Elesha (伊蕾莎) and Nana (何佳娜) and Friends. Acoustic songstress Annie (洪安妮) appears on Wednesday, followed by Puyuma musician Sangpuy (桑布伊) and Nighteentael (十九兩樂團) on Thursday.
■ 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
■ Show starts at 9:30pm tonight, 9pm tomorrow and on Tuesday
■ NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$350 on weekdays. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Yellow Funky Doggies brings an electrifying blend of folky jazz and post rock tonight at Sappho de Base, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows. It is Canadian hip-hop artist LEO37 tomorrow.
■ 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. The venue is closed on Sundays and Mondays
■ Entrance is NT$200 tonight and NT$300 tomorrow
On Fridays at Italian restaurant Capone’s, it is time for 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. Yvonne sings classic jazz tunes Sunday nights. Mondays feature Leavy crooning light standard jazz songs, followed by jazz duo Mary Jane and Nathan on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, it’s Latin music from guitarist Roberto Zayas. Jazz singer Angel appears 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
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
Aboriginal group Hey! Linaw Band (嘿! 里鬧樂團) and Jelly Lee (傑利) form today’s bill at Tiehua Music Village (鐵花村), an arts village composed of a music venue, design and crafts shops and a weekend arts fair in Taitung. Amis singer-songwriter Suming (舒米恩) holds a mini concert tomorrow.
■ 26, Ln 135 Sinsheng Rd, Taitung City (台東市新生路135巷26號), tel: (089) 343-393. On the Net: http://tw.streetvoice.com/users/tiehua
■ Shows run from 8pm to 10pm. Music venue and crafts shops open 2pm to 10pm Tuesdays through Sundays. Weekend arts fair opens 6pm to 10pm every Friday, 3:30pm to 10pm every Saturday and Sunday
■ NT$250 tonight and NT$350 tomorrow. Tickets can be purchased online through tickets.books.com.tw
The Wall (這牆) programs regular live rock shows at Kaohsiung’s Pier 2 Arts Center (高雄駁二藝術特區). French composer, pianist and orchestra conductor Laurent Couson performs tonight. Tomorrow’s lineup is post-punk rockers Macbeth (馬克白) and top indie act 1976. On Sunday, award-winning soul/jazz singer Shih Ying-ying (史茵茵) croons to her The Yam Project, with Ray Lin & Band as the opening act.
■ 1 Dayong Rd, Yancheng Dist, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市鹽埕區大勇路1號), tel: (07) 521-5148. On the Net: www.thewall.com.tw
■ Show starts at 7:30pm
■ Free admission tonight, NT$400 tomorrow and NT$350 on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks, books.com.tw, and indievox.com
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless
Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on. Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square meter farm in Chiang Dao, a mountainous district in northern Thailand’s