Contemporary
Electronic musician TM404 from Sweden will perform live tonight at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists. Also on the bill are a troupe of young, Taiwanese sound artists including HH, Lin Chin-han (林志翰) and Chang Yen-tzu (張晏慈). Tainan-based heavy metal band Burning Island (火燒島) will take the stage on Sunday with Bloody Tyrant (暴君) and Sideffect (賽德費). On Thursday, the venue hosts the latest installment of the Audition Night series designed to showcase new talent. Participating bands include Nipple Orange Band (捏爆柳丁), herfriends and Mofo Party (脫序派對).
■ 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
Photo courtesy of Kafka on the Shore
■ Shows start at 8pm
■ NT$900 tonight, NT$400 on Sunday and NT$250 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
Grunge/alternative rock band Cadmium Red from Japan shares the stage with Taiwan’s Slack Tide tonight at Underworld (地下社會), a small basement club in Taipei. Psychedelic rock outfit Nipple Orange Band (捏爆柳丁) takes the stage tomorrow, and it is Japan’s OKAN and local hardcore/alternative rock outfit General Sky 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
Punk rockers Feed Pigs (餵飽豬) perform tomorrow at Roxy Rocker, a basement hangout for indie rockers and fans in Taipei. Wednesday’s roster is pop rock group LGF from Singapore and Taiwan’s disco/post-punk outfit New Sunglasses (新墨鏡).
■ 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 9pm. Roxy Rocker is open daily from 8pm to 4am, closed on Mondays.
■ Free admission to all shows. Cover charge is one drink
Tonight’s show at Indie rock club Revolver features local acts Giant Lobsters (大龍蝦樂團) and The Fan (奮樂團) as well as South Korean groups Juck Juck Grunzi and Yello Loko. It is folk group TuT and Drontonics on Wednesday, followed by punk rockers Inhuman Band (非人物種) and blues rock band Celluloid (賽璐璐) 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
■ Show starts at 10pm tonight, 9:30pm on Wednesday and Thursday
■ Entrance is NT$300 tonight, NT$200 on Wednesday and NT$250 on Thursday. Admission includes one drink
Pop rocker FourKeys Band shares the stage with solo act Christ (伍澤) tonight at Witch House (女巫店), an intimate coffeehouse-style venue in the National Taiwan University area. It is Lemon Whirl Jazz Band tomorrow.
■ 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. 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
■ Entrance for music shows is NT$300
All-boy pop/rock band What Century (花世紀) appears at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館). Tomorrow’s lineup includes Mando-pop singer Hsiao Hung-jen (蕭閎仁) and Aboriginal group Original Brew (原味醞釀).
■ 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 for all shows. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Led by saxophone player Tung Shuen-wen (董舜文), jazz combo Standard Time (標準時間) perform at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). It is folk duo Light Engine (光引擎) and The Linlaus (拎老師樂隊) tomorrow. Pop singer and pianist Ray (劉軒蓁) and acoustic group Daydreams (白日夢) appear on Sunday, followed by Mr Busy (大忙人) and Singaporean duo Phaze (瘋十代) on Wednesday. Thursday’s lineup includes Bandage (OK繃) and solo act Iris (林綾).
■ 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, on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday
■ NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$350 on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Kafka on the Shore (海邊的卡夫卡), a coffee house-cum-music and arts venue in the National Taiwan University area, hosts noisy experimental rock group The Sign of Human (記號士) on Sunday with experimental singer-songwriter Wang Yu-jun (王榆鈞) as the special guest.
■ 2F, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號2樓). On the Net: kafkabythe.blogspot.tw
■ Show starts on 8pm. Cafe/bookstore opens noon to midnight Sundays through Thursdays, noon to 2am Fridays and Saturdays
■ Cover charge is one drink
Tomorrow, Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter Liu Fang-i brings music from her new album to A House, a venue dedicated to a cappella and with a focus on classical, jazz and world music.
■ 18, Alley 5, Ln 107, Fuxing S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市復興南路一段107巷5弄18號), tel: (02) 2778-8612. On the Net: ahouse.vocalasia.com
■ Show starts at 8pm
■ NT$350, available online through www.walkieticket.com. Admission includes one drink
On Fridays at Italian restaurant Capone’s, it’s 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
Amis group Betel Nuts (檳榔兄弟) takes the stage tonight at Tiehua Music Village (鐵花村), an arts village composed of a music venue, craft shops and a weekend arts fair in Taitung. Also on the bill is young folk singers from Taiwu Elementary School (泰武國小) chanting ancient tunes of the Paiwan tribe. The venue hosts the third edition of its music competition tomorrow that aims to provide a platform for young musicians and offers cash awards totaling NT$100,000.
■ 26, Ln 135 Sinsheng Rd, Taitung City (台東市新生路135巷26號), tel: (089) 343-393. On the Net: tw.streetvoice.com/users/tiehua
■ Show runs from 8pm to 10pm tonight, the competition begins at 5:30pm tomorrow. 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$200 tomorrow. Tickets can be purchased online through 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 by Pierre Hirsch asks the question: Is sleep universal? It discusses the significance of sleep throughout evolution.
■ 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
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
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
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