Contemporary
Kaohsiung pop-punk group FireEx (滅火器) arrive in Taipei tomorrow for their Goodbye Youth tour at Legacy Taipei, located in a former warehouse at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914).
■ 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 The Wall
■ Show starts at 8pm
■ NT$600. 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
It is a ska-filled carousel tonight at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists, featuring ska band Skaraoke, Funky Brothers (放客兄弟) and ska-punk group Mary Bites Kerry (瑪莉咬凱利). American dream pop duo Azure Ray perform on Wednesday, with electronic/ambient combo Yan Weiling X Utopia (閻韋伶X世外桃源) as the opening act.
Photo courtesy of The Wall
■ 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
■ NT$400 tonight and NT$1,400 on Wednesday. Tickets for all shows, with discounts on advance tickets, can be purchased online through www.thewall.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Electronic duo Orientone (大聲東) brings Oriental music traditions into the electronic realm tonight at Underworld (地下社會), a small basement club in Taipei. Also on the bill is electronic/metal band 77 ‘N DD. Tomorrow’s show is presented by indie rockers Papaver and Maffine (嗎啡因). It is metal act Gun Powder and Xenophobia 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$150 on weekdays
Currently on its transpacific tour, noisy indie band So So Modern from New Zealand hits the stage at rock club Revolver tonight, with She Bang A (死蚊子) and The White Eyes (白目) also playing. Sunday’s roster include activist punk band The Deposers (罷黜者) and The Mob (暴民), while disco/post-punk outfit New Sunglasses (新墨鏡), The Dodos and The Junk (帆人) form Tuesday’s lineup.
■ 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 and on Tuesday, 8pm on Sunday
■ Entrance is NT$400 tonight, NT$200 on Sunday and NT$700 on Tuesday. Admission includes one drink
Emo rock band Chickunp (奇克拿樂團) and alternative metal group Lumei (露魅) appear tonight at Roxy Rocker, a basement hangout for indie rockers and fans in Taipei.
■ 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 8:30pm. Roxy Rocker is open daily from 8pm to 4am, closed on Mondays
■ Free admission to all shows. Cover charge is one drink
American progressive rock guitarist Steve Williams plays tonight at Pipe Live Music, a main venue for indie music and parties, with Taiwan’s metal rockers Sex Cannons as the warm-up. Tomorrow the venue hosts the sixth edition of Raw Noise Attack concert featuring Japan’s thrash metal bands Terror Squad, Hammerhed from Finland and Taiwanese hardcore punkers No Order (無秩序).
■ 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 8pm tonight and 7pm tomorrow
■ NT$400 tonight and NT$750 tomorrow. Tickets can be purchased online through www.walkieticket.com and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks and FamilyMart (全家) FamiPort kiosks
Witch House (女巫店), an intimate coffeehouse-style venue in the National Taiwan University area, hosts fingerstyle guitarist Sujer (舒吉吉) tonight, followed by pop singer Iris Lin (林綾) tomorrow. Thursday is a night of tsugaru shamisen, a three-stringed Japanese instrument, played by Hirohara Takemi and Wu Chun-hao (吳峻豪).
■ 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$350
Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館) hosts a charity concert by Amis singer-songwriter Suming (舒米恩) tonight. Japan’s guitar genius Kazumi Watanabe teams up with bass master Jeff Berlin from the US and Australian drummer Virgil Donati for a jazz-fusion show tomorrow. Thursday’s lineup contains hard rock act Who Are You (隱藏人物) and R&B/funk group Space Cake (史貝絲考克).
■ 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
■ Show starts at 8pm tonight and on Thursday, 8:30pm tomorrow
■ NT$450 tonight, NT$2,000 tomorrow and NT$400 on Thursday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Blues guitarist Shun Kikuta plays with drummer Dafu, bass player Lu Hsin-min (盧欣民) and keyboard player Hsu Tsung-i (許聰義) tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). It is Puyuma musician Sangpuy (桑布伊) tomorrow. Pop singer Mia Tzeng (曾鈺婷) plays two sets on Sunday.
■ 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 9:30pm tonight, 9pm tomorrow and 8:30pm on Sunday
■ NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$350 on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Indie rockers How to Program C++ shares the stage with BeatxBle (拍伯樂團) tomorrow at Treellage (樹樂集), a cafe with live music.
■ 33 Minzu W Rd, Taipei City (台北市民族西路33號), tel: (02) 2599-1599. On the net: www.treellage.com
■ Shows run from 8pm on weekends. Treellage is open noon to 9pm Mondays through Fridays, 11am to 9pm Saturdays and Sundays
■ NT$300, one drink included. Tickets can be purchased online through www.indievox.com/treellage
Jazz combo LEO37 perform tonight at Sappho de Base, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows, followed by jazz quartet Peking Duck (北京烤鴨) tomorrow. Tuesday features a cross-over show by Crossing Too Over (跨很大), and southern American duo Adriano-Musa play on Wednesday. On Thursday, it is Hopeterry Quartet featuring Dutch drummer Sebastiaan Kaptein.
■ 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
■ Show starts at 10:30pm tonight, 10pm tomorrow and 9:30pm on weekends. Closed Sundays and Mondays
■ Entrance is NT$300 tonight, NT$200 tomorrow and NT$350 on Thursday. Free on other nights
On Friday, electric blues band Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) plays live music at Italian restaurant Capone’s. At the same venue on Saturday, drummer Abe Nbugu Kenyatta leads a band playing music from his hometown of New Orleans. Yvonne sings classic jazz tunes on Sunday. Monday features Leavy crooning light jazz standards, 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 is on from 9pm to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 8pm to 10pm on Sundays and Mondays, 8:45pm to 10:45pm from Tuesdays through Thursdays
■ On Fridays, minimum charge of one drink. On Saturdays, minimum charge is NT$300
Pop combo Shuo & Cool Humor (蕭賀碩與冷笑話樂團) takes the stage tonight 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 City. Tomorrow sees two Aboriginal groups, Savakan and Original Brew (原味醞釀).
■ 26, Ln 135 Sinsheng Rd, Taitung City (台東市新生路135巷26號), tel: (089) 343-393. On the Net: www.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 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). It is the release party of upstarts Elephant Gym’s (大象體操) debut EP tomorrow, followed by Kaohsiung punkers Combine (抗敗) and Yidiansheng (一點生) on Sunday.
■ 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
■ Shows start at 7:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$400 tomorrow and NT$300 on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks, books.com.tw, and indievox.com
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 week’s meeting is about guns: their history, cultural significance in different countries, current controversies and related changes in law.
■ 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
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located