Legacy Taipei, located in a former warehouse at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. The spotlight is on Malaysian pop crooner Michael Wong (光良) tonight. Folk musician Dadado Huang (黃玠) plays two days in a row tomorrow and on Sunday.
■ 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 at 8pm
Photo courtesy of Legacy Taipei
■NT$1,300 and NT$1,500 tonight, NT$900 tomorrow and on Sunday. 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
The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists, hosts drum and bass/electro house act OVDS tonight, with chiptune band Physical Chemical Brother (理化兄弟) and dance rock group P!SCO also playing. Tomorrow’s main act is Taichung-based metal rockers Attack Before. Sunday’s lineup features thrash metal/hardcore punk band Cruel Desire (殘蝕者), alternative/cyber/electronic outfit Morals Abyss (道德深淵) and metalcore act Losing Art (漂浮者樂團). It is pop rockers Soundboss (騷包) and disco funk/acid jazz group Electric Mess Age (電子混亂世代) on Thursday.
■ 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 Black Mocha
■ Shows start at 8pm
■ NT$450 tonight, NT$400 tomorrow, NT$200 on Sunday and 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’s show at Indie rock club Revolver features electronic post-rock act Formosa Romance, post-punk rockers Macbeth (馬克白) and Winking Owl. Reggae group Dread Rider plays tomorrow. On Wednesday, it is electronic folk group Firstraw (第一根稻草) and punk rockers Crazy Lazarus (瘋狂拉薩路), followed by indie rockers Tight Tight Crotch (緊褲襠), Slack Tide and Don’t Talk ‘bout Life 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
■ Entrance is NT$300 tonight, NT$150 tomorrow and on Wednesday, NT$250 on Thursday. Admission includes one drink
Female rockers Black Mocha (黑摩卡) shares the stage with Maffie (瑪啡因) tonight at Roxy Rocker, a basement hangout for indie rockers and fans in Taipei. Young rockers Luck & Chance and Midnight Ping Pong (午夜乒乓) play tomorrow.
■ 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
■ Show starts 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 roster at Pipe Live Music, a main venue for indie music, include heavy metal band Xenophobia and Ridiculous Jackson (荒謬傑克森).
■ 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
■ NT$350. Tickets can be purchased online through www.walkieticket.com and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks and FamilyMart (全家) FamiPort kiosks
Pop newcomer Chen Hsing-he (陳星合) croons tomorrow at Kafka on the Shore (海邊的卡夫卡), a coffee house-cum-music and arts venue in the National Taiwan University area.
■ 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 at 8pm. Cafe/bookstore opens noon to midnight Sundays through Thursdays, noon to 2am Fridays and Saturdays
■ Free admission; cover charge is one drink
Hakka singer Hsiao Ying-hsin (蕭盈昕) plays two sets tomorrow at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館). The venue hosts a charity concert on Thursday featuring Clipper Xiao Ying (夾子小應) and Mavis Fan (范曉萱).
■ 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$500 tomorrow and NT$800 on Thursday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Chamber music group Etoile (星星室內樂團) blends classical music, jazz, chanson and pop tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). Acoustic solo Denis Hsu (許書豪) performs tomorrow, while Evan Huang (黃尹浩) croons in a Broadway musical style later that night. Indie rockers Wild Flower (野花樂團) shares the stage with Tight Tight Crotch on Sunday. Disco funk group Taiwan Soul (台灣爽樂團) and pop rockers Flying Highway (飛行公路) appear on Tuesday, followed by acoustic group Rainy Berries (莓雨樂團) and Sunward (向日樂團) on Wednesday. Thursday’s lineup is formed by Pumpkin Pie (南瓜餡餅), pop rockers T.B.T (硬式紅茶) and Yamama Fusion Band.
■ 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 except for tonight, which starts at 9:30pm
■ NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$350 on Sunday and weekdays. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Weichungghost Trio perform jazz classics tonight at Sappho de Base, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows. The Reider plays in the style of traditionally great pop artists like Ben Harper, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen tomorrow. Specializing in Afroamerican music such as jazz, soul and funk, DJ Zulu spins a night of timeless grooves on Sunday. East/West Collective play original jazz tunes on Wednesday.
■ 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 9:30pm. Closed Mondays
■ Entrance is NT$200 tonight and tomorrow, Free admission on Sunday and Wednesday
On Friday, electric blues band Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) plays live at Italian restaurant Capone’s. Pop rock outfit ADOGA takes the stage on Saturday. Yvonne sings jazz standards on Sunday. Monday features Leavy crooning light jazz standards, followed by jazz duo Mary Jane and Nathan on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it’s Latin music from guitarist Roberto Zayas. Jazz singer Angel appears on Thursday.
■ 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
Veteran indie-pop musician Ciacia (何欣穗) appears tonight at Tiehua Music Village (鐵花村), an arts village in Taitung City composed of a music venue, design and crafts shops and a weekend arts fair. Award-winning Puyuma trio Nanwan Sisters (南王姐妹花) take the stage 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: www.tw.streetvoice.com/users/tiehua
■ Show starts at 8pm. Music venue and crafts shops are 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$300. 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). Tonight, local folk hero Lin Sheng-xiang (林生祥) plays with long-term music partners including guitarist Ken Ohtake and bass player Toru Hayakawa. Tomorrow’s main act is melodic death metal group Invincible Tapir.
■ 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 8pm tonight and 7pm tomorrow
■NT$600 tonight and NT$300 tomorrow. 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
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