Legacy Taipei, located in a former warehouse at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. Tonight’s spotlight is on former pop diva Delphine Chin (金智娟), better known as Wa Wa (娃娃). The latest installment of The Next Big Thing takes place tomorrow and on Sunday, featuring a troop of bands including grunge rockers Slack Tide, post-rock outfit Mass Man, electronic rock band Flux, psychedelic rock act The Gigantic Roar (巨大的轟鳴), electronic act Sonic Deadhorse (音速死馬) and Red (紅樂團), which brings a fusion of electronic and Chinese traditional music.
■ Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), Center Five Hall (中五館), 1, Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市八德路一段1號)
■ Show starts at 8pm tonight, 7:30pm tomorrow and on Sunday
Photo courtesy of Riverside
■ Admission is NT$1,100 tonight, NT$200 tomorrow and on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
Post-punk band Manic Sheep, Midnight Ping Pong (午夜乒乓) and dance/rock band Acidy Peeping Tom (微酸的偷窺狂) are among the performers tonight at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists. Hip-hop artist Witness Huang (黃崇旭) takes the stage tomorrow. On Sunday, it is emo punk bands Gray Spiral (灰色螺旋) and The Girl’s Mood (少女情懷), with young rockers Mixer (麋先生) also playing. It is a night of indigenous music with Amis pop/rock/blues combo Nuka Band (鹿角樂團), alternative/hip-hop combo Generation7 (七字輩) and Tai Nine Line (台玖線) on Wednesday, followed by shoegazing band TuT, Pleasure Science (愉悅科學) and Hello Nico 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
■ Shows start at 8pm except for tonight which begins at 7:30pm
■ Admission is NT$600 tonight, NT$700 tomorrow, NT$400 on Sunday, NT$200 on weekdays. Tickets for all shows, with discounts on advance tickets, can be purchased online through www.thewall.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Dub/reggae/stoner rock group Taimaica Soundsystem (台買加環繞音效) team up with DJs @llenblow and Zo to celebrate Valentine’s Day tonight at Indie rock club Revolver. It is a techno night with a lineup of DJs including Wayland, A-Dao and Vice City tomorrow. Sunday’s show is by metal rockers ParaCross, Blue Velvets (藍絲絨樂團) and Madzine. Self-described as a sonic-amalgam of 60’s psych, fuzz and garage, combined with a lashing of punk, White Lodge from Australia perform on Thursday, accompanied by Taiwan’s retro rock band Forests (森林合唱樂團).
■ 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 11pm tonight, 10pm tomorrow and on Thursday, 8pm on Sunday
■ Entrance is NT$350 tonight, NT$200 tomorrow, NT$250 on Sunday, NT$400 on Thursday
Jelly Roll Affair plays a mix of blues and swing tonight at Bobwundaye (無問題), a small pub on Heping East Road (和平東路) in Taipei, while Ska Variation (斯卡變異體) blends ska, reggae, disco and funk tomorrow.
■ 77, Heping E Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市和平東路三段77號), tel: (02) 2377-1772
■ Shows start at 10pm
■ Admission is NT$200 tonight and tomorrow
Indie folk musician Enno Cheng (鄭宜農) is scheduled tonight at Witch House (女巫店), an intimate coffeehouse-style venue in the National Taiwan University area, followed by You-S (你們你們) tomorrow. Thursday’s lineup is formed by Mister Grey (灰先生) and indie rockers Lunchbox Magazine (便當雜誌).
■ 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
Folk/pop act Hush! appears tonight 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. It is the release party of folk combo Paradise Lots (多樂園) debut EP tomorrow
■ 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: www.kafkabythe.blogspot.tw
■ Shows start at 8pm. Cafe/bookstore opens noon to midnight Sundays through Thursdays, noon to 2am Fridays and Saturdays
■ Entrance is NT$600 tonight and NT$400 tomorrow, one drink included
Veteran Aboriginal activists and musicians Abo Commune (原音社) return tonight at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館). Tomorrow’s show is by popular reggae/Aboriginal rock group Matzka (瑪斯卡), and it is Hong Kong rockers Mr., Taiwan’s pop singer Lee Nana (李鈺卿) and Jennifer (雷應婕) on Sunday. On Thursday, Italian jazz double-bass player Giuseppe Bassi plays with Taiwanese jazz talents including saxophone player Su Shen-yu (蘇聖育), drummer Lin Wei-chung (林偉中) and pianist Yuwen Peng (彭郁雯).
■ 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 8:30pm tonight and tomorrow, 8pm on Sunday and Thursday
■ Entrance is NT$500 tonight and on Thursday, NT$600 tomorrow, NT$400 on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Onyx Jazz Quartet (奧尼斯爵士四重奏) appears tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). Funk/disco/nu-jazz combo Funky Brothers (放客兄弟) and indie rockers Monkey Pilot (猴子飛行員) each plays a set tomorrow. Hands Up Band (分享器) plays standard jazz tunes on Sunday, with funk act OMB (放克樂團) also on the bill. Tuesday’s lineup is formed by Brit-pop/post-punk band Parallel Output (平行輸出) and hard rock/metal act Pink Noise (粉紅噪音). Pop musician Chris (伍澤) is scheduled 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 9pm except tonight which begins at 9:30pm
■ NT$400 on weekends and NT$350 on Sunday and weekdays. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Noisy experimental rock group The Sign of Human (記號士), TuT and garage/shoegaze outfit Skip Skip Ben Ben play tonight 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
■ Show runs from 7:30pm. Treellage is open noon to 10pm Mondays through Fridays, 11am to 10pm Saturdays and Sundays
■ NT$350, one drink included. Tickets can be purchased online through www.indievox.com/treellage
Soy La Ley (古巴爵士樂團) blends musical tradition of Cuba with jazz tonight at Sappho de Base, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows.
■ 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 9:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$300
Matryoshka Doll & Baby Boy (淡水俄羅斯+娃娃男孩) is scheduled 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. Led by veteran Hakka musician Ayu Huang (黃連煜), Four Play Band(四物玩樂隊) perform 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
■ Shows start 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
■ Admission is NT$150 tonight and NT$350 tomorrow. 2 and Feb. 3. Tickets can be purchased online through tickets.books.com.tw
The Mercury (水星酒館), an indie rock club in Greater Kaohsiung, hosts acoustic folk group One Eye Open One Eye Closed (睜一隻眼 閉一隻眼) and three-piece girl band Rainy Berries (莓雨樂團) tomorrow, followed by local indie-pop outfit Sorrow of Youth (少年維持的煩惱) and Skip Skip Ben Ben on Sunday.
■ 46 Liwen Rd, Zuoying Dist, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市左營區立文路46號), tel: (07) 550-8617. On the Net: mercurybar.blogspot.tw
■ Shows start at 9pm
■ Entrance is NT$200, includes one drink
The Wall (這牆) programs regular live rock shows at Greater Kaohsiung’s Pier 2 Arts Center (高雄駁二藝術特區). On Thursday, Japanese rock band Orange Range from Okinawa holds a concert at the harbor city.
■ 1 Dayong Rd, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市大勇路1號), tel: (07) 521-5148. On the Net: www.thewall.com.tw
■ Show starts at 8pm
■ Admission is NT$1,300 in advance and NT$1,500 at door. Tickets can be purchased at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks, www.books.com.tw and www.indievox.com
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
This year’s Michelin Gourmand Bib sported 16 new entries in the 126-strong Taiwan directory. The fight for the best braised pork rice and the crispiest scallion pancake painstakingly continued, but what stood out in the lineup this year? Pang Taqueria (胖塔可利亞); Taiwan’s first Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant. Chef Charles Chen (陳治宇) is a self-confessed Americophile, earning his chef whites at a fine-dining Latin-American fusion restaurant. But what makes this Xinyi (信義) spot stand head and shoulders above Taipei’s existing Mexican offerings? The authenticity. The produce. The care. AUTHENTIC EATS In my time on the island, I have caved too many times to
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