Contemporary
Legacy Taipei hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. Tonight’s spotlight is on folk/pop act Hush!. American experimental rock band Swans arrives tomorrow, and it is the release party of taike rockers Sunset Samurai’s (夕陽武士) debut album on Sunday. On Tuesday, the venue hosts a Taipei leg of MTV Sessions, a recorded live music show showcasing upcoming artists. The performer is indie pop musician Mikky Ekko from Louisiana. On Thursday, it is the latest installment of The Next Big Thing, featuring blues/garage rock/punk act Wake Up Explosion (威愷爆炸), electronic rockers The Black Map and electronic duo Orientone (大聲東).
■ 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 Trash
■ Shows start at 8pm tonight, tomorrow and on Tuesday, 7:30 on Sunday and on Thursday
■ Admission is free tonight and on Tuesday, NT$2,200 tomorrow, NT$700 on Sunday, NT$200 on Thursday. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks.
Trash, a group that blends inspiration from Brit pop, alternative rock and grunge, celebrates the release of its new album tonight at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists. Influenced by New Orleans jazz, soul and hip hop, Lazy Habits from London performs tomorrow. Sunday’s roster includes indie pop outfit Come on! Bay Bay! (來吧!焙焙!) and indie rockers Ark (阿克樂團).
Photo courtesy of Wake Up Explosion
■ 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 tomorrow, 7:30pm on Sunday
■ Admission is NT$500 tonight and on Sunday, NT$800 tomorrow. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through tickets.books.com.tw and thewall.tw.
Electronic folk group WWWW (落差草原) is the main act tonight at indie rock club Revolver. Japanese psychedelic band Amamjaubb arrives tomorrow, joined by Taiwan’s post-rock group Kishikan (既視感) and indie-pop act Goosander (川秋沙).
■ 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 9:30pm tomorrow
■ Admission is NT$300 tonight and NT$350 tomorrow
Roughhausen, a rock ‘n’ roll circus, is coming to Pipe Live Music, a main venue for indie music and parties, tonight. Tomorrow, the venue hosts the Loser Festival, with DJs Phie Lee and Wolfy Cooper. On Sunday, Japanese indie record label MOtOLOiD throws a party, featuring DJs Hige Driver, Ganglion, Javelin and 3R2.
■ 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 9pm tonight, 10:30pm tomorrow, 4:30pm on Sunday
■ Admission is NT$400 tonight and on Sunday, NT$500 tomorrow. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.walkieticket.com and www.indievox.com and at FamilyMart (全家) FamiPort and 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
A deliberate parody of Urban Simple Life Festival (簡單生活節), Difficult Life Festival (困難生活節) takes place tomorrow at The Park (公園展演空間), with participation of Yellow Blue White X Mr. Wu (黃藍白X無先生), Kimogi (一種心情), Thick Band (粗大Band) and many more.
■ B1, 27, Fuxing S Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市復興南路二段27號B1), tel: (02) 2705-8600. On the Net: www.theparktaipei.com
■ Show starts at 7pm
■ NT$300.
It is Kenyatta’s going away party at Bobwundaye (無問題), a small pub on Heping East Road (和平東路) in Taipei, tonight, while Shun Kikuta Trio return tomorrow.
■ 77, Heping E Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市和平東路三段77號), tel: (02) 2377-1772
■ Show starts at 10pm
■ Admission is NT$300
Folk duo Light Engine (光引擎) is among the performers at Witch House (女巫店), an intimate coffeehouse-style venue in the National Taiwan University area, tonight. Artists from record label Wild Fire Music (野火樂集), including Puyuma singer Leo Chen (陳永龍) and Lin En-ya (琳恩雅), put on a show 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$350
Mandopop musician Lara Veronin (梁心頤) holds a mini concert tonight at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館). Taipei-based Japanese guitarist Eiji Kadota performs tomorrow, and it is folk combo Good News (好事花生) on Sunday.
■ 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 8pm
■ Entrance is NT$500 tonight and tomorrow, NT$400 on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Our Piano Trio take the stage at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言) tonight. Folk icon Panai (巴奈) appears tomorrow. On Sunday, folk rock/experimental musician Sam Liao (廖士賢) and Mr. C (克拉克) each plays a set, while acoustic duo Bandage (OK繃) celebrate the release of its new EP on Tuesday, with Speak (十必可) also on the bill. Wednesday’s lineup is formed by electronic/post punk group Miss Banana (香蕉小姐) and all-women electronic rock band Neko Jam (妮可醬). Pianist and singer Issue Chen (陳以岫) and young pop artist Alex Lee (李崗霖) are scheduled on Thursday.
■ B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2B1), 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 begins at 9:30pm
■ Admission is 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
The Flat Fives jam out on swing and R&B tunes from the 1940s and 1950s at Sappho Live, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows, tonight, followed by , electric blues ensemble Bopomofo 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.sappholive.com
■ Show starts at 9:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$400
Tonight, folk ensemble City Party (都市零件派對) shares the stage with indie singer-songwriter Anie Fann (范安婷) at ThERE Cafe & Live House (那兒咖啡), a venue for indie music in Greater Taoyuan.
■ B1, 454, Fusing Rd, Taoyuan City (桃園市復興路454號B1), tel: (03) 339-8819. On the Net: www.therelivecafe.com
■ Show starts at 7:30pm
■ Minimal charge is NT$100. Tickets available online through www.indievox.com and tickets.books.com.tw.
Paiwan musician Zamake Paqaliyus (查瑪克) takes the stage tonight at Sound Live House (迴響音樂藝文展演空間), an independent venue for music performances and art exhibitions in Taichung, with Eddie Huang (黃則翔) also playing. Tomorrow’s show is by award-winning Taiwanese musician Hsieh Ming-yu (謝銘祐). Young local rockers, including Knights from Mars (火星騎士), congregate on Thursday.
■ B1-1, 429, Henan Rd Sec 2, Greater Taichung (台中市河南路二段429號B1-1), tel: (04) 2451-1989. On the Net: soundlivehouse.msmusic.com.tw
■ Show starts at 7:30pm tonight and on Thursday, 8pm tomorrow
■ Admission is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$300 on Thursday. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.indievox.com
Songstress Fragrance Liang (梁香) croons tonight at TCRC (前科累累俱樂部), a small venue for independent musicians and local artists in Greater Tainan, accompanied by Psybers (神經漫遊人) and Honest Words Garage (內心話車庫). It is the release part of psychedelic/post-rock act Islanders’ (島嶼樂團) debut EP tomorrow.
■ B1, 314, Simen Rd Sec 2, Greater Tainan (台南市西門路二段314號B1), tel: (06) 222 3238.
■ Show starts at 9:30pm tonight and 10pm tomorrow
■ Admission is NT$250
Top indie act 1976 hits the stage tomorrow 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 County.
■ 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
■ Admission is NT$300. Tickets can be purchased online through tickets.books.com.tw
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and