Contemporary
Legacy Taipei hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. Tonight’s spotlight is on songstress Misi Ke (柯泯薰), followed by indie rockers Tree of Life (生命樹樂團) on Sunday. Monday’s show features Belle and Sebastian, while on Tuesday’s acts include American Grammy award–winning musician St Vincent and psychedelic rockers Temples from the UK.
■ 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 Kafka on the Shore
■ Show starts at 8pm tonight, 7pm on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday
■ Admission is NT$700 tonight, NT$800 on Sunday, NT$3,000 on Monday and Tuesday. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.indievox.com or tickets.books.com.tw and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks.
Tonight, The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists, hosts a hip-hop party, featuring BP, DuDu King and DJ Kool Klone. Dance rockers P!SCO are the main act tomorrow. Sunday’s roster include shoegazing/noise pop combo TuT and punk outfit Forests (森林合唱樂團).
Photo Courtesy of My Skin Against Your Skin
■ 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
■ Admission is NT$600 tonight and tomorrow, NT$400 on Sunday. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through tickets.books.com.tw, www.walkieticket.com or thewall.tw
Indie rockers IGU Band (那我懂你意思了) take to the stage at indie rock club Revolver, tonight. Tomorrow, Alpine Decline from China plays with Taiwan’s garage/shoegaze outfit Skip Skip Ben Ben and Posh Inverse (優雅逆轉). Up-and-coming bands Amuse (遊樂), Shouting (囂音) and Chrysalis (蛹樂團) are scheduled on Sunday.
■ 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 9:30pm
■ Admission is NT$400 tonight, NT$300 tomorrow and on Sunday
Indigenous alter-rock/hip-hop act Generation 7 (七字輩) and punk outfit Spillable Man (打翻悍將) are among the performers tonight at Pipe Live Music, a main venue for indie music and parties. Electronic rock group Chemical Monkeys (化學猴子) comes to celebrate Valentines’ Day tomorrow, while scheduled acts on Sunday include Aerobic Oasis (有氧綠洲) and Ballet Ninja (忍者芭蕾).
■ 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 tomorrow, 7pm on Sunday
■ NT$350 tonight and on Sunday, NT$400 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
Lukas Landa, a singer and songwriter from Prague in the Czech Republic, Mark Darvill and bass guitarist Jason Wilson join together to celebrate the Valentine’s Day at Bobwundaye (無問題), a small pub on Heping East Road (和平東路) in Taipei, 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
Indie rockers Frusciante (佛香甜) share the stage with disco/post-punk outfit New Sunglasses (新墨鏡) tonight at Witch House (女巫店), an intimate coffeehouse-style venue in the National Taiwan University area. Tomorrow’s show is by Spark Chen (陳如山), the lead singer from veteran alt-rockers Backquarter (四分衛).
■ 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 tonight and NT$400 tomorrow
Rock veterans The Chairman (董事長樂團) appear 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, tonight. Singer/songwriter Easy performs 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
■ NT$600 tonight and NT$450 tomorrow, available online through www.indievox.com
Mando-pop singer Cindy (袁詠琳) is scheduled at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館) tonight. Hakka musician Huang Pei-shu (黃珮舒) takes the stage tomorrow.
■ 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
■ Entrance is NT$450 tonight and NT$500 tomorrow. Tickets can be purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Indie rock band La Petite Nurse (小護士樂團) and Keelung-based rockers Rusty Rivet (鏽鉚釘樂團) each plays a set at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言), on Sunday.
■ 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
■ Show starts at 9pm
■ Admission is NT$350. Tickets available through www.riverside.com.tw and tickets.books.com.tw
Bushman Masui & Beni Mshnze, a jazz ensemble from Okinawa, come to Sappho Live, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows, tonight.
■ 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
■ Shows start at 9pm
■ Entrance is NT$400
Tonight, post-hardcore combo The Scop (說書人) comes to 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 their new album, supported by Second Self and Out of Survive (適者生存). Tomorrow’s Go Die Valentine’s Day party features pop punks Pa Pun (怕胖團) and Shoot Up, while Missy Mute (吃頻小姐) is among the performers on Sunday.
■ B1-1, 429, Henan Rd Sec 2, Taichung City(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 6:30pm tonight, 7:30pm tomorrow, 8pm on Sunday
■ Admission is NT$400. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.walkieticket.com and www.indievox.com
Tonight, electro rockers My Skin Against Your Skin (激膚樂團) and The Black Map perform at Legacy Taichung, a spin-off of Legacy Taipei. Musician and comedian Ma Nien-hsien (馬念先) and his friends share the stage with Taiwanese nakashi rocker act The Clippers (夾子電動大樂隊) tomorrow.
■ 117, Anhe Rd, Taichung (台中市安和路117號), tel: (04) 2359-8780. On the Net: www.legacy.com.tw/taichung.
■ Shows start at 8pm
■ Admission is NT$600 tonight and NT$800 tomorrow. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
Amis rockers Outlet Drift (漂流出口) are the main act tomorrow at TCRC (前科累累俱樂部), a small venue for independent musicians and local artists in Tainan, and it is indie rock group Bearbabes (熊寶貝樂團) on Sunday.
■ B1, 314, Simen Rd Sec 2, Tainan City (台南市西門路二段314號B1), tel: (06) 222-3238.
■ Show starts at 9pm tomorrow and 4:30pm on Sunday
■ NT$250 tomorrow and NT$400 on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.indievox.com
The Wall (這牆) programs regular live rock shows at Kaohsiung’s Pier-2 Arts Center (高雄駁二藝術特區). Outlet Drift (漂流出口) headline a bill on Sunday which includes indigenous folk/blues/funk ensemble The Voice of Life (原味醞釀) and Tai Nine Line (台玖線樂團).
■ 1 Dayong Rd, Kaohsiung (高雄市大勇路1號), tel: (07) 521-5148. On the Net: www.thewall.com.tw
■ Show starts at 7pm
■ Admission is NT$400. Tickets can be purchased at online through tickets.books.com.tw
Electro rockers My Skin Against Your Skin hit the stage at Goat Bar (山羊酒館), a music venue and restaurant in Pingtung, tomorrow.
■ 23-2 Hengnan Rd, Hengchun Township, Pingtung County (屏東縣恆春鎮恆南路23-2號), tel: (08) 888-0183
■ Show starts at 8:30pm
■ Admission is NT$300
It is live music from Nanwan Sisters (南王姐妹花), a trio of singers from Taitung 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.
■ 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$250. Tickets can be purchased online through tickets.books.com.tw
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
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
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