Legacy Taipei hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. The latest installment of The Next Big Thing series takes place on Thursday, featuring Felix Felicis (小福氣), a “supergroup” formed by four members of well-known indie bands and post-punk/alternative act Grey Youth (少年白).
■ 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)
■ Show starts at 8pm
Photo courtesy of Kishikan
■ Admission is NT$200. Tickets can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
Japanese metal band Head Phones President celebrates its 15th birthday tomorrow at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists, accompanied by fellow metalcore act Vorchaos as well as Taiwan’s thrash metal veterans Solemn (恕) and Flesh Juicer (血肉果汁機).
■ 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 Felix Felicis
■ Show starts at 7pm
■ Admission is NT$500, available online through icon-promotions-tw.kktix.cc and FamilyMart (全家) FamiPort kiosks
Alternative rock band The Last Breath (殘息樂團), metal/grunge outfit bwbc (廢埕樂團) and Sorry About That (收歛而爆裂) congregate at APA Mini (小地方展演空間) tonight, followed by psychedelic/folk combo Doodle and James Nee tomorrow. Alternative rock group Arcplg (?島) and post-rock combo Constant & Change (康士坦的變化球) each plays a set on Sunday.
■ B1,147, Hangzhou S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市杭州南路一段147號B1), tel: (02) 2327-8658. On the Net: www.facebook.com/apamini
■ Shows start at 8pm
■ Admission is NT$350 tonight and on Sunday, NT$450 tomorrow, available through www.indievox.com
Pipe Live Music, a major venue for indie music and parties, hosts an electronic party tonight, featuring DJs DoSoul, Dasu Ghettochild, Jackol and Koco. Electronic ensemble Pro. Found (方波樂團), Peace Lemon (和平的檸檬) and alternative rock group Februarius (貳月) play tomorrow. Sunday’s performers are post-rock outfit CustoMood, Time Jump (時空跳躍) and Memo (備忘錄).
■ 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 11pm tonight, 7pm tomorrow and on Sunday
■ Admission is NT$600 tonight, NT$350 tomorrow and on Sunday. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through pipemusic.kktix.cc, www.indievox.com or glp501.kktix.cc and at 7-Eleven ibon and FamilyMart (全家) FamiPort kiosks
On Sunday, Japanese instrumental rock group Qu teams up with local post-rock outfit Kishikan (既視感), electro rockers Iron House (?屋), power trio vuLner and Hong Kong’s DEER MX at indie rock club Revolver.
■ 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 7pm
■ Admission is NT$350
On Sunday, Polish metal heavyweight Behemoth hits the stage at Jack’s Studio (杰克音樂) in Ximending (西門町).
■ B1, 76 Kunming St, Taipei City (台北市萬華區昆明街76號B1), tel: (02) 2381-0999.
■ Show starts at 7pm
■ Tickets cost between NT$1,200 and NT$2,200, available online through tickets.books.com.tw and www.walkieticket.com as well as at 7-Eleven ibon and FamilyMart (全家) FamiPort kiosks
Hong Kong songstress Eman Lam (林二汶) takes the stage tonight at Witch House (女巫店), an intimate coffeehouse-style venue in the National Taiwan University area, followed by local crooner Mia Tzeng (曾鈺婷) tomorrow. Thursday’s performers include ukulele player/vocalist George Folk (艸執法).
■ 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’s show is by acoustic rockers Zixuan & Slow Train (黃子軒與山平快) at Kafka by the Sea (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: www.kafkabythe.blogspot.tw
■ Show starts at 8pm. Cafe/bookstore opens noon to midnight Sundays through Thursdays, noon to 2am Fridays and Saturdays
■ Free admission. Minimum charge is one drink
The groove is on tomorrow with DC & the Funky Duds at Bobwundaye (無問題), a small pub in Taipei.
■ 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
Canadian jazz vocalist Diana Panton plays tonight with a trio at Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館). Electro rockers My Skin Against Your Skin (激膚) share the stage with pop act GJ Rock (蔣卓嘉) on Wednesday.
■ 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 7:30pm tonight and 8pm on Wednesday
■ Entrance is NT$1,500 and NT$2,500 tonight, NT$400 on Wednesday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and tickets.books.com.tw
LA-based Gravity Band plays blues and rock tunes tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). On Wednesday, Infancy (隱分子) blend jazz and classical with rock ‘n’ roll, with Replay also on the bill.
■ 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
■ Admission is NT$400 tonight and NT$350 on Wednesday. Tickets can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and tickets.books.com.tw
Jazz band Adam James Sorensen Sextet performs tonight at Sappho Live, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows, followed by Beauty and Snakes Quartet (美女與蛇四重奏) tomorrow. Led by Parisian jazz musician Laurent Maur, Laurent Maur & Emilie Calme and Friends put on a show 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.sappholive.com
■ Shows start at 9:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$200 on Wednesday
Legacy Taichung, a spin-off of Legacy Taipei, hosts pop rocker Ardor Huang (流氓阿德) tonight. Tian Fang Jazz (天方爵士) plays with an European sensibility on Wednesday.
■ 117, Anhe Rd, Taichung City (台中市安和路117號), tel: (04) 2359-8780. On the Net: www.legacy.com.tw/taichung
■ Show starts at 8pm tonight and 7:30pm on Wednesday
■ Admission is NT$700 tonight and NT$500 on Wednesday. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
Hong Kong’s An Id Signal (意色樓) shares the stage tomorrow with Taiwanese noise punk act Space Fly (太空蒼蠅) at TCRC (前科累累俱樂部), a small venue for independent musicians and local artists in Tainan.
■ 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 9:30pm
■ Admission is NT$250, available through www.indievox.com
Tomorrow’s spotlight is on pop rock band Mixer (麋先生) at Live Warehouse, a major venue for indie music located inside Kaohsiung’s Pier-2 Arts Center (駁二藝術特區).
■ 2-5 Dayi Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市大義街2-5號), tel: (07) 521-8114. On the Net: livewarehouse.tw.
■ Show starts at 7:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$600. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through tickets.books.com.tw
Mando-rock band Picks (痞克四) tours tomorrow to The Mercury (水星酒館), an indie rock club in Kaohsiung.
■ 46 Liwen Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市立文路46號), tel: (07) 550-8617. On the Net: mercurybar.blogspot.tw
■ Show starts at 7:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$350, available at www.indievox.com
Original Brewing (原味醞釀) plays folk, funk, blues and hip-hop tonight at Tiehua Music Village (鐵花村), an arts village in Taitung City, while Taiwan-based pop veteran David Wong (黃大煒) is the main act 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$250 tonight and NT$500 tomorrow. Tickets available online at 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