Contemporary
Legacy Taipei hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. Metalcore outfit Greedy Black Hole (貪婪黑洞) celebrates the release of its new album tonight, supported by melodic metal group Urging Oblivion (泥洹之迫), post-rock combo Constant & Change (康士坦的變化球) and Angelic Ash (天使塵). Tomorrow’s spotlight is on Japanese electronic rockers Sakanaction (魚韻), followed by folk/jazz act The Forest Group (森林ㄌㄜˋ園) 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)
Photo courtesy of The Fuzz
■ Show starts at 7pm tonight and tomorrow, 4pm on Sunday
■ Admission is NT$700 tonight and on Sunday, NT$2,500 tomorrow. Tickets available through www.indievox.com, gutsrecords.kktix.cc, at 7-Eleven ibon or FamilyMart (全家) FamiPort kiosks
Tonight’s lineup at The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists, features blues rock ensemble Commuters (通勤少年), metal/grunge outfit bwbc (廢埕) and punk trio Noise Book. Hip-hop artist Aristophanes (狸貓) performs tomorrow, with experimental folk group Prairie WWWW (落差草原) also playing.
Photo courtesy of Ether Feels
■ 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: thewall.tw
■ Show starts at 8:30m tonight and 8pm tomorrow
■ Tickets cost NT$300 tonight and NT$600 tomorrow, available online through thewall.tw
Photo courtesy of TuT
Tonight, Kyoto-based activist rock group Frying Dutchman teams up with local garage rock favorites 88 Balaz (88顆芭樂籽) for a no-nukes concert at APA Mini (小地方展演空間). Tomorrow, Okinawa-based punk group ISW and alternative rock outfit Valvefiction team up with rock trio The Cracks from Osaka and are joined by local melocore/ska/punk rock outfit XHARKIE and instrumental rock group BHD. Several shoegaze bands get together on Sunday, including Japanese guitar pop/shoegaze outfit Ether Feels, Chinese slowcore/dream pop combo Forsaken Autumn, Hong Kong’s noise pop group Sea of Tranquility and Taiwan’s TuT.
■ 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
■ Show starts at 7:30pm tonight, 8pm tomorrow, 6:30pm on Sunday
■ Admission is NT$450 tonight, NT$350 tomorrow, NT$1,000 on Sunday, available through www.indievox.com
Noisemaker Dawang Huang (黃大旺) is among tonight’s performers at Pipe Live Music. Tomorrow’s roster includes post-rock outfit CustoMood and Face the Fate (命運衝擊).
■ 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 7pm tomorrow
■ Admission is NT$400 tonight and NT$350 tomorrow. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and at FamilyMart (全家) FamiPort kiosks
Japan’s ISW, Valvefiction and The Cracks come to indie rock club Revolver tonight, accompanied by XHARKIE and psychedelic folk rockers No.7 Cyan (七號青). Chinese post-punk band The Fuzz (法茲樂隊) join forces with local garage/shoegaze act Skip Skip Ben Ben on Tuesday.
■ 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 8pm
■ Admission is NT$350 tonight and NT$400 on Tuesday, available through www.indievox.com
It is the release party of acoustic trio Red Cliff’s new album tomorrow 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
Tomorrow, The Muddy Basin Ramblers (泥灘地浪人) play original songs inspired by the classic sounds of blues songsters, jug bands and swing jazz groups from the early 20th century at Legacy Mini, a spin-off of Legacy Taipei. Guitarist Hope Yeh (葉賀璞) plays a solo show on Wednesday.
■ Legacy Mini at Amba Taipei Ximending (台北西門町意舍), 5F, 77, Wuchang St Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市武昌街二段77號5樓)
■ Shows start at 8pm
■ Admission is NT$400 for both shows. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
Tonight’s spotlight is on Paiwan artist Balai 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. Solo act Ten (尤騰輝) takes the stage tomorrow, followed by young rockers Crockers (鱷魚樂團) on Sunday.
■ 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
■ Minimal charge is one drink tonight, tickets cost NT$400 tomorrow and on Sunday, available online through www.indievox.com
Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館) hosts Mandopop veteran Huang Pin-yuan (黃品源) tonight, followed by Taichung-based indie folk group Chairs’ (椅子) 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 8pm
■ Entrance is NT$1,000 tonight and NT$500 tomorrow. Tickets can be purchased online through www.indievox.com and tickets.books.com.tw
XONE combines Mandopop with rap and electronic dance music 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 8pm
■ Admission is NT$400, available online through www.indievox.com and tickets.books.com.tw
Tonight, Roda de Choro brings choro, a type of instrumental Brazilian pop music originating in the early 1900s, at Sappho Live, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows. Tomorrow, The Flat Fives jam out on swing and R&B tunes from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Sax, flute and blues harp player DC Rapier plays blues and jazz on Wednesday. It is a night of French chanson with Laurent Brunetti and Mario Pacchioli on Thursday.
■ 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 tonight and tomorrow, 9pm on weeknights
■ Entrance is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$200 on Wednesday and Thursday
Skip Skip Ben Ben plays a solo show at There Cafe & Live House (那兒咖啡), a venue for indie music in Taoyuan, tomorrow, featuring songs from its new album.
■ B1, 454, Fuxing 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 8pm
■ Admission is NT$500, available online through tickets.books.com.tw and www.indievox.com
Canadian electronic duo Phedre visits TCRC (前科累累俱樂部), a small venue for independent musicians and local artists in Tainan, tonight, joined by local chiptune duo Physical Chemical Brother (理化兄弟). The Fuzz (法茲樂隊) and Skip Skip Ben Ben jam out on Thursday.
■ 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 tonight and 9pm on Thursday
■ Admission is NT$300, available at www.indievox.com
Frying Dutchman and 88 Balaz (88顆芭樂籽) arrive at The Mercury (水星酒館), an indie rock club in Kaohsiung, for a no-nukes concert tomorrow.
■ 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 6:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$300, available online at www.indievox.com
Mandopop duo Under Lover appears tomorrow at Live Warehouse, a main venue for indie music located inside Kaohsiung’s Pier-2 Arts Center (駁二藝術特區). Sunday’s main act is The City Rain Man (城市雨人), fusing emo, post-rock and folk elements. The Fuzz (法茲樂隊) and Skip Skip Ben Ben play on Wednesday.
■ 2-5 Dayi Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市大義街2-5號), tel: (07) 521-8114. On the Net: livewarehouse.tw
■ Shows starts at 7:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$500. Tickets available online through tickets.books.com.tw
Amis-Puyuma folk icon Panai plays with music producer Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭捷任), recording artist Wang Chi-san (王繼三) and others at Tiehua Music Village (鐵花村), an arts village in Taitung City, tonight. Paiwan-Amis ensemble Mafana shares the stage with Qiang Band 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
■ Entrance is NT$250 tonight, NT$200 tomorrow
Event
On March 18, Taipei International Women’s Club will hold its annual charity gala from 6pm to 10pm at Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel with the theme of Latin Fever. Tickets are NT$3,000 and the dinner will feature live music. Proceeds will benefit The Icebreaker Association, Taipei Sports Association for the Physically Disabled, Wenshan Special Education Alumni Parents Association and Taipei International Women’s Club Education Foundation. To participate, contact events.tiwc@gmail.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