Contemporary
Legacy Taipei hosts top Taiwanese pop performers and international acts. New wave/post-punk top act 1976 (圖騰樂團) plays a show tomorrow. Later the same day, indie pop artist Hush takes the stage. Paiwan singer-songwriter Matzka blends soul, funk, bossa nova and hip-hop on Sunday. The latest edition of The Next Big Thing takes place on Thursday, featuring psychedelic rockers U.TA (屋塔), Taipei rockers Coconuts (椰子) and post-rock outfit 2HRs.
■ 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 Trance Young Girl Wawa
■ Show starts at 2pm and 7:30pm tomorrow, 7pm on Sunday, 8pm on Thursday
■ Admission is NT$800 tomorrow afternoon, NT$1,000 tomorrow evening, NT$1,200 on Sunday, NT$200 on Thursday. Tickets available through www.indievox.com and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
The Wall (這牆), Taipei’s most prominent venue for indie rock artists, hosts young songstress Sway (思衛) tonight.
Photo courtesy of Coconuts
■ 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 8m
■ Tickets cost NT$600, available online through thewall.tw
Tomorrow, noise maker and performance artist Dawang Huang (黃大旺) teams up with Trance Baby Meow (勸世寶貝喵喵) and Trance Young Girl Wawa (勸世美少女) at APA Mini (小地方展演空間).
■ 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 8pm
■ Admission is NT$400, available through www.indievox.com
It is live music with indie/folk ensemble Riesage from the American Midwest, three-piece indie rock outfit Rubberneck Lions of California and Taiwanese folk act Ovia (韋嬙) at Pipe Live Music, a major venue for indie music and parties, tonight.
■ 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 7:30pm
■ Admission is NT$350. Tickets for the venue’s concerts can be purchased online through www.indievox.com, pipemusic.kktix.cc and at FamilyMart (全家) FamiPort kiosks
Tomorrow, versatile guitarist Liu Yun-ping (劉雲平) comes to Witch House (女巫店), an intimate coffeehouse-style venue in the National Taiwan University area. Thursday’s show is by Cheng Wen-fung Jazz Trio (鄭文鳳Jazz Trio).
■ 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
Riverside Live House (河岸留言西門紅樓展演館) hosts veteran rocker Yen (韓賢光) 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
■ Show starts at 8pm
■ Admission is NT$400, available online through www.indievox.com and tickets.books.com.tw
Atayal songstress Rachel Lu (呂薔) holds a concert tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言), followed by brother-sister duo Y Two of the Tsou tomorrow. Puyuma rockers Savakan are among the performers on Sunday, followed by Jazz Driver on Tuesday. Wednesday’s roster are Rock ‘n’ Rap (凍頂樂團) and Jellybean. On Thursday, high-school rockers Control T play folk, blues and country, with pop rock act Jin (阿京) and Not Alone (不寂寞樂團) 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 tomorrow, NT$350 on weeknights, available online through www.indievox.com and tickets.books.com.tw
GypsyAge Jazz Band performs tonight at Sappho Live, a late-night lounge bar that hosts mostly jazz shows. Tomorrow’s spotlight is on legendary indie rocker Sissy Chao (趙一豪), and it is John Nakayama Trio 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
■ Entrance is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$200 on Thursday
Tonight, Taiwanese punk/garage group Mr Dirty join forces with Chinese folk rock band Low Wormwood (低苦艾) and Japanese outfits Pororocks, An Atomic Whirl and memento 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 6pm
■ Admission is NT$300, available at www.indievox.com
Low Wormwood (低苦艾) plays Paramount Bar (百樂門酒館) on Monday.
■ 70 Minzu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市三民區民族一路70號), tel: (07) 389-0501
■ Show starts at 8pm
■ Entrance is NT$350, available through www.indievox.com
Tonight, all-Asian American dance rock band The Slants hits the stage at The Mercury (水星酒館), an indie rock club in Kaohsiung, with comedy rockers Ape Apocalypse (末日之猩) as the special guest.
■ 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$300, available at www.indievox.com
Guitar Violin duo The NewZ tour to The Goat Restaurant & Bar (山羊飯館), a music venue and restaurant in Pingtung, tonight. The Combobulators play funk, reggae, Latin and soul tomorrow. On Sunday, it is the release party of Qu’s first EP, mixing hip-hop, electronica, ambience and rock elements. The venue hosts a spring party on Monday, featuring Japan’s digda, funk/disco/nu-jazz combo Funky Brothers (放客兄弟) and Rock’n’Rap (凍頂樂團). Rubberneck Lions arrives on Wednesday.
■ 23-2 Hengnan Rd, Hengchun Township, Pingtung County (屏東縣恆春鎮恆南路23-2號), tel: (08) 888-0183
■ Shows start at 8:30pm except for Monday which begins at 6pm
■ Minimal charge costs NT$200 for all shows except for Monday’s event which costs NT$300
Swiss A Cappella ensemble The Glue croons tonight at Tiehua Music Village (鐵花村), an arts village in Taitung City, followed by Japanese jam band digda tomorrow. Ape Apocalypse (末日之猩) and hip-hop artists Chiu and Love (丘與樂) each plays a set on Sunday. Taiwu Folk Singers (泰武古謠傳唱) sing traditional tunes of Paiwan on Monday.
■ 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 and tomorrow, NT$300 on Sunday and Monday
The year was 1991. A Toyota Land Cruiser set out on a 67km journey up the Junda Forest Road (郡大林道) toward an old loggers’ camp, at which point the hikers inside would get out and begin their ascent of Jade Mountain (玉山). Little did they know, they would be the last group of hikers to ever enjoy this shortcut into the mountains. An approaching typhoon soon wiped out the road behind them, trapping the vehicle on the mountain and forever changing the approach to Jade Mountain. THE CONTEMPORARY ROUTE Nowadays, the approach to Jade Mountain from the north side takes an
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