Faith Yang (
Tomorrow night she is set to rock the National Taiwan University Stadium (台大綜合體育館), a new venue which has only recently completed construction after eight years and is said to have cost NT$3 million to rent for the event. Able to seat 7,000, organizers Magic Stone (魔岩) are obviously expecting a big turn-out.
Lin Wei-tse (林暐哲), who has been behind most of Yang's biggest hits as songwriter, will be bowing out of Yang's back-up band to be her producer for this show. With the massive light show and sound effects planned for this huge occasion, he wanted to dedicate all his attention to planning Yang's largest-ever Taipei concert.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAGIC STONE
The Back to Music concert -- perhaps a veiled reference to comments about her personality and too-cool-for-you attitude -- will see the first use of a 3D rotating projector so that images will be projected over a 360-degree screen. The combination of visual effects and the KTV videos of Proof and other tracks that have powered sales of her new album are all peripheral to what Yang herself is focusing on, namely the music.
Yang has often insisted that a singer needs to hold firm to her integrity, and her latest hit Queen continues in that tradition. The neurotic lament of Silence which is the flip-side of her ultra-cool stage persona is brought to a new level of realization, with Queen combining both narrative and emotional elements as never before. As one of the few singers to break the mold of lachrymose Mando-pop with a strong dose of attitude, Yang is one of the few singers in mainstream music who lets her personality come through in her songs. For all that, her sense of fashion seems to have taken a buffeting, and after Silence, she seems to be trying to turn herself into a cheaper version of Faye Wong (
Performance Notes:
What: Faith Yang Back to Music Concert.
When: July 7
Where: NTU Stadium, corner of Hsinhai Road (辛亥路) and Hsinsheng South Road (新生南路).
Tivkets: NT$800 for standing area, NT$1000 for seating area. Tickets through Acer ticket outlets.
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the Taipei Times, adding that Taiwan may become more cautious in its dealings with South Korea going forward. Taipei has called on Seoul to correct its electronic entry system, which currently lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan),” warning that reciprocal measures may follow if the wording is not changed before March 31. As of yesterday,
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
RSS