It's that SAD time of year when the city goes quiet at night, the temperature drops and clubbers either slip into Seasonally Affected Disorders, or chill at home in preparation for a new round of Christmas and New Year parties.
But, it's also business as usual, with one city center club closing, another possibly moving and the superclub that could one day be the Ministry of Sound is still a dream under construction.
PHOTO COURTESY GRAND HYATT TAIPEI
Eden's parting shot last Saturday was, fittingly, a Defected party with Simon Dunmore from the boundary-breaking UK record label laying down the wax. It was the last of three Defected parties at the club, which has now closed down until Christmas, when a relaunch can be expected. Clubs have obviously caught onto the fact that the only guarantee of a full house is a first-night party.
Defected's previous gig at Eden was perhaps the bar's biggest moment, when two of the guys from Defected's Liquid People were stopped in mid-flow by the cops, for an infraction that was said to be chemical in nature. Rather than risk causing an international incident, the pair was sent back home on the first plane that morning.
Also, last Saturday, at 2nd Floor, Konkrete Jungle pulled in a good local crowd, with drum n' bass getting a groove on upstairs, while local DJ Joe Ho was the critic's choice in the main arena, for his attempt to add a little oxygen into the tired ticky techno sound that nobody in the world enjoys any more, except perhaps in Kaohsiung and the emerging dance music market of Tikrit, Iraq. Joe wound in some tunes that borrowed heavily from DJ Tiesto, making the Taipei trance sound more melodic and lilting, rather than brutal and rhythmically as interesting as a metronome.
Rumors that 2nd Floor is on the move are circulating at the moment and the environmental protection people have been complaining about noise. But, for now, it will remain as a feeder club for new talent, management say. On the horizon is 2nd Floor's double CD compilation, with bonus VCD, that features big anthems from the past two years and will be released through Avex.
In Neihu, the Ministry of Sound building is nearly completed and there are tentative plans for a December start-up. Only bureaucracy stands in way, it appears, but this can be a formidable challenge and it could be that the club will not open its doors until the new year.
The Grand Hyatt Taipei's nightclub Ziga Zaga on Saturday hosted a grand re-opening that attracted various local celebrities, most of whom were upstaged by their Hong Kong counterparts, according to Chinese-language newspaper reports. Singapore style guru Eddie Halim led the dance, but it was a case of being seen rather than heard. The music was awful and if Ziga Zaga really wants a reputation for being a sophisticated club, like say Buddha Bar in Paris, then it must give aural pleasure.
Tomorrow, Rollin' is back with another of its "fun-kiest parties for the fun-kiest people." This time around, says promoter DJ Rich, the party theme is your five senses. Surprise sensory experiences are guaranteed and since Rich says sex is the sixth sense, we are prepared to be blown away. DJs from round the world include DJ Philism, Dr Who and Phifty-phive, joined by VJ Dan Form. It all takes place at Siro.
More music for beating hearts: "Lazy Sunday coffee with DJ Coffey" is the first fundraising event for St. Ann's Home orphanage in Tienmu. There will be a rummage sale and afternoon tea at Citizen Cain on Sunday, from noon to 9pm. Donations of clothing, books, housewares, etc, can be dropped off on Saturday night, or early Sunday. There will be three set menus for afternoon tea, priced at NT$180.
The second event, "Baby Needs a New Pair of Dancing Shoes," will be held at The Living Room, next Saturday, 9pm to 2:30am. Live bands ASS9 and the Anglers, will be followed by trip hop and hip hop with live MCs: Trouble (MC Headspinnah and DJ K Fancy), Triple Stage (MC Liquid and DJdj), Asia K and Jezelda. The entrance fee of NT$350 and will be donated to the orphanage.
Citizen Cain is at 67 Dongfeng St, Taipei (
Siro is at B1, 70, Xinsheng N Rd, Sec 2, Taipei (
May 11 to May 18 The original Taichung Railway Station was long thought to have been completely razed. Opening on May 15, 1905, the one-story wooden structure soon outgrew its purpose and was replaced in 1917 by a grandiose, Western-style station. During construction on the third-generation station in 2017, workers discovered the service pit for the original station’s locomotive depot. A year later, a small wooden building on site was determined by historians to be the first stationmaster’s office, built around 1908. With these findings, the Taichung Railway Station Cultural Park now boasts that it has
Wooden houses wedged between concrete, crumbling brick facades with roofs gaping to the sky, and tiled art deco buildings down narrow alleyways: Taichung Central District’s (中區) aging architecture reveals both the allure and reality of the old downtown. From Indigenous settlement to capital under Qing Dynasty rule through to Japanese colonization, Taichung’s Central District holds a long and layered history. The bygone beauty of its streets once earned it the nickname “Little Kyoto.” Since the late eighties, however, the shifting of economic and government centers westward signaled a gradual decline in the area’s evolving fortunes. With the regeneration of the once
The latest Formosa poll released at the end of last month shows confidence in President William Lai (賴清德) plunged 8.1 percent, while satisfaction with the Lai administration fared worse with a drop of 8.5 percent. Those lacking confidence in Lai jumped by 6 percent and dissatisfaction in his administration spiked up 6.7 percent. Confidence in Lai is still strong at 48.6 percent, compared to 43 percent lacking confidence — but this is his worst result overall since he took office. For the first time, dissatisfaction with his administration surpassed satisfaction, 47.3 to 47.1 percent. Though statistically a tie, for most
In February of this year the Taipei Times reported on the visit of Lienchiang County Commissioner Wang Chung-ming (王忠銘) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and a delegation to a lantern festival in Fuzhou’s Mawei District in Fujian Province. “Today, Mawei and Matsu jointly marked the lantern festival,” Wang was quoted as saying, adding that both sides “being of one people,” is a cause for joy. Wang was passing around a common claim of officials of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the PRC’s allies and supporters in Taiwan — KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party — and elsewhere: Taiwan and
RSS