Riverside Caf

Cuisine Greater Taipei Restaurants
#1

this place is a smallish “music cafe” in a basement. it’s in the first building on the left of the alley between TaiPower and Watsons (behind Watsons).

cover on weekends, but i’m pretty sure no cover during the week except for ‘special events.’

i’ve only been there 3 or 4 times and so can’t comment on food because i’ve never eaten there. they have a decent bar and an ok selection of teas. mondays are Open Jam nite, so if any of you musicians out there need some stage time i’m sure they’d be happy to accomodate you. they’re sound system is quite good, but the stage itself looks a little cramped.

J.E.G. is the house band and they play pretty regularly a couple time a month. the owner plays, but i don’t know if he’s J, E, or G.

i’ve also caught R.A.Y’s Band. these guys kick ass! they’re all session players for big commercial acts, but here they mostly play covers.
as for other bands ? don’t know.

this isn’t a place where i hang out. i usually go and meet up with coworkers to see/listen to performers over beer, coctails, or the occasional pot of tea.

for more information and schedules check out:
http://www.riverside.com.tw

#2

i just posted AND THEN checked out their website. it looks like this month JEG (fusion band) will play several times and will be doing Jaco Pastorius (sp?) and Pat Metheny tributes as well.

#3

Wow, that’s great

I walk past every day, I always see the crowd in front of the door and I’ve seen the Pat Metheny posters all over town, but didn’t realize they are actually going to play in my neighbourhood. I’m sure to be in the crowd on the 30th! Anybody else?

Iris

#4

i’d bet dollars to donuts (even dunkin donuts) that pat metheny is not in taiwan. even if he were here, he’d probably be playing a larger venue than riverside cafe.
that being said, the band that will be playing tribute to Pat (and Jaco) are really good and depending on your familiarity with the works of the actual artists, you’d probably never notice the difference. :wink:

#5

Well, I figured out by now that Pat Metheney will indeed be in Taiwan, but he will be playing in the TICC, and the tickets are quite expensive, starting from 1000 NT$ to 3500 NT$ (student tickets for 500 and 700 NT$). I don’t feel like forking out this kind of money right now, especially not for a concert where I’ll be on my own.

Couldn’t tell particular works by Pat Metheney, just know that my Dad and my boyfriend love him and it’s the same kind of music that I share a taste for with my boyfriend. Unfortunately, my boyfriend and Dad leave the night of the concert. But still, going to Riverside might be interesting, as it’s just around the corner. I’ll think about it.

Iris

#6

thanks for posting the metheny info. that’s a little rich for my blood too, these days.
i didn’t mean to put you off the bar tho - it’s a funky place that i enjoy a lot. it’s also a lot more “local” than some other places that get talked about here, which is one reason that i like it.

maybe i’ll see you there sometime

#7

He is indeed coming to Taiwan. We got tickets last week or so.

#8

We went for the Open Jam last night.

Don’t go there for the food! We had two different chicken dishes that looked and tasted the same: tasteless rubber chicken with some sort of gravy on top. Service wasn’t perfect, either (the girls kept forgetting our orders).

But the music was great. Looks like everybody can just turn up with their instruments (if they have one) and wait for their turn to join the people on the (tiny) stage. There was this guy in business suit and tie who brought his saxophone. A couple of foreigners were also playing. And that incredible good saxophone player who also played bass and flute. My dad (the greatest jazz fan ever) was thrilled.

No cover on mondays (been mentioned before), so I’ll probably turn up again.

Iris

#9

I happened to be there last Saturday when JEG was playing. Not a Jazz fan but it was pretty good though too loud for such a small place.

Or am I too old? :?

#10

I didn’t think it was too loud yesterday. Neither did my dad and boyfriend. But my dad loves Free Jazz, so maybe he doesn’t count. Even though he’s probably older than Rascal :wink:

Iris