You can't go to a Spring Scream Festival in Kenting without leaving with
a few good tales to tell.
Like that time, two years ago, when a naked guy kept walking up onto the
stage. Whenever one of the performing bands would reach the climax of
their set, there he would be, shockingly exposed. He was bending over,
hanging from a pole, engaging in some sort of one man, slow-motion
interpretive dance, all to the wild cheers of the crowd. That was a
pretty good tale.
But while we're going on about stories, does anyone remember the time
Takabe, the drummer for Fevers - a pornstar thrash band from Tokyo -
decided to rent a scooter only to crash it seconds later? People stood
watching as he sat down on his new ride, turned it on, screamed at the
top of his lungs and hit the throttle. He immediately fishtailed off the
road and into a bramble filled ditch. He spent the rest of the weekend
limping about giving people high fives - bandaged, but happy. He kept
driving his scooter, too.
And then there's Dillie, a foreigner who operated a makeshift, but
popular bar at last year's event. Dillie's bar did a brisk business,
perhaps because people liked looking at him.
Standing about 6 feet 9 inches, Dillie spent the entire weekend serving
up drinks in a tattered baby-blue terrycloth robe kept fastened by a
black leather belt with a large silver AC/DC buckle. He further
impressed patrons by making a foam lizard attached to a wire appear to
dance, smiling all the while behind a bent pair of cheap, reflector
sunglasses, the kind Jim Rockford used to wear.
It could be a lot of things that make people behave in such ways, but we
like to think that the music itself has something to do with it. Band
after band, four days running. After a while, one can't resist the
uninhibited vibe of the whole festival.
And this, says Wade Davis, a Spring Scream organizer, is one of the main
objectives of the event. "The festival's main goal is to support the
creative efforts of musicians and artists," says Davis. "But we also
want people to just let loose and have a blast."
And since the event started some six years ago, it's never been hard to
have a blast at Spring Scream. With beaches, sand and sun, Kenting, says
Davis, is a great place to visit any time of the year. "People can come
down, get out of the city and relax. If they're not into live music
there is still plenty to do - swimming, sunbathing, camping, basically
whatever makes them happy."
In addition to the 60 or so bands that are already scheduled to play,
Davis says that this year's festival is going to be more diverse than
ever. "We have been pushing to expand the film section of the event,"
Davis says. "We have two high quality projectors and we plan to play
people's short film submissions throughout the weekend on a screen
behind the stage between performances." Davis is quick to mention that
organizers will be accepting film submissions up until the event begins
on the first of April.
In addition, Davis says that this year's festival will feature many new
bands and musical genres. "The hip-hop faction is gaining ground this
year," he says. "We expect that many of the younger bands will bring
some freshness, but most of the favorites like LTK and Clipper will also
be back."
In addition, Davis says there will be a makeshift art gallery where
people will be encouraged to display artwork of any type. And, as
always, those eager to vend are welcome, but should first contact event
organizers, to let them know what they plan to sell. Jimmi Moe, another
organizer, says that Spring Scream is always in need of volunteers to
help with cooking, cleaning and event logistics. "If you want to help,
go to the main festival booth and we'll find something for you to do,"
Moe says. "I promise it will give you that warm, fuzzy, I helped out
feeling."
The event will be held at the same site as last year, near the entrance
to the Kenting National Park. "We've organized a shuttle bus service to
and from the concert grounds," says Davis. "It's not that far of a walk
(about 1.5 kilometers from Kenting) but a lot of people thought it was a
bit of a hike."
In any event, the shuttle bus service should keep Takabe off his scooter-believe us, that's a positive development as far as general public
safety is concerned.
"We are ready to do it again," Davis says laughing. "And in the event of
a Chinese invasion, we'll just keep on rocking." Other than that,
"Expect a lot of good music, good people, fun, sunshine and tasty food."
All that, and of course, a whole new batch of unforgettable tales.
Music Notes
What Spring Scream, an annual music festival featuring local and
foreign bands.
Where Kenting
When April 1 to 4
Tickets Advance four-day ticket package is NT$1,000; add NT$500 for
bus. Tickets bought at the door are NT$500 per day.
Misc Advanced bus and door tickets are available now at the following
locations:
In Taipei: Roxy 99, B1, 218 Chinshan N. Rd. Sec.2; tel (02) 2351-5970
Roxy Vibe, B1, 71 Aikuo E. Rd.; tel (02) 2391-7779
Underworld, B1, 45 Shihta Rd.; tel (02) 2369-0103
Zeitgeist, B1, 122 Chunghsiao E. Rd., Sec. 2; tel (02) 2394-3004
In Taichung: Napoli, 424 Huamei St.; tel (04) 325-8645
In Kaoshuing: DNA, 4F, 77 Minsheng Rd. Sec. 1; tel (07) 227-2120
Cheap Charlie's, 75 Hsinlo St.; tel (07) 531-5537
In Tainan: Armory Pub, 60 Beihua St.; tel (06) 226-5800
There will be direct one-way buses departing from several locations
around the island on March 31 at around 11:30 pm. Pre-purchased bus
tickets will guarantee you a seat. Buses will depart from the following
locations: Taipei: ZeitGeist. Taichung: Napoli.
No buses will be available from Tainan or Kaohsiung.
Both bus and festival tickets can also be reserved online at
www.bandplaza.com. Those who are seeking additional information,
performance applications or are just in the mood to check out a cool
website should go to www.springscream.com .
LTK
Smash 'em up Taiwanese performance art, neo-political punk.
Groupie
New clothes and a hit CD lend Taiwan's original punk band a makeover.
Air Dolphin
Positive, new age, earth rock meets Santana.
Fevers
Pure madness wrapped up in ill-fitting underpants.
Sticky Rice
Did marching in formation cause them to lose their fierce edge?
Fei Wu
Free Taiwan beer!
Hayashi
How the hell do you spell didgeridoo?
Galaga
Indie rock all the way from the US.
Chtonic
A dose of black-evil murder rock.
Smoove
Need we say more?
Sugar Plum Fairy
A slo-core, ambient rock, coming of age story.
MiMi Chan
Still, yet more madness from Japan.
1976
It's only rock and roll but we like it.
Clippers
Bring back the dancing girls.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist