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Band highlights

Compiled by David Frazier With Additional Reporting by Max Woodwood

Friday, Mar 29, 2002, Page 8

The road to Liufu Ranch. PHOTO COURTESY OF SPRING SCREAM

Foreign Band Picks:

:40 of Hell (Oklahoma, USA)
These heavy punkers from Norman, Oklahoma are making their first trip ever to Spring Scream. Maybe all you need to know about them is summed up in their Web site motto: "We're rockers who like to rock. Rock on Rockers!"

Fevers (Tokyo, Japan)
Returning to Kenting for their fourth Spring Scream, they are what punk was, is and should be forever. Lots of energy. Lots of yelling in Japanese.

Guardian Alien/Banjovi (Seattle, USA)
Band leader Guy Davis pushes music to extraordinary limits, whether on bass, vocals or electric banjo. What's added on the squeeze box and drums make for the most rocking electric banjo group(s) you'll ever see.

Mimie-chan (Tokyo, Japan)
Loved for their hard-driving ska, yet feared for a dancing, daiper-clad sumo wrestler and what he throws into the crowd. If you believe that Japanese people are weird, you will love this band.

Miracle Saru (Tokyo, Japan)

The Salesmen and R.P.D.X. PHOTO: DAVID FRAZIER, TAIPEI TIMES

They're what might have happened if the Allman Brothers had brought a DJ like Junior Vasquez into the band. An all-instrumentals group with incredible guitar moments and mesmerizing rhythms. Psychedelic rock and trance.

Q (Texas, USA)
A synthesis of bluegrass and klezmer called "Jewgrass." Performances involve a heavy dose of comedy, especially when the Mormon Whisbi priest, Elder Rado, is around.

Dzap Dau Dau (Hong Kong)
The music they play is hard, and yet they're girls, not grrrls. They're cute, they're punk. They're cute punk!

Hsiao Bee of the Beeboys. PHOTO: DAVID FRAZIER, TAIPEI TIMES

Taiwan Band Picks:

Air Dolphin 海豚
Think of Prodigy on qualudes, or Can in their trancier moments. Stuff to take off the sandals to and start swinging.

Anarchy 無政府
Taiwan's Rage Against the Machine. Also leaders of the Feirenbang, a Taichung-based "gang" of teenage punk rockers.

88 Balaz 捌十捌顆芭樂籽
Modern rock that goes from moody to festive. They might just be ready to move beyond the "up and coming" stage.

Taichung rockers Milk. PHOTO: DAVID FRAZIER, TAIPEI TIMES

Beeboys 蜜蜂小子
A rock outfit headed up by a sunshine girl of a lead vocalist. Veterans of Taipei's livehouse circuit. Plenty of fun to watch.

Charlie Swiggs
Footstompin', jazzified rock and blues from Tainan. A rare group that mixes expats and locals and always puts on a good show.

Chthonic 閃靈
Taiwan's major representative on the international black metal circuit. On some songs they add an erhu.

Wonfu are as goofy as they are good. PHOTO COURTESY OF TCM

The Clippers 夾子
One of the few surviving pioneers of Taiwan's early underground rock movement. This band has been going for six years on a combination of cheezy local flavor, dancing girls and heavy social satire. They've been recording recently and should have new material ready for the Spring Scream crowds.

Nicole Darcy
Peace-loving and barefoot, this mandarin-singing Minnesotan lashes out at the world's problems with folksy guitar and sharp lyrics.

Dribdas
An acronym for "Downright Intricate Booty, Dave and Steve." The band also includes Spring Scream organizers Wade Davis and Jimi Moe.

Dog G 大支
MC Hotdog is doing military service, so in his stead Rock Records is sending Dog G (a.k.a. Jerry), Hotdog's Taiwanese rapping partner.

Labor Exchange
Hakka rockers that have found success on the fringe of Taiwan's mainstream music industry. Acoustic guitars, wailing vocals, traditional instruments and lots of Taiwanese soul.

Milk
A high octane groove band of (mostly) Canadians from Taichung. As many times as we've seen them, they always manage to show us something new and something that at least threatens to blow the roof off.

Nipples
One of Taipei's original alternative bands riding on the Sonic Youth sound wave, they've started to move into airy, free-form jam sessions.

The Nerve Band 神經樂隊
Fast and furious but interwoven with pop melodies. Another of the Feirenbang's eight bands.

R.P.D.X. /Reproduction 複製人
Teenage punk rockers from Taichung keeping it tight and fast. Feirenbang.

Salesmen 售貨員
Expect stage diving. Expect more stage diving. Feirenbang.

Sister White
Seventies leather rock recalling a little bit of Kiss, especially the blistering guitar. A more contemporary side brings in preprogrammed electronic loops.

Wall Tigers
If you can't skank, stay out of the pit. Pure ska.

Wonfu 旺福
Their lead signer has been called "a Kermit the Frog with incredible stage presence." One of the hotter bands playing around Taipei at the moment. Upbeat modern rock.

Complete Band List:

The Spring Scream schedule has not yet been finalized, but we can tell you what bands are playing on which days. Performances will take place on three stages, beginning daily around noon, and finishing around midnight.

Thursday
666, 929, 5 Player Band, Air Dolphin, Anglers, Asshole, Big Band, Bomb Site, Broken in to Pieces, Buster, Champion, Chicken Rice, Delay, Dizzy Daisy, Dzap Dau Dau, EO4, Hohohr, Lemon Perfume, Lugu 911, Meat Leg, Mic the Bear, Milk Cow, Naff Off, Out of Control, Panda, Phattlix, Pink Elephants, Prince Men, Pussy 4 Travel Head Flower, Rubington, Sanskrit, Sexwolf, Shameless, Silence of Spiral, Smoking Cones, Sodagreen, Sour Jam, Source, Sunshine Boy, Swing Monkey, The Yam, Yellow Fish

Friday
88 BALAZ, ABC Family, Anarchy, Bug, Bullshit, C'A, Chthonic, Clippers, Cynic, Dies irae, Dog G Damashituan, Fat Job, Flay, Flow, Freestyle One, Hard Bone Fish, Hi Santa, Hinge, Hysteria, Iron 308, Junkie Inc, Knives, Labor Exchange, Lava, Little Big, Milk, Miracle Saru, Neverland, Nevermynd, Northern Tsunami, Prog, R.P.D.X(Reproduction), Rizzler, Rocking Chair, Sewer, Sister White, Superyell, The Nerve Band, Tizzy Bac, Totem, Very Ape, White Cloud, Wonfu

Saturday
Banji, Bob Bar, 69 Across, Peppercats, Office Worm, Wings, V-max, Charlie Swiggs, RJ45, Loudspeaker, Eden, Synergy, Hosa, E-Cup, Mess, Primeval Forest, So What, Lavender, DJ Saturn, Kook, Fire Extinguisher, Blue Monday, Fascinoma, Red Nail Polish, Beeboys, Peppermint, Magic Flower, We Save Strawberries, :40 of Hell, Bee3, Seasons Lee, Q, Bohemia, Mimie-chan, Salesmen, Guardian Alien, Walltigers

Sunday
Elinova, One Piece, Space Monkey, Viva La Tuna, Secret, Unfinished, Fai-lern-wooo-joon, Sky, Si-ha, Sherry Loves, Oi, Sex Doll, Nipples, Carbohydrate, Wizard of Oz, Bad Daughter, Vyrus, Detail, Monkey Insane, Riot, Limitism, Slaptop, Nuke, Magic Guy, Vic, Spunka, Punk Monkey, 7th Symphony, Az, Seven, Close Door Dog Out, A-Core, Fevers, Other Side, Rabbit, Cricket, Ghost City, Editec

Warm-up Concerts:

Today, 10pm Guardian Alien and Banjovi at Witch House, Taipei.
Today, 9:20pm Chthonic at Zeitgeist, Taipei.
Tomorrow, 9:20pm Huan-ri (幻日), Spunka and Guardian Alien at Zeitgeist, Taipei.
Tomorrow, 10pm Chthonic at Underworld, Taipei.
Tuesday, April 2, 10pm :40 of Hell at Riverside Pub, Taipei.
Wednesday, April 3, 9:20pm Trigger (鈑機) and Tizzy Bac at Zeitgeist, Taipei.

Venue Information:

Zeitgeist 聖界
B1, 122 Chunghsiao E. Rd, Sec. 2 (忠孝東路二段122號B1)

Witch House 女巫店
7, Ln. 56, Hsinsheng S. Rd, Sec. 3 (新生南路56巷7號)

Underworld 地下社會
45 Shihta Rd. (師大路45號)

Riverside 河岸留言
B1, 2, Lane 244, Roosevelte Rd., Sec. 3 (羅斯福路244巷2號B1)

Spring Scream Info

Location: Liufu Ranch (六福山莊)

Time: April 4 to 7, with performances running approximately from noon to midnight each day

Web site: http://www.springscream.com

Tickets: Advance four-day passes cost NT$1,100. At the Spring Scream site, one-day passes will cost NT$1,000, while four-day passes will cost NT$2,000. Advance tickets are available through the following outlets:

Taipei: Zietgeist, Underworld, Witches Pub (see listings for addresses and phone numbers) and Apa Studio at 127 Hoping E. Rd, Sec. 2, 3F (和平東路二段127號3F)

Taichung: Russel's Cafe and Restaurant at 464 Chung Mei St. (中美街464號)

Tainan: Armory Pub at 82 Gungyuan S. Rd. (公園南路82號)

Kaohsiung: Dog Pig Art Cafe at 131 Wu Fu 4th Rd., 2F (五福四路131號2F) and Cheeky Charlie's at 75 Hsin Le St. (新樂街75號)

Advance tickets are also available online for NT$1,200 through the Spring Scream Web site: www.springscream.com.

Transportation: Buses from Taipei and Taichung will run one way to the Spring Scream site, departing around 11pm on Wednesday April 3 from Zeitgeist in Taipei and Russel's Cafe in Taichung. Tickets cost NT$500 and can be purchased in advance at departure locations.

On-site Transportation: There is no car parking at the Spring Scream site. Those driving cars are encouraged to park at the Kenting National Park entrance. From there, a shuttle bus and a bicycle shuttle system will provide transport to the Spring Scream site for a small fee (the fee has not yet been released).

Accommodations: Camping on the Spring Scream site is permitted for those with four-day passes. Numerous hotels are available in the Kenting area, but booking early is highly recommended as Spring Scream coincides with the long weekend created by the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, during which most reasonably priced rooms are full.

Other activities: Spring Scream will have a half pipe (for skateboarding), exhibitions of film and artwork, and sports activities such as beach volleyball. Recommended beaches in the area include South Bay (南灣), Hsiao Wan (小灣) and Jialeshui (佳樂水).
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