Spring Scream, Taiwan's biggest rock festival, will enter its eighth year,
taking place from April 4 through April 7 at the Liufu Ranch (六福山莊), the
site of the previous three festivals. The multi-day concert has served as a
proving ground for many of Taiwan's up-and-coming bands, and has become a
major showcase for non-mainstream acts including LTK (濁水溪) the Clippers
(夾子), Chthonic (閃靈) and the bands of the Feirenbang (廢人幫), as well as
an opportunity to see quirky foreign acts like Miracle Saru (Japan), Mi-mie
Chan (Japan) and Guardian Alien (US). Crowds in recent years have swelled
well into the thousands.
Dates for this year's event along with online registration information for
bands, performers, volunteers and vendors were released last Thursday on the
Web site: www.springscream.com. Though organizers said no formal
announcement was made aside from that posted on the Web site, Taiwan's music
community reacted swiftly to the news. As of Tuesday this week, less than
six days after applications had become available, more than 50 bands had put
in their bids to play at the festival. Last year at Spring Scream Snake,
which was the second year that organizers received more band applications
than they could accept, around 160 bands played on three stages over four
days. Organizers said that they are considering adding a fourth acoustic
stage this year. Ticket prices for Spring Scream Horse has not yet been
released, though the price of full festival passes purchased in advance have
cost NT$1000 in each of the last seven years. A final performance schedule
is traditionally released about a week before the event takes place.
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