Four years ago Axel Schunn put together the first Tainan July Jam, which became the Tainan June Jam a year later. This year it's the Tainan May Jam.
The name keeps changing but the gist of the concert remains the same: Bring together of some the best live music acts in southern Taiwan for an afternoon (or two) of jamming, barbecuing and beer drinking next to the sea in Tainan's historic Anping district.
PHOTO COURTESY ALEX SCHUNN
Unfortunately, the weather got more time on stage than any of the bands in the past three years. "Every time I put on a show, a typhoon came!" said Schunn, who has moved the date forward every year in the hopes of avoiding inclement weather. "The forecast for the weekend said it might rain, but I don't want to think about it."
According to Schunn, the turnout for last year's show was particularly poor, but not necessarily because of the weather. "I had listened to too many people who told me that I should charge an admission price, so we tried doing that last year. But the largest shopping mall in Asia opened near here and England was playing in the World Cup on the same day!"
So this year, barring typhoons, shopping mall openings and World Cup games, the concert will go off as it is supposed to, and free of charge.
"My original idea was a free concert where people could go have a barbecue, play in the water, play frisbee, drink beer or whatever; all while these great bands played."
The bands Schunn has lined up this year include Schlumpy, from Taichung. "They have a big brass section and their main guitarist used to be with the Clangers," he said.
K-Box will go on after them. They're a jazz outfit whose bass player used to be with Schunn's own band, Charlie Swiggs, who will play after them. The Racoons, The Cause, Sheng and San Ho Yuan fill out the roster of bands. R& B soloist Sheyne, as well as favorite Tainan toe-tapper Nicole Darcy and newcomer Early are also scheduled to perform, as are the Yungkang Church band, Blue Grace.
Something for everyone?
Schunn certainly hopes so. But if not, you're invited onstage halfway through the afternoon for a drum circle jam session.
"Oh, and maybe, maybe the Mooks will play," Schunn said. "The thing with them is they're having a show the day before and they'll probably get wasted after the show. That's what they told me. So they may not make it."
Tainan May Jam starts at noon, Sunday, May 18, at Choumao Yuan in the city's Anping district and goes until 10pm.
From the Tainan train station, take bus no. 15 to Anping. Alternatively, if you take a taxi, your fare will be about NT$200. Call Axel Schunn at (0930) 952 973 for more information.
May 18 to May 24 Gathered on Yangtou Mountain (羊頭山) on Dec. 5, 1972, Taiwan’s hiking enthusiasts formally declared the formation of the “100 Peaks Club” (百岳俱樂部) and unveiled the final list of mountains. Famed mountaineer Lin Wen-an (林文安) led this effort for the Chinese Alpine Association (中華山岳協會). Working with other experienced climbers, he chose 100 peaks above 10,000 feet (3,048m) that featured triangulation points and varied in difficulty and character. The list sparked an alpine hiking craze, inspiring many to take up mountaineering and competing to “conquer” the summits. A common misconception is that the 100 Peaks represent Taiwan’s 100 tallest
Yesterday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominated legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) as their Taipei mayoral candidate, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) put their stamp of approval on Wei Ping-cheng (魏平政) as their candidate for Changhua County commissioner and former legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) has begun the process to also run in Changhua, though she has not yet been formally nominated. All three news items are bizarre. The DPP has struggled with settling on a Taipei nominee. The only candidate who declared interest was Enoch Wu (吳怡農), but the party seemed determined to nominate anyone
In a sudden move last week, opposition lawmakers of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) passed a NT$780 billion special defense budget as a preemptive measure to stop either Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) or US President Donald Trump from blocking US arms sales to Taiwan at their summit in Beijing, said KMT heavyweight Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), speaking to the Taipei Foreign Correspondents Club on Wednesday night in Taipei. The 76-year-old Jaw, a political talk show host who ran as the KMT’s vice presidential candidate in 2024, says that he personally brokered the deal to resolve
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), alongside their smaller allies the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), are often accused of acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Some go so far as to call them “traitors.” It is not hard to see why. They regularly pass legislation to stymie the normal functioning of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) administration, and they have yet to pass this year’s annual budget. They slashed key elements of the government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special military budget, and in the smaller NT$780 billion package they did pass, it is riddled with provisions that
RSS