I'd Scream But I've Lost My Voice
Written by AlitaWorld Wednesday, 07 April 2010 15:41
AlitaWorld's four-day diary of the best music festival in Taiwan
What was once a smattering of bands gathered near a little known beach town at the southern tip of Taiwan has turned into a debaucherous weekend with multiple raves and parties at various locations in the area. The original party, now in it’s sixteenth year has nothing to do with these raves, though it too has grown over the years to include almost 10 stages at one point.
This year, Spring Scream did something unprecedented. It shrank. And in doing so it got closer to it’s roots than it has in years. Instead of using the entire expanse of the Erluanbi lighthouse park, it was cuddled into the back quarter with the attached campground doubling as a food fair and screening area for Urban Nomad.
FRIDAY
I arrived in Erluanbi before sundown, put up the tent and was the first customer, along with DJ Dr. Ween, Tom Leeming to have Brickyard’s pulled pork. Cute guys were everywhere; serving food, playing on stage, strolling around watching bands.
At this point there were mainly musicians, vendors, and those ticket holders who didn’t want to miss a moment of what many of us feel is the best festival in Taiwan. It was a mellow crowd and every one is smiling as they wander around catching acts and watching stalls and stages finish setting up.
The first band that grabs my attention is mad metal with a gravelly voiced lead vocalist. “Whoa, that‘s a chick!” says Sean Luo (of Waysoon) and it is a chick, with a long white skirt and a huge blue flower tucked behind her ear. Her satanic scream stops and she sweetly asks how everyone is doing, then begins roaring into the mic again. (Solemn)
Next up is Dark Eyes Gypsy Jazz with mellow and happy music that makes you feel like you are going on a stroll on the promenade. “It makes me feel dignified” said Erin King (Milk). Colin McLaughlin, the guitarist for Aurora called them “blissful, talented, unreal” Instruments include accordian, clarinet, violin, and double bass. Their big band sound is subtle and charming old time music.
The first night ends with some old Memphis blues from one-man-band Jack Conqueroo. Awesome chops on that dude.
SATURDAY
Leeming’s early afternoon all Ween set starts sunny Saturday off. The venue is plastered with his Dr. Ween fliers; a few festival goers even have them taped to their chests.
Punk puppies Divebomb are next, and get a two-fingers-up, middle-fingers-down horns salute not only for their music but for being the first to have a band schedule available when none were available at the door; on the back of their flier they have made a list of their chosen acts, times, and stages.
Photographer Steven Vigar gets on stage and joins lead singer Caleb Kassen belting out a punk tune, then jumps on his back - Kassen keeps playing guitar as he sinks to his knees with Vigar astride him. It’s 6:12pm.
Collider begin at dusk, with Joe Witt and Rafe Waters on guitar, and Tom Squires on bass. They’re joined tonight by former vocalist Leon LaPointe making strange speeches and noises. An energetic Blood Orange follow and the crowd that had sat, mesmerized by the hypnotic Collider, gets up and dances as they move from pure punk into lounge bossanova then back into pounding drums, metallic guitar riffs and speed based punk again.
At 8pm I end up missing My Skin Against Your Skin, who I really wanted to see, to catch Aurora for the first time. If you were wandering around as a loud-mouthed drunken lout wondering where your girlfriend was, I can tell you. She was standing with the rest of the pretty girls with her lip-glossed mouth open in front of sensitive, beautiful, passionate, young, talented up and coming vocalist Alan McIvor, who’s band includes Wade Davis and Pete Holmes.
I try to fluctuate between the Dolittles and Go Chic who are playing at the same time, but while the Dolittles are beloved by their fans who sing along with the indie band’s lyrics, Go Chic steal me away with a high octane fueled performance by Ariel Chen. So far best show of the festival; the crowd that filled the entire area to the treeline then mushroomed out around the stage agrees by the sounds of their screams. Go Chic will become even bigger, they are a band to keep an eye on.
Also in the keep an eye on category are Milk – in a skimmed down reunion: four of the original members in superhero costumes to play their funk/performance art/jam band brand of music.
Moneyshot Horns had the crowd grooving away to the music but it was when Dooley Chandler held a long red light saber from his crotch to the outstretched hands of the crowd that they really went wild.
Finished the night rocking out to Waysoon’s brand of Newgrass, playing traditional bluegrass instruments like banjo, mandolin, and ukelele with a rock edge. Catherine Brown was kickass on bass in a gorgeous 50s style prom dress and boots taped with purple duct tape.
Guitarist Andy Kincart got a bit sentimental and began to speak beautifully about what Spring Scream meant to him but ukelele and mandolin player Landis Shook interrupted with “can I get a yeehaw?!!” - and he could.
Top raves of the night? Over and over people told me they loved the new layout and the smaller venue, with all the stages facing out like spokes on a wheel, and bars and the DJ stage in the center. Stages were color coded which made it easy to find the band you wanted to see. People also raved about the sound and the music. The bands were amazing, the venue was beautiful, and the food was excellent.
Top rant was about the cost of camping. Two young Taiwanese university students were almost in tears at the gate and said they had read that camping was NT$1000 and if they paid the NT$2000 they were charged at the door they wouldn’t have any money left to spend.
Tons of musicians ranted about the NT$1000 they were being charged to camp (per tent) with many saying they were going to try to avoid paying. Sneaky methods abounded, with a common one being trying to avoid one of the organizers -- a lovely young girl who must have wondered why so many people were avoiding her.
Tom Squires of Collider was more straightforward in his gentle and polite way, and just said “I don’t want to be a dick but I won’t pay that. Let’s not get in a fight over it. If you continued to ask I’ll continue to say no - let’s not argue.”
Fell asleep listening to a circle of campers having an accoustic jam.
SUNDAY
Woke up at 8am to a recycle lady having a loudness competition with her coworker outside my tent but cheered up when more hot guys (from Foster Hewitt’s) served me some coffee and a tasty lunch. Spent the afternoon poolside with some guests of the Uni-President hotel, then a couple hours at a nearby beach.
This was the first Scream where it felt like the DJ stage was fully integrated into the festival, and upon returning I joined organizer and co-founder of Wade Davis who was taking a break on the hillside enjoying French DJ Hannah Hais.
New Hong Kong Hair City looked smashingly stylish for their set and were all dolled up for the event with lead singer and keyboardist Danielle Sanger in a sequined cocktail dress and the boys looking dapper in black and whites.
The girls have it this Spring Scream and Sanger stole the show coming out from behind the keyboard and jumping all over the stage in a high energy whirlwind performance. Their music is hard to classify with elements of punk, jazz, metal, rock, and funk all coming together to make a whole that is independent of it’s parts. It’s the kind of show that has people turning to each other saying “Holy shit they’re good!” Mike Tennant is exuding his blues brother’s charm, Wooley Macgregor is wailing on the sax, Tristan Newman metals out noodling away on his guitar, and Kyle Bajcer is as always chipper and focused on the drums, beating out the rhythms that fuel the music.
NHKHC are the first incidence of Spring Scream Tiger where the audience begins spontaneously chanting “Encore! Encore!”
Next I run into, or am actually almost run over by Erin King straddling a bondage clad teddy bear on a cart being pushed by various minions. King just wants to bang on his drum all day, and does, as he is wheeled around the venue til the wee hours.
There is no better place to take a break and relax from the madness than with a couple hundred friends sitting on the grass listening to Scott Cook weave his tales of life on the road. Each song is like a short story with moving, intimitate descriptions of places and faces and states of mind.
The title track off his new album This One’s on the House is about living in the van he clocked 330,000 kilometers on the road in. He welcomes anyone who visits Canada to stay in his spare bedroom (the reclining passenger seat). His descriptions of the characters you’ll meet while riding the Greyhound are laugh-out-loud hilarious: “We were kind of like a family ‘cause we couldn’t choose each other, there was this pretty former stripper who was kind of like our mother”.
I have time to grab a few minutes of .22’s set and rock out to the boys who are dressed up like a Clockwork Orange goes to culinary school with big chef’s hats emblazoned with 22 and massive eyelashes painted around their eyes.
Then I’ve got to run get ready for my set with Rock in Hose Burlesque: if you’ve never tried to put on stockings, a corset, and bustier in a tent I recommend you give it a miss. I throw on my tutu and try to catch a few minutes of Dr. Reniculous Lipz and the Scalliunz or Skaraoke, but all I manage to do is see that they each have a big crowd before I have to get on stage. Dr. Lipz has killer skeleton teeth makeup on one side of his face, it’s great to see so many bands dressing up.
Our crowd is an awesome group but they’re wild: we have 3 or 4 incidences of drunken men getting on stage and DJ Marcus Aurelius has to double as our bouncer several times. During one act the table collapses just as Amor Galore is on top of it pretending to fellate himself, which he recovered from with aplomb. The crowd doesn’t mind, every mishap makes them scream louder and while we didn’t have the biggest audience of the festival, ours wins for being the loudest Spring Screamers.
We jump off stage after our show and I run over to catch the end of High Tide still in a bustier and tutu. I don’t fit in with the reggae crowd but I have to dance - they put on a solid show, entertaining, happy making, dance move inspiring and a perfect finish to a great night.
MONDAY
By Monday morning everyone is exhausted but happy, like children at the end of a long day at the beach. The sun is shining, music bounces across the field, and the clanging of stages being dismantled echoes faintly.
One stage is moved into the campground and the last festival goers gather to watch the bands and unwind. People fold tents, pack bags, toss Frisbees, hug old friends, and crack open afternoon beers, eating wraps from Rock Garden.
Spring Scream Year of the Tiger turned out to be the best in years - intimate, fun, and friendly with a layout that was condusive to both socializing and catching all the bands you wanted to see. The DJ stage in the center was approved by old and new Screamers alike as Marcus Aurelius made it into a central hang out space with great vibes at all times.
At the very end of the night, organizer and cofounder Jimi Moe gets on stage (with a giant teddy bear) and gives a rambling, nostalgic, hilarious 40-minute speech reminiscing about Spring Screams past. At the end he asks for a show of hands from those that have been to the festival one year, two, three, all the way up the the last few hands still up at 16 years.
I pack up my tent, crack one of those beers, and join the other old time Screamers who sit around and jam until near dawn under the stars. “Only 362 days until next Spring Scream” someone says.
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