The Ramblers consider themselves one of the older bands in
Taiwan, not just because our average age is well above that of many groups, and
much of our music is from the early years of the last century (or just sounds
like it); it is to our longevity that the term older most accurately applies.
We got our start in 2003 when Dave brought us all together
to jam to some of the nuggets of delta blues and jug band music, but our
upcoming gig is at Kenting’s Spring Scream, which has been around twice that
long. Founded by Jimi Moe and Wade Davis,
Spring Scream has been a fixture in
Kengting since 1995.
According to Rambler legend, Conor of the Harp attended the
first one at Magic Studios, a pub on Kenting’s main drag (and next to a vacant
lot where camping and stalls were permitted). Thumper claims to be at the next
one, also at Magic Studio, although he couldn’t remember the name of the pub
and had to rely on Spring Scream’s
Wikipedia entry for that factoid.
Many of us, okay, five of us, have been to the Scream at
least once, usually as attendees, but also as performers, and one of us
operated a food stall there one year. The lone holdout would be Top Cat, who
claims, nay, boasts, that he has never suffered the ignominy of frolicking with
the unwashed at Taiwan’s premiere music festival. Sorry Formoz and Hohaiyan,
you’re johnnies-come-lately on the scene.
According to an uncharacteristically long email from Conor,
he played the “third or fourth or fifth one with the famousPsycho Xiaojie
(still got pictures of that somewhere), the band that coined a term still in
currency on the same island today.” Certainly, few of you are familiar with
that band, and if don’t know what the term means today, well, ask around. You
won’t find it on wiki. Conor also shared one of the miracles that sometimes
occur at the Scream. “Another time we both lost our boots, then found them
again out in the field, and that made us feel blessed and grateful all the way
on the bus back to Taipei, celebrating with Taiwan Beer.”
Dave, on the other hand, was somewhat reticent to share his
experiences of attending or performing at the Scream, with symptoms that seem
to suggest PTSD from his time with band The Pocket Monkeys. He did, however, write about the event while
a scribe for one of the beautiful island’s English language broadsheets. A
cursory goggle on the Internet reveals numerous articles introducing Spring
Scream’s many attractions and penned by the Mucha Bard, but I couldn’t bear to
read any of them. If you’ve been at least once, you’ll know that no
introduction of Spring Scream does the event justice.
See, it’s not about the music as much as the experience of
taking part. Just ask Sandman.
With probably the most posts of any Forumosa member (tell me
I’m wrong), the Scottish mannequin pulled this nugget from his memory,
“All-night drive suffering from the flu -- with both of the Fxxxx brothers in
the back.” Half of that story is terrible, the other calamitous. You figure out
which is which. Thumper remembers that show, but he wasn’t performing; he was
prowling the already crowded stage to film the band. If memory serves, the
quality of the mix coming out of the PA was atrocious, and the soundman should
probably count himself lucky for not tangling with either of the twins. ‘Nuff
said.
Sometimes the music is the last thing people talk about
after spending a Scream at the southern tip of the island.
Loquacious Slim, veteran of many a Spring idyll in Kenting,
the other tip town, wondered which of his many stories were suitable to share.
Thumper was quick to jog his memory of time they spent at the Lioufu Farm,
the home of Spring Scream from 1999 to 2006. The one event both remembered fondly was speaking with a Hari Krishna just before leaving Kenting for a relaxing
week at the Sanyuan Campground, now illegally occupied by the Miramar Hotel, in
Taidong.
For Thumper, the stand out Scream was 2001 (or maybe 2000),
when he operated a food stand serving what he claimed was Mexican food with his
wife and two friends. That was a particularly wet and muddy Scream, and with
three 18-hour days of work, the crew only covered its expenses, but what a gas.
The food was slow-cooked, delicious, reasonably priced, and available from noon
to 2 AM. Truth be told, there wasn’t much Mexican about the food, but it was
hot, spicy, and wrapped in a tortilla from Costco. With the Jaegermeister stall
right next door, Screamers could sate their appetites in a fine fashion, and
step under the canopy to escape the rain.
Just had a look through my keepsakes from long ago, and lo
and behold, there is the fired clay medallion that served as the all-access
pass for the Scream that year!
An earlier Scream memory for Thumper was showing films on
the projector set up after the bands had knocked off for the night. One was a short film about his neighbor that
won an award in a Taipei District Court (long story, ask me later), and the
other was a collection of scenes from one of the pan-blue demonstrations at the
intersection of Zhongshan South Road and Ketagalan Ave. Had the good fortune of
meeting Stan (of Si Bang-ah) at that one.
Thumper also attended one of the years when the Scream was
held on a patch of land just off the beach (now a private beach – shakes fist
at developers!) in Kenting. That year, he and his wife ventured south with
friends of theirs from the Xindian community that had recently moved to. He stayed at the newly opened Kenting Howard
Plaza, or whatever it was called then, and remembers letting a (now departed)
friend into his room to use the shower, and to replace the bathroom slippers he
had lost somewhere on his journey.
Is it surprising that with all of these stories, the music
plays such a small role? With a handful of bands at first, and now hundreds of
groups, Spring Scream is required listening (anyone still have those
compilation CDs with music from the previous year that they used to give away?)
for any fan of indy music in Taiwan.
Thumper’s favorites from way back include Q (a comedic bluegrass band),
Miracle Saru (from Japan), Mimi Chan (also Japanese), Milk (expats from
Taichung, some still around, though the band has gone) and the then unknowns MC Hot Dog and Dog G
(from Taiwan).
According to
journalista Alita Rickards, her top picks for
Spring Scream 2013, Year of the Snake, include the following ten groups.
“Post-rock soundscape masters Collider top my agenda, with the rest in no
particular order: rock and rollers 88 Guava Seeds
八十八顆芭樂籽), pop-punk-garage group White Eyes (
白目), rocker boys Liger Attack, who have a whole new roster of
original songs I
'm excited
to hear, fun bouncy poprock grrrls No Money No Honey, Dr. Reniculous Lipz and
the Skallyunz live hip-hop and funk, old-style jug band The Muddy Basin
Ramblers, rock-funk-rap from Coach, psychedelic rockers Blind Acid Date, and
live electro-dance act Kid Millionaire.” I doubt I’ll get a chance to see most
of these groups, but I’ll definitely make one.
If you’re coming down for this year’s Scream, the Ramblers
will be performing at 5 PM on Saturday, April 6, on the Green Leaf stage.
Here’s a link to the
map of Spring Scream. You can find all the pertinent
information about this year’s event on the
SpringScream site.
We'd love to see you in Eluanbi (near the lighthouse at the
southern tip of Taiwan) for Spring Scream Double Snake. If you can't make it to
this show, we'll be at the Green Expo in Ilan on May 1 and back in Taipei on
May 11, opening for Bob Log III at Taipei Artist Village. Check back for
details.
That's right. No photographs to accompany this post. After
reading 1350 words, give your eyes a rest. Or, head over to
YouTube to see what
videos of performances at past years have been posted.
