Mr. Stephen Taylor's

in yer ear*

* aural cavity located on the sides of the head for insertion of local music scene

compass magazine, april 2001

Spring Screamed!!

I arrived in Kenting last Thursday morning, made my way to the Liufu Ranch campground, set up my tent and collapsed. Others were arriving, the stages were being built, the stalls were coming together, acoustic circles were forming, a whiskey shoved in my hand with blue skies and singing birds set the tone for this year¡ ¦s festival¡ ¦s inevitable explosion. It was coming together and happening with a typical mellowness that only Spring Scream can supply. Smells of goodness filled the air as stalls began pumping out their specialties. Bars and drink stalls kept us all liquefied. A half-pipe skate ramp was erected and used by both those that could and those that couldn¡ ¦t. Also, a basketball hoop was set up to give other options. All in all, there were lots to see and do and it had only just begun.

This year's Spring Scream served up a whole slew of bands and soloists, 150 to be exact. There were obviously far too many bands for me to mention but definitely a lot of kick-ass shows that I'll try to highlight. Thursday evening brought us the Japanese thrash of the Fevers that kicked it hard followed up by Smoove, whose pre-gig performance of Elvis lip-syncing a German Techno song seduced by Lennon with 3 Jesus back-up dancers gets my unbiased vote of Most Kick-Ass Original Concept. Ok, so I play for the band! What of it? Later on, the somewhat in your face style of Taichung's own girl-power band ¡ 69 Across with male back-up dancers, pleased and entertained the crowd as night became day.

Friday, Nerve Band brought teen-age angst with young punks stage-diving via mini-trampoline.Fat Job, a Hong Kong based metal-rap band was basically Rage Against The Mainland, fun and furious. Our boys Milk brought down the house with their typically infectious I can¡ ¦t stop dancing groove. Lovely gowns boys. Who's that old dude in yer band? Anarchy and Free Style both kicked it so hard I thought the stage would explode. Damn angry youths! Next came the home cooked collard green sounds of serving up bluegrass with a twist. Dr. Rev. Bloodworth¡ ¦s enlightening sermon shall linger in all our hearts. Last on the menu was Dzap Dau-Dau, an all female pop-grunge trio from Hong Kong whose unique harmonies and chord progressions have a style all their own.

Saturday brought a day of decisions. Taichungs Spatula rocked all the juice out of the generator and still kicked it with a tasty drum solo. Mimi Chen, the Japanese ska band delivered their usual platter of horns and incensed reggae rhythms. LTK along with disciples raged, rocked and rioted the stage into a burning heap of broken guitars and a bicycle!! MC Hotdog had the crowd or rather sea of heads and fists wrapped around their middle fingers. Combining Taiwanese and Chinese, these guys say it like it is and talk about real issues and lay it down over sweet tracks and dope loops.Guardian Alien, the Seattle based band with their tight-assed rhythms, beautiful harmonies and skillful musicianship were a pleasure to see.Dribdas played as tight a set as they could ever hope for with Digger Dave flown in for the revival.

Sunday saw many folks heading back to work but still rocked well into the evening with many bands playing twice. All in all, this years Spring Scream rocked my socks off. If you missed it, shame on you. If you're like me, you probably need a year to get over this damn hangover.