Anybody care to recap the past weekend in Kenting? I missed Spring Scream, and would like to hear about it. Hope to go next year.
I had a great time in KenTing with my girlfriend last weekend. Great hotel, a lot of fun on the beaches, decent restaurant fare, rewarding hiking and exploring.
The low point was definately Spring Scream. Nearly impossible to locate; difficult to get to; overpriced given the very, very low quality of the music produced; shoddy, mud-laden facilities; weak food and beverage offerings. Actually, we could have put up with the poor organization of the event if the music was in any way redeeming. It wasn’t. Not even a modicum of professionalism or quality to be found. We stayed for ten or so acts before giving up in frustration and going to a disco back in town. I will not be making the mistake of attending Spring Scream again.
But, as I said, KenTing was a blast. We’ll be going back.
Jeez, Tomas, that was bit harsh – after all, its not always muddy.
Ditto on everything else, though.
Its really a joke to charge, what? NT$1,000 for a venue that freely admits its no more than a place for bands to perform, the vast majority of which are simply too crappy to be allowed to perform elsewhere, while the remainder are strictly in the “NT$250 entry + 1 free drink” category.
I agree that Kending at that time is a blast, though – for me, its something about the first opportunity of the year to get some sun on my sad, fish-belly white skin after a Taipei winter. I’m getting old though – I put off my first visit this year until after the schoolkids left, but I’ll be down in a week or two for a long weekend at the Chateau.
Sandman,
Do you stay at the Chateau Beach hotel? How do you like it? I have only been there for drinks and a look around. What price do you pay normally? I usually stay at the Ceasar Park Hotel as I seem to remember the Chateau Beach hotel rooms were only a little bit cheaper but a lot smaller. I also don’t normally go to Kending during high season as the weather is lovely all year round and the winter is also a great time to go with less people and cheaper prices and not too hot.
Love that “fish-belly white skin” comment, I have never heard that before.
Hobart
I like it, but don’t really have anywhere to compare it to, as its the only “upmarket” place in Kending in which I’ve stayed. It does have nice rooms – picture windows overlooking the beach, dark hardwood floors, very nicely appointed bathrooms, etc. I don’t remember what we paid last time (2 years ago), but I think it was around NT$2,000-NT$2,500, buffet breakfast included, and that was during the Spring Scream, when crappy little rooms in town were going for NT$1,200 or so. Whatever the exact cost, I DO remember that it seemed very competitive indeed.
Next time go to the Spring Love party…very well produced, professionally done, and a great party…
I also give big wraps for the Chateau. It is the only hotel in Kending with its own private beach. I agree, the rooms are nice decked out and the service is always great. Buffet b’fast is quite good as well. The number of times I have fallen asleep in the beach hammocks is a little embarassing tho…
Yeah, but is it really theirs? I heard they basically just “stole” it from the county government or something. Check out the hotel’s own private open sewerage pond at the end of the beach as well. Bastards. You used to be able to camp there for free.
Thats an affirmative on the method of acquisition for the beach Sandman. I had also heard that the hotel itself is owned by local gangsta-rati elements. That aside, I really like the place and aside from the Church Hostel I wouldnt stay anywhere else.
Although I have great things about the teepee place - anyone been?
kenting this year?
I had a blast, as I have every time I’ve been down in the last 4 years.
if you’re going for sun and healthy activities, i agree there are much better times to down there then springscream time. It’s actually a bit of a madhouse down there at that time.
I go down for springscream though.
why? I’m into live music. And I find raves, and the consequent standing around watching people vacantly bob their heads to sub-standard DJs from Taipei for hours on end is a complete bore to anyone not ingesting the shitty over-priced garbage that passes for e on this island.
Agree that 1000Nt or whatever is too much for a day pass or whatever the cost was. But 1200 for 4 days is definately do-able. (I assume they have reasons for strange pricing system)
whenever I go down, I take a day or two off work. Too far of a haul to go all the way down there for 2 days. Plus it’s nice to sit around on the beach while people scramble to get out of dodge knowing you wil take a leisurely drive the next day on an empty road.
Granted there are a lot of sub-standard music at SS. but if you follow live music and know some of the acts in Taiwan and that come over, you can find yourself having quite a few pleasant listening experiences.
Musical Highlights:
"Q’"s acoustic performance in the art space
“Chicken Rice” (or whatever their name is in English)Good Chinese Rockibilly stuff with some drunk guy rolling around trying to sing.
“Wonfu” – I always like Wonfu, . Though I think they were drunk and dude’s GF had to pull him off stage, it was still very entertaiing.
Forget the name, but the guitar guy from Mimi Chen and Bassist from Q (I think) playing good punk/fusion shit
“Kola/Shimen Spiders” on Sunday – crazy show with flying beer cans and Ron acting like a madman and screaming into a broken walkie-talkie or something and kicking things over.
“Daybreakers” - identical twin brothers in a punk/devo/art/geek-rock trio, from Texas/Illan - surreal
There were others but that’s what I remember anyway
[quote]I’m into live music. And I find raves, and the consequent standing around watching people vacantly bob their heads to sub-standard DJs from Taipei for hours on end is a complete bore to anyone not ingesting the shitty over-priced garbage that passes for e on this island.
[/quote]
Me too, which is why the Scream is so disappointing. If they had even just ONE decent band that could play, I’d be happy to pay NT$1,000 to see them. But all you get are the same half-assed outfits bashing out the same tired old crap year after year. Its just so… stale is the best description I can think of. Or maybe “past its sell-by date.”
I caught the acoustic set on the art stage–it was okay, but got repetitive toward the end, I thought.
In Taipei, try EZ5 for good live music. Zee Live is good as well. Jacky Wu just opened a new place that Kang Kang was supposed to be playing at. Anyone been there?
Sandman,
You obviously didn’t catch Miracle Saru. They are worth the price of admission themselves. That being said, much of Spring Scream is painful. I think the problem lies with its conflicting goals. On the one hand, the organizers want to make money. On the other hand they want to nurture the music scene in Taiwan. I think Wade and Jimi have done a great job giving young bands a place to perform, but I don’t think they are justified charging NT$1,000 a day for people to be subjected to some of those bands. I think a good solution would be to make the first and last day free and schedule beginning (or crappy) bands at that time. They could charge for the second and third day and schedule the best bands on those days. I do think NT$1,200 is a fair price for the whole shebang. You do have to be a little knowledgeable about the music scene to find the bands that are worth hearing.
Another reason that the music doesn’t get much better each year is that good bands get contracts and are not allowed to perform at SS. Also, bands break up. Finally, a lot of bands sounds much better on recording than when performing.
The most important rule I would like to see implemented is a “no screaming policy.”
I have been to every spring scream and have always had a great time. When there are bad bands, I go to the beach.
I also enjoyed the performances that akosh mentioned along with my favorite SS band Miracle Saru from Japan. I liked Milk as well along with that punk band from HK. I missed hearing guardian alien.
It is definitely worth remembering that SS is no Fujirock in terms of price or band quality.
Off topic, but I think anyone who equates the Beastie Boys with “You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party” (That means you Sandman) is going to have their asses blown out this Sunday.
Yes, I’m cooking up a potful of chipotle adobo on Saturday. But how on earth did you know?
And I did take the trouble to download some more recent BB stuff off Kazaa – wished I hadn’t bothered, though.
Give me something decent any day of the week. Why can’t we get a REALLY GOOD Abba tribute band, for example?
…did that terrible band from taichung - ‘milk’ play (again!!!). they seem to play at EVERY event going on around the island. A true sign the live music scene is pretty dull. One band sorely missed is 'Ting kan Ting"… whatever happened to them?
Tomas – I meant the art space… the building at the back of the venue. I don’t think we could be talking about the same band.
Ting kan Tings drummer is doing military service or something of the sort… they’ll be back someday, I’m sure.
Bands that I miss…
LTK
also one of last year’s best , Labor Exchange, wasn’t there
Miracle Saru seems to be a crowd favorite and I enjoyed them this year, but musically I don’t find them that interesting. But for getting people up and dancing… i guess they the man.
chainsmoker wrote
That’s the double truth, ruth