Spring Scream 2005

[rantheman]

i only watched the news. were the cops sweeping everywhere for ecstacy?

[naguoning]

Not E, but I saw a particularly funny little incident where one Japanese band was joking in English on stage pointing out the incredibly obviously out of place "undercover" police with silver wrist bands watching. Needless to say not that many people realized what had been said, especially not the police.

[AndyO]

sure Tetsuo, but these are people who are making generalizations without having actually gone to see the shows.

[Tetsuo]

And you know this how?

[AndyO]

And you know this how?

uhh...

" I went to the front gate and heard some of the stuff and it was truly awful. "

and...

"Somebody local is getting a cut.* Otherwise why allow a bunch of drunk kids and crappy bands to invade an otherwise beautiful area?

*This is an uninformed opinion. I have no proof and am only talking out of my rectum. Please don't hurt me."

Just a hunch.

[Tetsuo]

OK, so one of them actually heard stuff and based it on that. Poof goes that quote. The other one said directly that he was talking out of his ass. Poof goes that quote. Anything more substantial? I really think you're being oversensitive about this. Regardless, people are just as entitled to talk shit about things as you are to boost them.

[AndyO]

No right! No right! Off to the gulag with ye!


"poof goes the quote" - aw, cranky old Tetsuo, I know how much you love to come out alpha male on these boring little internet forum arguments, so I'll let you have your day. All I meant was that many of these posters are implying that all the SS bands suck based on past Spring Screams. But you can't really make a blanket judgement on all the bands there because every year the bands are different (besides the small core of bands who return every year). But you win, you can pound your chest and drink ale from my skull now.

[twonavels]

The best part for me is always after the shows when people just hang out, or start to do spontaneous jams together. I spent quite some time around a bbq with 3 Japanese people, a few Taiwanese, and two police officers who came to join us. People were very friendly, and the only bad experience for me was when I heard of the hit-and-run accident.

I got so many free t-shirts and cd's, discovered that I knew way more people in Taiwan than I ever knew I did, kissed a lot of them, played with a couple of lovely dogs and a rabbit, saw cows, got chased by geese, saw a few amazing bands, and some not so amazing ones, etc. etc.

I also get the sense that the people posting hadn't really seen the bands, but then again, people like different things. I'm the same with rave parties. I'm an aging 80's rocker/goth/industrial type, and I love listening to live bands. I love music festivals, and I would gladly have paid twice the amount for SS.
To each his own, eh?

[turkey_dinner]

Hey. I had a great time this weekend. I met a lot of nice people and heard some great dub bands. If you didn't like one show, you could go to the next stage and find something more your style. I think it's amazing how Jimmy and Wade have made this thing fly. You should have seen all the gear, 4 stages??? That's not cheap, maybe that had something to do with the high ticket cost. You could get 50nt beer, Ice, or highballs in there, too. There was a band called the Transients who came from England to play and they were great. Don't forget the camping spot you get free with the ticket. The music was much better than I was expecting after listening to all the whining from some of the sorry suckers that were going to sit on their asses this weekend. I won't say that it was great, but it was fun as hell.

I have never seen that many cute Taiwanese girls in one place before, that's for sure.

[akosh]

There were 3 back-to-back trios from Japan that were great on Monday.

HAKAI HAYABUSA - speed ska reggae stuff, great happy fun vibe
ATTACK THE SUPREME - similar but more thrashy, good for crashing around in front of the stage
BAD ATTACK - straight up punk rock - awesome

Of course there were other acts there (Chicken Rice) that, as expected, were great, but what makes it worthwhile is when you see an act for the first time and are blown away. I saw three, so I was quite content.

The best part for me is always after the shows when people just hang out, or start to do spontaneous jams together.

.22 had a great after hour set late Monday night as well.
Tarry Bush had a chaotic and sporadically good set on Sunday after hours, but I'm in the band, so what do I know?

Sad to have missed The Deported, but I think it was too early for me and I was sick as a dog until Monday.