Woooohoooo! We all had a great time at the first InterNations x Underground event! Great InterNations people in the crowd, loving the Hong Kong bands we had put on this special showcase. Big thanks to the bands, soundman Carr, Orange Peel and all the amazing audience who kept dancing all through the night. Look out for the second edition later in 2016.
love Chris B xx
好野！The Underground 同 InterNations第一次合作就有超乎預期中嘅好成績！所有觀眾同樂隊都好投入enjoy。好多謝 Carr Orange Peel 同所有參加嘅朋友！希望係2016再見大家！
love Chris B xx
Andy is Typing
1. Wild Heart
2. Celestial Party
3. Forget Me Not
4. Lost Pearl
5. Yesterday Was Sweet
6. One Two Free Fall
7. Fat Machine Injury
For such young guys – they look as if they might have shrugged out of their school clothes en route to the gig – the brilliantly named Andy is Typing have spent some serious time absorbing rock music of the past 40 years or so.
But they’re not simply regurgitating well-trodden rock classics of yesteryear. The boys have really made it their own, with well-crafted rock tracks which get a great response from a good crowd at Orange Peel tonight.
So it’s a bit of shame they haven’t put similarly diligent research into stage wear –come on boys, you can do better than jeans and T-shirts. You’d never catch Bowie (RIP) and Prince (RIP) in baggy sweaters.
So work needed on the outfits then – but in terms of on-stage panache otherwise, top marks, throwing themselves around as they do with youthful abandon. And yes, great tunes. They come racing out the traps with a big track that has elements of both 1980s and 90s rock – I hear Maiden, RHCP, Def Leppard, Ramones and more. Great stuff.
They’re good players as well. The singer has a fine line in vocal gymnastics while the guitarist boasts some decent chops. And what of their namesake, bass player Andy? I dunno about typing, but he is a picture of concentration, focused on nailing that bottom end. Overall as well they have some nice tricks and techniques, stops and starts, going into double time, building the atmosphere and momentum.
An excellent set with tons of rock credibility for such young guys – definitely one to look out for.
– Dan Creffield
ShumKing Mansion
1. Big muff Mowgli
2. A New Wave of Sense
3. Untitled
4. Circus
5. Flamenkito
6. A Discovery
7. Ectoplasmic
8. What’s on your Mind?
9. Otto Dreamin
10. What’s on your Mind (encore)
With a top hat and green shades, SKM synth player makes quite an impression before he’s even played a note. Somewhere between 70s prog and the alternative dance tent at a festival, the crowd is initially confused. Are they songs? Or one long, trippy workout?
The answer is kind of both, but once you understand this, and just go with it, the keys to the SK mansion are yours. And it’s worth the admission. This a seriously funky outfit, with tracks that just make you want to get up and boogie. There’s certainly a whole lot of boogying going on tonight.
It’s difficult to place them musically as style tracks changes song to song. At one point I heard influences of Cold War Kids, at other times more of a an acid vibe. Either way it’s infectious stuff. The singer can definitely sing while the cat in the hat adds layers of gloopy synth goodness.
And while there were points where it seems songs will never end, the audience clearly didn’t want them to anyway. Towards the end of the set the singer tried to organise a singalong, with mixed results, and halfway through their encore half the band took their shirts off. Job done!
– Dan Creffield
Omicron
1. Disintegration (Edge of Sanity cover)
2. Collision Vector
3. Loyal Shadow (Soilwork cover)
4. Trial by Libat
5. Point of Contact
– Keyboard solo + Guitar/Keyboard duet –
6. Overture
7. Fail
8. Nothing is Everything (Death cover)
9. Criticaster
Encore:
– Drum solo –
10. Mineral (Atheist cover)
A nice variety of styles tonight as third and final band Omicron hit the stage looking black and serious to unleash their brand of progressive rock/metal on a crowd that’s been dancing like loons for hours. And doesn’t want to stop clearly – at this stage they’d dance if a troupe of ballerinas came filing in to the strains of Swan Lake.
These are technical players performing seriously progressive metal instrumental tracks and making no bones about it, underpinned by a powerhouse of a drummer who plays like he’s powered by kryptonite especially when he goes crazy on the double kick. They also boast a synth/keyboard player giving them an extra dimension.
With influences including DragonForce, Megadeth, Dream Theater and Mastodon, alongside some Swedish metal outfits, these guys rock pretty hard. And it’s a pleasingly epic sound, with elaborate chord changes, ambitious progressions and overall heaviness.
And are pretty earnest about it as well. At least, until the keyboard player starts playing some classical sounding thing. Pretty! Guitarist Li Heng Chan comes in with some neo-classical riffery Yngwie Malmsteen style from his seven-string though and it all goes crazy again.
Finally it comes to an end. The crowd demands an encore and the drummer goes into a huge solo like it’s 1979 all over again. People are dancing like crazy, screaming, cheering, it’s like a metal mardi gras. Huge cheers when he ends. Omicron finally finish with a great Atheist cover. What a set.
– Dan Creffield
Photos by Angus Leung.
由Angus Leung攝影。
Poster by Angus Leung.
海報由Angus Leung.
