The Underground was very honoured to be involved in the debut CD launch of local band Tri-Accident. The night was full of surprises and musically fantastic. Check out the reviews and photos from the event if you missed this one-in-a-lifetime event. Thanks to our dedicated reviewers and also to Angus for his amazing photos. Big cheers for Prada and Sophie on door duties.
The Underground非常榮幸可以參與舉辦本地樂隊Tri-Accident首個的專輯發報音樂會。果真是充滿驚喜的一晚, 音樂演奏激情且魅力四射。如果你錯過了那場一生人一次的音樂會的話, 那麼就來查看當天的樂評及相片吧! 感謝各位盡責的樂評人還有Angus的靚相。多謝把守入場工作的Prada和Sophie的幫忙。
❤️ Chris B xx
Cowhead
1. Summer Wind
2. Black Pepper
3. Katana
4. 生命中再次遇見的
5. Feebleness
6. Maze
At a night supposedly given over to classic and hard rock, where everyone who was anyone would inevitably be decked out in sartorial blacks, the music of Cowhead sprang a welcome surprise. A five-piece instrumental combo, equal parts acoustic and electric instrumentation, comprising apparently classically-trained musicians? Well, why not?
Cowhead’s line-up consisted of two guitars – one electric, one acoustic – an electric bass, a violin and drums/percussion. The style was tricky to pin down, with glimpses of everything from Spanish flamenco to Japanese twee pop, and you might call it world music were that term not inextricably associated with Africa for whatever reason. Bohemian might be more apt.
Instrumental bands are all about evoking imagery, and this Cowhead did – for me, mysteriously, scenes from anime. The bossa nova-led Summer Wind morphed into a soundtrack to a lobster feast (something classier than a boiled cow’s head, anyway) in a seaside restaurant a la Porco Rosso. Black Pepper began with a waltz from Cowboy Bebop, before evoking a run through the grass in the world of Spirited Away and finally ending with a medieval harpsichord twang reminiscent of Slayers.
Mood-wise, portions of the set were restrained and atmospheric, and tracks like 生命中再次遇見的 delivered some of the band’s best moments, entrancing the large crowd of rock fans with their warmth, complexity and accomplishment. There were some wobbles, with band members occasionally stepping on one another’s toes amid a flurry of semiquavers in more ambitious tracks like Maze and Katana, but on the whole this was an assured and well-received performance by excellent musicians.
– Brendan Clift
Tri-Accident
1. Miss Pinky
2. Magnetized
3. Black House
4. Asian Fusion
5. 子孫救星 (feat. Subyub Lee)
6. Complicated (feat. Subyub Lee)
7. POTF (feat. Hin & Cynric)
8. 圈 (feat. Hin & 細樂)
9. Timeless (with Cowhead)
10. Mountains (with Cowhead)
11. N.M.T. (with Cowhead)
12. D-Day
13. Turnspit Dog
14. Hey
15. We Will Rock You
The build-up to Tri-Accident is huge – seldom in this town do you see a packed house alive with anticipation before the first chord has been struck – and when the band struts onto the stage with maximum fanfare, it’s clear they’ll be giving 100% to their loyal fans on their big night out.
Tri-Accident’s influences are abundantly clear – they cite classic and hard rock outfits including Guns N’ Roses and Led Zeppelin – but the likes of Bon Jovi and Joe Satriani are also plenty audible, whether intended or not, and there’s more than a hint of contemporary rock outfits like Fallout Boy. Like the classic rockers and unlike many bands of the intervening decades, they’re not ashamed of some choreography and make enthusiastic use of the available real estate, with frontman Alexander bounding energetically about the stage, ably assisted by axeman Johnny and bassist Zing.
Black House delivers some welcome thrashy, pop-punk moments, but the opening few songs are undermined by an overly loud and clean sound on the lead vocal which threatens to give the set a karaoke flavour. But we’re distracted from that possibility by the arrival of the first special guest, Subyub Lee, who slings a guitar and brings an additional vocal along with plenty of LA strut. The extra voice is a solid addition, although harmonies would have helped it sound less like a shouting match.
We now take a brief moment to learn that it is impossible to make Happy Birthday sound good.
The first special guest subs out and the next batch arrives. Hin crunches out satisfyingly chunky riffs for two songs while wielding his guitar like a superhero with flaming sword. Consecutive guest vocalists Cynric and 細樂punch out rap-metal and death metal lyrics, respectively, and the latter combines with Hin’s exploits to deliver the most powerful moments of the night.
At this point it’s noticeable that drummer Cyrus is being referred to as Jesus. Is it the hairstyle?
This night isn’t about playing through the new Tri-Accident album; it’s about unexpected, one-off events. Cowhead resumes the stage to form a nine-piece supergroup – “Cow-Accident” – which even has its own logo, a Pink Floyd-inspired mashup of the two founding groups’ iconography. The sound doesn’t quite reach the Dark Side of the Moon, largely being Cowhead with vocals and some redundant instrumentation, but as an experiment it doesn’t fail despite its semi-rehearsed vibe.
Tri-Accident reorganize in their original form and deliver a few more tracks to remind the audience of what they can find on the “Pointless Filler” CD, before band members set up court on the stage for a lengthy chat about their lives and influences. Lacking Cantonese, all I can say for sure is that Jesus wept. Tri-Accident then finish up with a celebrated, participatory cover to close these memorable proceedings on a crowd-friendly and positive note.
– Brendan Clift
Photos by Angus Leung. 由Angus Leung攝影。Poster by Zing. 海報由Zing.
