Live review from 20th Anniversary Festival Day 2 星期六
1. Pull the trigger
2. BF/GF Material
3. One day
4. Rooftop (A Liberation Broadcast) (cover)
5. Vice City
Fair play to Lime Punch: they played their first-ever gig at The Underground’s 20 Year Anniversary Festival and weren’t even the opening act. The heavy Pull the Trigger kicked off their set, the room filling quickly as crowd members were drawn by smashing cymbals and bass-heavy rhythms. An electro backing track spun things with a pop-punk energy as singer Kacy alternated between Cantonese and English.
BF/GF Material, inspired by Gareth T’s Boyfriend Material, saw Kacy team up with singer-bassist Kasa for a duet. The vocals were drowned in the mix and lyrics were forgotten, though nervousness was forgivable given how new they were to the scene. Kasa’s charisma, his chemistry with Kacy, and the more accomplished musical backing of their drummer and guitarist carried not only the song but the whole set. The band produced some thoughtfully crafted original songwriting on One Day; uplifting in sound but wistful in topic; “about dating someone and breaking up but hoping you’ll meet again in the future and get married”. The guitar melody was very U2’s Edge in its high, glimmering, stadium-aspiring sound, and there was a flavour of Paramore to the poppy emo duetting between the singers.
Dedicated to “all the emo kids of our generation”, a cover of Lostprophets’ Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast) was an extremely bold choice for reasons that don’t bear repeating here. However, it shows how the British alternative band’s music continues to influence younger listeners and sparked a worthy discussion in the audience about separating artists from their art. Delivery of the song requires certain vocal elasticity and power which just wasn’t attained here, giving the track a strained karaoke feel. Closer Vice City, inspired by Grand Theft Auto was similarly ropey, with atonal duetting, though, again, the guitar and drums were absolutely in lockstep, especially during the thumped-toms bridge and the crashing finale.
“There’s a lot of mistakes but that’s OK,” Kasa remarked mid-set. He was right: the band made up for a shaky performance with charm and character, and their performance hopefully gave them a boost in stage experience and galvanised them for more polished shows to come.
– El Jay
