Live review from Summer of Music:
1. 你的孩子會聽著我的歌長大
2. 吃飯前把手機交出來
3. Why on my Bed
4. 天氣這麼好，我卻在煩惱
5. Just Be Gay
6. 還是要相信愛情呀，混蛋們（cover song）
唐藝所創作的歌詞大多都是取材於日常生活或她個人非一般的經歷見聞，內容生動脫軌但親切有意義亦有共鳴。容易理解又易記的歌詞再配合不同風格的樂曲和唐藝極具個人特色的歌唱技巧及戲劇性的現場演繹，產生非常有趣又奇妙的化學反應，令人不斷期待她的演出。「Just Be Gay」則讓人有走出來做自己的勇氣，而「你的孩子會聽著我的歌長大」更突顯唐藝幽默諷刺又不羈的風格。
唐藝善用自己甜美而且伸展性高的聲線，加上多變的唱腔，一時搞怪，一時呻吟，一時放輕，一時激昂，讓觀眾感受到歌曲的層次和歌詞的意思，就像「天氣這麼好，我卻在煩惱」一曲中，透過唐藝的聲音，確確實實的感受到女生若生理期正常這些生活瑣細事的小確幸，令作品生色不少。
– Jacqueline Tang
Tang-Yi greeted the crowd and gave a big shout out to Chris B and the Underground for the last show at Backstage (as it will be closing down end of this month.) Sister Tang Yi and the Gang then began to play what seemed to me like a playschool-like tune. ‘你的孩子會聽著我的歌長大’ was something you would hear from a kid’s TV show, which isn’t a negative comment. I’m a big kid and memories of watching Play School in the late 80s came rushing back into my head. Soon, the song turned into a jazzy number with lots of “La la la’s…” accompanied with a trumpet and a basic drumbeat. But, there was no drummer. The drums were pre-programmed and controlled by the bass player, Shawn, who maintained the rhythm section. The song was quirky and beautiful. Despite not being able to understand any of the lyrics in Mandarin I really enjoyed listening to their first number.
Tang-Yi introduced the second number,’吃飯前把手機交出來’, and told us it was about people using the phone while at the dinner table. This is becoming more of a common occurrence and so I agreed with Tang-Yi’s sentiment of how rude it is. So, I was trying to decipher the meaning of her song while experiencing the language barrier. The song started with an electro synth keyboard and more lyrics in Mandarin. If I had a guess at what she was singing about I would say that she was directing her lyrics at a particular someone who didn’t pay enough attention at the dinner table, instead head in phone the whole time. Am I right? The rhythm was quite simple though the tune was heavily led by the Tang-Yi’s melodic vocals.
Tang-Yi told us the reason why she chose the song title of their third song which had me laughing in tears. “Why on my bed?” was a song she wrote after she caught her friend and her friend’s boyfriend having sex on her bed. Oh my! If you are going to do it make sure you don’t get caught! Haha! She told us that this song was the only reason why her EP was considered to have explicit lyrics. It also could be from the oohs and ahhs which made the song pretty darn sexy. Sister Tang-Yi and the Gang built a very sexual atmosphere and vibe for this song which made me feel at times like I was in a cabaret lounge. The ending of this song is great as she has been complaining the whole time about them doing it on her bed, she finally gives in and says, “Why without me?”
Sister Tang-Yi and the Band’s fourth song, ‘天氣這麼好，我卻在煩惱’, was a quickie. It was a ballad that came 😉 and went. It was quite beautiful and melodic, and over in a flash.
‘Just Be Gay’ was the fourth number that Sister Tang-Yi and the Gang played. It was a very happy tune ;). This song was very different from the other tunes we had heard. It was quite trippy and transcendent. It had some computerized tones which made me feel like doing the robot. I think the contrast between the singing in the verse which was done in Mandarin and the English chorus was great. This combination enabled the song to engage the entire audience.
‘還是要相信愛情呀，混蛋們’ was the only cover song that the Gang played for the night. It was also another song which was heavy on the computerized keyboard sounds. It had an infectious chorus and I felt like if the audience understood the lyrics they would surely be singing along. This was the first time I really noticed the backing vocals from Natalie shine through, as in the previous songs their voices melded so well with each other that I didn’t even notice that she had a backing singer.
Sister Tang-Yi and the Gang were a band that I would definitely go to see again and look forward to more fun and out-there lyrics and song titles. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand Mandarin (Putonghua) you will be able to feel the messages to her awesome array of songs which she embeds deeply into your brain with her quirky vocals and music. Great way to start the night! On a high! But, not in my bed! Please! Hehe!
– Cain McInerney
