Live review from Summer of Music:
1. Super Hero
2. New Song
3. It’s alright
4. Soul on the beat
5. Natural
開場前時, Chris B用傳奇來形容Site Assess, 稱得上傳奇定必有一定水準。一行五人的Site Access 有主音, 吉他手, 貝斯手, 薩士風手加上鼓手各一位。單從他倒當晚全黑的Dress Code絕對想像不到他們是Disco和Funk好手。
以漫畫英雄人物為主題的“Super Hero” 作開首。在近年漫畫英雄熱下, 觀眾都對曲中夾雜的英雄人物非常熟悉, 中板的Funky音樂加上主音懶洋洋的Rapping唱腔, 在晚間的backstage聽著實在令人寫意。接著的New Song是一首情深的Ballad作品。之後的It’s Alright的Bassline換上突出的Effect, 充滿70年代Disco歌曲的味道。Soul on the Beat開頭的薩士風節奏為歌曲帶來Jazz的元素。值得一提的是, 當我在Youtube搜尋Site Access過去的演出時發現,只有在2015年後的演出才有薩士風手, 相信是新加入的成員。從當晚的演出, 可見薩士風手為Site Access的音樂生色不少, 將一些本來帶點稚氣的Poppy Hip Hop歌曲注入成熟的感覺。
– Dicky Kwong
Chris B was very happy to have Site Access at the Underground for the first time and she praised the band hugely before they even played one note. She told us that they were legendary and I felt like she was talking them up so much that they just might be superheroes, which was actually close to the song title of their first song… ‘Super Hero’. I love a good song about superheroes and this song had everything I liked in a nice, neat package delivered to my eardrums. The verse was filled with references of all the different superheroes you could think of off the top of your head, with a cool vocal melody. It was the type of song that whenever I saw someone enter the room they had to start doing a funky dance to the beat. The guitar solo near the end of the song was really awesome and I immediately fell in love with Site Access.
The next song, ‘New Song’, was a slow-down Ska song which sounded something akin to Sublime with the saxophone beginning the tune. Sublime was one of my favourite bands as a youth so I was hooked on this song which was heavily driven by the bass and drums. I really enjoyed the exchange from the vocalist and the saxophone player in this song. Brandon would rap a line or two and he would be answered by Chi’s saxophone. The crowd loved this song just as much as I did.
Their third song, ‘It’s alright’ started off a little faster than the first two and Site Access showed that they can do the best alternative groove funk in Hong Kong. I was impressed with his voice as he sounded so original yet familiar. Then, after doing some more research I realized that Brandon was none other than Ghost Style who has also been in another legendary Hong Kong band that I love, one of my all-time favourite Hong Kong rap groups… none other than 24 Herbs. No wonder I loved his voice so much! In this song the music was something akin to ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams, with the vocals giving it a different twist. There was another guitar solo that I was so happy to hear once again, and nearing the end of the song if you weren’t already hooked then you would have been encapsulated by the Blues Brothers-esque finish.
Yim and Wai led us into the next song with their funky bass and guitar until Chi jumped in with his sassy sax. In ‘Soul on the beat’ Brandon’s vocals were more like singing than rap in this song and in the chorus I caught a feel of Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was a funky and poppy number which had Brandon hitting all of the high notes.
For their last song, Site Access gave us more of an outro as it was more laid back in tempo than their previous songs. ‘Natural’ didn’t have the same kick as the other songs, but it was as if they were doing their own personal farewell to Backstage through this song as they wounded down their set. The best part of this song was the sax solo which really hit the spot.
If you haven’t seen Site Access before then you should definitely go see them as they are going to funk you up! They are a band that you will want to dance along to all of their tunes. Their alternative groove funk will have you begging for more. Encore!
– Cain McInerney
