Live review from Sonic Showcase:
PROXIMITY
USED TO SAY
SCAM
THROUGH THE PARK
SUPERFICIAL
GARDEN OF LOVE
WOOFIE
For a gig presented by the “Underground” of Hong Kong music this was about the most overground, prominent public showcase of Hong Kong rocknroll: Friday night at the AIA carnival on the harbourfront in Central.
Normally when you see dinosaurs down the front of a rocknroll gig it means a couple of old white guys in Joy Division and Deep Purple t-shirts. Here there are actual dinosaurs. There are fibreglass stegosauruses to sit on if you would like to straddle a three-horned reptile while loud rocknroll is played to you.
Everyone enjoys music their own way.
We choose to sit at the big wooden picnic tables behind the crowd that is gathering to see the Ferals play. The stage is big enough for Clockenflap; the crowd is big enough for the Aftermath. The handy beer/stand next to us is staffed by people who pour coffee cup sized cups full of wine for 30 bucks. Hip flasks are being handed around to help warm against the crisp breeze coming in from the harbour.
Chris B, Hong Kong’s eternal and irrepressible bilingual rocknroll MC, walks on stage resplendent in signature yellow Doc Martens and patent leather pants to lead the band into a set that brings the heat to an increasingly cool evening.
There are few bands where the lead singer switches from energetic MC introducing the bands with endless energy and passion to front person dominating the stage while the band thunders behind them… actually there’s only one: the Ferals.
The sound mix is perfect – loud enough to let you know it’s serious hard rock where you can feel the snarl of the guitar and the throb of the bass, but not too overblown to require old rock fans like me to wear their ear plugs.
If you’re a fan of powerful rock bands with strong female leads you can both see and hear the lineage from bands like the Motels and the Divinyls in this sound. Having walked out many times to introduce other people’s bands Chris clearly relishes the opportunity to prowl constantly across the front of stage, owning the entire space in between rocking the mic as the band soars and powers behind her vocals.
She’s got props! She’s got a pile of money and is now down the front of the stage kneeling down as people run to be handed fists full of bills. Is this a nod to Patti Smith’s 1975 classic Free Money… or is it, as the song is titled, a Scam?
She holds up a sign that says Don’t Panic. No-one does.
The band kicks into Superficial – delivered in a mix of English and Cantonese lyrics, building and building until the guitar, bass and drums crash through and thunder into a new level and maybe this third cup of wine has me thinking the band is waking up the seafaring goddess Tin Hau, because the wind seems to increase in time with the band’s ascending intensity.
The chugging riffs of the power ballad Garden of Love are perfectly contrasted by a woman walking past, carrying a stuffed toy teddy bear that is larger than herself. She stops, takes in the music, grabs her boyfriend by the hand and is transfixed.
The band finishes with the song Woofie and a reminder of its music video. I swear I recognise the actors from the video in the crowd. The song opens with a peppered fusillade riff of drums and bass that shows clear symptoms of Dr Love before kicking into a stomping onslaught of rock.
– Jarrod Watt
Live Review from Underground Rocks 2023!
Proximity (soundcheck song)
Woofie
Used To Say
Through The Park
Oh Mother
Superficial
Garden of Love
Shocked
ENCORE: Salty Pork Hands (aka Jazz Song)
On the surface, The Ferals (HK) are a straight rock outfit, though Chris B’s theatricality adds a dimension of showmanship that sets the group apart. Props were rife throughout the set—from a blue and yellow fabric top hat to a small cat toy. Her magnetism and stage presence kept eyes and ears on the stage, and the band formed such a sturdy backbone.
Searing opener Woofie saw Chris B adopt her best Alice Cooper sneer over William ’s thumping drums, before she channelled Blondie to rap over driving guitars on Used to Say: “I’m free/I’m sweet/I’m tattooed/I exist/I’m Chris B.” Instead of shallow aggrandisement, the track played as more of an exposition of the male gaze and female empowerment. Either way, Mark’s blistering solo made it a great track.
Sultriness oozed from following songs Through the Park and Oh Mother. Craig’s solo on the latter sounded straight from Josh Homme’s playbook, while Judy’s slinking bassline on the former ska rock number recalled early No Doubt. Chris’ theatrics raised a notch on Superficial and she entered the crowd, emboldened by a Slash-style solo, full of 80s metal licks from Craig. Jagged, staccato guitar defined the low and saucy Garden of Love, before the tempo picked up again for the cacophonous Shocked for a vicious punk breakdown of pure riot grrrl proportions.
Encore Salty Pork Hands started slow and brooding before breaking into balls-to-the-wall rock, which was appropriate for the sentiment of the song. As the rhythms locked in, Craig ripped into another amazing solo and Chris B started up a chant of “hap sap lou!” “咸濕佬!” (“perverted man”) for a hilarious closer to a set as fierce as the band’s moniker promises.
-El Jay
