Live review from Underground Jäger Show:
1. Beware of those who make you suffer
2. Pretty Baby
3. So Much
4. Picture
5. Milky Galaxy
誰會想到The Miners的開場曲竟是《歡樂年年》？這首新年期間在超市 reloop再reloop，油膩兼厭悶的傳統中樂，被他們打造成活力盎然的英式搖滾，帶來與中樂毫不相干的backstage，可見其心思及創意。玩味一輪後正經開場，《Beware of those who make you suffer》以雙擊的鼓點和結他梅花間竹地領航，配合vocal些許不清、慵懶而放肆的英語歌聲，倒也讓人聽得爽快。接續的《Pretty Baby》加添了點點挑皮，歌詞中的「life is never easy」，看來四位看似二十出頭、的年輕小伙子，對生活有不少歷練。其後的《So much》延續了先前的funky style，《Picture》則相當跳脫，比先前幾首風格類近的曲目注入了新鮮感，鼓點和吉他清脆利落，節奏明快，主唱的聲線亦放鬆不少，使不少觀眾隨拍子搖曳，中段vocal「oh, oh, oh….」的間奏，配合愈加強烈的樂器，實在使人忘形，可惜sudden end結尾稍嫌倉卒。最後一首的《Milky Galaxy》前奏有點post rock感覺，鼓和結他先以輕描淡寫的音色，營造了溫婉、甜美的氛圍，接上幾次突然的節拍轉變，使人耳目一新。配上vocal情深且柔和的腔調，的確如歌名所述般「milky」，有置身於光影模糊宇宙中的錯覺，結尾的outro亦延續了整首歌曲的浪漫和空間感。總括而言，The Miners編曲包含不少變化，從搶耳的開首過渡至抒情搖滾，整個編排能引領觀眾投入，如歌曲的結尾再加以修飾甚至延長，定能錦上添花。
– Lily Sung
The Miners introduced themselves in Cantonese and started off with an exciting and happy song which featured chords which sounded all too familiar. Someone told me it sounded like a song called, “Darkness Christmas”. I have never heard it personally, or maybe I have since it did sound really familiar. I didn’t care. I was looking forward to the rest of the song, but then it just ended suddenly. It was only later on after talking to one of the band members did they clarify it was just an intro. Fair enough.
So, when the first song, “Beware of those who make you suffer” actually started I was still thinking that this was a continuation of their ‘first song’, but in fact it was something totally different. No wonder the guitar riffs and the chords were heaps different. The vocals were pretty cool to start with. It was an ode to Brit pop, sounding a little like Arctic Monkeys which totally blew me away. He didn’t look like he could produce this kind of voice, but he did.
Their second song was followed by another Cantonese introduction which was kind of weird as he was singing in English, but talking to the audience in Cantonese. Even though I can understand a little I felt like this strategy was excluding the expat audience from engaging with him and the band. “Petty Baby” was a really funky song that had more modern Brit pop influences like Kasabian. I know he is singing in English, but at times I had no idea what he was singing about. Maybe it was his British accent with a Chinese tinge that put me off. In this song it was like he was talking more than singing.
“So Much” continued along the lines of the previous song and kept its funky rhythm which Yu on bass and Archvictor on drums had created. I loved the pauses in this song as they made the audience beg for more. This song got people jumping up and down in delight, well, one guy in particular who I realized was jumping around like a jelly bean all night. I want what he was having… haha! This song was a big hit with the audience and when it ended it was greeted with a huge applause.
Their next song, “Picture” started off with some awesome drumming from Archvictor, who is also an awesome guitarist. Mutli-talented! He was later followed by the other instruments. The music gave me the urge to sway from side to side and I enjoyed Mann’s guitar playing in this song. There was good crowd interaction with this song, especially when the vocalist, Lun, sang the “Oh, oh, oh’ssss”.
I am still dumbfounded at Lun’s interaction or lack of it with the crowd in English as he introduced yet another song in Cantonese. So, I never heard any of the titles in English and felt like this continued to put me and the other expats at arm’s length. So strange when he was singing in a Northern English Accent. “Milky Galaxy” started off slowly and was already my least favourite song of their set, little did I know it was their last song. The drums saved this song as the song picked up the pace, and lead into the vocals. But, then once Lun started singing the tempo slowed down again. It is something you would listen to while cruising in your car. I wanted to close my eyes and drift off into a fantasy land. Which is not a negative comment. It was a good song, but I think it was wrong time to play this song at the end of the set since all the previous songs were better than this one.
– Cain McInerney
