Live Review from Summer Serenade
1. Morning Sun
2. Saved by Signs
3. The Girl
4. Deep Waters
5. Reminisce
The crowd began to warm up as the second act, Tri-Deuces, took the stage; the band kicked things off with Sonia, the vocalist, asking everyone to repeat after her and sing back her tune. This garnered lukewarm response; the night was early, and the melodies were perhaps a tad too complicated. But it didn’t matter, because as soon as Tri-Deuces launched into the funky guitar opening of their first song, ‘Morning Sun’, their contagious energy started rubbing off on everyone. In so many bands, the keyboardist lurks in the corner silently, but Dick moved about with so much ardour, his fingers dancing on the keyboard as he bobbled up and down to the music, that you can tell these guys really, really enjoy being onstage. Sonia’s vocals, strong and sweet, hits each high note perfectly while never once losing its soulfulness; if ever there was a Beyonce of Hong Kong, it would be her. The jazzy vibes got turned up in the second song, ‘Saved by Signs’, with its saxophone intro and the blues guitar riff; it’s a slower one, and in fact, the whole of the band’s set alternates between songs of different tempo, a thoughtful sequence which keeps the audience’s interest in check.
Musically, the band’s pop and RnB elements is every bit as present as its jazziness, making their songs easy crowd-pleasers. Most of them end with the vocals trailing off to a sweet whisper or a saxophone note lingering in the air, and it’s also worth noting how clear-cut and distinguished each sound was. There was no doubt which instrument was in the spotlight for each section, which ones took the back seat, and in this regard, the sounds complemented and worked with each other, rather than against. Their individual talents were thus further highlighted, much more so that it would have been if they had mashed and layered everything in one go – this feature really came through in the bridge of ‘The Girl’, which started off with a bass solo (!), then added guitars, keyboards, and drums one by one. The night ended with ‘Reminisce’, the first song they had ever written and one of my favourites, featuring a heartfelt, memorable chorus that calls for the lung capacity of Mariah Carey, and an epic guitar solo. There aren’t nearly enough funk bands in Hong Kong, and Tri-Deuces has certainly set the bar high for the next one that comes along.
– Karen Cheung
接下來出場的是Tri-deuces，他們是一隊香港少見主要玩jazz-funk的樂隊，成立於2012年，聽過他們的人相信都會被主音Sonia觸動的嗓音吸引。一開始有keyboard漸漸滲出的音樂作墊底，慢慢把觀眾的情緒拉進Tri-deuces的音樂世界，隨即一進鼓聲即推高現場的情緒，然後再來sing-back game和觀眾互動炒熱氣氛，替觀眾作熱身。第一首《Morning Sun》，Sonia的爆發力讓人驚艷，把觀眾的情緒推得更高，也使整場都熱血沸騰。第二首歌曲《Saved By Signs》節奏沒上一首般強烈，稍稍舒緩觀眾的情緒，觀眾都隨著音樂輕輕的擺動身體，值得一提的是歌曲中後段的chok位，所有樂器把那chok位表達得很好，完全達到了chok位的目的和效果，亦把樂隊的默契發渾得淋漓盡致。之後的歌曲都讓觀眾的情緒持續高漲，Tri-deuces成功把場子化作了舞池，觀眾一直拍手跳舞。整體的說，Tri-deuces groovy的音樂編曲非常豐富，keyboard和吉他的選聲和主音soul味重的聲線非常配襯，saxophone的加入也恰到好處，把歌曲的氛圍再加強，樂手們也非常有實力，因此，Tri-deuces絕對是實力非凡，值得一聽再聽的樂隊！
– Sidick Lam
