Live review from 20th Anniversary Festival Day 2 星期六
1. 續
2. Non-Fiction
3. 派對以後
4. 流星說
5. Caged
Five angsty musicians collide in one beautiful destructive chaotic musical storm. Turbulent, named after crashing ocean currents, is a local pop rock band with lots of punk energy. As their name suggests (they’re pretty big on the symbolism of their name on most socials), their music is heavy, energetic and emotional – the turbulence is not only musical, but personal as well. They’re also counter-cultural (or as they put it, “refuse to be confined to established frameworks). In any case with a name like Turbulent, you’re expecting a couple of collisions.
Their first song 續 (Continue) was a rock ballad, naturally full of turbulence already, with hints of dreamcore on the squealing guitars and background chanting. Their vibes and performance style matched the energy with each musician’s outfit being similar but slightly different – most wore dark, earthy tones, except one of the guitarists was in a green crop top and the someone had a pearl necklace. Their collisions are planned – the falling scales in the song clashed deliberately with the rhythms which then were covered in vocals like dripping water. That’s not to mention their incredible guitar shreds as well providing even more layers.
The effect overall was a dreamlike piece of rock, beautiful and energetic, but expressive and full of angst.
Their later songs got the crowd riled up in their tempest, especially “Asteroid” where they asked everyone to “jump like an asteroid” (although it was misheard by many as “jump like a steroid” which kind of makes sense but also definitely wasn’t what they intended). The song, and its transitions in and out were both smooth musical segues, but also roller-coasters of noise.
Despite being around for a couple of years, this was actually Turbulent’s first time on the Underground stage
“None of you knowing us is normal”, they said between songs “there is a long road in front of us and we hope we can play everywhere and want to thank the Underground for this chance”
And they definitely stole the stage not only with their explosive energy but their genuineness, apologising several times for their bad English. With several decent bilingual songs, I can’t see why they’d feel bad, although they should probably get that steroid problem sorted.
All in all, Turbulent is an exciting, energetic storm, full of genuine emotion and skill. Although there were a few accidental comedic moments, everyone was headbanging along the full hour. Next time I’m on a plane and the pilot says there’s turbulence up ahead, I’m hoping the band flies out of the cockpit.
– Cyril Ma
