Live review from Underground Rocks 2019
1. Alive Again
2. Chosen One
3. Leave Me Where You Found Me
4. Riptide
5. Painting Colours
6. Asia Rocks
7. I Gotta Feeling (cover)
樂隊眾人年紀偏高，甚至有不少白頭髮和皺紋，卻是現場演出之中最具活力、最幽默有趣、最享受、最大汗淋漓的一隊。歌曲風格就如不斷搞GAG的他們一樣活躍有趣，帶有微微美國民謠風，又有INDIE味，在複雜難形容的曲風之中，更是聽出The Grateful Dead的影子。旋律不斷彈跳間，令人覺得好似到了火星開Party一樣搞笑好玩。惟最尾的翻唱歌I Gotta Feeling (cover)嘗試重新編曲，主唱不太能掌握lay back精粹，變得像不跟拍子亂唱，令人難以投入。
– 傑仔
“Be gentle with Uranus,” Chris B joked to this reviewer before the band took to the stage. The excitement in the air was palpable as the crowd pressed in, eager to see what Hong Kong’s “third best band in 2009” had been up to in the intervening decade. Happily, the band brought a very fluid performance that didn’t feel too tight…
With their joke name and ironic 80s get-up, Uranus seemed like a spoof band but they were actually solid. They passed around a large bottle of vodka on stage, which gave the performance a progressively unhinged edge. Bursting out of the gate with a fast and heavy rock number, Alive Again, the band made use of a groovy wah-wah solo and had a distinct flavour of INXS about them. Drummer Dom Lau was particularly strong; his brisk beat carried some of the band’s more haywire shenanigans and held the show together.
Less kind reviewers may dismiss the band as dad-rock, but it did at least sound like Uranus had put the practice in. They came across as a tight and energetic unit, led by the charismatic frontman William Pfeiffer. Like Eddie Vedder-meets-Layne Staley, his booming and gritty vocals were perfect for the band’s classic rock sound, especially on Chosen One, an impassioned song dedicated to his sons.
Painting Colours had a kind of drawn-out, rhythmic, slightly psychedelic feel that echoed Primal Scream, while Asia Rocks smacked of ZZ Top in its driving guitar revs. (In fact, one punter air guitared so hard he fell backwards on the floor.) It was going pretty well until the band decided to whip the Black Eyed Peas’ generic earworm I Gotta Feeling out of their bag of tricks to close. It was pretty terrible – the vocals fell out of pace with the tempo badly – but nevertheless was a cacophonous sign-off from a fun and entertaining band who don’t take themselves too seriously.
– El Jay
Message from Uranus about CD3 Release Party A:
Before The Underground, Uranus was purely several great mates jamming and enjoying the vibe from good music. Global Battle Of the Bands came along and, with a couple of original songs under the belt, the notion of playing live went from being a joke to a challenge. Uranus was born. In our first ever live gig we finished in the top three. As a result, the Underground invited us to perform live at California a month later and suddenly there were calls for us to perform all over town. If it wasn’t for Chris B and her dedication to live music, Uranus would be just another rock fantasy in the minds of 5 busy individuals. But through your support you’ve created a band hungry for more live performances, more groupie adoration, more crowd applause, more Underground appearances, platinum record deals, world tours. Being asked to perform on CD3 is an absolute honour. The experience of recording in a studio for Underground CD3 and then hearing those songs on the radio is very special. Chris B and the Underground is as much a part of Uranus as the musicians William, Dom, Jasper, Ed and myself. Rock On Underground.
Craig Leeson
The Underground provides Uranus with a much needed mode of creative expression and exposure.
New fresh music and great parties — thank you for making it happen. Hong Kong is a better place because of The Underground!
Chris, your passion and energy are an inspiration to Uranus. As you could see from our performance at the launch party, Uranus loves playing for The Underground.
Uranus loves you!
William
We had a cosmic blast! Thankfully it was only Dom who took his shirt off and the stage was high and wide enough for William to bring out his “A” stage performance. Ed & Craig’s guitars ripped through a heaving Lan Kwai Fong and I was even spotted smiling at one stage. It was that good.
The Cavern lived up to it’s reputation of having one of the best live set ups in HK making the sounds of Uranus sound even better.
Jasper
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Live Review from Underground 80:
Uranus has another following. Now I must point out The Sleeves didn’t leave U80 with their fans, some of the members stuck around and danced to the other bands, I assume that meant some of their fans/friends stuck around, too. But clearly, fans were all very respectful. At the arrival of each band, the front of the stage would be given way to new faces. And packed it would be. The respective fans would be cheering on, and interacting with their favourite band. Back to business — Uranus; a friend and I determined that the name was a joke “your …”. And they were also fronted by a sexy man as with all the other bands that night (yes, that included you, too, Josh). William Pfeiffer, the vocalist, has the good look of a mature rock star, and he packed a determined kick that reminded us of The Who’s Roger Daltrey. In fact, the music style itself was relatively retro in the 70’s and 80’s region. They were not afraid to admit that they would incorporate some (note: some, not one) cover tunes to play with the audience’s good old memory. My pal next to me was astonished by the shear quantity of guitars put on an indie stage. There were a total of five! Clearly, these are serious music loving rockers. They moved you with something that sound familiar (they own tune as well as cover tunes), Pfeiffer impressed you with familiar kicks and the rock stance, obvious his own tribute, and by the end of the set, the drummer was playing bass, the guitarist was playing drums, and they’ve used all five guitars! Music must be the most enjoyable thing for them, and it’s infectious! Bravo.
Bun Ng
