Live Review from Underground 63:
Having Violent Jokes on stage while the crowd was mostly affected by alcohol seems to be the right mixture blending it all at the Cavern! And yes, I was one of them… affected by alcohol…!
Violent Jokes is “visual”. Without saying a word, just standing on the stage… two blokes with a sexy singer didn’t seem to blend at first sight… but as soon as the music begins, its music took on the role along with seductive moves of its lead vocalist, Shadow. Try covering your ears, and just looking at all the visuals on stage… believe me, you’d still hear the music with your eyes!
It’s trip-hop music with heavily sampled electro beats grooving along with extremely tight bass driving the whole set in a progressive way. Warm synth, distorted guitars, and heavenly sexy vocal taking turns to shine and leading the emotions and atmosphere. You can see smoke even without the smoke machine… you’d suddenly felt like a feather floating around the stage despite the fact that you probably just ate more than your diet allowed before coming to the Cavern… and yes, some of you probably have hallucinations too (*grin*, to a few of you talking to me during the set!)… I’d called that the “VJ Syndrome”!
I have no complaint, but the set seems too short. I thought it would continue throughout the night! It’s even better if they could have a Live DJ taking care of the beats mixing! There would be much more room for imaginations I’m sure!
Heard that they are going to tour around HK, China, and other places too! Wishing them a successful tour! (Bring me along! I’d learn to be a good DJ!)
marcus@AirTub
Live Review from Underground 49:
Violent Jokes are altogether a different kettle of fish. Indeed, so different that they might not have been fish at all. Two tall white blokes and a singer with a stripey dress and a great haircut (or wig), for starters.
Their first number paired warm electric piano with subdued, grungy guitars over tight bass and very carefully programmed drums. The sound was polished and precise, and satisfyingly tight in comparison to your everyday guitar band. Then singer Shadow Kim started to sing and took the whole thing up a level of class. If not dumbstruck, the now-packed Underground was rendered pleasantly surprised.
An excellent set progressed to reveal new dimensions with each song of the three-piece’s repertoire. Simon Griffin’s bass became tighter and funkier, synth and sampler noises more interesting and Shadow displaying a voice of real quality, capable of variations in volume and tone that were completely in harmony with the less-than-obvious backing, courtesy of Griffin and guitar and synth player Claudio Canzonetta. She showed she knows how to hold a room too, giving then withholding eye contact and arms doing all manner of snakelike extensions.
While the Cavern is a great venue for live music, Shadow has me wishing the ceiling was a bit lower, the atmosphere a bit more smoky, and myself much closer to the stage. A siren indeed. The third song SUN: Suckers at United Nations upped the intensity another notch, to the extent that a slightly silly snippet of sampled speech at the end almost worked. I’ll bet every English-speaking member of the crowd remembers the line “addicted to petroleum.”
By song four, a second technical hitch of the set (mercifully quicker than the first) simply added a moment of teasing suspense until the band selected the right drum loop, and the bass player set a thumping tempo. I couldn’t believe no-one was dancing. Ending the performance was the charmingly titled Me as a Wolf With Dolby Surround, was another finely crafted and perfectly paced, cosmopolitan dance number, bringing to mind strangely dressed eighties people in a dimly-lit Munich basement. I can’t think of a higher compliment than that.
Paul M.
“Come and see, Velvet in a saucepan.
Here you touch, smooth as a girlfriend”
Me as a WOlf with DOlby Surround – Violent Jokes