I went to their gig in HK last week -- I mean that of the Drums. And it’s probably the worst gig I had been to.
Well, partly because of the outrageous high ticket prices, I haven’t been to many gigs in recent years. (Actually few were really good enough to make me want to spend a fortune.) But I can’t remember a worse gig, of local or foreign bands, than theirs. Even when many weren’t really my cup of tea, they mostly played their music decently well. But what a nightmare of sound the Drums had to offer me, on that night when the weather is calm.
Frankly, I don’t really know much about the Drums. I don’t own their records, but only heard them on YouTube. Though they didn’t sound as great as the critics said, just as many other overrated ones, I thought their songs were quite good and probably it’s worth seeing them live. At HKD360, the ticket price was high but at least slightly lower than others.
They were supported by a local band called the Yours, which was mediocre enough. Still, I thought the Drums played even worse than the Yours. At least the latter managed to play some decent guitar riffs and one song nearing the end was fine.
And even these drums could make me wait for an hour and a half? Ridiculous! They didn’t deserve it. My time is precious, at least in front of those drums.
So after such a painfully long wait, I was only rewarded with a crappy jumbo of noise, amid some madly happy audience, who perhaps heard the music with their body and their mouth instead of their ears.
Song after song, the noise only repeated itself. The guitars drowned in a smog of noise. The vocal was thin and dull, diluting the melody lines and reducing every song into some repetitive whining and shouting. Simply said, every song sounded mediocre and boring. If their songs weren’t that great, I thought they could at least play some pleasant and catchy tunes on stage. However lively the atmosphere seemed to be, it just ended up like a mess.
It’s an eerie night for me, as if I had an awful trip into a strange world of an unknown people. How come the audience were so excited? Didn’t any of them find the sound horrible? Then, I even worried if I had some hearing problems. But after leaving the venue (a bit early, the encore only meant the noise encore une fois), I found my hearing OK. Then, what’s wrong with the audience? Either they were very undemanding, or they were simply great…fans, come rain or shine. They could only choose to Like anyway, and so must act as liking puppets jumping to the rhythm of those drums.
Surely the concert left me dissatisfied and perplexed. I have wasted my time and money for this?! Shouldn’t I have saved it for a football match instead? At least it would be more entertaining! And you don’t have to pretend to be cool!
Besides, what a dumb name for a band, the Drums! The Others, the Music, the Dears…,the what? There are loads of stupid band names around these days. How can you expect much from their music when they couldn’t even make up a more creative or meaningful name? The drums with a capital letter D? Pas encore.
Friday, 3 June 2011
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Hey chatterers, Syd Matters matter!
C’est le French May again. It’s a bit disappointing that there’s no mini-festival-like band show like last year. It was fun, though I was not really fond of any of the bands on the bill. The best memory was probably going out to have snacks during the 3 intermissions. And the best thing about the whole thing is the reasonable ticket price!
The concert ticket prices in recent years are outrageously high. It’s not for the poor anymore. HKD480, 580, 680…? Business and greed is in the air. The number 80 easily betrays the intention of the dealers. To me few performers really worth that much. (Speaking of the number 8, it is everywhere in HK. It just shows how money and fortune still weigh heavy on people’s mindset. Don’t blame people being too mercenary here. They are bombarded with these the twisted 8 everywhere.)
Thank God, at least the ticket price for the Syd Matters concert had nothing to do with that lucky number 8. Though there were only two bands on the bill in the show at the Grappa’s Cellars, Syd Matters’ music and performance was better than the bunch of last year’s French May band show, there the Teenagers were the headliner. (The Teenagers had their charm. But after a few songs, it felt flat. Didn’t those melody lines sound blatantly familiar? We had already heard of them in the Eighties. The ever-high energy level of songs and the repetitive strong rhythm were only numbing. Still the audience easily got high. I wondered if they hadn’t seen better things in their lives, and so were easily satisfied by some second-rate or third-rate stuffs.)
First came the one-man band Chapelier Fou. I didn’t know about this musician. After watching his clips briefly on YouTube, I thought this guy played music that sounded cute, which I likely like. But I was wrong. This guy was quirky, really a bit of a fou. He’s the skinny type that dressed in an all-black loose-fit attire (and with a black cap) with gestures and looks that reminded me more of the late Cantonese-Opera guru 新馬師曾than a jeune homme francais. With an electric guitar, a violin, a computer, a keyboard, and some unknown electronic gadgets, his hectic-eclectic multitasking performance seemed as virtual as it is real. He played the violin with an overly-exalted expression like he’s having sex with it. He played his gadgets with some computerized preset robotic gesture that seemed like he’s thunderstruck. He is simply too busy playing with his multiple instruments. The sight of his playing the violin while carrying a guitar was reminiscent of a circus act. Isn’t it a bit tiring? Relax! It’s like when I was cooking at the kitchen. That said, his music wasn’t bad. It just had nothing to do with my cutie-toy-music imagination. Rather, it looked and sounded a bit like bands like the Orb in the nineties (though I haven’t really listened to the Orb and the likes). With hi-energy and looping and overlapping of sounds, it could resemble disco and clubbing, with artistic pretense at times. Not my cup of tea, but at least a song nearing the end was powerful and well-blended. And surely the audience seemed well-pleased. Could people not get high these days? Especially when you have paid so much for a concert, it’s better to feel good about it. Worth it, that’s Positive!
Syd Matters reminded me what a good indie gig was like. They were hardly inhibited by the tiny stage, which instead condensed their powerful performance. Unlike the ubiquitous ever high-energy bands of nowadays that embraced by many but bored me, they were good at contrasting softness and strength, and were patient at building up tension in their songs. Nuance matters! Added to the usual rock band instruments set of drums-keyboard-guitars was the second drum, which did build up the tension impressively. The band played and jammed their instruments well and could vary their soundscapes without the aid of computer or some strange gadgets. The vocal is folksy and warm. If the melody lines were more varied and interesting then it would be even better.
Unfortunately there were some social so and so’s chatting too loudly while they performed. It’s the first time I went to Grappa’s Cellars to see a gig (and so I have missed the likes of Andrew Bird…). I am not sure if it’s the normal atmosphere of the venue, and at times I wished I could have kicked them out. Syd Matters did come back for an encore, but just for one song. The singer had hissed at the noise at one point and I suspected if it had not been for the chatting noise, we could have been rewarded with one or two more songs. And there’s another bunch who would blatantly take photo of themselves in front of the band, as if they were tourists in front of a sight. Blame it on some fb symptoms.
(Having not been to music festivals for ages, I remember seeing footages of audience waving their national flags high at the music fests a few years ago. It’s not the Olympics, stupid! And it blocked the view of the stage. That’s how the audience behaves now? It’s more about having fun and embracing themselves, rather then embracing the music.)
The concert ticket prices in recent years are outrageously high. It’s not for the poor anymore. HKD480, 580, 680…? Business and greed is in the air. The number 80 easily betrays the intention of the dealers. To me few performers really worth that much. (Speaking of the number 8, it is everywhere in HK. It just shows how money and fortune still weigh heavy on people’s mindset. Don’t blame people being too mercenary here. They are bombarded with these the twisted 8 everywhere.)
Thank God, at least the ticket price for the Syd Matters concert had nothing to do with that lucky number 8. Though there were only two bands on the bill in the show at the Grappa’s Cellars, Syd Matters’ music and performance was better than the bunch of last year’s French May band show, there the Teenagers were the headliner. (The Teenagers had their charm. But after a few songs, it felt flat. Didn’t those melody lines sound blatantly familiar? We had already heard of them in the Eighties. The ever-high energy level of songs and the repetitive strong rhythm were only numbing. Still the audience easily got high. I wondered if they hadn’t seen better things in their lives, and so were easily satisfied by some second-rate or third-rate stuffs.)
First came the one-man band Chapelier Fou. I didn’t know about this musician. After watching his clips briefly on YouTube, I thought this guy played music that sounded cute, which I likely like. But I was wrong. This guy was quirky, really a bit of a fou. He’s the skinny type that dressed in an all-black loose-fit attire (and with a black cap) with gestures and looks that reminded me more of the late Cantonese-Opera guru 新馬師曾than a jeune homme francais. With an electric guitar, a violin, a computer, a keyboard, and some unknown electronic gadgets, his hectic-eclectic multitasking performance seemed as virtual as it is real. He played the violin with an overly-exalted expression like he’s having sex with it. He played his gadgets with some computerized preset robotic gesture that seemed like he’s thunderstruck. He is simply too busy playing with his multiple instruments. The sight of his playing the violin while carrying a guitar was reminiscent of a circus act. Isn’t it a bit tiring? Relax! It’s like when I was cooking at the kitchen. That said, his music wasn’t bad. It just had nothing to do with my cutie-toy-music imagination. Rather, it looked and sounded a bit like bands like the Orb in the nineties (though I haven’t really listened to the Orb and the likes). With hi-energy and looping and overlapping of sounds, it could resemble disco and clubbing, with artistic pretense at times. Not my cup of tea, but at least a song nearing the end was powerful and well-blended. And surely the audience seemed well-pleased. Could people not get high these days? Especially when you have paid so much for a concert, it’s better to feel good about it. Worth it, that’s Positive!
Syd Matters reminded me what a good indie gig was like. They were hardly inhibited by the tiny stage, which instead condensed their powerful performance. Unlike the ubiquitous ever high-energy bands of nowadays that embraced by many but bored me, they were good at contrasting softness and strength, and were patient at building up tension in their songs. Nuance matters! Added to the usual rock band instruments set of drums-keyboard-guitars was the second drum, which did build up the tension impressively. The band played and jammed their instruments well and could vary their soundscapes without the aid of computer or some strange gadgets. The vocal is folksy and warm. If the melody lines were more varied and interesting then it would be even better.
Unfortunately there were some social so and so’s chatting too loudly while they performed. It’s the first time I went to Grappa’s Cellars to see a gig (and so I have missed the likes of Andrew Bird…). I am not sure if it’s the normal atmosphere of the venue, and at times I wished I could have kicked them out. Syd Matters did come back for an encore, but just for one song. The singer had hissed at the noise at one point and I suspected if it had not been for the chatting noise, we could have been rewarded with one or two more songs. And there’s another bunch who would blatantly take photo of themselves in front of the band, as if they were tourists in front of a sight. Blame it on some fb symptoms.
(Having not been to music festivals for ages, I remember seeing footages of audience waving their national flags high at the music fests a few years ago. It’s not the Olympics, stupid! And it blocked the view of the stage. That’s how the audience behaves now? It’s more about having fun and embracing themselves, rather then embracing the music.)
Monday, 21 March 2011
Marianne Faithfull, back to the vale of tears
Following the night with Elvis Costello, came another musical icon, Marianne Faithfull, to the same stage at the Cultural Centre.
Again, I don’t really know much about her music, though I have admired her for a long time since I listened to her album “Broken English” (eh, I probably just borrowed it from the library), easily charmed by her unique ‘broken’ voice. Only when YouTube was available that I got to see the footage of her singing when she was young and beautiful.
On stage now, her voice was simply powerful. With such a coarse voice of her, and her occasional coughing, I rather worried if she would lose her voice in the middle of the concert. Yet she managed to carry on (and enjoyed herself as she said) for more than 90 minutes.
The sound was not well balanced though. The drums were often too loud. The bass and the keyboard-piano-accordion-oboe-saxophone were not loud enough. The latter was played by the multi-talented Kate St-John. What a pleasant surprise! Yet often I could hardly hear Kate’s playing, and even the strong voice of the Marianne Faithfull was at times muffled by the loud drums.
But what really mattered was to hear the voice of Marianne Faithfull. It didn’t really matter that she was now fatter and didn’t seem more flattering than the average auntie-next-door. (Perhaps except her faces, which I could not really see at a 3xx dollar ‘cheap’ seat, and also her blond hair, which reminded me of her hairstyle when she’s young).
And she rocked. My false impression of her ‘Broken English” was more mellow and soulful than rock. But the concert was more rock than anything else. Indeed, I don’t remember when I last saw a female singer as rock as her. And a grandma as she was! The venue just seemed a bit too inhibitive for her sound. (And sadly there were many empty seats. Where have all the faithful gone?)
Only then did I learn that she had co-written many songs with Nick Cave. I dreamt to see the two singing on stage together.
Honestly I was only familiar with the song “As Tears Go By”, which I actually used to consider a Rolling Stones song (and one of the few that I really like of them). The song was beautifully played. The tone had suddenly changed from rock to folk. And finally Ms. St-John’s heavenly oboe really came out well here. I dreamt to hear Marianne and Kate sing this song together, as the latter vaguely reminded me of the younger Marianne.
Who were those sitting at the 800 dollars seat? They didn’t even bother to stand up and salute Marianne Faithful at the end. (My hatred of the rich now! Wish I were in their seats.)
There was only an encore. I thought there might be two, like Elvis Costello did. But I really shouldn’t ask for more.
Again, I don’t really know much about her music, though I have admired her for a long time since I listened to her album “Broken English” (eh, I probably just borrowed it from the library), easily charmed by her unique ‘broken’ voice. Only when YouTube was available that I got to see the footage of her singing when she was young and beautiful.
On stage now, her voice was simply powerful. With such a coarse voice of her, and her occasional coughing, I rather worried if she would lose her voice in the middle of the concert. Yet she managed to carry on (and enjoyed herself as she said) for more than 90 minutes.
The sound was not well balanced though. The drums were often too loud. The bass and the keyboard-piano-accordion-oboe-saxophone were not loud enough. The latter was played by the multi-talented Kate St-John. What a pleasant surprise! Yet often I could hardly hear Kate’s playing, and even the strong voice of the Marianne Faithfull was at times muffled by the loud drums.
But what really mattered was to hear the voice of Marianne Faithfull. It didn’t really matter that she was now fatter and didn’t seem more flattering than the average auntie-next-door. (Perhaps except her faces, which I could not really see at a 3xx dollar ‘cheap’ seat, and also her blond hair, which reminded me of her hairstyle when she’s young).
And she rocked. My false impression of her ‘Broken English” was more mellow and soulful than rock. But the concert was more rock than anything else. Indeed, I don’t remember when I last saw a female singer as rock as her. And a grandma as she was! The venue just seemed a bit too inhibitive for her sound. (And sadly there were many empty seats. Where have all the faithful gone?)
Only then did I learn that she had co-written many songs with Nick Cave. I dreamt to see the two singing on stage together.
Honestly I was only familiar with the song “As Tears Go By”, which I actually used to consider a Rolling Stones song (and one of the few that I really like of them). The song was beautifully played. The tone had suddenly changed from rock to folk. And finally Ms. St-John’s heavenly oboe really came out well here. I dreamt to hear Marianne and Kate sing this song together, as the latter vaguely reminded me of the younger Marianne.
Who were those sitting at the 800 dollars seat? They didn’t even bother to stand up and salute Marianne Faithful at the end. (My hatred of the rich now! Wish I were in their seats.)
There was only an encore. I thought there might be two, like Elvis Costello did. But I really shouldn’t ask for more.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Elvis Costello, raw and mellow
At least this Elvis had come to Hong Kong. (He’s here two weeks ago.)
As a small fan of him, I could only afford to sit at the side of the stage and saw mostly his right side when he sang and played the guitar. And I wondered what it’s like for those sitting at the back of the stage and almost just saw his back throughout the night.
At first the sound did not come out very well, perhaps due to my abnormal position of the seat.
Yet, just one man and many guitars, he managed to pull off a good show, ending it with two long encores, which stretched the concert to two hours long. It surprised me that he could go on singing for such a long time. Indeed he just got more energetic as the concert went on. Naturally we could not but make our standing ovation throughout the concert hall to honour this veteran musician.
I must admit I haven’t listened to his music of recent decades, and I was not really impressed by his hit “She”, nor his slow-tempo and mellow songs. Actually, I’ve only got a collection album of his, and I prefer his earlier songs. I wished he had played some of my favourites, like “Accidents will happen”, “Chelsea”, “I Hope You’re Happy Now”, “Big Sister’s Clothes”. But at least I was consoled by hearing him sing oldies like “Watching the Detectives”, “Brilliant Mistakes” and “Alison”. I don’t particularly like “Shipbuilding” on the record, but it’s one of the most moving renditions of his in the concert.
There were light-hearted moments when he unplugged the guitar and approached the audience and sang. Without the amplifier, it sounded soft and serene, like hearing the singing of a street musician at night. And when he walked around and sang looking up at us at the side of the stage, I almost felt my lover-on-the-balcony moment. He just seemed to enjoy himself much, and so he had hummed a tune or two.
While I enjoyed the show and clapped my hands sincerely, at one point I couldn’t help imagine if only it were Roddy Frame singing here on the stage. On YouTube I had seen the video of him singing solo (also with an acoustic guitar) in a concert a few years ago. He had grown older, and his rendition was mellower and graceful, rather than becoming dull and affected as many singers do when they got old.
As for Elvis Costello, he still sounded so young when he played his old rock tunes. Not to mention the surprising ‘avant-garde’ moment when he sang in the dark and the audience was shot a blinding light during the last encore. Well, he isn’t really old.
As a small fan of him, I could only afford to sit at the side of the stage and saw mostly his right side when he sang and played the guitar. And I wondered what it’s like for those sitting at the back of the stage and almost just saw his back throughout the night.
At first the sound did not come out very well, perhaps due to my abnormal position of the seat.
Yet, just one man and many guitars, he managed to pull off a good show, ending it with two long encores, which stretched the concert to two hours long. It surprised me that he could go on singing for such a long time. Indeed he just got more energetic as the concert went on. Naturally we could not but make our standing ovation throughout the concert hall to honour this veteran musician.
I must admit I haven’t listened to his music of recent decades, and I was not really impressed by his hit “She”, nor his slow-tempo and mellow songs. Actually, I’ve only got a collection album of his, and I prefer his earlier songs. I wished he had played some of my favourites, like “Accidents will happen”, “Chelsea”, “I Hope You’re Happy Now”, “Big Sister’s Clothes”. But at least I was consoled by hearing him sing oldies like “Watching the Detectives”, “Brilliant Mistakes” and “Alison”. I don’t particularly like “Shipbuilding” on the record, but it’s one of the most moving renditions of his in the concert.
There were light-hearted moments when he unplugged the guitar and approached the audience and sang. Without the amplifier, it sounded soft and serene, like hearing the singing of a street musician at night. And when he walked around and sang looking up at us at the side of the stage, I almost felt my lover-on-the-balcony moment. He just seemed to enjoy himself much, and so he had hummed a tune or two.
While I enjoyed the show and clapped my hands sincerely, at one point I couldn’t help imagine if only it were Roddy Frame singing here on the stage. On YouTube I had seen the video of him singing solo (also with an acoustic guitar) in a concert a few years ago. He had grown older, and his rendition was mellower and graceful, rather than becoming dull and affected as many singers do when they got old.
As for Elvis Costello, he still sounded so young when he played his old rock tunes. Not to mention the surprising ‘avant-garde’ moment when he sang in the dark and the audience was shot a blinding light during the last encore. Well, he isn’t really old.
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