Hardcore metal band Corrupt Absolute were in town tonight which meant it was time for a metal night. I'm not sure why but metal nights generally go down at Live Bar. Tonight it was Yuyintang's turn.
Just want to start by saying that's a photo of me and Yuyintang founder Zhang Hai Sheng holding the new SH Mag. The light makes it look like we both have black eyes but we weren't slugging it out earlier.
So, aside from Corrupt Absolute, the rest of the line up was as follows:
Great turnout for a Thursday and loads of metal people in the house. Great to see Yuyintang's high turnouts just keep going and going. My wife had arranged to say hi to Levi Wang from Mortal Fools and we ended up bumping into a bunch of people including members of Rogue Transmission, Pinkberry and the MOFOs themselves. Without delay, Wu Jiao Xing took the stage and got going.
Wu Jiao Xing are a nu-metal band who rap their way through the verses and grind their way through the choruses. When I last saw them a few months back, they had their one famous song that got everyone going and the rest seemed to be just average. This time they had several standout tracks with good arrangements and hooks. The crowd of metal fans were up for it but as the first of four bands their sound wasn't quite up to the challenge. These guys have improved a lot and you can check out the video on the channel.
There was a bizarre moment in the break. I was hanging out near the door and was vaguely aware of some kind of commotion outside. Next thing I know there's the sound of a bottle smashing against the door and I look round to see the girl doing tickets holding the door shut. It turns out there was, and i'm serious about this and not mocking, a homeless schizophrenic guy out front in the middle of an episode. Anyway, at the height of it all he broke the bottle against the doors then hit the doors again, but with a running headbutt and then tried chewing some of the glass. The sad thing is there's no official help available.
Distraction over and Chaos Mind took the stage and played a crowd pleasing set of their own brand of metal. They kept it short but finished on their popular track "Amanda" which I got footage of too. That's a good quality vid from closer in than usual, watch it all the way as it has a protracted intro with darkness and other such stuff. Next up was Loudspeaker who have been around for years and used to be skate-punk. I was a bit perplexed at their inclusion in the metal bill but everyone I asked assured me that their newer material was more hardcore. It was. After a couple of solid openers they riped into the signature track "Loudspeaker" and the audience got to moshing.
Interesting end note. I saw the Rock SH people coming in, including monopod guy. After getting a positive ID on Douban I left a message about the relentless view blocking. After a ... err ... heated exchange about the Subs show he stayed completely to the sides this time. Could be coincidence though.
Busy day today. I just got back from an afternoon show and then it's Hedgehog later on back at the same venue. Including last night, by midnight, I'll have seen nine bands in 24 hours. Just like my own private festival.
