You see, I wasn’t planning on going to this show, I mean, I just covered them in May! But then, The Maine had never played The Mod Club in the eight or so times they have played in Toronto, and I love The Mod Club (which has become the Virgin Mobile Mod Club, oh)! A friend later told me that the band is actually playing their new album from start to finish and there is no opening band. And I thought, “seriously?! I have to go to that!”

And so there I was.

本來沒有打算去這場騷，畢竟五月才看過他們。但The Maine在多倫多演出過八次左右都沒有來過The Mod Club，而我又非常喜歡The Mod Club（現在已成為Virgin Mobile Mod Club）！友人告訴我樂隊將會把新碟由頭到尾演出一遍，當晚亦不會有暖場樂隊。我想，“真的嗎？一定要去！”

於是我便去了。

Counting my fingers, it was my sixth time seeing The Maine. It is a great experience to witness how far a band has come in the last few years. And the main goal of the Pioneer tour is to recognize that achievement as well as the fans that have been there. The Pioneer tour was all about The Maine and the fans. Halfway through the first part of the night, where The Maine performs track-by-track from their new record Pioneer, lead singer John O’Callaghan explained their purpose for the special tour, that they have put a lot of effort into the new album and the band is really proud of it, and that it really means a lot to “know people still give a shit (about the band)”. Considering how often a band puts out a new album only to have fans saying how the older material sounds better and/or wishing the band plays more oldies at the show, The Maine certainly took a big risk with the tour. Luckily, it was well received as they played a sold out show in Toronto. The band also took some time to talk about the songs, for example, O’Callaghan said that “Jenny” was about his mother.

Fortunately for those fans who came to hear the band playing old songs, they were also satisfied because the concert was split into two halves, the first part was the performance of Pioneer and the second half was dedicated to the other songs. There was an intermission between the two sets during which the band took a break and showed the crowd a mockumentary styled retrospective video by the band, depicting how the band perceived the last few years of the band’s development. The Maine caricatured their entire existence as a band into an entertaining and heartfelt video, which the crowd enjoyed immensely. In the short video, The Maine reenacted their first photoshoot as a band, recording in the studio, and more photoshoots, “behind the scenes” of their music video shoots and signing to a major label. And of course, depicting drummer Pat Kirch’s addiction with cupcakes.

After the screening of the humorous mockumentary, the band came out on stage again. There were a lamp at each side of the stage, creating a homey atmosphere. On this part of the night, O’Callaghan said “hopefully this would be the singalong portion”. The band began with “Inside of You” and also “Everything I Ask For”, which were singles from their previous albums. The first few songs of the second set were played on acoustic guitars which separated that night from the usual concerts of The Maine. The performance of the rearranged version of “Everything I Ask For” was probably the best one I have seen out of half a dozen shows – it was fun and the fans sang along to every word. Even when O’Callaghan took a moment to say something to his guitarist Jared Monaco, the fans continued to sing on and O’Callaghan motioned to the crowd as if saying “you’ve all got it”. In addition, the band played an alternate version of “Saving Grace”. The highlight of the night was when the band played “Ho Ho Hopefully”, a song from the band’s Christmas EP released in 2008, a song which probably isn’t suitable to play at other shows not in December. The Maine ended the night with “Into Your Arms” in which O’Callaghan playfully replaces the lyrics from “she had the most amazing smile” to “the most disgusting rash”. After the band left the stage around 9:30pm, the crowd had no intention of leaving and began an encore chant. A few seconds later, a crew member came on stage and announced “it [encore] ain’t gonna happen” and told everyone to begin to line up at the merch table where they were holding a meet and greet inside the venue, and only autographs were allowed at the meet and greet in order to move the line up. I was the only few who left the venue shortly after, almost everyone stayed for the meet and greet.

Even though I hadn’t listened to Pioneer until that night, it was a delightful experience witnessing the band’s growth, culminating in one show. The sound of the new album is definitely a departure from the band’s earliest work, but consistent with the direction of their sophomore album as they take a more old school alternative rock turn instead of the typical catchy pop rock tunes. An Alternative Press review of The Maine’s new album ends with, “Out of all the bands borne out of Warped Tour Nation, we never would’ve guessed the Maine would be the ones putting out rock records this consistently unique, interesting and, well, great.” As I was listening to the new record, I honestly thought that if I hadn’t been listening to The Maine since their first album, I probably would not be into the band because the new sound is not what I usually listen to. What makes me enjoy the new record is probably having the chance to experience their musical journey, which is what would keep me going to see the band time after time. And hey, O’Callaghan announced they would be returning in Spring, guess who would be there?

本來沒有打算去這場騷，畢竟五月才看過他們。但The Maine在多倫多演出過八次左右都沒有來過The Mod Club，而我又非常喜歡The Mod Club（現在已成為Virgin Mobile Mod Club）！友人告訴我樂隊將會把新碟由頭到尾演出一遍，當晚亦不會有暖場樂隊。我想，“真的嗎？一定要去！”

於是我便去了。

數數手指，這是我第六次看The Maine。看著樂隊這幾年來的成長實在是很棒的經歷。Pioneer巡演的主要目的就是表揚他們的成果和一直以來支持他們的fans。Pioneer巡 演完全是關於The Maine和樂迷。The Maine上半場裡逐首演出了新碟Pioneer，到了一半，主音John O’Callaghan解釋他們這次特別巡演是因為樂隊在製作新碟上放了許多心血，令樂隊引以為傲，特別是知道仍然有在乎這個樂隊的人，令他很感慨。很多 時候，很多樂隊推出新碟後只會換來樂迷反映新不如舊，或者同時希望樂隊演出多些舊作。The Maine這次的確作了一個大膽的決定。幸運地，從售罄的多倫多場次可知反應非常好。樂隊也用了些時間講述歌曲，例如O’Callaghan說 “Jenny”是關於他的母親。

來聽樂隊舊作的fans亦沒有失望，因為演出是分成兩段的，上半場演出完Pioneer，下半場則獻給了 其他作品。間場時，樂隊播放了一段樂隊以偽紀錄片方 式拍攝的回顧片，從樂隊成員的角度看樂隊這幾年來的發展。The Maine在一段娛樂性豐富和衷心的錄像漫畫化了自己，觀眾非常喜歡。在短短的片子中，The Maine重演了他們樂隊第一次拍band相，錄音，MV的幕後花絮和與大型唱片公司簽約。當然也少不了鼓手Pat Kirch的cupcake癮。

搞笑的偽紀錄片播放完畢後，樂隊回到台上。台的兩邊都有一盞檯燈，營造家的氣氛。O’Callaghan表示希望這會是大合唱的環節。樂隊開以舊專輯裡的 “Inside of You”和“Everything I Ask For”開始。下半場的頭幾首歌都是用acoustic結他演出，令當晚和The Maine往常的演出很不同。重新編曲的“Everything I Ask For”應該是我看過最喜歡的版本，演出非常好玩，fans跟著唱得一字不漏。甚至當O’Callaghan停了下來和結他手Jared Monaco說了兩句時，fans亦照樣繼續，O’Callaghan作了一個手勢像要表示完全放心把節目交由他們。樂隊也演出了另一個版本的 “Saving Grace”。當晚的高潮是2008年的聖誕EP裡的“Ho Ho Hopefully”，一首在十二月以外都該難找到有合適演出機會的歌。The Maine以“Into Your Arms”結束了當晚的演出，其中O’Callaghan搞怪地把“she had the most amazing smile”改成“the most disgusting rash”。樂隊在9：30左右離開台後，fans隨即開始喊上encore。幾秒後，一位工作人員來到台上宣布encore不會發生，然後說fans可 以在紀念品攤位排隊，樂隊將會在場內meet and greet，而且只允許簽名以便縮短人龍。我算是其中少有很快便離開了的，多數人都留下來meet and greet。

雖然我在當晚之前還沒有聽過Pioneer，看著樂隊的成長綜合在一場演出還是很開心的事情。新碟的曲風確是和樂隊最早期的作品非常不同，但仍和第二張大碟 的路向一致，隨著樂隊轉向了更舊式另類搖滾而非典型上口的流行搖滾調。Alternative Press的碟評總結“在Warped Tour圈子出身的所有樂隊裡，沒有人想到會是The Maine這隊樂隊的作品一直保持獨特、有意思和有水準。” 當我聽著新碟時，不能不承認如果當初沒有從The Maine的首張大碟開始聽起，我應該不會這麼喜歡這隊樂隊，因為新曲風不是我慣常的類型。新碟令我享受之處應該是能夠經歷他們的音樂歷程，這也是我一次 又一次去欣賞樂隊演出最大的動機。O’Callaghan宣佈了他們明年春天會回到多倫多，猜猜誰會到場？

English text and photos by Jessie Lau
Translated and edited by Jaime Chu

Evanescence

Everyone probably knows at least one song from a Gothic metal band. In 2004, Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” became a radio hit, which made the band a household name and earned them two Grammy Awards. It’s been five years since their last album, the band finally returned to the stage along with a brand new self-titled album which has been in the works for the last couple of years. On a chilly and rainy Tuesday night, Evanescence performed at Toronto’s Sound Academy to a sold out crowd.

每個人應該至少認得一首哥德金屬樂曲。Evanescence的“Bring Me To Life“在二零零四年成為電台大熱，令樂隊名字變得街知巷聞，更為他們贏得兩個格林美獎項。自五年前上一張專輯後，樂隊終於推出了用了幾年時間製作、以 樂隊名字作標題的全新大碟，並且回到台上。在一個下著雨、冷冷的星期二晚上，Evanescence在多倫多的Sound Academy演出了一場爆滿的音樂會。

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Rival Sons

Openers of the tour included rock band Rival Sons and The Pretty Reckless. Californian blues rock band Rival Sons seems a odd choice for the bill, they played a half an hour set which was interesting to see considering the crowd were more prepared for some Gothic music rather than some old school rock. The band sounded great nonetheless and lead singer Jay Buchanan was the enticing subject to photograph.

The Pretty Reckless

Having seen The Pretty Reckless on Vans Warped Tour 2009, where photographers were not permitted in the photo pit,  I was pleasantly surprised to find out we were allowed to photograph the performance. The 18-year-old Taylor Momsen fronts the alternative rock band; she was the last one to join the stage in her signature risque stage outfits: a tight white studded dress, garter stockings and  a pair of knee high buckled platform boots. (Incidentally, that was the same outfit when I last photographed her!) As enticing her performance could be, it got boring after awhile as she didn’t do anything else other than risque dance moves. However, despite constantly tiptoeing the fine line between a stripper and a singer, it’s undeniable that she has some powerful vocals. In addition to “Zombie”, ‘Goin’ Down”, “My Medicine”, “Just Tonight”, “Makes Me Wanna Die” and “Factory Girl”, the band covered Audioslave’s “Like A Stone”. Halfway through the set, Momsen asked the crowd “how many of you guys are drinking?”. After a show of hands, the 18 year old Momsen said, “really? I thought there would be more of you!” With her sexually charged performances and rock star attitude, Momsen indeed is not your average 18 year old at all. Rock on, girl!

Before Evanescence took the stage, there was a scattered chant going on that called for the lead vocalist’s name “Amy Lee” (overhead: “Isn’t it funny how people are screaming for ‘Amy Lee’ not ‘Evanescence’?”). It was really exciting to see the backdrop with the gigantic Evanescence logo that also changes into other graphics, the backdrop was gloriously illuminated by changing lights. Drummer Will Hunt began the intro with a drum solo and the rest of the band slowly joined in for “What You Want”, the first single from the new release. After the song, Lee talked about how the album is currently #1 in the US and #2 in Canada, how excited they are about the new album and that they will be playing a lot of the new songs. Lee, also a classically trained pianist, also played the keyboard and the Baldwin piano on a raised platform in front of the stage. Even though I haven’t listened to the band’s new material until then, I thoroughlyenjoyed every moment because the band simply sounds great. Lee’s high pitched vocals are dark, mysterious and beautiful. It’s an incredible experience watching the band live because it’s really hard not to completely immerse oneself in the impressive atmosphere. Admittedly, it was rather disappointing to hear “Bring Me To Life” live because it lacks the male vocals as in the album version, but fans took it upon themselves to scream the parts back. After ending with “Bring Me To Life”, the band returned for an encore and ended with the piano ballad “My Immortal”, another singalong favorite.

—–

Rival Sons

為巡演暖場的嘉賓有搖滾樂隊Rival Sons和The Pretty Reckless。玩加州藍調搖滾的Rival Sons最初看似和當晚的節目格格不入。在他們演出的半個小時過程中發覺觀眾的反應很有意思，因為他們大多數都作了心理準備聽哥德金屬而非老派搖滾。儘管如此，樂隊的演出仍然很有水準，主音Jay Buchanan更不時吸引著鏡頭。

在零九年的Vans Warped Tour看The Pretty Reckless時，攝影師們還沒有許可踏足photo pit， 這次能獲得批准攝影令我驚喜不已。這對另類搖滾樂隊由十八歲的Taylor Momsen領軍；最後一位上台的她穿著向來令人易有遐想的招牌服裝 — 緊身白色窩釘裙，襪帶吊住的絲襪和長及膝蓋的有扣平台靴。（意外地，她當晚的服裝正是的上一次拍攝她的時候）的雖然她的演出非常吸引，但長期同樣的舞姿很快便令人生厭。儘管她經常遊走於脫衣舞孃和歌手兩個身份之間的鋼線上，無可否認她有一把非常有力的聲線。除了“Zombie”，“Goin’ Down”，“My Medicine”，“Just Tonight”，“Makes Me Wanna Die”和“Factory Girl”之外，樂隊亦翻唱了Audioslave的“Like A Stone”。演出半路，Momsen問觀眾他們當中有多少人正在喝酒。Momse似乎很驚訝舉手的人比預期中少。帶來了挑撥性極高的演出和一貫搖滾明 星的態度，Momsen的確不是一般的十八歲女生。

Evanescence 現身以前，觀眾席上聽見零星的喊聲，都是叫著主音Amy Lee的名字。（無意中聽到：”你不覺的人們喊著“Amy Lee”而非“Evanescence”很有趣嗎？）在不斷變換的燈光下，佈景上的巨型“Evanescence”標誌不時轉換成各種圖像，看得令人雀躍。鼓手Will Hunt率先以一段獨奏開頭，然後餘下的隊友慢慢加入彈起新碟裡第一首單曲“What You Want”。演畢這首歌後，Lee說起大碟正在美國流行榜高居首位，在加拿大則是第二，他們對於新碟非常興奮而且將會演出很多新歌。古典音樂出身的Lee 負責彈奏電子琴和在台前升起了的平台上的Baldwin鋼琴。雖然在此之前並沒有聽過樂隊的新作，我徹底地享受了每一時刻因為樂隊真的很棒。Lee的高音 黑暗、神祕、而且美麗。看他們的現場演出是個非常一流的經歷，因為實在很難不投入在這遍令人深刻的氣氛當中。雖然，說實話，沒有了大碟裡的男聲的 “Bring Me To Life”是有點失望，fans們也不顧得那麼多自己把那些部份大叫了出來。“Bring Me To Life”完場之後，樂隊在encore裡演出了另一首大合唱的鋼琴民謠”My Immortal”。

English text and photos by Jessie Lau
Translated and edited by Jaime Chu

Photo from band's Facebook page

It was a Saturday night when my friends down the dormitory corridor discovered that their favourite band was going to play in town. Out of curiosity, I wanted a taste of the music scene here and joined in purchasing a ticket. The Irish band is called And So I Watch You From Afar (ASIWYFA. I know, not the best acronym around) and I liked the poetic portrayal the name gave. Little did I know I was in for a night of awesome instrumental rock.

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香港(最)著名的獨立樂隊MY LITTLE AIRPORT (MLA)在八月二十六到二十七日兩天內在香港牛頭角Hidden Agenda場地舉辦了<香港是個大商場>演唱會。沒有聽過他們的讀者，如果我加上一句：「連蘇格蘭的獨立音樂組合BMX Bandits也翻唱過他們的一首歌」，希望你會感興趣。同場發售與音樂會同名的全新專輯以及紀念品（如：「I love the country not the party」、「Happy music makes me sad」標語T-恤和iPhone保護套）。 筆者在看27號晚場的時候忽然想到， 其實這樣的銷售加上門票，也使演唱會變成小型商場了吧。

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The shows were held in a small, repurposed venue inside an old industrial building in Ngau Tau Kok. For the live occasion, Nicole (vocal) and Ah P (guitar) invited Yin (bass guitar) and Foh (drums) from the local indie band 22cats to join the band. Also on the stage were Nicols’s sister and friend as back-up vocals.

Without the delay of opening bands, the band launched into AMK’s “Gap” (“隔閡”), followed by the all-time-favourite “Let Me Take Plane that will Explode” (“讓我搭一班會爆炸的飛機”). Next, MLA’s poet laureate Suet came on stage to recite some poems in French to accompany two songs from the new album. I was slightly puzzled by how her spoken French didn’t seem to have improved much from their initial collaboration to the extent that even a non-speaker like me could tell the Hong Kong accent. Then again, I suppose it matched MLA’s style in its special way.

The highlight of the night was definitely a cover of “Batman of Love” (“愛情蝙蝠俠”) by Kwok Siu Lam (Alvin Kwok), a Hong Kong singer in the 80s. Even though the news of them doing this cover was on Facebook the night before, and a teenager such as myself had never even heard of Kwok, I, too, immediately joined the crowd in waving and jumping. In fact, the retro, slightly campy melody and beats, coupled with the over-confident lyrics (“My brand-new service: removing your tears”) (“服務夠新 專脫淚痕”) reminded me much of earlier Canto dance music, for instance Leslie Cheung’s “What’s On The Girl’s Mind’ (“少女心事”, 張國榮). The fans certainly enjoyed the song along with the guest singer’s crazy dance carrying a loudspeaker. Another personal favourite was a cover next on the run-down: “I Still Remember” by Teresa Carpio and George Lam (“仍然記得嗰一次”, 杜麗莎/林子祥). Nicole applied her well-paced reciting like that in “Mei Fu Gainsbourg and Pak Tin Birkin” (美孚根斯堡與白田珍寶金) to some of the lyrics. This and the common themes of crush, heartbreaks and lovelornness in their own works made the cover, in a word, fantastic.

MLA does not confine themselves to bedroom production. Works like “Who Invented Work” (“邊一個發明了返工”) and “donald tsang please die” reached a greater public on the Internet. That night, Nicole introduced the song “Wet Wet Dreams” (“濕濕的夢”) from their last album by saying Ah P recently changed its name to “Uncle Can’t Handle It Anymore” (“叔叔不行了”). Those who are familiar with Hong Kong’s Internet culture would identify the slang of the online forum “Golden”. The tongue-in-cheek, humourously suggestive but not raunchy style of the song was best expressed when Ah P extended a finger at Nicole at the line “Every night I need to touch you gently” (“每晚 也要與你輕輕相碰”). Ah P played both electric and acoustic guitar at ease thoughout the night. When Nicole teased him when he made mistakes, he claimed he was in fact hiding his talent and went on to show off some awesome skills as a boastful redemption.

Nicole and Ah P seldom hesitate to interact with fans. At the band’s last show “Romantic Kowloon Tong” (“浪漫九龍塘”) at Shouson Theatre, they shared a crate of beer with the audience in the stalls. The crowd had missed Nicole, who moved to Beijing, and she was happy to tell us about her recent self, such as in the introduction to “my little st. valentine’s day”, she told the audience as if telling a secret, “This should be the last time I sing this song.” And when Ah P performed his short new song “How Can You Fall In Love with a Guy Who Has Never Heard of Gainsbourg”, Nicole casually walked off stage into the crowd while lighting up a cigarette. (The song, according to Ah P, was inspired by a real life event, so I guess art does imitate life.) The crowd always responded enthusiastically to Ah P’s words, such as his original idea of producing a t-shirt with the slogan ‘All the Pretty Girls Are Mad’.

At the end of the one-and-a-half-hour or so, Nicole chose to wrap up with “Kowloon Park Swimming Pool” (“九龍公園游泳池”), saying it was this song that led her back to Hong Kong. The encore would not have been asked for so passionately was it not for the foreign guy standing next to me on stage right who stomped the stage and yelled. (The guy was there with his girlfriend, and was really into the jumping and clapping. Almost as passionate as myself.) The full band returned to the stage and sang two songs from previous albums, as well as, who could resist cheering – ‘Batman of Love’ (愛情蝙蝠俠).

MLA will continue their tour in various Chinese cities in the coming months.

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是次演唱會在牛頭角的工業大廈內的小型場地舉行。為配合現場演出，主音Nicole和結他阿P兩人請來了22cats的阿賢(低音結他)和阿科(鼓)幫忙。另外，Nicole的妹妹和朋友也擔任了和音。

開場沒有暖場嘉賓，首先是清唱了一段AMK的<隔閡>，緊接大熱<讓我搭一班會爆炸的飛機>。然後演唱兩首新專輯上的歌時有MLA的御用詩人阿雪上台唸法文詩。我感到奇怪的地方是，他們合作已好幾年可是坦白說，阿雪的法文連不懂法文如我都聽得出是不標準的。話說回來可能是有心配合MLA風格的。

最能掀起全場高潮的一部分莫過於翻唱八十年代歌手郭小霖的<愛情蝙蝠俠>。雖然早一晚在facebook上已披露了，而筆者是一個連郭氏是誰也不認識的年輕人，也隨著其他樂迷舉手跳動。比較懷舊、帶點「娘」味的曲調和過份自信的歌詞（「服務夠新 專脫淚痕」）其實讓聽慣了張國榮的<少女心事>等舞曲的我非常容易投入。加上拿著大聲公和唱的嘉賓的瘋狂舞蹈，讓樂迷看得非常愉快。個人最愛還有下一首翻唱杜麗莎/林子祥的<仍然記得嗰一次>，Nicole沿用在<美孚根斯堡與白田珍寶金>裏不徐不疾的語速朗讀部分歌詞，而內容其實和MLA本身有關暗戀、失戀和想念的歌詞主題互相呼應，別有一番風味。

MLA並不是不食人間煙火的睡房製作，之前的<邊一個發明了返工>和<donald tsang，please die>都走出了睡房、廣為網民轉發。演唱會這晚，Nicole在介紹上一張大碟內的＜濕濕的夢＞時，笑稱阿P最近把它改名為＜叔叔不行了＞，熟悉香港網上文化的讀者可能會知道這是高登討論區的用語。阿P演唱到「每晚 也要與你輕輕相碰時」還對著Nicole伸出手指。好一個樂而不淫。阿P整晚熟練地遊走在電子和木結他之間，還在彈錯被Nicole嘲笑後說是隱藏實力，誇張地表現了結他技巧。

Nicole和阿P素來不會吝惜和樂迷交流，例如上次在壽臣劇院的<浪漫九龍塘>音樂會就搬出一箱啤酒跟堂座的觀眾分享。樂迷久違了移居北京的Nicole，她也樂意說上幾句。例如在唱＜my little st. valentine’s day＞像透露個人心事般說：「這應該是最後一次唱這首歌。」而在阿P演唱一分半鐘長的新歌＜how can you fall in love with a boy who has never heard of gainsbourg＞的時候，Nicole抽著煙走到台下看也顯出了她的率性。（這首歌他說是和友人的一次經歷，所以創作的確來自生活。）阿P說的話則 經常引起樂迷哄堂大笑，就好像介紹紀念品時說本身想造一款「All the Pretty Girls are Mad」T-恤。

來到最後，Nicole選了新碟內的<九龍公園游泳池>，並說是因為這首歌才回到香港。安哥部分由我所站台右邊身旁的外國男孩踩台帶動。（陪女朋友來的，全場最投入地跳動、拍手的除了我就是他。）終於全團再一次上台，唱了兩首舊歌，還有大家的最愛 – <愛情蝙蝠俠>。

MLA接下來還會在中國各地巡演。

Written and translated by Sherlock Lam. Edited by Jaime Chu.

All photos taken by Sherlock Lam except promotional poster.

Photo by Matthew Niederhauser/INSTITUTE

The morning before my Warped Tour, I woke up to an email titled “Chinese Punk Rock Hits North America” which instantly caught my attention among the floods of press materials from publicists. The “Chinese Punk Rock” refers to China’s most renowned punk band Demerit, the first Chinese band to be part of North America’s legendary “punk rock summer camp” Vans Warped Tour. As a regular Warped Tour attendee and someone with a Chinese background, this automatically intrigued me and I immediately jumped at the chance to cover this for Misunderrated.

Since the band came together in 2004, Demerit has been recognized as China’s best and most influential punk band. Their solid musicianship combines street punk and 1980s metal and is a living commentary on the current sociopolitical climate. Their sophomore album “Bastards of the Nation” has been widely received and was named as 2008’s Record of the Year by China’s top metal magazine, Painkiller. Demerit was featured in the Australian filmmaker Shaun Jeffords’s documentary “Beijing Punk”, which takes a look into Beijing’s rapidly growing underground music scene. They are scheduled to record their third full-length later this year.

Sadly, the band did not join the tour until late July, so I did not have an opportunity to see them perform on Warped Tour’s Toronto stop. Misunderrated is not familiar with the Chinese music scene, we spoke with Demerit’s frontman and vocalist Spike Li over Skype before they left for Warped Tour.

Much thanks to Pete for reaching out and introducing us to some new music, and personal thank you to writer Jaime Chu, who has way better Mandarin skills than I do.

在去Warped Tour的前一天早上，我收到一封題為“中國龐克搖滾直襲北美”的電郵，在芸芸公關信息的轟炸中立即吸引了我的注意。“中國龐克搖滾”指的是中國最著名的 龐克樂隊Demerit，是第一隊參加北美有“龐克搖滾夏令營”之稱的Vans Warped Tour的中國樂隊。作為Warped Tour的常客和中國人，動了好奇心的我立即抓緊了把他們帶來Misunderrated的機會。

自樂隊在零四年組成，Demerit已被 封為中國最佳和最有影響力的龐克樂隊。他們扎實的音樂功力混合了街頭搖滾和八十年代的金屬，更一直反映現今的社會政治 狀況。他們第二張專輯《社會棄兒》受到廣大好評和被中國權威金屬雜誌Painkiller點為二零零八年最佳專輯。Demerit是澳洲導演Shaun Jefford的紀錄片《Beijing Punk》的主角之一，電影探索了北京正火速冒起的地下龐克搖滾樂。樂隊計劃在年底灌錄第三張大碟。

不幸地，樂隊在七月底才加入開始巡演，以致我沒有機會在Warped Tour的多倫多站看到他們的演出。Misunderrated對國內的音樂還不大認識，在樂隊開始巡演之前我們和Demerit的主音李洋在Skype談了一會。

在此感謝Pete給我們介紹了些新的音樂，特別感激Jaime Chu的訪問，因為她的國語比我好得多了。

-Jessie

M: Misunderrated
S: Spike Li（李洋）

按此到中文版

Warped Tour

M: You guys must be in the middle of preparing for Warped Tour. How’s that going?
S: We are pretty ready, including the run-down, set, etc. But…probably…we might still need…but I still have some problems right now.

M: Do you mean technically, or…
S: Everything else is fine, but they might still need to book us, if we have to be signed in person it has to be done next month, but the tour has already started.

M: This is your first time going on tour in America.
S: Yes. Well, the first time preparing to go, haven’t gone yet.

M: So how did you guys end up on Warped Tour?
S: Actually, I’m not quite sure, it should be–should be–a record company who liked us a lot, and then…just like that.

M: What do you guys anticipate about the tour?
S: Lots of anticipation…I’m not very familiar with the U.S. But I know there are a lot of my favorite bands on the road, in California. Besides anticipating our performance, I also look forward to seeing the bands I like.

Touring

M: What do you like about touring?
S: I think rock music can’t just stay in one place, especially in China, it would be meaningless to only play in Beijing. But if you go to different places, you could perform every day, see different kinds of people every day, see different bars, and the unique culture of each place. Just to be able to experience the climate and the world right now, and perform my own music, I think it’s a pretty perfect thing.

Rock Music in China

M: Demerit has been a group for seven years, has the environment of the rock music industry or your process of making music changed over the year?
S: At the beginning, we just wanted to start a punk band, because we listened to The Ramones from the U.S. in high school, and we began to like punk music, so we wanted to–back in our hometown in Qingdao–we started a punk band for a year. Then we went to Beijing after high school graduation, where the response was better, there were more bands and the vibe was better. We started a new band called Demerit in Beijing, and here we are. [laughs]

M: I remember you mentioned in an interview that you are not very satisfied with the music environment in Beijing, that it’s not quite ideal or there are a lot of competition, does that have to do with the fact that you prefer touring?
S: Not competition. Because I think making music in China, which is different from other countries, especially in rock music, the kind of real rock music in China, the rock music of this generation doesn’t count for competition. To make music, to make good music, is to express myself the best that I can, but there are other things in the circle besides music. Do you know what I mean? Not competition, because music doesn’t have competition, it’s not business, it’s not the economy. But touring is not about that either.

Photo by Matthew Niederhauser/INSTITUTE

M: I remember you guys had an experience at the beginning where once at a show, no one at the venue actually knew what was going on or who was playing, there wasn’t even a poster. When did this kind of thing stop happening?
S: Not anymore, there was once in 2006, when we were touring in Guangzhou. It was pouring rain when we arrived, afterwards we rode to the bar and discovered there weren’t any posters. We rested a bit before they started putting them up, then they told us they just started promoting [laughs]. At the time I was sure–after all we were a new band–we were sure no one was going to come. But we also thought, we might as well play since we came, I don’t care how many people there are, we have to play and perform well. Even if there’s only one person. In the end no one came, haha. This doesn’t happen anymore. [laughs] It’s better, much better.

M: [laughs] What do you mean by “better”?
S: At least one person would come. Kidding, it’s not like that. Nowadays more people know about us, and venues are more or less more responsible, because there are more bands touring, at the time there weren’t a lot of them.

M: You guys have been in Beijing for so long, has the environment changed?
S: There is change. I particularly remember we recorded our first demo during Chinese New Year in 2005, and our first drummer was an American called Zack. Then in 2006 we played for the first time at Midi Festival–the best festival to experience rock in China–we were very excited to play on that stage, and we were very excited to be invited. A lot of people knew about us through that festival, because at the time, punk, street punk or hardcore, was not popular in China, the scene of this style of music was very small. We performed, toured in about 20 cities, slowly experienced the process of being a musician, we loved being on the road, touring, so we kept doing it. Then there were more and more festivals, and then…I don’t know how to say it…it felt like…something just changed.

M: You mentioned once that a lot of punk bands, a lot of people these days just wanted to become television stars. Is that part of the change?
S: This is what I think: If a band has existed for a long time in China, especially a punk band, it’s very hard to keep growing in China. That’s why a good band, after a while, they might not like the circumstances anymore, and they might want to just become a rock star. Therefore a lot of the meaning in being a punk band has changed. They lost the original belief, even that spirit of resistance was lost. I don’t think this should exist in punk bands, punk bands should say something…um…something meaningful about our society, not just things like love or protecting the environment. We might all need these things in our lives, but as a punk band, the things we embody shouldn’t be these. But a lot of bands these days have changed that attitude in order to fit in the mainstream. I think that’s what has changed.

M: Punk only started rising in China in these ten years.
S: A bit more then ten, during the nineties. [pause] From my understanding punk was considered quite cool at the time, wearing things like a mohawk, leather jacket, studs. Then after a while, many bands probably began to discover other better things, and started doing those, therefore it [punk] didn’t precipitate in China. It wasn’t that this thing–punk music–appeared when it needed to, and then you would keep doing it because it accumulates. But in China we learned about things from the West, through the radio, magazines or the Internet–I’m saying most phenomenons are this way, not absolutely, not everything–we might think something is quite cool, we want to do this, we want to do that, and therefore the music isn’t one that’s developed from the experiences of life.

M: When punk first appeared in the west, it was a brand new form of music, which then you are able to use it too as a form of expression in China. Do you think there is potential, or there already is, for a music form in China that is equivalent to what punk was in the West?
S: I think punk itself is a music form, and it’s also a product of learning from life, this style of living also represents a lifestyle attitude. So even if a person doesn’t understand or doesn’t know punk, he could still have the same attitude. From this sense, the only unique thing about punk is its music form. The result is that everyone is actually related to this music form, and the product will be different through his understanding of other kinds of music, the different cultures of each country, every one’s personality and characteristic. For us, we would try to use Chinese music scales or melodies unique to Chinese music. But this is only about the form. As for content, us in China are experiencing a different era than the U.S., so the content has to be different.

Overseas

M: So is this you guys’ first time playing abroad?
S: If Korea counts as oversea this will be the second.

M: What’s the difference between playing in China and playing in Korea?
S: We went to Korea once in 2008. I feel like Korea is more relaxed, they are not as reserved. China is relatively more held back, they are more direct. Maybe their lifestyle is closer to that of the West, a lot of their views are more open, not as tense.

M: Is it still as tense today?
S: It’s a lot better right now. People used to be restricted by all kinds of rules and social chains. Some friends would come up to us after a show and told us they weren’t able to loosen up as much as they had wanted, that if they come again they would dive, etc. Maybe they already have a small flame in their hearts, but they still wouldn’t directly act on their intuition and still consider other things. This is one aspect of the tension.

M: Have you thought of what could help to change this?
S: I think the media is probably the biggest factor. If the media could have a more positive coverage on this [the punk scene], meaning…just if the whole country could be more open, letting every kinds of culture to come out, no matter good or bad, allowing the people to choose what they want to do.

M: What kind of influence do you think punk has on this or how might it affect?
S: From these few years we’ve been working, I think as a band the change we bring to this environment or to this society might not be big, but to me personally, being in a punk band affects me a lot. First of all, punk changes me; and then I become more clear about what is it that I want to accomplish. This is very important to me.

AFTERWORD

The interview was periodically interrupted by a thunderstorm from an unknown electronic source, we had to pause our conversation from time to time while waiting for the noises to pass, much thanks to Spike for understanding. As one-fourth of one of the best punk group in China, it was not hard to notice Spike’s sincere and idealist aspirations to punk music throughout the conversation. Warped Tour’s Kevin Says Stage always has bands that bring a fresh and striking presence among the rest of the line-up, having Demerit on the tour is introducing the chemical reaction between old-school British punk and the explosive energy of young China to North America. I am especially looking forward to the band’s concert in San Francisco in late August. “Hopefully there won’t be any thunderstorms then,” Spike said with a laugh. I told him, probably not, California has really nice weather.

-Jaime

Written by Jaime Chu with contribution from Jessie Lau

———–

Photo by Matthew Neiderhauser/INSTITUTE

M: Misunderrated
S: Spike Li（李洋）

Warped Tour

M: 你們應該正給Warped Tour預備吧。準備得怎麼樣呢？
S: 我們準備得挺充份的，包括演出的順序、歌曲這些。但是…可能…還需要…但是我還是有些問題吧現在。

M: 就是技術上的問題，還是…
S: 別的都沒有問題，但是可能他們要預約我們，就是我們要面簽的話可能要下個月，但是演出已經開始了。

M: 這是你們第一次到美國演出。
S: 對。第一次準備去，還沒去。

M: 你們是怎麼得到在Warped Tour演出的機會
S: 我其實不太清楚，應該是－應該是呵－有個公司，他們很喜歡我們，然後就這樣了…

M: 對這次巡演有甚麼期望？
S: 期望呀…對美國不是很了解。但是我知道有很多喜歡的樂隊在路上，在加州。除了期待我們演出巡演那個狀態以外可能就是見到自己喜歡的那些樂隊。

巡迴演出

M: 那你為甚麼喜歡去不同的地方演出？
S: 我覺得搖滾樂不能老待在同一個地方，特別是現在中國這個環境，一直在北京演出的話沒甚麼意思。但是如果你去不同的地方，你可以每天都在演出，每天都見不同 的人、見不同的酒吧，也有一個地方的特色文化。反正就是可以感受到現在這個環境這個世界怎樣，然後就表演自己的歌曲，這樣我覺得還是挺完美的一件事。

搖滾樂在中國

M: Demerit組成已經有七年，這些年來整個搖滾樂的環境或者是你們做音樂的過程有沒有甚麼變化？

Photo by Matthew Niederhauser/INSTITUTE

S: 開始的時候就是想組一個龐克樂隊，因為在高中的時候接觸到美國的Ramones，就很喜歡龐克音樂，當時就想－老家是在青島－當時就在那兒做了一年龐克樂 隊。後來高中畢業的時候就來到了北京，北京的反應覺得好一點，樂隊比較多，範圍好一點。然後就在北京組了新的樂隊，叫Demerit，就一直在做，到現在 （笑）。

M: 最初你們好像有一段演出的經歷就是那時候到場很多人其實都不知道發生甚麼事誰的演出，場館連海報也沒有一張。甚麼時候開始再沒有事情發生？
S: 現在沒有了，零六年有過，是我們去廣州演出的時候。我記得我們去了以後，那天下的就是暴雨，我們出來以後我們搭車到了酒吧就發現還沒有海報。我們到裡面休 息一下然後他們才貼上海報，然後告訴我們剛開始宣傳（笑）那我當時想著就是那肯定－畢竟我們當時也算是新樂隊嘛－我們想肯定是沒有人看。但我們想著，來了 就要演出，我不管多少人，都要去演出，好好演出這樣把狀態表現出來。就算一個人也要演。結果一個人都沒來，哈哈。現在不會有了。（笑）好點 了，好點了。

M: （笑）甚麼為之”好點了”？
S: 起碼會有一個人來。喔，不是這樣，現在了解我們的人也多了，相對酒吧現在來說可能都負責任了吧，因為巡演樂隊越來越多，那時候巡演的樂隊不是那麼多。

M: 你們在北京辦音樂這麼久，那個環境有變化嗎？
S: 有的。我印象比較深刻的是我們零五年春節的時候錄了第一張demo，和第一個鼓手是個美國人他叫Zack。然後零六年的時候我們第一次參加了迷迪音樂節－ 就是中國最能體現搖滾樂的音樂節－當時我們就很期待在這個舞台演出，被選上參加這個音樂節的時候很興奮。通過那個音樂節也很多人知道了我們樂隊，因為當時 龐克，street punk或是hardcore，在中國可能沒有很多人關注，這個風格的音樂的圈還是非常小的。我們做了演出，去了巡演二十個城市左右，慢慢地體驗到這個做 音樂的過程，在路上巡演這個過程讓我們…很眷戀吧，就是要繼續做這個，自己喜歡。那後來音樂節越來越多，然後…我也不知道怎樣說，反正變了，我覺得。

M: 記得你在一個訪問中也提過你其實不太喜歡北京的那個音樂的環境，就是不太理想，或是很多競爭，那跟你喜歡到其它地方演出有關係嗎？
S: 不是競爭，因為我覺得做音樂，在中國這個環境，它和別的國家不太一樣，特別是搖滾樂，那種真正的搖滾樂現在在中國，這一代的搖滾樂我覺得談不上競爭甚麼 的。做音樂，把音樂做得好一些儘量就是把自己的想法表達出來，但是在這個圈裡面可能有很多音樂之外的東西。你明白嗎？不是競爭，因為音樂沒有競爭，不是企 業，不是經濟。但是出去演出也不是因為這個。

M: 你說過現在很多龐克樂隊、很多人都只想當電視明星，這個是變了的一部份？
S: 我覺得是這樣的：就是如果中國一個很久的樂隊，特別是龐克樂隊，你想在大陸發展很困難。所以好的樂隊，可能超過一定的時間，他們可能已經不再喜歡這種狀 態，可能想讓自己成為一個搖滾明星。所以說很多龐克他們的意義已經變了。他們沒有了那種想法，就是起碼那種抗爭的、反抗的精神也都沒有了。我覺得這個不是 龐克樂隊應該存在的現象，龐克樂隊應該會說一些…嗯…有意義的東西，關於這個社會這些，不是只是甚麼愛情呀、環保呀這些東西。這些東西可能我們都需要在我 們生活當中，但作為一個龐克樂隊，可能更多要體現的不是這方面的東西。但是現在很多樂隊可能他們為了進入主流，已經改變了那種態度。我覺得變了是這個方 面。

M: 龐克在中國興起是這十年來的事的吧。
S: 是十年多，九幾年的時候。（停頓）九幾年北京有很多龐克樂隊。我的理解是當時候龐克音樂還是挺酷的，在別人眼裡看起來，就是留著雞冠頭、穿著皮夾克、帶釘 甚麼的。那好多樂隊過了一段時間以後可能發現別的東西更好，就想做別的，所以在中國它（龐克）沒有一個沈澱。 不是說這個東西－龐克音樂－需要出現的時候出現了，然後你就會一直做下去，因為它是有這個積纍。但是在中國是從西方，我們是從收音機上，或者是從雜誌，或 是從網絡上看到一些東西－只是說大部份的現象，不是說絕對的、所有的－可能就覺得這個東西覺得挺好，我想幹這個幹那個，就這樣，不是說是通過生活這個經 歷、這個發展出來的一種音樂。

M: 龐克在西方開始的時候是一個從無到有、新的類型，然後到了中國你們也就可以利用它作為一種工具來表達你們想說的。那麼你認為中國自己有沒有可能，或者是已經有，有一種相當於龐克在西方的音樂類型嗎？
S: 我覺得是這樣，其實龐克本來就是一個音樂形式，然後還是生活的一個獲益，這種風格還有表現出生活的一種態度。那其實一個不了解不知道龐克的人， 他們的態度也可以是這樣的。所以要是這樣理解的話，龐克它唯一特別的地方就是只有音樂形式。這造成了龐克以後其實所有人都在附著這個音樂類型，然後通過自 己對別的音樂的理解或是每個國家不同的文化，每個人的性格、特點，出現的東西就不一樣。可能［The］Clash到了美國就變成了Rancid。就是不一 樣。那中國也是這樣，聽了很多自己喜歡的樂隊，到我們做了第一批歌的時候它其實已經是中國的龐克音樂了。我們樂隊會嘗試用一些中國的音階、中國特有的旋律 這些東西在裡面出現，這只是形式方面上。表達內容上來說，我們中國跟美國經歷的不是一個年代，內容肯定不一樣。

國外演出

M: 這是你們第一次到外國演出？
S: 如果韓國在國外的話這是第二次了。
M: 在韓國的演出跟在中國有分別嗎？
S: 零八年去過一次韓國。韓國更加釋懷一點吧我覺得。他們不會很拘束，中國相對來說能閉塞一些，他們比較直接一些。他們的生活狀態可能就是和西方的一些生活狀態很接近吧，各方面想法可能比較放風一些，不是這麼緊張。
M: 現在還是那麼緊張？
S: 現在好多了。以前會被各種各樣的那些條條框框框住了。一些看完演出的朋友演出以後跟我們說自己沒有放開，如果下次來我一定要跳水這樣。可能那時候他們內心已經有一點火苗，但可能還不會直接去選擇他們第一直覺的東西，可能會考慮別的東西。這是一方面。
M: 你有想過可以有甚麼東西把這種狀態改變嗎？
S: 最大的原因我想是媒體吧。如果媒體對這個東西有一個正面的宣傳，就是…整個國家吧都放風一點，讓每個文化每個東西都出來，不管它好還是壞，讓人們選擇想幹的是甚麼。
M: 你覺得龐克對這方面有甚麼影響或是可以幫助推動改變？
S: 我們做的這幾年就覺得，一個樂隊會帶來的改變對這個環境對這個社會對這個國家可能不是那麼大，但是我覺得對個人來說做龐克樂隊對自己的影響是很大的。首先，我覺得龐克能改變我自己，然後更加清醒地知道自己想要幹嘛，這一點對我來說是很重要。

後記

這次在網路上通話，訪問中途遇上不明來歷的暴風雨，嘈吵的沙沙雜聲不時讓我們不得不暫停對話，在此感謝Spike的體諒。作為現今中國搖滾樂壇裡一流的龐克 樂隊，在言談之間感覺到Spike對龐克音樂由衷的理想。Warped Tour的Kevin Says台一向帶來新鮮的衝擊，Demerit這次來臨正好以典型英倫龐克和年輕中國爆發中的能量所起的化學作用在北美注入一番新景象。特別期待樂隊在八 月尾在三藩市的演出。“希望到時候不會有暴風雨。”Spike笑道。我說，應該不會，加州的天氣非常好。

-Jaime

文：Jaime Chu、Jessie Lau

Taking Back Sunday

English text and photos by Jessie Lau
Translated and edited by Jaime Chu

In 2010, one of the biggest and most exciting announcements in the alternative rock music scene is the reunion of Taking Back Sunday’s original lineup. The Long Island band has gone through a series of lineup changes since 2003 when guitarist/vocalist John Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper departed soon after their debut release “Tell All Your Friends”, which has been widely received. Seven years later, the original members behind the mastery of “Tell All Your Friends” finally reconciled to write another new album, appropriately a self-titled release to signify the reunion. The highly anticipated album finally dropped on June 28th, 2011 and a North American tour to support it. TBS brought openers Thursday, Colour Revolt and The New Regime to Toronto’s Kool Haus on July 22nd.

二零一零年另類搖滾樂壇裡最大和最令人興奮的新聞莫過於Taking Back Sunday原班成員重組。這隊長島樂隊的陣容自零三年結他手／歌手John Nolan和貝斯手Shaun Cooper在廣受歡迎的首張大碟“Tell All Your Friends”推出後離隊之後經歷過一連串的變改。七年後，“Tell All Your Friends”的原班幕後功神終於和好合作一張新碟，並合適地以樂隊名稱命名象徵團圓。備受期待的大碟終於在六月二十八日推出，同期開始了北美巡演宣傳 新碟。TBS在七月二十二日帶同了暖場的Thursday，Colour Revolt和The New Regime到多倫多的Kool Haus。

Color Revolt

San Diego alternative band The New Regime replaced the original openers, pop rock band We Are The In Crowd, who had to drop off the tour to record their debut album. The New Regime is a one man band fronted by Ilan Rubin and opened the night. He played to a small crowd – probably due to the announcements of set times on the promoter LiveNation’s Twitter – most fans decided they would skip the opening bands until the headliners come on. Nevertheless, Rubin performed their first show in Canada with his tour mates with much enthusiasm, engaging the crowd by making small talk while he is changing guitars. There was also this one guy from the audience who kept directly addressing Rubin saying things like, “that’s my favorite song!” and increased the interaction and intimacy of his short set. When indie rock band Colour Revolt came on after The New Regime, more fans came and began to fill up the room. Colour Revolt’s soft set provided a nice contrast to the loud music that ensued.

Thursday

Post-hardcore band Thursday (an observation: Thursday is opening for Taking Back Sunday) formed in 1997, has been a band for 14 years. Their maturity certainly shows in the band’s weathered performance and the highly receptive audience (and I have to say it is rejuvenating to be at a show where most of the audience is legal). The crowd erupted as the crowdsurfers started to set in. The band played  “Jet Black New Year”, which lead singer Geoff Rickly dedicated to Taking Back Sunday. Thursday had the album artwork projected at the back of the stage. For the intro to “No Answers”, the band played a montage included the opening of the Soviet Film “, animations, historical events like bombings and all sorts of things. It was interesting to see how the band combined the song and a film clip in the performance for an extra omniscient effect. The band ended the set with “Turnpike Divides”, from their latest album “No Devolución”.

Taking Back Sunday

Before TBS came on, the passionate crowd began to whistle and chant “TBS” in excitement. The current line up of Taking Back Sunday includes lead singer Adam Lazzara, guitarist Mark Eddie Reyes, bassist Shaun Cooper, guitarist/vocalist John Nolan and drummer Mark O’Connell. Fortunately (and unsurprisingly), the band played a lot of old favorites such as “MakeDamnSure”, “You Know How I Do”, “Bike Scene”, “Set Phasers To Stun”, “Ghost Man On Third”, “Liar (It Takes One To One)” and a couple songs from the new album (“Faith (When I Let You Down) and “El Paso”). The band also performed a cover of Straylight Run’s “Existentialism on Prom Night” (Nolan and Cooper were in Straylight Run after they left TBS in 2003), possibly the softest song of the set and fans sang along dearly. I was aware that vocalist Lazzara has always been known for his crazy mic swinging skills, but I wasn’t expecting to find Lazzara went all the way into the bar and performed “There’s No ‘I’ In Team”. In fact, Lazzara is undeniably a natural performer, utilizes every inch of the venue to maximize the response from fans, for example went far stage right and climbed atop of some speakers for “A Decade Under The Influence”. The entire set consisted of fans shouting back every lines of the song back to the band, the original lineup of TBS definitely take a lot of the fans back to their teenage angst years. After ending announcing the end of the set with “Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From The Team)”, fans were unsatisfied and began to demand an encore. After five minutes, the band played two more songs – the ballad “Your Own Disaster” and concluded the nostalgic night with “Great Romance of the 20th Century”.

Thursday

聖地牙哥另類搖滾組合The New Regime取代了原先的暖場嘉賓－因為趕錄首張專輯而退出巡演的流行搖滾樂隊We Are The In Crowd。The New Regime一人樂隊由主音Ilan Rubin一手包辦開場。他只為了一小群觀眾演出，大有可能因為負責宣傳的LiveNation一早在Twitter公佈了各樂隊的演出時間以致很多樂迷 都選擇跳過暖場直接來欣賞headliner。儘管如此，Rubin和他的巡演樂隊在加拿大的第一場演出非常投入，在轉換結他時積極和觀眾交流。觀眾中亦 有一名男子不斷直接告訴Rubin如“這是我最喜歡的歌曲！”之類的話，在短短的演出裡增添了互動和親密感。The New Regime後，獨立搖滾樂隊Colour Revolt上台的時候場館已經多了不少樂迷。Colour Revolt柔和的演出相映之後響鬧的音樂。

後硬派金屬樂隊Thursday（小觀察：Thursday為Taking Back Sunday暖 場）在九七年成立，至今已經十四年。他們的成熟在樂隊久經風霜的演出和觀眾的受落度顯然而見（不得不說，一個觀眾大多數成年的騷感覺的確使人耳目一新。） 隨著沖人浪的開始起哄，群眾一下子爆發。樂隊奏了主音Geoff Rickly獻給Taking Back Sunday的“Jet Black New Year”。Thursday把專輯封套投射在台後作背景。在“No Answers”的intro，樂隊放映了蘇聯電影《器官復蘇試驗》的開首、動畫和歷史事件如爆炸等之如此類的影像。有趣地，樂隊融合了歌曲和電影片段製 造出特別全面的效果。樂隊以最新大碟”No Devolution“裡的”Tumpike Divides“結束演出。

Taking Back Sunday

TBS 出場之前，熱情的觀眾已開始興奮地吹哨和大喊”TBS”。Taking Back Sunday目前的陣容有主音Adam Lazzara，結他手Eddie Reyes，貝斯手Shaun Cooper，結他／歌手John Nolan和鼓手Mark

Taking Back Sunday

O’Connell。幸運地（和意料之內地），樂隊演出了很多舊的大熱歌曲如“MakeDamnSure”、“You Know How I Do”、“Bike Scene”、“Set Phasers To Stun”、“Ghost Man On Third”、“Liar（It Takes One To One）”和少許新碟中的歌曲（“Faith（When I Let You Down）”和“El Paso”）。樂隊亦翻唱了Straylight Run的“Existentialism on Prom Night”（Nolan和Cooper在零三年離隊後加入了Straylight Run），也許是整個演出最輕和的歌曲，樂迷親切地跟著唱。一直留意到主音Lazzara一向以台上瘋狂搖擺咪高風而見稱，但並沒有預料到Lazzara會去到遠處的酒吧部份演出“There No ‘I’ In Team”。事實上，Lazzara是無庸置疑一個天生的表演者，用盡了場館每一吋來換得樂迷最大限度的反應，例如在“A Decade Under The Influence”時爬到台右方上的喇叭。整個演出滿是粉絲大聲回喊每一句歌詞，TBS的原班成員把很多粉絲都帶回了十幾歲叛逆的時代。“Cute Without The ‘E’（Cut From The Team）”宣佈了演出尾聲後，並未滿足的樂迷隨即大叫encore。耽擱了五分鐘後樂隊再演出了兩首歌曲：民謠”Your Own Disaster“和為充滿懷舊氣氛的一夜劃上句號的”Great Romance of the 20th Century“。

Enter Shikari crowd

English text and photos by Jessie Lau
Translated and edited by Jaime Chu

Without realizing, the annual Vans Warped Tour crept around just like that. This is also Misunderrated’s third year covering Warped Tour and also meant that the site has passed its third birthday! Anyway, comparing this year’s line-up to the previous ones, it definitely lacked something big. Half of the Main Stage bands wouldn’t have been able to play the main stage if the line-up hasn’t been so… disappointing (or maybe last year’s lineup was spoiling).

一 年一度的Vans Warped Tour在不知不覺間原來已經來臨。這也是Misunderrated第三年臨到Warped Tour–亦即是這個網站已經過了三歲生日！回正題，相對於往年，今年的陣容無庸置疑缺了些響亮的名字。如非如此令人失望的陣容，一半在主台表演的樂隊根本不會有機會進駐主台。

August Burns Red

Paramore

One of the bigger names that played was Paramore, who is playing selected dates of the tour. These dates on Warped Tour are the band’s first time playing in North America since last year, as they have been busy with overseas tours. Most significantly, it is their first time performing in after the departure of two original members who released a rather exposing statement regarding the nature of the band’s internal dynamics. Therefore, in some ways. Paramore had a lot to prove through these performances that they are still Paramore (in fact, they had a t-shirt that says “Paramore is STILL a band”, to reassure the fans). In her famous flaming multicolor hair, lead singer Hayley Wililams hopped on stage with the remaining members of the band, guitarist Taylor York and。 bassist Jeremy Davis under a mixture of exciting chant of “Paramore” and screaming from anticipating fans and started off with “That’s What You Get”. Throughout the set, Williams continued to pounce around the stage, whipping her fiery red hair back and forth. In addition to older materials like “Pressure”, “Careful” and “Here We Go Again”. the band also performed the new single “Monster” (from Transformers: Dark of the Moon soundtrack). Williams spontaneously delivered the lyrics with an edge and some sassiness, which occurs way too often (almost every song) for my liking, it does get old and annoying after a bit. The band closed off with “Misery Business”, in which Williams pulled a guy from the audience and had him sing the rest of the song with her, which was probably the most interesting thing from the set…until the explosion of orange confetti after the big finale of the song and concluded the set.

Automatic Loveletter

One of the frustrating things about Warped Tour and its multi-stage set up is probably having (at least) two bands you want to see playing at the same time. While the bands’ play time alters daily, these are unavoidable situations. And this happened with Automatic Loveletter and There For Tomorrow. Unfortunately, Automatic Loveletter, which is led by Juliet Simms, happened to play the same time Paramore did on another smaller stage to a modest crowd. Simms thanked the loyal fans by saying “thank you for sticking around when you could be seeing Paramore right now” and also encouraged the crowd to get closer for more intimacy. Since the band has recently released an acoustic album, titled “The Kids Will Take Their Monsters On”, Simms brought out an acoustic guitar and sang some songs from the new release. Simms’ powerful and raspy voice combined with the strong strums of the acoustic guitar created an unique and engaging performance that stood out from the loudness of other regular performances on Warped Tour.

Florida band There For Tomorrow has played Toronto a few times over the last few years and had a

A Day To Remember

solid following, however they haven’t came back in a year and a half. This year, they return with the release of their sophomore album “The Verge”. Sadly, the band played the same time as another Florida band A Day To Remember took over the Main Stage, which attracted most of the attendees. Judging from previous tours and an interview, in which guitarist Neil Westfall pointed out they wouldn’t want kids to get bored at their shows, one of the things that A Day To Remember pay a lot attention to is their stage set up. And the boys don’t give up, even on Warped Tour, and always determined to bring something fun and refreshing to their shows. Upon the beginning of the set, an caricature of the band was getting inflated on top of the stage and inflatable speakers with hands grabbing them were set up on both sides of the stage, giving the illusion that it’s an ADTR headliner instead of the “punk rock summer camp” Warped Tour. The band probably had the biggest crowd of the day and the energy of the audience was exploding despite it being 6pm. The band began with “I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?”, featuring guest vocals from The Devil Wear’s Prada vocalist Mike Hranica, one of the best things about Warped is getting to see duets live! Almost every song was rewarded with an applause from the crowd, demonstrating the band’s popularity. ADTR closed off with “The Downfall of Us All”, soon after the title of the song was announced, an uproar from the crowd ensued and fists were pounding as the anthem-like intro “da da da da da da” set in, and half a dozen of beach balls were released from the stage into the crowd.

The Dance Party

With over seventy bands on Warped Tour, making it a great place to discover some new bands and explore genres that you normally wouldn’t have a chance to see. I was on my way to the washroom when I saw this very eccentric band playing the remote Kevin Says Stage, named after Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman and is used to showcase up and coming bands. Turns out the band playing was pop rock band The Dance Party, lead singer Mick Coogan was shirtless in a pair of white pants and thrusting his pelvis, you know, just dancing around (if you wondered how they caught my attention). Their over-the-top performance was super entertaining and attracted a group of people by their set to start a little dance party away from the big crowd. I have heard so much about Foxy Shazam from my fellow photographers and had to make a trip to check out the band. Their live performances resembled more of a circus than of a rock show. All band members were busy performing their instruments while carrying out various stage antics, from running around the little stage, kicking, headstand, balancing the guitar with one finger…it’s like nothing you have ever seen before

Foxy Shazam

. One of the last bands that played were post-hardcore band Of Mice And Men, with the full sleeves tattoo, dark hair and

long legs, vocalist Austin Carlile definitely bears some resemblance to Suicide Silence’s vocalist Mitch Lucker.  Despite it was one of the final sets of the day, many fans were still around for OMAM, and they did not disappoint their fans. Carlile has an engaging stage presence and knows how to please the crowd, like replacing his tank top with one of a local band’s with Toronto written on it. The closing band of the night was 3OH!3, the electropop duo originated from Colorado that has seen the big limelights thanks to the radio hit “Don’t Trust Me” back in 2008. There’s no question that whenever 3OH!3 is playing, there’s a dance party. Fans showed their support by making the 3OH!3 sign and dancing along. Singer Nathaniel Motte made up a song on the spot about Mississauga (this Warped Tour stop).  The band played a handful of songs while the sun is setting, and ended the 17th Vans Warped Tour with none other than “Don’t Trust Me”.

Of Mice And Men

3OH!3

其中較為人認識的樂隊有只在某些日子演出的Paramore。 因為剛忙著在海外巡演，這次在Warped Tour的場次是樂隊自去年第一次在北美演出。更值得留意的是這是他們自兩名原有成員發表了揭露樂隊內在角力的聲明並退出後的第一次演出。因此，在某程度 上，Paramore這次可謂身負證明實力的重任（作為對樂迷的肯定，樂隊甚至推出了標著“Paramore is STILL a band”的T-shirt）。在期待萬分的樂迷一遍混雜興奮尖叫和重複喊著“Paramore”的聲音下，出名頭上一把鮮艷彩髮的主音Hayley Williams和樂隊成員結他手Taylor York和低音結他手Jeremy Davis一躍上台，開始彈著”That’s What You Get“。整個演出中Williams在台上猛跳，搖動著一頭火熱的紅髮。除了如作品“Pressure”，“Careful”和“Here We Go Again”等舊作，樂隊亦演出了新單曲“Monster”（來自《變形金剛3：黑月降臨》電影原聲帶）。Williams不時帶點野蠻性格地即興演繹歌 詞，但對本人來說頻率似乎太多（幾乎每首歌），很快就變得厭悶。樂隊以“Misery Business”結束，Williams還拉了位男觀眾上台讓他唱出歌曲餘下的部份，那似乎是整個演出最有趣味的環節…直到結尾爆出橙色碎紙。

Warped Tour其中一樣令人懊惱的事就是多台佈置導致總有起碼兩隊想看的樂隊同時演出。儘管每日

There For Tomorrow

的演出時間有別，這仍然是無可避免。這次相沖的樂隊就有Automatic Loveletter和There For Tomorrow。不幸地，Juliet Simms領隊的Automatic Loveletter碰 巧撞著和Paramore同一時段在另一個較小的台上為稀疏的觀眾演出。Simms答謝了忠實的觀眾，“多謝你們願意留下，儘管你們大可去看 Paramore”，還鼓勵他們站近台前令演出更親密。由於樂隊剛推出了acoustic大碟“The Kids Will Take Their Monsters On”，Simms帶來了木結他演出了數首新歌。Simms沙啞有力的聲線配合著有勁的結他彈奏造出一場獨特和投入的演出，在Warped Tour平時嘈囂的演出中別樹一格。

佛羅里達州樂隊There For Tomorrow在過去數年在多倫多曾作多次演出和吸引了一班忠實追隨者，但已有一年半沒有回來。今年他們帶來了剛推出的第二張大碟“The Verge”。又很不幸地，樂隊的演出時間撞正另一隊佛羅里達州的樂隊A Day To Remember在主台的演出，後者吸引了大多數參加者。結他手Neil Westfall曾在以往的巡演和訪問中指出他們不希望演出悶壞觀眾，所以得知A Day To Remember將 會在場景設計上放足心機。而這班男孩並不輕易放棄，尤其在Warped Tour，他們永遠樂意把好玩和新鮮的元素帶到演出。演出開始的時候只見樂隊成員的卡通公仔架在台上方正在充氣，兩旁則被充氣喇叭抓著，製造出這場成了 ADTR主演而非Warped Tour“龐克搖滾夏令營”的假象。樂隊應該吸引了當天最大的群眾，觀眾的活力在傍晚六時依然高漲。樂隊以“I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?”開場，並邀得The Devil Wear’s Prada的歌手Mike Hranica作嘉賓，Warped Tour的其中一個亮點正是拉闊合唱！幾乎每一首歌都獲得觀眾的掌聲，可見樂隊受歡迎的程度。ADTR以“The Downfall of Us All”完場，歌曲名稱一宣佈後，群眾情緒隨即洶湧高漲，握著拳頭的雙手舉在半空隨著“da da da da da da”的拍子揮動，半打充氣沙灘球從台上被釋放到台下的觀眾。

Of Mice And Men

The Devil Wears Prada

有超過七十隊樂隊的演出令Warped Tour成為發掘平時不可能欣賞到的新樂隊和不同音樂類型的大好機會。在走往洗手間的途中我看見了一隊風格另類的樂隊正在遠處的Keven Says台演出。Kevin Says命名自Warped Tour的創辦人Kevin Lyman，主要給新興和嶄露頭角的樂隊作演出。那隊樂隊原來是玩流行搖滾的The Dance Party，只穿著白褲的主音Mick Coogan脫去了上衣，前後擺

Foxy Shazam

動著下盆，四周舞動（你可能好奇我最初為何被吸引過去）。誇張的表演娛樂性非常豐富，亦啟發了一撮人開始舞動起來。及後不得不拜訪很多攝影師同行都推薦的Foxy Shazam。比起搖滾音樂會，他們的拉闊演出更似馬戲團。樂隊成員在彈奏樂器的同時做出各樣戲碼，跑的、踢的、倒立的、用一隻手指平衡結

他的…前所未見的表演。當天其中最晚演出的一隊是後硬派的Of Mice And Men， 有著衣袖般覆蓋整個手臂的紋身、深色頭髮和長腿，歌手Austin Carlile像極Suicide Silence的歌手Mitch Lucker。儘管他們是當晚最後一隊樂隊，仍有不少粉絲為OMAM留下，樂隊亦沒有令樂迷失望。Carlile的台風非常吸引，很清楚如何迎合掀起觀眾 的情緒，例如把背信換上了寫著“Toronto”的當地樂隊T-shirt。這晚完場的樂隊是來自科羅拉多州的電子流行二人組合3OH!3， 拜二零零八年在電台熱播的“Don’t Trust Me”所賜，樂隊對鎂光燈已非常熟識。哪裡有3OH!3的歌曲哪裡就有跳舞派對。粉絲舉著寫有3OH!3的紙牌以示支持，還加入大合唱。歌手 Nathaniel Motte即興作了一首關於Missisauga（這一站的Warped Tour）。樂隊的演出亦是日落的時候，最後，一首”Don’t Trust Me”結束了第十七屆Vans Warped Tour。

He Is We

 English text and photos by Jessie Lau
Translated and edited by Jaime Chu

The world can always use some upbeat and lovely music, enters He Is We, an indie pop band fronted by singer Rachel Taylor and guitarist Trevor Kelly. I first saw the band when they opened for The Rocket Summer last year and was pleasantly surprised by their whimsical music. In the world saturated with pop rock bands that sound alike and vague lyrics, He Is We stands out automatically with their heartfelt and sweet music. They are like an indie Taylor Swift – storytelling lyrics, girl problems and fairytale elements that help the band gained popularity.

輕鬆好聽的音樂從來都不嫌少，所以便有主音Rachel Taylor和結他手Trevor Kelly領隊的indie pop樂隊He Is We。第一次看這對樂隊是去年他們為The Rocket Summer暖場的時候，驚喜他們率性隨心的音樂。在陳腔濫調和虛無歌詞已飽和的流行搖滾界，He Is We由衷和甜美的音樂自然突出。他們像是獨立Taylor Swift－敘事性強的歌詞，少女問題和童話元素都幫樂隊提升知名度。

He Is We’s first headliner “All About You” tour dropped by Toronto’s El Mocambo on July 5th. The

Andrew Allen

first opening singer was local acoustic musician Scotty James, next up was fellow Canadian Andrew Allen from Vancouver. Allen is a singer-songwriter and guitarist and performed with his drummer. He played a Sublime cover “What I Got” and did an fun beatbox loop. The next band was Ocean Grove, from California, the only pop rock band on the tour. The band is pretty new as it was their twenty fifth show, despite that they managed to capture the crowd’s attention. In addition to their own material, the band played a cover of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.

Scotty James

El Mocambo is not a big venue, it is perfect when it’s half filled because it doesn’t get too crowded to a point where it’s unbearable due to the lack of ventilation. In fact, there’s only one  huge fan next to the stage to keep half of the people happy. Another notable feature about the legendary El Mocambo is the romantic atmosphere created by overhanging lamps that mimic candle lit lanterns. In addition, He Is We’s stage setup included a couple paper shaded lamps (?) which created a homey feeling that make the performance more intimate.

In a boho dress, vocalist Rachel Taylor and guitarist Trevor Kelly with the rest of the touring band and performed songs from their debut album “My Forever”. Taylor’s voice is a little raspy, making the songs raw with emotions. Taylor talked a lot between songs, sharing some stories and inspirations behind the songs, although they can be concluded as “songs about guys with stupid girlfriends” (see where the Taylor Swift reference comes from?).

He Is We

Halfway through the show, Taylor asked for a birthday girl Erin in the crowd, turned out her father requested a “Happy Birthday” from the band for her 16th birthday. The band was not prepared and Taylor asked Kelly to play some tunes and she will start singing along. Not sure if it was intentional or just happened that way – Kelly played the most morbid tune to which Taylor started to make up some words for it, making it the eeriest “Happy Birthday” ever, which I’m sure Erin wouldn’t mind!

Andrew Allen joined Taylor on the duet “All About Us”. He Is We ended the set with single “Happily Ever After” that had the crowd singing along, the band added a two-step and breakdown towards the end of the song to make things interesting. Despite the seemingly overrated themes, He Is We’s music and performances are so sincere that it’s hard not to fall in love with them, just like their official bio claimed “He Is We wants to go on a date with you”.

He Is We第一個headliner巡演“All About You”在七月五日來到了多倫多的El Mocambo。第一位暖場嘉

Andrew Allen

賓是本地的acoustic音樂人Scotty James，然後是同是加拿大人、來自溫哥華的Andrew Allen。身兼唱作人和結他手的Allen和他的鼓手一起演出。他翻唱了Sublime的“What I Got”，還加上一段有趣的beatbox（用嘴模仿鼓拍）。下一隊出場的樂隊是來自加州的Ocean Grove－整個巡演唯一一隊流行搖滾樂隊。這對樂隊相對較新，是晚雖然只是他們第二十五場演出，但仍然得到全場注意。除了自己的作品，樂隊亦演出了 Frankie Valli的”Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”。

El Mocambo場地不是很大，半滿的時候就最完美－不會因為通風系統不足而擠擁得無法忍受。事實上，在台側僅有的一把風扇只夠滿足一半觀眾。名聞遐邇的 El Mocambo另一個特色是模仿蠟燭燈籠的吊燈做成的浪漫氣氛。加上He Is We的佈景用上了紙燈，凝做出家的感覺令演出更親切溫馨。

Ocean Grove

穿著boho風裙子的

主音Rachel Taylor和結他手Trevor Kelly和巡演樂隊演出了首張專輯“My Forever”裡的歌。Taylor少許粗糙的聲線唱出了歌曲原始的情感。她在歌與歌之間說了很多關於歌曲的故事和靈感，雖然它們大致上能總結為關於 “有個蠢女友的男孩”（看得出為何把Taylor Swift相提並論嗎？）

演 出到了一半，Taylor請了一名叫Erin的壽星女上台，原來Erin的父親特別安排了樂隊演出“Happy Birthday”為她慶生。眼見樂隊還沒有準備好，Taylor便讓Kelly先開始隨便彈著旋律讓她後來加入唱歌。不知道這是否事先安排－Kelly 彈出了最灰的調子，Taylor再開始順著即興唱出歌詞，結果就成了聽過最詭異的“Happy Birthday”，但Erin應該不會介意！

Andrew Allen加入了Taylor合唱“All About Us。He Is We以招來大合唱的單曲”Happily Ever After“結束，臨尾樂隊更加添了hardcore的two-step breakdown令演出更豐富。雖然歌曲多是看起來俗套的主題，但He Is We的音樂和演出都讓人看得出誠意，很難不愛上他們，就像官方樂隊簡介說的：”He Is We想和你有個約會”。

He Is We

Keren Ann by Jan Welters

Written and translated by Jaime Chu

In the tradition of French-pop chanteuse, Israel-born singer-songwriter Keren Ann’s warm, raspy voice and introspective, poetic lyrics are a magnetic force. Having been a fan since her English debut in 2003, I finally had a chance to catch her live at San Francisco’s Yoshi’s Jazz Club on Tuesday. Yoshi’s in San Francisco is the second location of Bay Area’s prominent jazz club by the same name in Oakland. One could almost imagine time-traveling back to the Jazz Age in this carbaret-style venue for Keren Ann’s performance.

承繼了French pop的傳統，以色列出生的唱作歌手Keren Ann一把清麗舒服、帶點沙啞的嗓音一直如磁石般吸引著知音。加上幽幽的歌詞更是久聽不厭。在剛過去的週二終於有機會在三藩市的Yoshi’s Jazz Club（灣區屋倫同名老牌爵士俱樂部的分址）看到她的演出。在Yoshi’s這個舊式歌舞廳格局的表演場地欣賞Keren Ann幾乎可以幻想著時光倒流回到二十年代的爵士盛世。

Keren Ann’s raspy but solid voice and the electric vibrations from her guitar came on before the red curtain was even completely raised, as if, like the title of the song ‘Strange Weather’ suggests, a storm was about to arrive. The lights changed from time to time from red to green and back to red again. Keren Ann’s usual understatement of head-to-toe black hinted we should pay attention to something else.

She played for almost two hours, mostly songs from the new album ‘101’ (inspired by Taipei 101), released in March, with earlier songs in between. From the Karen-O-esque blunt haircut and the pistol she held up in one hand on the cover art, we could tell she meant to evolve from the shy, endearing chanteuse she was known to be. Her voice toughened; and sweetly melancholic introspections became a dark humor beneath a sugar coat of electric French pop. Such as the story reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde in ‘Blood in My Hands’: the bloodshed in the life of a girl about town as she becomes attracted to a mysterious stranger. The improvised line “There is blood in San Francisco” received welcoming cheers from the crowd.

Bidding farewell to the acoustic ballad, the electric arrangement in ‘101’ is surprisingly a bit reminiscent of Charlotte Gainsbourg, but the focus is still on Keren Ann’s voice. It appeared, initially, both Keren Ann and the audience needed some time to get used to this new-found boldness. But the music and affecting performance soon took over, and gradually, a hollow echo of electric notes consumed the atmosphere. Though sweet and humorous in the few times she interacted with the audience, you could tell Keren Ann would much rather sing.

And although she is working hard to immerse in the new phase of her music career, some things haven’t changed: At times she became again the chanteuse in soft long tresses who told stories with a voice from the heart. ‘Songs From A Tour bus’ was an especially heartfelt portrait of a life misunderstood by many. A running thread through the set reflected the accumulation of her creative trajectory thus far and revealed an urge to express from a young woman who, beneath layers of experience and poetry in the lyrics, just wanted to be loved as she loved. However, as far as live performance goes, there was still an uncomfortable distance between herself and the maturation of experimenting with more pop elements.

Switching to the familiar acoustic guitar in the middle, she returned to a few songs from earlier albums such as ‘Chelsea Burns’ and ‘You Were On Fire’, and ‘All The Beautiful Girls’ from ‘101’. We also caught a glimpse of a rare, blithe side of her when she covered Joni Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow Taxi’. Richard Cohen’s accompaniment was the most pleasant surprise of the night. From jazz- to funk-inspired arrangements, the ever-changing effects added musically inspiring aspects to the otherwise similar performance with that of the studio album. Though some solos became redundant at the end, especially in the acoustic encore, it might have been sweeter had Keren Ann played alone.

Just when one began to wonder whether there would be any French songs, she presented ‘Le Chien d’Avant Garde’ from her second album ‘Le Disparition’. Under the gradient of purple and red lights, the combined elements of electric guitar, trumpet improv solo and the typical chanson francaise performance was the highlight of the night.

After the last song, Keren Ann only disappeared behind the curtain for a quick moment before coming out again under the audience’s cheers and applause. It was clear that even she herself hadn’t had enough. Encore was almost obligatory at this point. She picked up the acoustic guitar again and began strumming a familiar chord progression. It turned out she saved the best for (almost) last and finally played ‘Not Going Anywhere’, to the delight of the entire audience. She went on and played two more songs to end the night. It seemed as though she also agreed that the small acoustic portion in the earlier set hadn’t completely satisfied her (and our) appetite. But in spite of the encore, no one would have minded to stay if she didn’t mind keep playing.

Keren Ann by Jan Welters

鮮紅色的幕簾還未完全升起，已聽見Keren Ann沙啞但沈穩的嗓音和電子結他的震響，彷如歌名《Strange Weather》所言， 一陣不尋常的風暴正要掀開。燈光由紫紅換成藍綠，偶爾又轉回紫紅。Keren Ann一身低調的黑色打扮是說明要人專注在她的音樂。

這 晚演出接近兩小時的歌曲多是來自今年三月推出的新碟《101》（意念來自台北101），並間隔著早期的作品。從封套上不客氣的短髮和單手舉起的手槍可以見 得Keren Ann有意一改以往恬靜的形象。不但唱腔硬朗起來，從前幽幽的心事變成現在糖衣包裝下冷不防的黑色幽默，和暖場嘉賓Chris Garneau的苦中作樂凝成對比。“Blood in My Hands”說的便是生活突然被神祕陌生男人闖進的故事，原本萬千寵愛的女孩變成殺手，周遭頓時熱血四濺。即興的一句“There is blood in San Francisco”更換來全場喝彩。

告 別acoustic民謠，玩起電子編曲的聲線效果竟有三分令人想起Charlotte Gainsbourg，但焦點仍在Keren Ann的嗓喉。未習慣這樣壯膽的Keren Ann的觀眾，和甚至她本人起初還有點拘謹。但隨著音樂和感情起伏，她的嗓子和電子結他浮游的回音逐漸完全屏住了大氣。 雖然不多話，偶爾和觀眾交流的時候她還是流露出不經意的幽默感。不過看得出她寧願唱歌。

儘 管她正努力投入音樂上的新階段，好些東西還沒有改變：台上的她偶爾又回到了那個留著微卷長髮、用結他說心事的女孩。如”Songs From A Tour Bus”便由衷地描述外間看不到的巡演生活的另一面 。整晚的選曲反映了Keren Ann從出道至今的創作歷程。瓣開歌詞中的意像，只看見一個不過渴望簡單地愛與被愛的年輕女子。然而就新碟歌曲的現場演繹來說，和完全沈澱於這個更pop 的路線仍有一段距離。

表 演中段換上了熟識的木結他演出了兩首早期的作品和新碟中的”All The Beautiful Girls”。及後翻唱Joni Mitchell的”Big Yellow Taxi”亦讓人有幸一瞥Keren Ann罕見活潑的一面。Richard Cohen整晚的喇叭伴奏是這次演出最驚喜的地方。從爵士到funk，變幻無窮的效果把原本和大碟中相差無幾的演出加添了許多音樂上的趣味，雖然到了後期 某些即興獨奏有點畫蛇添足，寧可Keren Ann一人自彈自唱。

正惆悵究竟會否有法語歌演出的時候，Keren Ann隨即送上第二張大碟”Le Disparition”裡的“Le Chien d’Avant Garde”。在紫紅漸變的燈光下，揉合了電子結他、即興喇叭獨奏和典型法語歌曲的演繹是當晚的高潮。

唱 畢最後的“In Your Back”後，喝著一口水消失於幕後、但明顯意猶未盡的Keren Ann在觀眾的掌聲下很快又回到台前。Encore環節似乎已成了指定動作。她隨即拿起木結他奏起熟識的前奏－全場未有出現的“Not Going Anywhere”原來是留待此時壓軸！和Richard Cohen的和音太令人陶醉。最後還有”End of May”和”The Hardest Ships of the World”。似乎她也認為之前acoustic的曲目未能盡興。事實上，她要是願意繼續彈下去，觀眾也絕對樂意聽下去。

Written and translated by Sherlock Lam
Edited by Jaime Chu

The Japanese band Tokyo Jihen (東京事変/Tokyo Incidents) is led by Shiina Ringo (椎名林檎), one of the most prominent pop divas of the country.  Their second studio album “Adult” (“アダルト”/ “大人”) was released in 2006. I bought the album mainly to celebrate my own coming of age 18, and was not warned of the addictive charisma and style of Ringo and her band.

東京事変是由日本首屈一指的歌姬椎名林檎領軍的樂隊。他們在二零零六年推出了第二張大碟《大人》。筆者購買這專輯時純粹希望紀念自己十八歲生辰，卻對這五人使人上癮般的獨有魅力和風格始料不及。

Shiina Ringo began her career as a solo singer and songwriter in 1998, who has, up till now, produced six albums and ten singles. Her style, which is often reflected and incorporated in Tokyo Jihen’s songs, ranges from rock, pop, punk, blues and jazz. Combined with her uncommonly sophisticated lyrics, she quickly gained fans and recognition. Tokyo Jihen was formed during one of her nationwide tours, Sugoroku Ecstasy. However, it is worth noting that “Adult” was created by the second phase of the band, after the guitarist and pianist were replaced.

Back to the album itself. It shows Ringo’s literary talent expressed through musical talents. For instance, the track listing shows symmetry using the sixth track as the centre line:

This has been a convention of Ringo’s works since her second solo album. The final track “手紙” was also cleverly written in the format of traditional Japanese letter writing, complete with “Dear…” and “P.S.”.

The bossa nova-styled third track, “化粧直し”, may trick you into thinking the band as “soft”. Yes, there is certainly much jazz in the songs. For example, brilliant piano and guitar solos in “秘密” deserve a mention. (It is funny that this occurs after the original pianist H ZETT M, an authentic jazz pianist, left the group.) However, one of my favourites in the album is the fifth track “修羅場 Adult ver.”, in which the crisp staccato notes in the intro demonstrates the band’s solid skills. In addition, the chorus line “Ah~~~~” is quite the signature of Ringo’s singing style similar to shouting.

The final track “手紙” is definitely my pick of the entire album. I love the progression from the quiet strings rhythm in the beginning, which then builds up by adding drums and piano, and finally reaching a climax with full-blown electric guitar accompanying the singer’s emotion. “Please remember, even if you lose your direction in a place distant and far away / what I told you. / I will always be singing.” (Source)

“Adult” signifies maturity, and it has surely been exhibited in this album, a marker of the band’s journey – ripened from their previous albums and singles while providing a solid foundation for the following albums and, importantly, their live shows.

Tokyo Jihen is due to release their fifth studio album “Discovery” (“大発見”) on June 29th.

椎 名林檎以唱作歌手身份出道於一九九八年，至今推出六張專輯和十張單曲。她個人音樂風格多變，無論搖滾、流行、龐克、藍調和爵士都在個唱時期和東京事変的歌 曲裡隨處可見。加上她深奧且耐人尋味的歌詞，椎名林檎很快獲得了歌迷和日本樂壇的認同。 東京事変成立於她的《雙六高潮》日本巡迴演唱會。

值得一提的是，創作出《大人》這張大碟的團隊是替換了結他手和鍵盤手的「第二期東京事變」。

言歸正傳，《大人》透過各成員的音樂根底襯托出椎名林檎拿手的文字好戲。例如從曲目安排中可見對稱美學（以第六首為中線）：

這是自椎名林檎第二張專輯開始沿用的特色。此外，最後一曲「手紙」的歌詞以日本傳統書信格式寫成，包含了「敬啟者:」和「附註：」。

大 碟第三首「化粧直し」以懶洋洋的Bossa nova曲風出場可能會誤導你以為這隊樂隊爆炸力欠奉。的而且確，不少曲目都有濃厚的爵士風格。比如說，「秘密」裡的鋼琴和電結他獨奏也十分出色。（有趣 的是，第二期東京事變正正是替換了之前在爵士樂團效力的鋼琴手H是都M。）個人其中最愛的一首是第五首「修羅場 Adult ver.」。開頭跳脫的前奏把樂手的技巧華麗地露了一手， 而副歌部分「啊~~~~」則恰當地展示了椎名林檎稍帶喊叫的演唱風格。

正所謂好戲在後頭，筆者全碟的至愛正是「手紙」。開始的時侯只有弦樂一下一下簡單的隨拍子伴奏，然後加入鼓和鋼琴添上層次，最後電結他跟從歌者的情緒爆發到頂點：「想傳達的訊息即便在遙遙遠方失去方向，都請不要遺忘。/我一直不斷的持續高歌。」（註）

《大人》意味了成熟。這張大碟表現了的除了是成熟之餘，也是一個里程碑：從第一張大碟最初組團的蛻變、為以後接下來其他專輯以及拉闊演唱會打下穩固的基礎。

東京事変將於六月二十九日推出第五張大碟《大発見》。

註：歌中譯來自EMI台壓盤所附譯本