You know, when I started this blog, I was determined to make it a positive one because there are so many haters out there who especially love to criticize China and Hong Kong. Plus, I'm naturally quite mean and bitchy (you probably notice it coming out here and there), and I'm trying to curb that shit and be more pleasant.
I don't make shit up or lie, of course, but I just don't bother dwelling on negative stuff. However, last night produced so much negativity that I feel like it's a useful thing to share because people might learn something from it.
I went to the HKU show last night a bit late. It started at 7 but I didn't leave the house till 8. I think these HKU kids are great because a show with all these bands is really tough to organize -- I used to do it for a living so I appreciate their effort -- however, it means that they're usually behind schedule. I didn't want to hang around the centre and be busted for talking to an underage boy, so I decided it was better to show up late.
It was a bit cold last night -- I'm really clinging on to these last few days of lovely weather -- so I wore this. I'm sitting on the table, so excuse how weird the angle looks. I like to dress according to themes, and last night's theme was Village People Goes Grunge.
You know how I said before that using stretchy fabric for a qipao is really skanky? CASE IN POINT. I actually thought this dress was really hilarious because it's just so over-the-top skanky to the point of tackiness. The side slits are all the way up to my hip bones. I guess my sense of humour is kind of warped because I don't think this dress is sexy, but funny instead. I wouldn't wear it outside of an Asian country, though. I think this will be one of the last few times I'll be wearing those boots and coat since the weather is getting so warm now.
You know, seriously, one of the things I can't appreciate enough about Hong Kong is how people really leave you alone. I know I looked fairly weird, but no one hassled me, no one made fun of me or tried to start shit with me. In many of the countries I've lived in -- except Taiwan, although they're not really a country -- I probably would have received some kind of comment or some type of harassment. Hong Kong is like Tokyo for wearing whatever you like and being left alone. Love it.
Anyway, these are the stairs leading up to Hang Out. I arrived at quarter to 9, and the first band had just finished. Sorry for the bad picture. I was taking it while walking.
Entrance to Hang Out.
The gym (where the show was held) is inside that building. Those are the merchandise and ticketing tables.
Inside the gym. KOLOR started playing when I got there. One of my habits is I always stand next to the tech crew during shows. First of all, it means that you can sit or put your stuff down on the riser (or under it) for safe-keeping. Some tech people (usually the chicks) are super nice and will watch your stuff if you have to go to the toilet, too. The sound quality is also the best in those spots. It does mean that you'll have to stand in the back, but I don't care.
My opinion on KOLOR: I'm not super fond of their music. They're very proficient, and the dude can sing. I guess it's because they're a bit 1980s Bruce Springsteen, which I know is very crowd friendly, but just not my thing. Good crowd skills, though.
They were followed by 吹波糖, and my God, kids! YOU MUST WATCH THESE GUYS if you have a chance! 吹波糖 are from Guangzhou, and they were really charismatic. The singer was simply amazing -- great performance and crowd appeal -- and the band was on point. It's pop rock, so it was very exuberant and infectious. LOVED THEM!
I found a couple of their music videos online, but unfortunately, they don't have any videos for their really catchy songs, and there aren't any live ones that capture just how great they are live. Tsk, they need to hire someone like me to make decisions like that for them. Oh wait, I ended up quitting my music biz job, let's move on.
Then Embryo was up next, and no knock on the guys, but I really had to pee during their set. I'd brought along some gin, and I'd finished it and had to go really badly. I've never seen them perform before, and they seemed okay.
The men's room is right next to the gym, which makes sense because they can change their clothes and shower after using the gym. Maybe it's sexist, but it's logical. The women's room that was open for the public was on the 4th floor, and you had to use the fire escape stairwell to get up there.
The toilet could be the setting for a horror movie, seriously.
There isn't any toilet paper, so remember to bring tissues with you whenever you go to Hang Out.
See! I told you Ambam and I have the same posture! I'm not carrying a hated bag, as you can see. I brought along a book (the new edition of The Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi, READ IT, it's BRILLIANT) just in case I got bored.
More photographs of Hang Out.
The stairwell. Yeah, I like to take random photographs, obviously.
Outside the window.
Going back to the show.
On the ground floor of Hang Out.
Now here's where the bad shit begins. During the show, there were these horrible Americans that I tried to ignore. The first group was three whites and one Chinese American (we call them ABC -- American-Born Chinese -- here). I wanted originally to videotape them because they were acting so dorkily but I thought I'd be nice and not shame them on the Internet. They looked like the kind of losers who get beaten up and bullied in the US. Like, overweight, bad clothing choices, smelled like toe jam and when they were "rocking out," they made devil horns and started stabbing the air with both hands like barbecue was falling from the sky. The fattest white one was doing this really weird thing where he looked like he was snatching at mosquitoes. The tech crew and I were kind of laughing at them, but again, I wanted it to be a positive experience last night, so I didn't really pay them too much attention.
Now, King Ly Chee came on, and they played as they normally do, with lots of energy and skill. Riz, the lead singer, is pretty good at riling up a crowd but that motherfucker (I'm sure this term is a compliment to him) moves so fast that I couldn't take a good photo (not that any of my photographs are any good, I guess). Sorry.
Anyway, I could see that Riz was getting frustrated because the crowd was quite passive. I want to discuss this as objectively as possible first. Hong Kong University is one of the top schools in Hong Kong, if not the top school. That means that the people who get in are nerds, and there's nothing wrong with that. However, they are not going to be the same kids who go to Hidden Agenda and try to destroy the overhead airconditioner. It's like expecting engineering students from MIT to wild out, you know?
I understand how frustrating it is for bands, especially hardcore ones, who need to whip up a crowd in order to have a great show. Hong Kong's middle and upper class kids have been raised to be polite and law-abiding, which is why this city is so great to live in. But yes, it means that it's a lot of work to get them to mosh and go nuts.
It's not like China where the crowds get really rowdy. I've been to a show where some overexcited punks literally hurled their friend to the stage like a cannonball or something. I think the dude broke his nose landing, there was a lot of blood, at least.
It would be great if these nice kids can let their hair down once in a while, of course, but I understand what's going on. I'll also admit that while I do dance and stuff like that, I don't go into the mosh pit. I wear really high heels, I don't like being touched, and I have a really sensitive sense of smell. These do not make moshing a pleasant experience.
Now, to continue, Riz shouted something like "We're a Chinese hardcore band!" and played a song. I won't go into the politics of this thing because there's a story behind the song, and I don't know enough of what's going on. Anyway, at the end of the song, Riz reiterated that King Ly Chee is a Chinese hardcore band, and then those retarded Americans began shouting, "USA! USA! USA!"
People were taken aback, even Riz said, "USA? Really?!" I was waiting for him to say something, but to my surprise, as a response to what those Americans said next (I couldn't hear), he said, "No one's hating on you." I hope that was sarcastic, Riz.
At that moment, I wanted to yell out, "FUCK THE US!" but Riz already started ignoring them and talking about something else. How fucking rude were those stupid fucking retards?? After a song about being Chinese, they had the fucking balls and rudeness to shout "USA" when back home, they're just a bunch of smelly World of Warcraft losers who cry when a frat boy looks at them. They're such losers that the only person who'll hang out with them in Hong Kong is a sellout ABC who has no friends, either.
The ABC ended up passing by me to retrieve his jacket from the riser (it had HKU Student Ambassador printed on it. OF COURSE an ABC would gladly suck every dick in his way in order to be the one appointed to hang out with white people). I ended up slapping him on the back and saying, "Fuck the US!"
ABCunt: What?
Me: FUCK THE US.
ABCunt: But it's because no one was moshing...[this is a blatant lie]
Me: So?? FUCK THE US. You're a fucking nation of terrorists!
ABCunt: No, we're the ones being attacked...
Me: And why is that? The US can fuck and suck a dick! FUCK THE US.
At that point, the tech crew started laughing, and there was this loud-voiced American who was standing behind me who just shut the fuck up. The ABCunt retreated, but I was honestly kind of dissatisfied because I really could have been more eloquent but my face was sort of numb from painkillers. I mean, really, "fuck and suck a dick?" Jesus, I can do better than that. I'm not twelve. Oh well. I hope I ruined his night.
Now that I've established that I'm that horrible, obnoxious person you're afraid to be around, I will say that I did avoid another fight last night, too. There was another couple of Americans standing in front of me, an ABC (Lord have mercy) and his white girlfriend (the ABC jackpot!). The ABC kept feeling her butt up -- or maybe he was looking for it because it was non-existent -- and then they made out. It was really disgusting, like watching two pigs fight over an apple. As you can tell, I'm not a fan of PDA, and really, if you're in a place like Asia, you should respect the local cultures and keep your disgusting behaviour private.
Anyway, again, I would have let bygones be bygones, but that chick caught a glimpse of me, and then for the rest of the night, she kept turning around to glare at me. Er...there is no way I'm interested in your midget big-headed boyfriend, you smelly dumb bitch. Seriously, that dude was 3/4 head and 1/4 body. He looked like he had a hiking backpack on his neck. I can't help if I'm hot (comparatively speaking, although that wasn't really difficult), and that ugly, frankfurter-assed (thank you, Ass Matrix, warning: link is totally NSFW) bitch can only find a Mr. Potatohead to fuck (ew).
I ended up pushing my hat back to glare back at her, and she quit looking at me. See? I do have self-control. In my younger days, I probably would have picked a fight, tsk on me for not being a good Buddhist back then. It's always a work in progress to be enlightened.
Anyway, now that we've established that I'm a bitch, back to the fun stuff. The last band was Reflector 反光鏡, a Beijing punk pop band. I LOVED THEM. They were so completely charming and fun onstage, pretending to masturbate on some dudes in the audience and trying to change their Beijing accent into a less fancy one and trying to speak Cantonese. They had the crowd screaming and dancing around.
And they win for the best stage patter. Normally, I hate it when singers talk because they usually say such boring shit, but 反光鏡 were so funny, it was fine.
I just want to take a moment in this already extremely long entry to say that (again, objectively) Chinese bands usually get better onstage much faster than Hong Kong bands. It's because there aren't as many venues in Hong Kong for local bands to perform and hone their craft. It's really unfortunate because there's so much talent here.
On the other hand, China is so huge that bands can just tour the country for a year, performing almost every week and perfect their performances and music (or, at least, learn to quit if they suck). So a Hong Kong band either has to stick it out for years here or completely uproot and tour China. It's a really tough choice to make, and it's really hard for people who have families to take care of.
Music is such a tough industry...I really feel sorry for musicians, sometimes.
Anyway, here's a photo of 反光鏡 and a YouTube video of one of their songs.
