30.12.03

'I am not a weak person... I can tell you that I have never had any fears and I will win this fight,'

Well, Saintface finally had what they claim will be their last gig of 2003 (I'll believe THAT in 2 days), and it was a true test for the band in that they were plagued (and I mean PLAGUED) by technical difficulties that reminded me of the aggression's 2001 comeback gig in NYC. However, I think the 'Face's problems stemmed from the fact that there was incompetence at work at this venue, Sin-E (most famous recently in mogworld as the place where Irene and Anna watched Ed Norton play guitar), and the soundperson basically was either totally new to the club or a homeless person just brought throught the door. There was just too many problems for it to be a regular club problem. HOWEVER, as Irene astutely pointed out, to their credit, the face never missed a note or a beat and were able to keep the energy going. i can relate that it is terribly frustrating to have your momentum fucked with like that, and knowing Peter, I could see the energry draining from his face towards the end, but this is a true test of a band and these guys passed with flying colours. I was also very happy to see the guitar player is REALLY coming into his own and is really becoming a solid presence onstage with the 'Face. He was worth the wait.

They ended with YOU BELONG TO ME again, which confirms my suspicion that this will make it to the album. If not, a cover of it will end up as a hidden track on the new Hypefactor. You've been warned, Peter. Just go finish the goddamn album already, or at least give me the rough mixes to keep me happy. Please.

Peter also serenaded my little sister during this gig and implied several times from the stage that she was with child. She is about 80 lbs soaking wet, so I am confused, yet supremely entertained by this. I was going to ask him what that was all about, but I think I enjoy the mystery much more...

Anna and G went on their way, but Irene and stuck around to check out My Favorite, who have a bit of a buzz these days. I'm happy to say it was worth the wait, as they were quite good. We didn't stick around for the whole set, but I did buy Irene the CD (which I had been contemplating before she expressed her interest). My Favorite are quite good in what we in the MOGpac would call a "John Hughes" kinda way. It's very 80's soundtracky with a solid band and an excellent young lady, Andrea, doing lead vocals. The bassist occasionally dabbled in a Tones on Tail basstone and the guitarist, who looked like he stepped out of my old High School, was VERY good. I feel bad for the accordian player though, he looks quite bored and upset, but was really good on the 2 songs he was allowed to play on. However, the weak link, believe this or not is the main guy, who sings and plays keyboards. He was like everyone one of those Jon Cryer characters from the 80's who never got the girl and then in his 30's decided to start a band. I hate to say this, cause it's obviously his fucking band, but he annoyed the shit out of me. i can't tell if he's doing this all tongue in cheek or not. Unfortunately he's all over the album, but is less annoying. But they should just let this girl sing everything, she's a gem. I won't rush out to see them (cause of this guy), but if they play with Saintface again, I'm sure we'll stick around. Maybe I can adjust. Sorry. I don't mean to sound like a douche here, its just that I really like the songs and the band and especially when the girl sings. ugh. Sorry.

My day starts off on a sad note, as I wake to see news photos of my hero Jackie Chan mourning the death of his friend the famous HK pop star/actress Anita Mui, who passsed away yesterday from complications of Cervical Cancer. Horrible. She was only 40. She moved me to tears when she acted opposite the also recently deceased Leslie Cheung in the classic ROUGE. She was BRILLIANT as Jackie's love interest in MIRACLES and hilarious beyond compare playing his stepmother (!) in DRUNKEN MASTER 2. She was supposed to be in Zang Yimou's next film with Andy Lau (who she shared the screen with in one of my old favourites SAVIOUR OF THE SOUL, which Irene recently bought for me on DVD), Zang Ziyi, and my current favorite Asian film star Takeshi Kaneshiro. This is a big loss for the HK film community and the world itself. That's her quote above...

F

No comments: