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Lamma Fun Day 24/11/2012.
by Nick the Bookman
O.K. Here we go again. It's Lamma Fun Day 2012 and the start of what's going to be a couple of weeks of music mania and mayhem. Weather permitting, or maybe not. The run-up to the first LFD in two years has been marked by unseasonable November weather. More akin to frigid February then the Indian Summer clear blue skies, out door aircon temperatures that usually make November the month that matters. It's a bit grey, but the rains seem to be holding off, unlike yesterday which saw the willing volunteers brave unseasonable drizzlespitty weather while building the stage and setting up all the other paraphernalia necessary to make such a happening and worthwhile gig, er happen in a worthwhile way. Right, that's enough introductory ctrap. On with the bands.
Bank Job are the brave stalwarts who open the day long show. I first saw this sextet perform at Clockenflap 2011 and their unique mex of reggae and indie rock tunes went down well that Sunday morning. I'm guessing that it's mostly the same set of tried and true material that's being played today. The band are Jason on lead vox. Bruce on sax and backing vox. Mike on guitar and backing vox. Pete on plain old lead guitar. Adam hammers the drum kit in a fine old controlled frenzy and Rob weighs in with the big bass lines. The sound veers from near drum and bass speed intensity to mournful late night haunting sax which could grace the soundtrack of "Taxi Driver". There's also nods to Lamma's last century funkrock collective Mothership which catch my ear. Or maybe, that's the Irish coffees doing their warm up act throughout my body. Sorry, I didn't get the song titles and this is a lukewarm review which isn't really doing justice to Bank Job's sizzling and wide-awake performance.
Jim and Les take their well-honed double dealing patter and auctioneer's act to the stage as Bus Uncle get set up. I'm wondering if they took their name from the recent viral video of an older Chinese gentleman berating a surly inferior on a bus. Anyway, most of their tunes are quite effective covers ranging from "Pretty Woman", "Parklife" by Blur and "Video Killed The Radio Star" by Buggles which prompts a small invasion of teenage kids having teenage kicks in front of the stage while mumble-babbling the lyrics they know. Bus Uncle are Andrew on vox. John on guitar. Mike on bass. Bill on drums and Simon on keyboards - the first keyboard band of the day. Oh, yeah, there's also the sexy siren Donna on guest femvox. A welcome return after her "retirement" a couple of years ago. My nearly illegible notes read they perform a fine mashup of old rock riffs and choruses (like "Sympathy For The Devil") in the set while bringing some original ideas to the table. Another warm round of applause when they finish their set.
Mari's nephew Pontus, who's visiting us for six weeks, has joined me and Finnish compatriot Pekka down on the beach with Mike and Jane from Song For Children. Mike has manufactured miracles in making hot toddies and mulled wine over a small fire. The end results are so warming and enjoyable that even now, I'se habbing trobble writhjing down these sintence in coherent and aesiley riddable fushen. So, kids, a lesson from this. Don't Drink and Think. It can cause Meihem in Ze Klasrum (which is a brilliant 1940's scifi story about how reducing the English alphabet down from 26 vowels and consonants to about 20 or so, is helping make English ëasier to understand). It's also screwed up my timeline of who is playing when...
So, did Transnoodle play before or after Bus Uncle? I can't remember and I've lost the lovely little flier that advertised all the bands and the groovy liner notes that summed them up. Anyway, they did play. John told me it's mostly a Greatest Hits set. Which is the best thing to do on a day like this. Magnus confides that he's got about three hours of drumming ahead of him. Besides, Transnoodle, he'll be on the stool for Dark Himaya and The Curs later in the day. Anyway, the 'noodle are John on guitar and vox. Kevin on bass. Matt on the low slung keytar. The Mysterious Mr. Tony on sax. (He's got another show in town tonight with his other band Thinking Out Loud). They start with their popular singalong for the kids "Bob, the Builder", which gets some of the adults crooning along. Maybe they could also learn "Thomas, the Tank Engine" as well. Then, there's "Down In The Deli", Ï Bury The Harbour", and a funkyish sort of version of some Michael Jackson tune. A highlight for me is their dedication to George Smiley with big boomchords and a sort of "Ghost Riders In The Sky" vibe. Great sax by Tony, evoking memories of Raven Ravenscroft (No relation to John aka the late John Peel). Raven did the big sax solo on Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" if anyone's interested. So that's the ska-funk-punk band sorted for the day.
Donna, fresh from her soaring singing performance is doing her best to buy everything in the auction. So far, she's got a recycled dress and a voucher for a funky haircut. The auction seems to be getting good bids. All in a good cause of course. The funds support the charity school for Nepalese kids outside Kathmandu which was sort of set up and is controlled/overseen by Douglas, the CWS founder. Anyway, Nepal. The Himalayas. Dark Himalayas. And a sweet segue into the next band. Er, sorry Nick. Nice flow, but the band is Dark Himaya, not Himalaya. O.K. I'll acknowledge the mistake and keep it in to brute force the flow. Yes, great mulled wine. Thanks, Mike and Jane. Time to get another bottle. Hey, whatever works.
Right, Dark Himaya. I saw their debut gig in the Island Bar about 4-5 years ago. Thought they showed great dark symphonic/melodic progress and never got around to seeing them again. Until today. The core of the band is Ivy on acoustic guitar and vox. Aileen on the sweeping Beauty In Darkness style keyboard melodies. John has stepped in for his second set of the day to provide the guitar licks.Rafe is understated but emphatic in his bass lines. Working well with Magnus to provide the rhythmic underbeat that holds the songs together and propels the other three to greater heights of inspiration. "Icarus" is the only title I hear and the story of the boy who dared to dream of flying to the sun, only to crash and burn in a sizzling feathersplat! is well served by the haunting performance. The finest prog session of the day. No contest!
There's a brief acoustic duet with Karen and Leigh. She's singing and he's on guitar. Three short tunes (unnamed? unknown?) followed by a finale of "C'mon, Feel Tha Noize" by Slade which unfolds at a stately measured pace brings their short and sweet set to a gratifying conclusion as well as being a harbinger of future sets to come. Is that tautologous? A superabundance of plethoric excessive verbiage or not? Or am I just milking the world count in practise for next week's mega performance at the West Kowloon Hub. Get the old typing fingers up to crash and burn rapid typing speed. Barkeep, another pail of ale please. It helps me lose all comfac of my mandulties.
Time to give Gareth all the praise he's due and much more on top. Several people have all said what a wonderful job he's done with the sound production. Everyone is tight and in the groove and his mixing is spot on. Clear and loud and not at all thwarted by the viciously mild crosswind wafting gently in front of the stage. Now, he's taking a brief break to play his bass with The Curs. The quixotic quintet are probably a little rough around the edges from extra-bar activities, but the set they perform is one they can all do sleepwalking. John Hutton is AWOL so the lunatic improv factor is not readily available. Harry plays acoustic guitar and sings. Leigh is on lead guitar. Davey does all the frantic fiddly bits. And Gareth and Magnus keep it all real and the customer satisfied with their tight-knit mesh of drums and bass grooves. The old favourites include "Folsom Prison Blues", Ï Saw The Light" and "Fixing-To-Die-Rag" by Country Joe + The Fish. And they even played "Plastic Jesus" for me, after I yelled for it a few times.
Mick, who's been selling books and DVD's has let me know that there's a shitload of both ready and waiting for me. Unsold copies and so I have to get a box and bag and trolley to cart them all home. I do, and find out I've missed almost all of Sue's set of dreampop crossed with gnarly blues guitar and white noise freakouts. At least, that's how I think she and her band (name?) were described in the flyer. I can only offer many apo-low-gees for the bad timing of my dereliction of duty and a promise that no one is getting any sort of bad review for their charitable efforts on Power Station Beach today. So, Sue, you and your band know what you did and feel free to put your performance up at joint equal first with everyone else. It's treble harmonies and con-chords all round today and here's to the next gig down the road.
I've taken books etc. home and returned in time for the first guest band. It's Shotgun Politics and they're here to play selections off their debut release "Glow". They crash their eight-song set with all the fury of The Ramones and the style of say Eddie And The Hot Rods or The Only Ones. Basically it's The Sound Of The Suburbs CD from the late 80's with a few modern re-tweaks. It's a rip-roaring demolition derby of a set and leaves no fan unsmiling. Shotgun Politics are Timmy on guitar and vocals. Freddy on thunder drums and vocals. Jimmy pinning it all down on seismic bass while Kid does all the other guitar stuff that Timmy ain't doing. It's a charging head-down pedal-to-the-metal gig that warms the crowd up quite nicely. Timmy tells me later that I saw his previous band Hot Cakes and 55th at an Underground gig, ooh way back when. He and the band liked the review I gave them then. I hope this one is equally complimentary, coz that's pretty much all I got. My notes are in a mulled wine new region of illegibility, so fulsome praise is all I've got. Oh, wait. Buy "Glow" and put PSY the Korean "Gangnam" singer back in the bargain bin. He doesn't need your money that much.
Into the final straight and its Velvet Vendetta, another band who have achieved some soaring success in HK in recent years. Polish Eva says they remind her of Muse, especially when the singer "wails". She's quite right. They do and he does. This is not a diss. In fact, they turn in quite a glam/progrock performance and I'm enjoying it all as I push my laden trolley home from the beach before the rain threatens to come down. I'd love to stay longer, but my legs are mulled into a sense of relaxation and England are about to play Australia in rugby at 2230. So, down to The Island Bar where an undercooked England team lose by 14 points to 20 after leading 14-11 at half time. But that's a bummer to end on so let's finish with a glorious fanfare to announce...
Jim and Les Did the Biz. They coaxed and exhorted and maybe mugged punters out of sight. But their auction raised about HK$75,000 for the charity. A New Record! One of Harry's cartoon-cum-paintings went for HK$6,200. The biggest prize was a trip for eight to Nepal to stay with Doggie and see exactly what the Lamma Fun Day money is being spent on. The trip, valid anytime in the next 18 months, went for HK$18,000.
Good Work Fellas! See you all at Clockenflap on 1+2/12/2012.
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Last edited by Lamma-Gung on Mon Dec 24, 2012 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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