A reader asked for more Chemical People quite some time ago....Possibly well over a year but up until recently I'd only been able to find albums that had already been posted here. So if that reader still checks in here (which is unlikely as number and regularity of posts have been cuts mainly due to time constraints) and blogger have made finding drafts unneccessarily difficult.
Decided pretty much at the last minute that seeing Canada's D.O.A was a worthwhile investment. On the other side of town a bunch of NZ bands were playing at the homegrown festival, the only name that caught my eye were Die! Die! Die! and The Clean and it was about four times the price of the touring international band.
Arrived towards the end of Rogernomics set, who I walked out on due largely to not being in the mood for shouty type hardcore. Getting money from an ATM for potentially buying merchandise seemed like a better idea than standing around and watching a band I wasn't into.
Above: The Dead Scene
Next up were three piece band The Dead Scene. I dug these guys who seemed to make good use of two vocalists.
The drummer in Black Lick didn't need to alter his kit between The Dead Scene and Black Lick's set because he drums for both band. Black Lick opened with a song called horoscopes and due to fellow blogger, Brushback's commment that some of their early material was reminiscent of the Hard-Ons I couldn't help thinking the comparison was bang on for that particular song. Most people moved forward for these guys who later in the set threw out copies of their latest single. Didn't manage to get a copy.
Above: Black Lick
D.0.A. are basically Joey and two guys young enough to be his grandkids. I don't recall ever actually hearing a full D.O.A but much like The Vibrators. It turned out I knew a number of songs and Joey's stage presence mimicked those of Hendrix (playing the guitar with the teeth) and The Who period Pete Townshend(windmilling). The mixture of older and newer material worked well. An encore was played which included a version of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues.
Back to post while between earthquakes. A while back I was asked to post some NZ metal so here is some from an 80's band called Stonehenge with a rare beast entitled Wings of Steel. Stonehenge.
I was never a fan of Wellington metallers Backyard Burial but this story is a horrific happening.
Thee Michelle Gun Elephant were a rawkus garage rock band from Japan. Some internet sites would make you believe they were the biggest rock in Japan. Well, I don't know about that however there are definitely huge crowds in the live clips on the "Film Stars Not Dead" DVD I picked up.
I found this singles collection in the Japanese owned Sogo department store in Taichung, Taiwan and bought it based on a recommendation and was rewarded. I've lost the cover so the above picture is the back cover. I've looked around the internet for more information on this release but couldn't find any. It appears it may have been a Taiwan only release.
If you're astute and followed this blog for a while you may have noticed that a couple of all woman bands from Asia featured in the form of Taiwan's BB Bomb and Japan's Thug Murder. The Gaia were an all female Japanese band that were knocking around in the mid 90's. They made their way over to the States and played Gilman Street(which is a legendary venue due to weighty fanzine status but probably a shithole that's actually no different to many other venues) and recorded a few live songs on this half studio album. Anyway the Gaia play speedy ripping punk rock which really should be heard by everyone interested in such things. It's a shame there's not to much info around about these girls.
I don't know a whole lot about this Virginia metal band and there's not much info out there in cyberspace. Anyway they're a three piece and have a sound somewhere between Bay Area thrash metal and some of the metaller 80's US punk stuff. The album, Ire is made up of studio and live track plus a cassette only release.
