Teenage Angst

Tank Warehouse + U.C.S. / Falling Daisy /Hello Monkey and others - 本色酒吧 / True Color Bar, DongMen – 26/04/09

It’s not quite the evening, but True Color Bar is so dimly lit that cigarettes gravitate like fireflies through the heavy darkness. Perhaps the management is trying to save electricity, I muse, watching the next band set-up. I have just sat through three or four short performances of mediocre western covers and pop punk wannabes and am wondering if there is going to be anything really worth reporting on. I look up at the band now on stage. The vocalist is immediately eye-catching; heavy-rimmed spectacles, piercings; he parades the stage inspecting his band mates amplifiers and coordinating a swift sound check. When ready, meandering between Mandarin and English he alerts the audience, then raises his fist and steps backwards. The band begins suddenly, heavier than the obesity epidemic, down tuned and confrontational. They are the aptly named, ‘Tank Warehouse.’

After a twenty minute set of ear-splitting hardcore rap metal, my heart is beating like a twelve year old who just discovered “Master of Puppets,” in his older brother’s record collection. I greet the singer, Liu Shuai, stepping of stage and we go for a chat. Behind the mildly satanic and bellicose demeanour, I discover a well spoken, mild mannered Shenzhen University student. A real life Jekyll and Hyde.

“My Dad was an English professor he tells me,” in American accented English. “He prefers British English because it’s more standard but as you can hear, I sound a bit American.”

“Why so?” I ask.

“I listen to so much American music. 80% of the music I listen to is metal. I sleep with headphones on.”

“What language do you sing in?” I had wanted to substitute sing for, growl, but refrained.

“English.”

This is a sticking-point for me as I tend to champion bands that sing in Chinese and do not just mimic their western influences. I tell him I think the best Beijing Rock is performed in Chinese.

“Beijing is a closed scene. I admire the Hong Kong attitude. We must face the world and be international. That’s why I sing in English. Our music is strongly influenced by the west.” Though I believe the Hong Kong music industry has a lot to answer for, ‘Tank Warehouse’ were tight, focused and(when compared with their contemporise on the student circuit) professional, so I let the issue slide.

“Do your parents like your music?”

“Actually they don’t know I play. They want me to concentrate on my studies.”

I am encouraged by this hint of rebellion - there is more to this outing than student geeks ripping of waiguo rock. The show had gone all afternoon. Kids got loose and crazy, crowd-surfed and stage dived whilst outside, oblivious shoppers sought deals on DongMen’s busy streets outside. Though most bands had been unoriginal and limited, the gathering had a real taste of an underground scene and if ‘Tank Warehouse’ are demonstrating anything, it’s that this adolescent scene can produce some talent (and maybe one day some innovation) if nurtured and given enough support. Thus, True Color Bar must be credited for hosting the show.

I ask Liu, “What plans do you have for the future.”

“Just keep going,” he replies.

Sincere, explosive yet imitative ‘Tank warehouse,’ do offer Shenzhen some genuine heavy metal, so if gruesome noise is what you’re missing, keep your ears to the ground and listen out for the sound of caterpillar tracks.
*** 3/5