Tag: andy

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Hocico – Electrowerkz

I took a trip to Electrowerkz to see Hocico with Smith. I’ve been to Electrowerkz a number of times, I really like it. It would have been good to stay for the Slimelight club but I had some stuff on early the next day and so we left after the gig.

First up were Spawn Of Psychosis.

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Spawn Of Psychosis

This was the best shot I could be bothered to try and get of the band. They were shit. Seriously, they were terrible. The guitar solos were painful and the rest of the band didn’t do much better. Perhaps they’d just had a bad day but I really wouldn’t want to see them again. Having just googled their name it turns out they are from Maidstone, my nearest town. That’s a shame. I don’t think even my local interest would have saved this review!

The next band were called Biomechanimal. Here’s the best shot I have of them:

Biomechanimal
Biomechanimal

These guys were better. Much better. The songs were quite enjoyable. I can’t remember any specifics, which is a shame. Perhaps the terror of the first band hadn’t quite worked its way out of my head.

Finally we were treated to Hocico. These two guys are cousins from Mexico. Their music seems reasonable, but the vocals are quite distorted on the studio albums so I wasn’t sure how enjoyable they would be live. Here’s what they look like:

Hocico_OfensorWorldTour2016

I definitely remember the song “Sex Sick” and some others from the recent album. Overall they were pretty good. The played for 90 minutes which was probably too long. There wasn’t a great deal of variation in their music and beat.

Hocico
Hocico

As you can see, I didn’t really go out of my way to try and get great photos. I was concentrating on listening and dancing rather than when to take the best shot. Also, the lighting at Electrowerkz tends to all come from behind the stage, there’s a low ceiling in front, and so it’s quite hard to photo.

The singer of Hocico had plenty of energy and was drinking wine on stage which I don’t think I’ve seen before. At least the wine was offered out to the front row.

Hocico were good and I enjoyed it. The atmosphere was really good. I’m looking forward to seeing them again at M’era Luna, should the timetable allow.

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Akira

A few days ago I went to see the film “AKIRA” at the National Film Theatre on the South Bank. It was part of a Sci-Fi series of films they are showing. I have already rated it on IMDB because it is of my favourite films.

By the pure definition of my IMDB rating system Akira gets 10. This was the first time I have seen the film in a cinema but I have purchased it in many formats, VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray. I have the books. It is a film I have watched many times.

I think I first saw this film in around 1990 or 1991 or so. I remember John had a copy and we must have watched it one evening. I was instantly fascinated. It was a cartoon, hand drawn, but it was violent, it was futuristic, it had biker gangs, it had teenage angst, it looked bloody brilliant and I didn’t understand what the fuck was going on. Until that point cartoons had always been childish, happy, Disney and Looney Tunes. They left me nostalgic for my childhood and growing up. Cartoons used to be innocent, but incidentally full of violence. Akira changed all that. It, whatever it meant, was DIFFERENT.

I went and bought it on VHS.

Akira – the story of a post world war Tokyo where the government struggles to maintain power, religious sects rebel, biker gangs fight each other, the military experiments on telekinesis subjects and it all goes to shit-town. Who is Akira?

Every time I watch this film I see new things. I notice new stories. I am amazed by the ending. There aren’t many films that do this. I thoroughly recommend watching this but be prepared to be shocked and freaked out.

My next main memory of the film was living at Winchendon Road with the Fulham Five. Rich and I must have watched Akira at some point, it’s always worth seeing once every few years. This ANIME thing was rare, different, exciting and “underground”. Rich had read the story when it was released in magazines and we quite likely spent a while discussing the film, while wearing sunglasses in a dark room and with Megadeth playing. So, we found other Manga films, most notably

Urotsukidoji

It is at this point that you realise that Anime and Manga is different. It is great stuff but is quite likely to mess your head up a bit. None is the sort of film to show your parents.

Here’s a problem: Akira was my first Anime film. Akira is probably one of the best Anime films. Therefore, most films I see after that always fall short. I love the Japanese animation films. They still excite me and simultaneously make me question everything and I struggle to understand what it happening quite often.

A good Anime film leaves you stunned at the action and amazed by the story.

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