Rock It Festival

Rockit 2

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Click here for pictures    Click here for Rockit Youth
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On the sunny weekend of 22nd October Hong Kong experienced its incredibly well-known event that passed sound waves other than honking cars, drilling concrete and loud gibberish. 'Rockit2' came again bringing with it old favourites, new talents and a whole load of fun. It was a rare site in Hong Kong… picnic mats on green grass, hippy skirts, rock star shades, heavy metal divas, barbecued delicacies, kids mosh-ing, every head bobbing, and every foot beating rhythms. It's something that was definitely worth being part of.

THE ACADEMY
Justin - Guitar, Tom - Vocal, Paul - Drums, Dave - Bass
The band started off with Tom and Dave forming a band called 'Kid Zero' in HK's very own Island School at the age of 13/14 years old. With guitarist, Justin and Paul on drums they managed to form 'a great marriage of musical styles' as quoted from Tom. They were a favourite among the crowd with a mix of classical rock and modern electronic. There are only 8 notes in this world and so a lot has already been done. What is left to do is to come up with new and cool ways of doing rock`n'roll and they certainly trying to live up to that.

MALFUNCTION
Identities withheld…
Dressed in white overalls and cardboard boxes on their heads with Chinese calligraphy or smiley faces drawn on, each song they played they'd flip a page stuck on a box's front to reveal some other ridiculous smiley face. A lot of people left the marquee during their performance only to return when the heavy, loud shouting, punk sounds of the 'Climax' began. Malfunction's sound is seems unrefined and sketchy. Some songs were loud and heavy, others, mellow and chilled. Malfunction's obviously not designed to stand the test of time.

THE 5, 6, 7, 8's
(Un-interview able)
Jap-pride! That is all I have to say. These ladies certainly met the expectations of the people. Gaining that little fame off the ever so trendy Original Soundtrack of Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' these guys were one of the biggest highlights of the day. During set-up and sound check crowds had already gathered. It was impossible to get to them but the experience of watching these women live was great enough. They brought with them their sound of retro, unconventional and classic rock. By the end there was a call for encore and a line of VIP's, press, old and new fans anxious to meet absolutely anyone from the band for photos and autographs. These girls should never be missed and if they ever come back I predict an even bigger audience.

KA HILL KATORA
Arthur - Vocal, Wattie - Drummer, Screach - Bass, Dr. Adam - Electronics, Greg - Guitar
These guys had an interesting sound mixed in to their electro, but the use of two little castanets was a very interesting feature to the performance. As night fell the marquee turned into a light show as the band played on. With their philosophy of no boundaries to music we can expect to see a lot more of them with upcoming gigs and an album that they are hoping to release. Following favourites like Pharell Williams (of N.E.R.D.) and Outkast to break tradition, these guys strive to make melodic rock'n'roll. Their name apparently was just a spontaneous result of one of the band members drunken night out.

THE COOPER TEMPLE'S CLAUSE Didz - Bass, Tom - Electronics/ Bass/ Vocal, Den - Lead singer, Fisher - Guitar, John - Drums, Kieran - Keyboard Formed whilst still at school, these guys came together with a love for music. Taking the headline spot with smoke machines and light filters they set the scene and they were impressively loud and performed with such a cool attitude. The rough voice of Den somehow harmonises with everything else despite the daunting heavy sounds. The fans rocked hard with crowd surfing in true festival style. The rest stood witness to an amazing band capable of producing great music. Didz explained that they were just a guitar band and were open to any form of influence that even when Tom and Fisher comes up with the ideas the band would often not stick to their own instruments in making the
track. These guys know what they want to do; with a desire to be different they really do just go for it. When asked what they thought of Hong Kong they said they consider it as a second home and that they really hope to see all of us again. Let keeps our finger crossed for Rockit3.

DIVE DIVE

Ben - Guitar, Jaime - Vocal/Guitar, Tarrant - Bass, Nigel - Drums
Their performance was definitely loved by all with the vocalist, Jaime explaining that one song was for Bill Murray (Lost in Translation), another about a guy trying to break the land speed record in his own car. Their sound was pretty standard but a tried and tested method of getting the crowd jumping. They loved the place, the buildings but especially the crowd. They felt (unlike a lot of crowds in many functions like these) 'they were not here to judge'. It added all the more fun to their performance, the crowds there were to listen and enjoy. Jaime added with a broken voice, "We'll be back and my voice will be back. If we ever do a world-tour HK will definitely be on our list." I think we can all look forward to that.

NUDE
Though not on the main stage, Nude managed to draw a crowd that rivaled some acts by pretty much filling the tent to capacity. Many people try to describe the music of Nude, but one word's not enough. It is really a mixture of individual musical styles that are blended together to create a sound that both grooves and carries the listener as a sort of passenger through the song. Like all good bands, the music creates the atmosphere, and the atmosphere around Nude's performance makes you listen to the music but also experience it on several different levels.

AUDIOTRAFFIC
The world 'Battle of the Bands' winners Audiotraffic was a much awaited performance. I had an opportunity of grabbing five minutes before their show. The band formed nearly 7 years ago in 1998. They recorded in both Hong Kong and London but faded out for a little while only to resurface as one of the best bands in Hong Kong. Wu Ju would be their second bassist and Masaki, their fourth drummer. While the three love sounds from Radiohead, Mused and Manson, the drummer brings in his likes of post-rock jazz and hip-hop but in the end 'All music we escape to we just combine,' commented Adrian. On the whole event of Rockit they could only see it getting better. It was the right direction for bands, artists and music overall in HK and it is much needed in the all MTV music industry of today. The chance of being able to see new bands with old bands and gathering with friends, music lovers from all over just makes a great atmosphere. More events such as these are needed in HK to get on the musical map, and who wouldn't agree to that?