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Live Review from Underground 87:
Setlist:
- 圓 Circle
- 給所有絕望的人 - 彼岸 - To Those in Despair - Paradise -
- 情書 Love Letter
- Bisexual
- 囚蝶 The Caged Butterfly
Japanese Visual Rock, for some reason (or many reasons not widely acknowledged), carries a rather negative connotation in Hong Kong. And this may be the cause that undermines and limits the growth of such bands within the local scene. However, amongst the very few Visual Rock bands that still stand today, Paranoid proves themselves as musicians whose music and musicianship reach far beyond their androgynous make-ups and costumes. What is more respectable about them is that they do stay true to their own belief - make friends with music.
The band also manages to present their whole set with energetic stage performance - the frontman eliciting adequate call-and-responses with the audience, and the whole band bending and headbanging more or less in unison during heavy interludes. Music-wise their songs are glamorous, bitter and sometimes confrontational, gracefully decorated with the vocalist’s occasional high pitched singing that resembles Hyde from L’Arc~en~Ciel.
There is still a long way for them to go; but at least they have already landed gigs in Tokyo, and soon will they tour Japan again.
Performances:
