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Message from The Sleeves about CD3 Release Party A:
Bee It’s always great to see a packed Hong Kong bar, filled with enthusiastic music fans, rocking out to Hong Kong music.
Keith It was a great atmosphere and a great night. The sound system at The Cavern was fantastic and everyone was getting into the music. In fact it was the perfect way to celebrate the CD and our first year with The Underground. Here’s to many more !
Live Review from Underground 92:
Setlist:
1. Sex Museum
2. Weekend
3. The Killer
4. Stockholm
5. Totalitarian Love Song
6. Space Dogs
7. Mirror
The “loonies” proceeded to take the stage, but like some of the best acts they made you wait (okay, that was mainly because they had some technical difficulties, but they didn’t seem too cut up about it, so…) When they began playing, the numerous Stooges comparisons I’d read in relation to them seemed to be appropriate - there was a fuzz aplenty (Big Muff was king), akin to the late, great Mr. Ron Asheton. But dare I say, they bear an even closer (much less obvious) kinship with the New York Dolls of yore. The dynamic between the two axmen was reminiscent of that between Syl Sylvain and Johnny Thunders on stage (it also helped that Special K’s guitar sounded remarkably like Thunders’…oh, and that he was wearing what seemed to be a black skirt. Very fetching.)
Now, despite there not being their usual hoi polloi, it would be an understatement to say that they really got the crowd going. Certainly, the singer’s willingness to don the undies (which had been through a torrid time, being buffeted around constantly on and off stage), and dancing in the crowd to face the band, and get the audience singing along, helped their cause. By the 3rd song’s end Special K was persuaded to take off his t-shirt, revealing the “skirt” to be a black dress (not exactly Audrey Hepburn, but not far from it either). There were jungle beats scattered around in some songs, with some remarkably versatile moods to each song reminiscent of Mink DeVille at their peak. Stockholm in particular, had an anthemic chorus (with shades of The Ramones’ Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World.) We were treated to Space Dogs, apparently written the previous night, followed by the closer, Mirror, sung by their (very good indeed) second voice, and all too soon, it was over.
Shashwati
Live Review from Underground 80:
The Sleeves is a five-piece band with the signature of Iggy Pop/Stooges written all over them. They said it themselves on their own myspace. But it’s true, from the muscle tone, the guitar fuzz to the simplicity of their tunes, it’s obvious they love this sound, which is very Stooges-feel. Nonetheless, it’s all a matter of delivery. Frontman Turkish was a dripping piece of energetic hard rod with the voice of a rock and roll hero, he moved around, dance with their fans, and took off his shirt “as a tribute to Iggy Pop”. One interesting fact about the evening is every band brought a huge pile of fans. With The Sleeves, we had fans wearing home-made band T’s, and cheering on for every song, which clearly gave each band more feedback to drive them harder. Nice. Guitarist Special K wore a white dress and a Thai ethnic headwear, which apparently he wore before in other gigs. He went on to sing a rather poppy tune about love. The Sleeves prepared a long set that first ended with the very lovable “Sex Museum” with the typical Stooges simple chords, and gave back to the crowd with an encore called “Sex & Violence” when Turkish got the whole house chanting sex (women) and violence (men) to his signal. This is rock and roll plus entertainment at its best.
Bun Ng
Performances:
