Orangegrass + Boyz&Girl + Mass of the Fermenting Dregs + Bloodthirsty Butchers + Shonen Knife

Bursting Core, who were responsible for tonight's event, certainly know how to hit the ground running. Their very first rock event and they pulled together five great post-rock/punk bands, two from Taiwan and the other three from Japan.

The night started with the Taiwanese contingent and I was keen to catch Orangegrass and Boyz&Girl again, but shows at The Wall start early and unfortunately I arrived just as Orangegrass were into their last song.

On to the Japanese bands and post-rock three-piece Mass of the Fermenting Dregs were up. For weeks prior to the show I barely listened to anything but MOTFD. Their songs have loads of catchy hooks and are overlaid with sweet, almost j-pop, vocals. Tonight they were super-tight and played a surprisingly hard and fast set, and with the bare feet, flailing hair and guitars hurled around wildly, this for me is rock at its finest. They were lots of fun to photograph too, but with so much motion many of my photos turned out blurry. Ah well, I won't be forgetting MOTFD anytime soon.

Next up were Bloodthirsty Butchers and I was looking forward to getting a few photos of them, however one song into their set one of The Wall's staff prodded me on the shoulder to tell me I wasn't allowed to take photographs. While that was a bit of a bummer, the band wasn't terribly lively or photogenic anyway. They're a great band, but after MOTFD I found them a bit dull on stage. I dug deep to find a single photo to use here.

The last band and certainly the most famous of the bunch was another three-piece, Shonen Knife. They've being doing this, albeit with a handful of line-up changes, since 1981 and I doubt I was alone in having reservations about whether they would still be on form. I shouldn't have been so cynical, as they proved without a doubt that they still truly kick arse! Song after song delivered at Shinkansen speeds and with seemingly inexhaustible energy - it was brutal! The crowd loved it and even I found myself joining the sizeable moshpit, camera raised high to avoid the sweat, beer and knocks. I managed to take a few sly photos, which luckily garnered some keepers.

A couple of smiley encores later and it was all over.

Japanese rock bands have a bit of a reputation for crazy live shows and boundless energy and that's what I witnessed tonight. Okay, perhaps Bloodthirsty Butchers were a bit lifeless but they still played a great set. I suppose it's worth mentioning that of the Japanese bands that played, the majority are female. If anyone was still of the belief that rock was a guy's game then they will surely have been enlightened tonight. It might be wrapped in cute smiles but the rock is no less fierce.

An unforgettable night and that it happened on my birthday (did I fail to mention that?) made it all the better for me. So stoked. More like this, Bursting Core!