Their show at Shinjuku Loft in Tokyo last week was no different. They stormed the stage, with guitarist Victor Silveira attacking his axe almost before he secured it around his shoulders. With the words "WE LOVE JAPAN" scrawled across his chest, he molested the strings as vocalist Alfonso Pinto ("Al Zeimer") moaned and screeched into the mike, thrashing and flexing in a state somewhere between epilepsy and euphoria. |
The audience seemed to know them well already, and after close inspection, it was easy to see that most of this crowd was part of the spectacle the Parkinsons created at Fuji Rock last year and were in need of another dose of nihilism. They waved T-shirts and banners, screaming their approval directly to the band members by name. Al and the boys were more than happy to deliver, slamming into two of the most brutal numbers off of their debut. Al tried to stop the revelry for a moment to gush on and on about their Japanese fans, but it isn't long before Victor shouted "Shut the FUCK UP!" And into their album's hard-hitters they go, starting with ﾐ appropriately - "Too Many Shut Ups" and then (my personal favorite) "Angel in the Dark". Al and Victor start to bruise early, banging their foreheads incessantly on their mikes and mike stands. The front of the stage became a sea of elbows and sweat, all throbbing with a threatening inertia as Al surfs across the crowd for what seems like the seventh time. He then sings the next two songs with the mike cord wrapped around his neck, through his mouth and across the bridge of his nose. With barely enough room to reach his mouth, the mike flopped and dangled around the bulging veins around his throat.
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 A few new numbers were wedged in (Enemy, Under Class and Kill Today), along with a few tunes dedicated to the late, great Joe Strummer. But it was events like their finale that earn the Parkinsons their reputation as the maddest motherfuckers in punk today. Their CD, "A Long Way To Nowhere" ends with the long, meandering "Scientist" and the straightforward chant of "Bad Girl". So did their show in Shinjuku, but not without the appropriate spectacle. I won't go into the details, so let's just say that the show ended with over twenty people thrashing about onstage, with Victor in the crowd and Al hanging from the rafters, his pants at his ankles, wagging his pride and joy for all to see. Even after he zipped up, the chaos ensued for yet another five-to-ten minutes, with members of the audience playing Victor's guitar, crowd-surfing or both at the same time. |
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The Parkinsons in Japan
The Parkinsons (20th Jan. @ Shinjuku Loft) with Beehive & Wakusei and JIGHEAD : photos by saya38 and review by jinki, michael, and nob
The Parkinsons (24th Jan. @ Kitami Yuyake Matsuri) with TRICYCLE, HEADROCK and QUACK : review and photos by hanasan The Parkinsons (25th Jan. @ Obihiro REST) with Underground 13th Fliow, Jay's, Onion Bakudan and Accel Tribe : review and photos by hanasan The Parkinsons (26th Jan. @ Asahikawa Casino Drive) with DEFLEXION & ZARIGANI5, Accel Tribe, The Johnny Boys : review and photos by hanasan The Parkinsons (27th Jan. @ Sapporo Bessie Hall) with Lolita No.18 (JPN & ENG), HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, ZARIGANI5 and Wakusei (JPN & ENG) : review and photos by hanasan The Parkinsons (4th Feb. @ Nagoya Apollo Thatre) : manga report by chika The Parkinsons (6th Feb. @ Juso Fandango) with Wakusei : photos by hanasan The Parkinsons (6th Feb. @ Juso Fandango) : photos by ikesan The Parkinsons (20th Feb. @ Kyoto Takutaku) : photos by hanasan The Parkinsons (20th Feb. @ Kyoto Takutaku) : photos by maki |
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tour infomation - http://smash-jpn.com/parkinsons.html
The official site:
The album info : |
THE PARKINSONS@ Shinjuku LOFT (20th Jan '03)