When Bob Log III returns to Taiwan for a tour next week, he wants to see some mayhem.
“I want to see people from Taiwan having so much fun that their hair gets messed up and they don’t even know it’s messy until they see photos of themselves the next day. You don’t have to get drunk but it’s got to be about letting go. Get sweaty, get messy!”
Log himself knows a thing about messy. He’s a one-man band that plays punk-influenced rocking Delta blues on a slide guitar and foot drum with snares and cymbals while dressed in a cannonball suit and wearing a full-face helmet with a mic in it — often with a girl or three bouncing on his knee. How is this physically possible?
Photo courtesy of Bob Log III
“Guitar gives me a power,” he said. “Like the mother lifts a bus off of a baby, guitar gives me that adrenaline.”
Log hopes that Boob-Scotch, his concert tradition of people dipping their nipples into glasses of whiskey, will go over well: “The whole thing is, it’s not for only girls to put their boobs in my drink. It’s for everyone in the room to put their boobs in everyone’s drinks: big boobs, small boobs, hairy boobs, man boobs, woman boobs, all the boobs.”
If he ever quit his job as a one-man band rock star, he could become a stand up comedian. His quips during the interview had me in stitches. I would pay good money to just listen to him spin out an anecdote, though seeing him perform live is even better.
Photo courtesy of Bob Log III
He heads to China next, where he’s been promised a trip to a go-kart track in a bar on top of a high-rise in Shanghai. Gather your wits, Taiwan, and let’s see what we can come up with, because he’s hoping for something weird to do here, too. You can post ideas on his Facebook wall at www.facebook.com/BobLog3.
■ Bob Log III plays Wednesday from 10pm at Revolver, 1-2, Roosevelt Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路一段1-2號). Admission is NT$400 in advance or NT$500 at the door; Thursday from 9pm with Jack Conqueroo at The Mercury, 46 Liwen Rd, Zuoying Dist, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市左營區立文路46號), NT$300; Friday May 10 from 11pm at Tin Pan Alley, 28, Beimen Rd Sec 2, Greater Tainan (台南市東區北門路二段28號), NT$150; and Saturday May 11 from 5pm to 10pm with La Cumbia Balkanska and David Chen and the Muddy Basin Ramblers at Taipei Artist Village (台北國際藝術村), 7 Beiping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市北平東路7號). NT$400 in advance and NT$500 at the door.
Heads up to all of you who wanted to catch La Cumbia Balkanska, Funky Brothers and Liger Attack at May Jam this weekend: The concert has be postponed until June 7, 8 and 9 due to the possibility of torrential rain.
Photo courtesy of Bob Log III
■ May Jam, June 7, 8 and 9 from noon to 10:40pm Saturday and Sunday at Hu Tou Pi Scenic Area (虎頭埤風景區) 36, Ln 42 Zhongxing Road, Sinhua District, Tainan, Taiwan (台南市新化區中興路42巷36號 ). Admission is NT$300 for a one-day pass or NT$550 for the weekend, and there is a free shuttle bus to the venue from Sinhua Bus Station. On the Net: www.mayjam.com
American Christian metalcore band As I Lay Dying performs at The Wall tonight with Infernal Chaos and one of my favorite death metal bands, Solemn (恕). If you’ve never heard a woman do that Satanic-sounding guttural roar this is your chance. It’s especially awesome when vocalist Tofu Lee (豆腐) speaks in a soft, pretty voice between songs and then goes back into the throat-tearing, soul-destroying death growl.
■ As I Lay Dying with Infernal Chaos and Solemn, doors at 7pm, show from 8pm tonight at The Wall (這牆) from 11:30pm to 5:30am, B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Admission is NT$1,500 presale and NT$1,700 at the door.
England’s extreme metal veterans Cradle of Filth are also playing tonight, with Taiwanese hard-rock metal band Gunpowder. Cradle of Filth have experimented with symphonic black metal, most notably on the album Damnation and a Day (2003), but generally stick to gothic themes. The title track of Nymphetamine (2004) was nominated for a Grammy award. Though they use biblical references — Darkly, Darkly Venus Aversa (2010) is a concept album about a demonic Lilith (Adam’s first wife) — they are decidedly anti-religion and have put out a T-shirt that depicts a nun masturbating. The group’s more recent albums, Midnight in the Labyrinth and The Manticore and Other Horrors are based on mythology and feature more punk and hardcore riffs from lead guitarist Paul Allender. Fans should check out his art project Vomitorium: The Dark Art Of Cindy Frey And Paul Allender.
■ Cradle of Filth with Gunpowder, doors at 6pm, show from 7pm tonight at Y17 Youth Activity Center (青少年育樂中心), 10F, 17, Renai Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市仁愛路一段17號10樓) Tickets are NT$1,000 to NT$2,400.
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