Touming Magazine + Ashen + Masquerader + Napalm Death

Starting the night off at 8pm sharp were Touming Magazine, a somewhat leftfield choice who nonetheless ripped through four classic punk songs and two sped-up originals, and finished up at 8:09pm. Six songs in NINE minutes, and that included a brief changeover as 官靖剛 aka KingKong (Sleaze/Wayne's So Sad et al) jumped on guitar to give singer 洪申豪 more freedom to jump around. It was brief and I could've done with another couple more songs, but with four bands to get through, I guess time was still a factor.

Grindcore heavyweights Ashen hit the stage next and despite an 18-month long hiatus they were still as tight and brutal as I remember. Damn, I hope they start playing a lot more often!

The previous two bands got the audience up and moving, and Masquerader got them going nuts. On their second to last song, PoWei (Bazöoka/Total Disruption guitarist), did what many of us have wanted to do. Putting Masquerader's singer Andrew in his sights he vaulted from the guard-rail, tackling Andrew (still singing!) mid-air to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Mashed! When the pair picked themselves up, PoWei grabbed a guitar and joined the band for an amazing cover of Bazooka's classic Raw Noise Attack. Fuck yes, I love a good sing-along!!!

Three great local bands down and an audience that is now totally amped up. I'm crouching in the photo-pit, waiting for the curtains to open up to Napalm Death, and I'm both excited and nervous. Excited that I'm getting a frontrow view of this legendary band, and nervous that I might get my face kicked-in by the first stagedive.

Thankfully, despite there being plenty of stagediving, crowdsurfing and moshing I only came away with a few bruises (and these photos). Napalm Death were fucking amazing, and this was perhaps the best metal show I've seen in Taiwan. I've seen plenty, and yeah, it was that good! No sooner had they finished playing that I found myself wanting to listen to their set all over again. Fuuuuck!

Barney, Napalm Death's singer, did promise they'd be coming back to Taiwan soon. Time waits…