After its first glorious instalment, Fungjai's Hedsod concert series made a comeback last Saturday. As expected, the indie-minded series managed to shine even brighter this time around.
With Sriracha Rockers, Yellow Fang, Part Time Musicians, DCNXTR and Summer Dress, it was already enough to lure in serious music fans to fill Voice TV Studio. Hedsod #2, however, went one step beyond by succeeding to convince the in-hiatus Goose to return to the stage after an almost 10-year absence. It was the thought of seeing these experimental rockers in their full glory one more time that caused the show to be sold out with days to spare — a rarity for Thai showcases.
Let me get other bands out of the way before I attempt to describe what it was that Goose did which was so magical and touching.
Sriracha Rockers' brand of Thai dub was driven their genius singer Win, and their time signature and soulful manoeuvrings. The all-female band Yellow Fang has been a permanent fixture in the non-mainstream music world. If you wanted to build an indie girl band, this would probably be your prototype. Their performance, however, was just OK. There was nothing to write home about, especially comparing the strong musicality of others throughout the night. Part Time Musicians did what they do best, delivering soothing music, which made me thankful to DCNXTR who took it up a notch with their dark electro. Summer Dress proved to be the surprise of the night as these unlikely young lads drove home their passion with such conviction you couldn't help but fall in love with them.
But the night belonged to Goose. I am sick of bad band reunions, especially those who are doing it for fatter bank accounts or others who reunite every other two months. And it is true some defunct bands are best left alone. But not Goose.
I was elated when I first heard the news, but a part of me was also scared that they would tank under such high expectations and intense anticipation. They left when they were supposed to leave, and for the past decade they were unicorns. Often praised and yearned for but never seen. Goose was a memory, standing for the best the humdrum Thai music industry could offer, but the problem with a cherished memory is you never want it to be tarnished. So sometimes, you're quite reluctant to bring it back to life again.
And it was a risky move to return since the members have all parted ways amicably, and done well in their chosen careers beyond Goose. They could have been the subject of ridicule, taking away from their solid reputation. The worrywart in me shouldn't have fretted for Goose, calm and composed, didn't let anyone down and the band's winning ingredient was their collective naturalness. Never ones to try hard, Goose took the stage like they had never left, with as little movement as they possibly could. Using volume to their advantage, Goose still paid attention to the fine details of their technicality.
The band didn't exactly follow patterns as they didn't open nor close with expected hit numbers, but they arranged the entire set list according to mood. Emotional, fearful and spellbinding, Goose devised that fateful hour with 13 songs to show us all that there could also be hope for Thai music, and once in a blue moon, a band like theirs will show up and change everything as well as spawning a generation of daring musicians who understand commercial success isn't always the answer.
I'm not certain if I wanted Goose to reform, and release new music. But for one night, they were all they needed to be.
The crowd enjoying DCNXTR.
Part Time Musicians.
