FEATURES
‘The Wheel of Time’, ‘The Last of Us’, ‘The Sandman’: The Battle of the Adaptations is Heating Up
In many ways, adapting a beloved franchise for television is a thankless task. You’re often working with an unwieldy source material (be that a comic book, video game, or novel) that doesn’t easily translate into the episodic structure of TV. Plus, you’ve got to grapple with the high expectations of the fans — and their unmitigated fury if you mess it up. And it’s hardly a guaranteed win: for every Walking Dead, Watchmen, or Game of Thrones, there’s those that fizzle or flop, like Shadow and Bone, The Alienist, or, indeed, the much-hated final series of Thrones. Despite that, three of the giants of the streaming industry — Netflix, HBO, and Amazon — are betting on a trio of new re-workings of beloved franchises. Next month, Amazon launches The Wheel of Time, a sprawling, high-fantasy epic ...
Judas Priest’s Rob Halford on 50 Years of Metal, Handcuffing Andy Warhol, and Touring with Ozzy Osbourne
Fifty years of doing anything in the arts is impressive — even more so in popular music, and especially in heavy metal. It’s a rigorous and demanding genre, and certainly of a niche for faithful. But it’s proved resilient, welcoming to new directions and trends while continuing to revere its traditions and its long-haulers. Judas Priest have become the latest to join the golden anniversary club, and in its case a band that’s spent the past half-century rocking uninterrupted, weathering lineup changes and changing audience tastes. But anyone who’s seen the quintet as recently as this year’s “50 Heavy Metal Years Tour” — which came to an abrupt and unexpected stop on September 26th after guitarist Richie Faulkner suffered a ruptured aorta onstage and more than 10 hours of open heart surgery ...
10 Artists Who Changed Their Names Mid-Career
“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare wrote. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet was imagining a simpler life after rechristening her Romeo, but the principle would also apply if that rose were already trademarked, or the flower had a racist past, or that particular perfume reminded you of a life you’re ready to leave behind. Artists change their names for lots of reasons, but it is almost always a result of pressure — whether that be internal or external. If there’s one thing these moments of transformation have in common, it’s that they represent a pivot point for the musician — a dividing line, after which they will never be exactly the same. In that spirit of renewal, we’ve assembled a list of 10 artists who decided that another name would smell much sw...
Take a Closer Look at the HYPEBEAST Pokémon TCG 25th Anniversary Mong Kok Sino Centre Pop-up
The HYPEBEAST x Pokémon TCG 25th-anniversary celebration kicks off tomorrow, starting with the first Sino-Centre activation. Giving Pokémon fans an early look at the space, following our Charizard teaser and Hong Kong tram wrap, Mong Kok’s Sino Centre is a popular hot spot for anime/manga lovers, gamers, and card collectors and players alike. Located in the basement among the numerous card shops is our pop-up in spot B48. Channeling that nostalgic feeling for those that visited this basement arcade during their teenage years, especially those that grew up playing Pokémon TCG, this space will act as the first retail location for the collaborative apparel collection as well as the 25th-anniversary Pokémon TCG collection card packs. With doors opening at 1:30 p.m. HKT, those in the city will ...
Daniel Craig on Lessons Learned From Bond, and That Shocking Ending to ‘No Time to Die’
This article contains significant spoilers for No Time to Die. As No Time To Die continues its streak of domination at cinemas worldwide — to the extent that it’s being feted in some corners as the savior of the film industry — audiences and fans are having the chance to consider the film’s elegiac send-off to Daniel Craig, who is retiring from the role of James Bond. The film’s conclusion sees (spoiler alert) the first-ever time in the franchise’s almost 60-year history that Bond is killed off. It’s put a full-stop on Craig’s 15-year run and, while it has certainly divided critics and audiences, it also gives fans a chance to reflect on his mammoth role and dwell in the decades-long fantasy that Craig has given to the world of Bond. With the Daniel Craig-James Bond franchise com...
36 Musicians Predict the 2021-22 NBA Season
If it feels like the previous NBA season just ended, well, it sort of did. The Milwaukee Bucks triumphed over the Phoenix Suns, capturing the franchise’s second title in mid-July, and here we are in mid-October with the league ready to tipoff again. Once again, we polled music’s biggest NBA fans to give their takes on how the upcoming season is going to unfold. Unlike last season (more like 2019), we asked for some general thoughts, musing and predictions. As you’ll see in a moment, there are a lot of Lakers and Sixers fans (and they seem pretty optimistic about their team’s chances this season). Here’s what our musician panel had to say about the 2021-22 NBA season. Mark LaneganLos Angeles Clippers They finally made it to the Western Conference finals, which I never thought would hap...
HYPEBEAST Gears up for Pokémon TCG 25th Anniversary With Custom Hong Kong Tram
After covering its iconic trams in Pantone’s HK Tram Green, HK TRAMWAYS is back in the spotlight with a new wrap for HYPEBEAST’s Pokémon TCG celebration. A Hong Kong commuting staple, the Hong Kong tram has been in operation since 1904 and has a rough daily ridership of 180,000. Usually for those with time on their hands, the form of transportation cost just $0.35 USD, and to many, is the slower, scenic method of travel. From its first stop in Kennedy Town to the last station in Shau Kei Wan, each double-decker tram passes by each of the 180 stations on the Hong Kong Island and is part of the world’s largest fleet of trams at 165 vehicles. Celebrating 25 years of the trading card game, the custom tram makes its debut just days before HYPEBEAST‘s special activations in Mong Kong and Central...
The Rolling Stones Paid Tribute to Charlie Watts and Dusted Off an Old Favorite in Los Angeles: Review
“This is our 49th show in Los Angeles,” Mick Jagger was shouting. In a flash, the 70,000-capacity SoFi stadium quickly responded with a harmonious yell, building a call and response that even after 60 years, The Rolling Stones have stayed as the undeniable spearheads of rock ‘n’ roll — even if just for the night. Straight from the American leg of their rescheduled “No Filter Tour,” Sunday (October 17th) marked night two of the sold-out ring of Southern California shows, and it was anything but filtered. For roughly 120 minutes, the Stones secured their crowns as the “kings of rock.” Guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood plumped the evening with hard-hitting riffs, typical Jagger catwalks, and soul-infused backup vocals bringing a tight punch to classics like “Gimme Shelter” and “You Ca...
M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming Turns 10: An Enduring Era of Indie
I’ve heard M83’s “Outro,” the final track of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, in more TV commercials than I can count. Never mind the widespread usage in TV shows, films, and trailers: I’m talking strictly 30-60 second advertisements, the commercials you’d like to mute, tune out, or fast forward through. The usage of the song in media was arguably the most widespread around 2014, but even today, ten years after its release, music supervisors still gravitate towards “Outro” because of its humongous, cathartic climax, a waterfall of synths cascading into a vast cosmos of sound. Upon listening to Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming for the first time ten years ago, I doubt many people heard “Outro” and thought to themselves, “This is the sound of leasing a new Mazda.” Nevertheless, the song and album truly end...
Olympic Skateboarder Margielyn Didal Is Just Happy To Be Here
At only 22 years old, Margielyn Didal’s name is already etched in history. Her track record as a trailblazing Filipina skateboarder has brought immense pride to her country, and her latest stint at the Tokyo Olympics — where she impressively finished in seventh place in the women’s street skateboarding event — turned her into a crowd favorite. It wasn’t just Didal’s significant finish that swooned spectators, however. Her belief that “skateboarding is all about having fun” radiated in her bright smile, goofy photobombs and uplifting energy, essentially making her the face of the sport she picked up as a 12-year-old in Cebu City. “There are no rules,” she explains to HYPEBEAST, “so you can do whatever you want and that’s what I love about it.” The most important feature on my first NB Numer...
Looking Back at a Forgotten Icon of 1970’s Nightlife
When the British radio producer Ian Ross — who first moved to the United States in the late 1970s — encountered a roller disco for the first time, it made for an almost existential experience. “The noise of the wheels on the wooden floor, the outfits, the hair, the music….he described it like a human serpent slithering around this rink, decked out in turbans and sequins,” recalls his daughter, the model Liberty Ross. “He said you could hear the music from five blocks away.” This was in 1977. Two years later, he had decamped his family from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, with the aim of setting up a roller rink of his own. “He really believed that roller-skating was gonna save the world,’’ Liberty says. “I’m pretty sure one of my brothers lost his virginity to the coat-check twins” Ross is revisi...
Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres Is Completely Oblivious to Its Own Plight
On “Trouble In Town,” the third track on Coldplay’s 2019 LP Everyday Life, the band places a rather disturbing sound clip of a police officer rudely interrogating someone — this comes after Chris Martin’s solemn lament on unequal power structures and how they always “add more police,” and before a full-band psychedelic freak out of an outro, which is not necessarily what you’d associate with Coldplay. This was not an anomaly on the record; Everyday Life featured Coldplay at their most experimental, their most vital, and playing the riskiest music they’ve made in years. But what’s more, is that it sounded like Coldplay had changed, that over a span of 20 years as a band, they were almost more weathered and rugged. Fast forward to two years later; Coldplay have released their ninth studio al...
