:: A Malaysian on Music, Gigs, Concerts. ::

Friday afternoon. I had two priorities in live at that moment. Finish my work and get to the arena, whilst negotiating the ‘weekend is here traffic jam’. Managed to get myself in just about 8.30pm. No concert in Malaysia starts on time.

I had pretty cheap tickets, with a diagonal view. Avril was about 5 cm in height.

Being an outdoor arena, acoustics were definitely tough, so it HAD TO BE LOUD. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The rain went away, which was good.

At times, I couldn’t hear much of Avril and more of the very loud, very Malaysian Idol wannabe (but obviously not) singers around me. Avril came out looking a bit jaded. Not as energetic as I would have liked. Girlfriend was jet-lagged. Complicated was jet-lagged. The turning point was really I’m With You. As the crowd sang along to all her songs, she was getting more into the spirit of a concert. As she went into an acoustic session, singing Don’t Tell Me and When You’re Gone, it just shows her caliber as a good vocalist. In some ways, I like acoustic Avril better than ‘punk’ Avril.

She ended the night with Sk8erboi.

In short, aside from the lousy acoustics and NOT BEING LOUD ENOUGH. I had a decent time. She’s my guilty pleasure and boy did I feel old at her concert :). And PAS wanted to ban her. C’mon.

I recommend anyone with nothing to do this weekend to check this gig out at Jaya One.

This is a step forward into making Jaya One the ultimate music and arts centre. Kudos.

Check out the line-up:

Music performers for the three-day event include Azmyl Yunor, Brainhead, Coco, Couple, Danny Gurdesh, Estrella, Funky Doryz, KokoKaina, Matematik, Mohd Jayzuan, Otam, Renowed Repham, Salam, Skudap Skudip, Telebury, The Sound of Acoustics, UiD (unclassifiedunidentify), Wani Ardy and many more.

For me, this is the first chance I can have to catch Koko Kaina. If you don’t know who she is, she may very well be our own talented music artiste phenom that got kinda discovered on youtube. Read back to my blog posting a few days ago. She should be playing on Saturday 9.30pm onwards.

Aside from that, I would like to see Azmyl and Estrella.

It’s funny now that I think of it. I was pretty against the Malaysian music movement and definitely against artistes from Malaysia. Oh how that has changed. I suppose, it’s all because of the Internet, which has given the talent a more achievable reach to the mass media. Before this, it was either you have the $$$ or no awareness whatsover.

More info at:

Junk Online
Rantai Merdeka @ Facebook

Lookie here at what I found. She’s a female singer songwriter (who I somehow missed during Klue’s Urbanscapes), who has some decent guitar (and a number of other instruments) skills and a voice reminiscent of Billie Holiday. I’m still absorbing a number of her original compositions but from what I’ve listened to so far, it’s pretty amazing. She’s potentially got a stage presence that makes people stop doing whatever else they are doing and just listen. Nothing about her so far is a front and it looks all natural. I’ll determine that when I see her live. No upcoming gigs that I’ve spotted yet.

Do check her out at:

Koko Kaina @ Facebook
Koko Kaina @ Youtube

It’s happened again. First it was Beyonce last year, now Avril. Deemed too sexy. Yep, if you have just fallen off your chair laughing, I don’t blame you.

Firstly, the Government’s ruling from PAS was not an agreeable one, but that’s a different argument for another day. No political discussions on this blog. But I must say to Galaxy Group. You are stooping to the level of PIneapple Events/Concerts, the event company. You should cover all your bases and angles first. Get approval first before announcing the concert. Where’s the planning? Where’s the contingency?

I hope this is not a full cancellation but a postponement but Avril is on a rigorous schedule from what I can see, and looks like it’s not going to happen in the near future.

The damn event promoters should really get their act together.

Fail. FTL.

Update: It’s back on. Lush. I suppose when you can even the Chicago Tribune writing about this shameful cancellation, even any government can change their minds. Nonetheless, the damage was already done during the Beyonce cancellation. Deeming Avril too sexy was quite a new one. Alas, concert’s back on. Have fun everyone!

Diana Krall is coming to town. Yep, you heard it right. 2nd October.

That sexy voice is coming to town. I haven’t had a chance to see her live before but I’ve watched and listen to her live performances. Okay, so plenary hall may not have the best acoustics, but nothing holds Diana back I don’t think. What makes Diana such a compelling performer is her ability to bring something different to the songs she has sung over and over again. It’s special everytime. It’s raw, it’s different, it’s fantastic. She has amazing vocal ranges and backed by her band, this is going to be one hell of a performance.

Don’t miss it, eventhough the ticket prices are slightly costly: RM288, RM588, RM888, RM1288.

World Jazz Singapore
The Star E-Central

RIP: Bernie Mac (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008)

Bernie makes me laugh. “You have lovely hands, do you moisturise”? Now that was an iconic line from Ocean’s 11. Fifty is way too young to go. He was getting better.

RIP: Isaac Hayes (August 20, 1942 - August 10, 2008)

The Chef. Shaft. Musical genious. Grammy Award winner. Enough said.

The world is a worser place without the two of you. God bless your souls.

Oh Alison Sudol. Voice of an angel. RED Hair. Recently I have been loving those red heads. First Hayley Williams, now Alison Sudol from A Fine Frenzy. I listened to some of her music from SXSW sometime back but, it was just a couple of days ago when a fellow music appreciator recommended her to me. Suddenly, I was sold. Two songs really capture me, Almost Lover and Whisper. She’s like a mixture of Sia Furler and Shea Seger when she sings. Her vocals are haunting, so she is almost fallen angel like.

Check out her vidz on youtube:
Whisper
Almost Lover

Also check out these lyrics from Almost Lover below. I’m sure a lot of people would relate to it.

almost lover  

your fingertips across my skin,
the palm trees swaying in the wind,
images
you sang me spanish lullabies,
the sweetest sadness in your eyes
clever trick,
images

well, I’d never want to see you unhappy
I thought you’d want the same for me

goodbye my almost lover
goodbye my hopeless dream
I’m trying not to think about you
can’t you just let me be
so long my luckless romance
my back is turned on you
should have known you’d bring me heartache
almost lovers always do

we walked along a crowded street,
you took my hand and danced with me,
images
and when you left you kissed my lips,
you said you’d never, never forget these images

well, I’d never want to see you unhappy
I thought you’d want the same for me

goodbye my almost lover
goodbye my hopeless dream
I’m trying not to think about you
can’t you just let me be
so long my luckless romance
my back is turned on you
should have known you’d bring me heartache
almost lovers always do

I cannot go to the ocean
cannot drive the streets at night
cannot wake up in the morning
without you on my mind
so you’re gone and I’m haunted
I’ll bet you are just fine
did I make it that easy to walk
right in and out of my life?

goodbye my almost lover
goodbye my hopeless dream
I’m trying not to think about you
can’t you just let me be
so long my luckless romance
my back is turned on you
should have known you’d bring me heartache
almost lovers always do