20th April 2005

The Xfresh Hotlink Sky Surfer launches in Souled Out, Hartamas. Then again, it wasn’t launched like some rocket; it uh… hovered off the ground the way helicopters do. No, this is not the helicopter, but this picture was way cooler donchathink?

21st May 2005
I went for the Rawg Dawg Music Fest Finale. ASTRO was there to film their sequel to hitz.tv’s Blast Off; the After Shock. Never have I seen Paul’s Place so brightly lit, plus the “fireflies” (lighting technicians) were a godsend.

SDC gets the green white light.

To prevent cameramen and enthusiastic rockers from falling down stairways to early deaths, Paul upgraded his place and added a proper railing.

Lurks had the drummer lurking around his rhythm machine, adding the backbeat to electronica-tinged melancholic rock.

Lurks, I swear, must’ve been lurking. I got their CD in 2003 and never got to see them.

Warve was interesting. How often do you see an albino as a guitarist? He has partial vision, according to sources. This made his funktified rock escapades with plenty of scales seem even more amazing. Of course, the guitar geek will spot the Line 6 Variax 700, a guitar that has a knob to change between 25 simulated guitars! Sadly, he did not show off its true capabilities by going from southern country twang to heavy metal and then to India with a sitar.

Moodbox. First free CD of the day, and it landed at my feet. Or rather, the band was tossing out CDs, and it slid to my feet. A puzzler was what guitar the vocalist was using; it had a PRS headstock on an ESP LTD body!

Stonebay, with the vocalist sporting such a flashy Les Paul, had me itching for Guns ‘N Roses or some hard rock. Alas, he played softer Incubus – Morning View era songs, but I had to hand it to him for the vocal capability of Brandon Boyd.

By the way, the emcee was really cute. Irene, go tell your sister that.

11th Hour had the vocalist sporting a delicious silver Epiphone SG. He also sported the best funk-blues voice. He got soul, baby.

Their guitarist was a cool, more skilled shredder. Ask me for videos!

So it was Infiltrated that brought the hot groupies. Why is it that here, nu-metal bands get the most groupies?

Inverted Coma, a band from the past (last time I saw them was at Fete De La Musique 2003).

Me: Hey where are their groupies? Didn’t they use to have loads of groupies at the KL Plaza show?
Eu Gene: Eh, we were the groupies lah. (Points at himself and friend.)
Friend standing next to Eugene: Yeah! I’ve seen you there!
Me: Oh you know Syefri.

Apparently the band’s lineup changed drastically, (plus they didn’t sound as nice as before) but I still recognized Jason, guitarist hero, complete with a Peavey EVH Wolfgang Flame Top TR guitar! That was the first time I saw a D-Tuna in real life (since I was born a decade too late to see it commonplace). However he did not jiggle the floating bridge much or use the D-Tuna. 🙁

Beat The System pumped up the agression… and spoiled the suspense of the next day’s gig. “I’d like to thank Slyde, Joon Kiat (I couldn’t remember the name), Amil, Adam, Manshaan, Naz…”

Dammit, I knew the name of the new Dragon Red bassist.

Ben’s Beeetches were on, with a different lineup; Azmyl was on guitar for once, and they got another drummer. CK the bassist told stories about bribing cops and flying tampons. The lineup meant guitar solos from Ben, and Azmyl singing Cigarette. The one I looked forward to was Hang Hero, and they did it in full ferocity.

Furion Escalada brought a proper moshpit on. Metalcore, roar.

Love In Arson from Terengganu ended the set with emo punk, retaining the moshpit.

22nd May 2005

The Huru Hara gig was also given coverage from ASTRO; for once, Melina of Tempered Mental smiled at the crowd. Or maybe there was an inside joke.

Lied was next. You gotta dig what the band calls ‘angry rock’. Cool space effects and angsty solos.

Estranged and Adam of Dragon Red! As usual (as it was in 2003) Adam would sing Velocity with them. Ironically, both bands are connected by a certain bassist who is no longer in either band.

Furniture was next. Space rock or post rock at its existing-in-Malaysia best. Ronnie had an E-bow! (I didn’t know E-bows had a Ah Beng blue light.) The other guitarist had a effect that was controlled by the distance of his hand to it.

Dragon Red finished, and the audience found out who the new bassist was. A hot chick! Natalie Tan had straight up the menacing-and-yet-hot look. (Much more aggressive than the previous bassist who underwent image change). At this point, I even forgot their former bassist’s name. 😛 She played well, but not necessarily into the groove of the song as Amil the guitarist was. Or maybe she wasn’t showing it. Ooh and it’s also a 5-string Warwick. A bit too familiar. Hmmm, maybe even the surname.

Meanwhile, Saiful of Y2K went loco in the moshpit. It was the first time we’d ever see him in one, and we thank our lucky stars we haven’t been in one with him. He swung his arms and helicopter-kicked in the air! Imagine a capoeira dancer attacking, repeatedly.

27th May 2005

I called Kevin to ask if he wanted to see Tracy perform with the Young KL Singers at The Actors Studio. “Dude! I’m at the DiGi Band Era at Berjaya Times Square!” And so I headed over there instead. Coincidentally, Syefri and Fazri were there too, so we hung out there instead and geeked at Transformers and Hot Wheels. 🙂

Rainforest Breakfast & Bed. So this is what happened to No Black Tie, where the first gig I ever went to was!

And now, fast forward to:
3rd June 2005

I went to Shelley’s Jazz Odyssey gig. No, Shelley just looks like she’s singing like a diva. Behind, Az appears to have found enlightenment in his guitar, while Kevin (Loon) plays bass unobstrusively. It was a first seeing Kevin do high-octave tapping bass solos.

Let’s not forget Zal the drummer. Alright, who threw the frog there?

Camomile tea or mosquito larvae breeding ground?

Serena C of hitz.fm and hitz.tv hops on stage, happy to proclaim her love for Shelley. I don’t know who held her beer for her when she went on.

Pete Teo and Shelley do a duet! A first.

Ean of hitz.fm and hitz.tv insists to his cousin that he will not sing. Adam (the cousin) played in a style reminiscent to John Mayer, hips swaying, crooning voice… except that he’s better looking to begin with. Awww come on admit it girls, John Mayer only looks good when he’s singing.