13th June 2014: Nightshift live at The Bee, Publika!

Here’s Ian on bass.

Jared on drums with a cool T-shirt.

Jack on keyboards and vocoder.

Andy on guitar licks.

Emmanuel on vocals.

Ian shifts to keys. (Here’s a random throwback of Ian in 2012!)

Teddy bear on the top.

Pictures from this one onwards, taken by Melissa “bokeh” Wong.

Glenn and Jack.

POLITIKO Version 2! Who would win the elections?

Not at all related to any party in real life.

13th June 2014: I passed by The Stage in Publika…

To find belly dancing going on!

Middle East Dance Academy presents Biya Raks.

Apparently, this academy was in Publika itself, as well.

And so they showed us Middle Eastern Belly Dancing.

12th June 2014: Laundry X AHM Records Present: Discovery Thursday!

I came from a birthday party, just in time to catch the last band.

A Chinese John Mayer!

A half-Chinese drummer!

Cassandra Mary, rocker. She’s got attitude. I like to watch attitude.

Darren of An Honest Mistake Records, emcee and host, wrapping up that night.

7th June 2014: Crinkle Cut & Russell Curtis Project @ Rockafellas.

Down at Rockafellas, Intan Square, near Armada Hotel, opposite Asia Jaya LRT station.

Melissa on guitar!

Ashley on cajon!

Grace on keys!

Frances on vocals and emo, emo stares. *sohot*

Red Ash hair, I see what I did there.

Part of the crowd, with a radio deejay whose name and station I do not remember.

Then came a dude with cool shoes.

Accompanying him was Tok Khon, a fonky keyboardist known for playing in John Thomas & Phunk Mob. Yes, it’s so funky it’s spelled fonky.

Steve Nanda on drums.

And, of course, the charming Russell Curtis on guitar and vocals, who also owns the place.

This band was Russell Curtis Project.

I mistakenly assumed, for some reason, that they were going to play together on the same stage at the same time – and thinking about it while at an earlier gig made me realize the urgency and head over to this gig. Oh silly me!

Audrey then hijacked my camera and took this picture.

Melissa then hijacked my camera and took this picture, I think.

I then switched to the 24mm for wide shots like these.

Audrey and Frances with Steve (who I think looks like what Darren Ashley might look like when he’s a bit older.)

Crinkle Cut, plus 2.

Iron (Nail) Man.

Almost Crinkle Cut. Melissa was missing from this picture since she was behind the camera.

I then pointed out the selfie-friendly swivelling LCD of my Sony Alpha 99 and she did her classic overhead selfie.

One more, with the rest of us in focus!

Crinkle Cut and the Potatoes. If they were sweet, they’d be farn shie fansee!

And now, for a random throwback, with a picture I’ve not posted before, nearly 8 years ago – 15th June 2006, Laundry Bar, The Curve, where Curtis Blues Review (not to be confused with later Russell Curtis bands) played at Project Bazooka Band Night (then described as 3rd place winner for Blast Off, a battle-of-the-bands competition organized by hitz.TV.) But I remember this band best, for when they played at the Sunway College prom and there was a massive congo dance line thanks to their awesome blues/funk/rock-and-roll set.

This area, the original stage, is now a seating area, with a small stairway heading up to where the audience is in this picture.

The bassist, Zaim, did not appear to have his bass tone just yet.

This throwback is of Tok Khon, in John Thomas & Phunk Mob, 5th August 2006, with his keytar, at the Sunrise Mont Kiara Jazz & Rhythm Fest 2006. Those were the days when the yearly jazz fest was held at Sunrise Mont Kiara – now shifted to the Publika Jazz Festival, also a Sunrise development. This picture was taken with Yin’s camera – the Panasonic DMC-FZ20, with a constant F2.8 zoom, making it the hottest camera back in its time for its ambitious lens.

28th April 2014: Dotters’ Division at Table 23, Jalan Mesui, Kuala Lumpur!

It was the first time I’d see them at Table 23. Melissa’s voice was super clear!

Rebecca on cajon, and Melissa on acoustic guitar, left more space for Melissa’s vocals to ring – and ring they did, from all the way inside! I was thinking how remarkably clear it was.

“Eh don’t lah I shy.”

Linet, on keyboard. It’s also her birthday at the time I’m posting this. Happy Birthday!

Jie Er, on bass.

We now interrupt the show with an immense display of cuteness.

The puppy stopped to watch, too.

Don’t know what went on here but Melissa was probably being sasau.

Oh, and Audrey on saxophone! She does a fair bit of solo melody work (as do the keyboards), that contributes to their unique reworking of many songs. However, they kept it close with covers of Bee Gees – Night Fever and Prince – Purple Rain.

Nearly a month later, 26th May 2014, Dotters’ Division at Table 23, Jalan Mesui, Kuala Lumpur! (Oh yes, see a theme here?)

It was a rainy Monday.

Sure didn’t stop them from bringing the groove on!

That thing that makes unicorn rainbow sounds.

SQUIRREL!

They generally cover the funk and soul of the 60’s all the way to today’s music.

I enjoy their occasional switchup of setlists.

Going for something different here.

In case y’all don’t know it.

And now, for a special request! I saw them doing this bouncy groove in a video from way back, and asked if they could do it again. So here’s an acoustic rendition of War – Low Rider!

7th June 2014: Alter:Native KL June Edition, at Merdekarya, PJ! (So no, not exactly KL…)

I came in time to catch The Act Of Will.

Merdekarya looks a bit different, with a few additions.

Meanwhile, outside, the littlest kitten I had ever seen.

Full house.

Talitha Tan. Why so serious?

So she started her set by telling a few jokes… and laughing at them. 😀

We good to start?

Talitha was in top form that night. Ironically, even though that is the same Taylor guitar model without a built-in pickup, it is not hers.

The night was hard on some.

Christian Palencia, emcee and organizer.

Jamie XN Chen!

She crossed out from the YouTube screen to the indie scene that night.

I like her voice and her upbeatness.

She also did a cover of a song in Mandarin.

Her friend was invited on stage for backup vocal duty.

I didn’t stay till the end, due to circumstances that I’d explain in my next blog entry, hopefully!

7th June 2014: Music Tornado Festival 2014, at Mega Star Arena, Jalan Kuchai Lama! I was particularly looking forward to this, because it was the Chinese rock scene that I had not seen before, and in a place I had not been to. It would be an adventure. I would be expecting a dingy, dodgy place, but if it was not then I would be pleasantly surprised.

Some of the members of Flying Pan are in this picture, of which one invited me, but I came just in time to miss their performance. (It didn’t help that Mega Star Arena wasn’t found on Google Maps.)

There were musical instruments on sale!

Stalls.

A surprisingly big venue, that even holds church services on Sundays.

Ready To Fly.

Check out that stack of amplifiers!

Ken Chung Benjamin Yang on bass! (Thanks Zedes for the correction – they look alike from far, with similiar-looking basses!)

Double Call Mobeat.

Turntables.

Hip hop band!

Cool uniforms.

Finally spotted: Fahmi Reza’s awesome posters at a gig.

Math rock band Nao.

Start your show with a jump!

Just look at the size of that stage! I’d say this was the biggest indoor venue I’d seen that doesn’t have elevated seating like a stadium or amphitheater.

This is what the VIP area looks like. Check out the lights!

Still as heavy and technical, with plenty of progressive changes.

Haven’t seen them since Sunburst KL 2009, 21st March 2009!

Ian, who I didn’t recognize, having not seen him in ages!

The crowd.

Tributers.

Hey it’s Zedes Luther, the bassist from Cats In Love, with the cool bass!

Keyboard, keyboard, and keyboard with a folding screen.

This band had videographers running on stage.

The keyboardist sang a song too, and all cameras pointed at her.

Oh and another cool thing about these big stages? Having the typical picture where the background screen is also the subject.

The stage is so big, my Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA on the full-frame Sony Alpha 99 does not reach out to the drummer as much as I’d think it would.

Inception!

4AG.

I liked his shredding!

For once the smoke looks good.

I’ve always liked the look of PRS guitars.

These guys rock, too.

The vocalist goes from hard rock vocals to screaming.

I left early to head to two other gigs that day. (Of which one I didn’t even plan to, but that story will be told in a later blog entry…)

5th June 2014: Moonshine: Upcoming / June 2014, at Laundry Bar, The Curve!

First act: The snarly, but not too serious Dzamira Dzafri.

Songs that stick in your head.

Refreshing to see her reading from paper – as if it was the same notepad that she first penned the lyrics and chords on.

Then came Rizla Lynam, who is more than excited to be sharing the stage with Reza Salleh, emcee and organizer.

He’s got some very fresh-sounding tunes.

Stuff that sticks in your head.

Interesting fashion sense, too!

This was the first time I’d see him with a second guitarist, who’d put in some licks.

Outside, the Moonshine CD booth.

Reza and the ocean of disco balls.

Sulyn and the jazz-pop ballad.

Raja Farouque adds color with tasteful guitar solos.

Areef (bassist for Damn Dirty Apes) sessions for her regular bassist, currently on honeymoon.

Eng Hooi on drums and iPad.

The night in particular was full of cool backlighting.

This app helps you count to 4.

The last act for the night…

Cats In Love!

They bring good ol’ rock and roll…

…with a touch of rock keyboard.

Rama Lohan, ever the jumpy rock-and-rolling guitarist/vocalist, whose on-stage antics remind me a lot of Pete Townshend of The Who.

Cool-looking bass.

Ash is the center of the beat.

Cool shoes.

In-between song exchange.

Lohan picks up the blues harp and reeds us the blues.

Ash sings, too.

Shooting riffage!

Here’s them performing Fool’s Log. (Thanks to the band for helping me out with the title!)

Apparently, I was there at their very first gig, at Paul’s (New) Place, for the Too Far Gone gig. This was on the 22nd of April 2005!

Pardon the low image quality – these were all shot with a Canon Powershot A400, a little point-and-shoot at ISO400, I think. Here’s them trying a ambitious keyboard-heavy song with melodion. Never again, Lohan said!

4th June 2014: FIVE WAYS LIVE @ BACKYARD, at Backyard Pub, Sri Hartamas!

All shots with the Sony Alpha 99 and Sony Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm F1.4 ZA SSM, at ISO6400 and F1.4 because the light is low. And yet, it gives this very subtle look.

Guest featuring three dudes on djembes!

Regular drummer Edwin Nathaniel of Aseana Percussion Unit.

Richard Gomis of Freedom.

Fun frontman Jerry Ventura of The Falcons, who also plays in Aseana Percussion Unit.

Jimie Loh, current bassist of The Alleycats.

Boy King of progressive rock band Ash Wednesday…

…who was also in The Truth with Jimie.

They play classic rock – one tune I heard them cover was Cream – Badge.

Get on up!

Cowbell!

Cool hat!

Double the fun!

Get up and jam!

Jerry is a multi-instrumentalist.

At the back of the Backyard Pub. Next to this was the original stage.