On the 27th of December 2013, I went to check out Mr. Ooi Eow Jin at Colonial Cafe, The Majestic Hotel, having read about him in an excellent article.

There is a shuttle bus to The Majestic Hotel every half hour from KL Sentral, near the Kenny Rogers exit. To get there, follow the tunnel from the Maxis Centre.

I do not know if he subscribes to the fashion of hip hop, from his uneven socks.

Mr. Ooi Eow Jin, under a parabolic dish that would probably bounce the sound back towards him.

Remember to reserve a table. I came on a Friday afternoon, and it was fully booked, so I was seated at the bar. I could only have the afternoon tea set if I reserved, since they only make it per reservation.

I really like the arches and tiles. There isn’t faux vintage to be spotted, and The Majestic Hotel keeps its typography very consistent across signage. I would recommend taking a tour of the new wing and old wing. This is The Colonial Cafe, and it appears to dominate the space of the old wing.

Vanilla Roibosh tea.

Mr. Ooi Eow Jin.

He segued between songs effortlessly, only stopping during breaks.

I bumped into my schoolteacher Puan Sukania, her sister Shantini, and Saw Teong Hin, and moved from a sedentary position at the bar to a active position at this table, actively ensuring that the scones, tarts, cakes and jam did not go to waste at their table. We had a delightful chat over scones and tea, until we realized that Mr. Ooi had left.

Fortunately, he returned, having forgotten something, and we managed to catch him and catch up. Great tales, many of which were not in the article.

While I had not heard of Mr. Ooi before this, with the only connection being that I know ICOM people who know him, the sisters were daughters of a RTM Orchestra singer who sang with Mr. Ooi.

The new wing of The Majestic Hotel looks very modern, with a large, modern lobby. I’d suggest you look at the old wing, too, to see how differently they did it back then!

Tempered Mental launched their second album, Pax Automata, at The Bee, Publika, on the 22nd of November, 2012. Here’s Melina, frontwoman, bassist and principal songwriter rocking out.

Jimmy on drums is one skilled drummer. I remember a drum workshop many years ago at Bentley Music, Bintang Walk, where he described how to play drums softer to achieve a more balanced sound.

Jack is an awesome shredder. I don’t remember if he switched to the sunburst Fender Stratocaster on the guitar stand on the left, as none of my pictures of the night show it in use.

Jerral Khor pops out of the woodwork, to take some pictures.

I really, really miss my long headbanging-friendly hair.

Despite all the rocking out, Melina does complex bass runs and sings with ease.

Jimmy packs really tight rhythm.

Jack and his mythical guitar of unknown, unspoken origin. Or at least those of us who have spoken of it without asking him, reckon.

The band brought in a lot of stage equipment, making for a colorful show with smoke machines. Since I couldn’t get an even exposure, Adobe Camera RAW saved the highlights and shadows. (This was before DxO Optics Pro Elite supported the Sony Alpha 99. Sure I could reprocess them now, but I quite like how these turned out!)

Melina pauses to address the crowd.

Jimmy and the Tempered Mental logo in the background. It better remain unchanged, since he’s already tattooed it to his neck! (Also, very cool ear stud – note how it focuses light to behind his ear!)

The album is packed full of indulgent, hot solos.

The crowd. They also pulled out the benches on the sides – quite a rare occurence.

For some reason, this picture, due to its lighting, reminds me of gig photography in 2007.

Jimmy thanks the crowd.

Gotta dig the partial Frankenstrat tape look, with the different volume knob.

All shots with the Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA and Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM.

Partial moshpit.

I’ve seen this bass in use for a very long time!

Raffique Hashim of Village Roof Studios and one of his kids with protection for the ears. You might even spot his own earplugs, as well as his classic brother, Tarquin.

Intense. The music, too. It does not disappoint, but Tempered Mental never disappoints, certainly one of the most consistent bands in Malaysia.

After the show.

The crowd stayed on for quite a while. The buzz was still there, plus it ended before it was The Bee’s closing time, that all the people we had not seen in a long time were suddenly around! And so, we had a fair bit of catching up to do.

Meanwhile, reporters swarmed them.

Fans also sook autographs from all three members, who were scattered all around The Bee after, making it akin to a treasure hunt.

Markiza Brown (left), ever energetic, with a Tempered Mental T-shirt, and Zalila Lee on the right.

Then came the second act of the night – a surprise! Here’s Sarah Joy Seb with a tak boleh blah face.

It was Reza Salleh’s birthday!

Gotta love Zalila peeking out beside Sharon Chong. Too funny!

Cake gets death.

More reading:
Tempered Men Tell

Halfway Kings – 3 Years of Mutual Tolerance, down at the Arenaa Diner, Arenaa Mountbatten Hotel, Jalan Tun Perak. The emcee introduces the opening act…

…+2dB!

It does bother my OCPD self somewhat that it’s 2 and not 3 decibels…

Jo Ann hints to Jeannie.

Their electronica, for lack of my exposure to electronica, brings Depeche Mode to mind, and I like Depeche Mode.

After they played, Darren Ashley went up to them to say how awesome they were. Which is funny because they knew of each other!

Then came the main act, Halfway Kings. Here’s Adeline with a flower-light-pixie in her hair.

Joachim on his trusty acoustic Taylor, the sound of which defined the original version of the band that I knew.

Eng Hooi, on drums.

Joachim then switched to an electric Schecter, a most beautiful one. I have a beautiful Schecter, too!

Adeline has a cool voice-effects pedal hooked up in front of her.

Like so, my friends.

I looked at the entrance and spotted Davina Goh! Her mom was there, and she spotted me spotting them. Thus I formed a theory that Davina’s comedic expressions may have been inherited from her.

Moonshine: A Homemade Music Show’s 7th Anniversary, November 15th 2012, at Laundry Bar, The Curve. Here’s Zee Avi in the audience!

Dzamira Dzafri has got gritty tunes.

The harmonizing sisters known as The Impatient Sisters were next.

At the time of me posting this, their farewell gig for Irena Taib would’ve started, but I am here at home clearing my backlog and staying at home due to financial and logistical constraints.

They also had a drummer…

…and strings and percussion.

Next up was Julian Chan & Richie Tan.

Julian is no stranger to the scene.

Reza Salleh, organizer, emcee and feel-good singer-songwriter sports a new hairdo.

Zalila Lee on a djembe.

I can’t remember the name of the rabbit cartoon character this reminds me of.

Narmi, whose One Buck Short punk drummer days are soon to be shadowed by his acoustic singer-songwriter work.

Fanbase.

Jeremy backs him up.

Chizu, a duo comprising of Ryan Lee Bhaskaran on cajon and Wei-Ming Wong on guitar, prone to catchy, cartoony reinterpretations of popular tunes.

This would be the first Moonshine I’d shoot with the 24-megapixel Sony Alpha 99. This was a crop from the Opteka 85mm F1.4. Some other shots were with the Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

Also, at the time of processing the RAW pictures, DxO Optics Pro Elite did not support the A99 so I used Adobe Camera RAW instead. Thus the different look, with different color balance, not to be confused with white balance (I hope you can tell).

They were then joined by jazz bird Cheryl Tan and a bassist.

Next up… big drums.

It was the immensely catchy, upbeat Amir Jahari. His songs stick like kuih.

7th November 2012: I went down to La Bodega, Bangsar, to find ex-colleague and all-year-long metalhead Karencore!

Joined by harpist Zhin Wong.

The night was young and we aspired to be young, too.

Rik Omar on drums. (Thanks to Zhin, who helped me figure out most of the names!)

Tricia Priscilla D’Cruz! Saladin meanwhile was on guitar.

Please pardon the reduction in detail due to noise reduction due to the necessary use of ISO25600 on the Sony Alpha 99 since I only brought a Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG, hardly the best lens for low light. Also, this is a crop, which excarbates this.

Tricia can sing, and the band is top-notch!

They played covers. Linet Goh on keyboards.

After the intermission, Zhin and the band were introduced, and he was invited up on stage! Here he is doing a showdown while covering Alicia Keys – Fallin’.

Video of that performance, thanks to Zhin (and Karen the videographer!)

Zhin Wong, professional harp-player.

Funky bassist Don Alfonso.

Daniel Guerzo Soliano joins on keyboards.

They then break into Jimi Hendrix – Little Wing!

Karen and Tricia.

18th October 2012: ICOM Celebration Series Tribute to Bee Gees, at HGH Convention Centre, Jalan Sentul. Here’s Daniel Yoong, whose dad I met first through RakanKL. Sign of the times, eh.

Syazwin Saprudin joins.

They all took turns singing classics from the Gibb brothers. Here on vocals are siblings, too – Caleb Savari and Caitlynn Savari.

Faviq Dellanie Awangku pulls off Our Love (Don’t Throw It All Away). The reason why I can quote names with such accuracy is because I just found the program booklet (also, you might have noticed I blogged this later than the later October 2012 gigs – only because I wanted to find the booklet and get the details right.)

The backing band for Set 1.

All shots with the Sony Alpha 77, Samyang 35mm F1.4 UMC and Opteka 85mm F1.4. I also shot JPG instead of cRAW, since I was running out of space and forgot to clear it beforehand. Hence the color cast is not strongly corrected, or it would lead to gritty shadows and harsh color graduations.

I don’t know what HGH is about, but it’s a pretty new place, in a gentrified part of Jalan Sentul.

The second set began.

There are many Bee Gees songs that make me want a keyboard synthesizer – Jive Talkin’ for example. Tablet keyboard apps don’t feel the same!

Now, if only I could read sheet music…

Left to right: Niki Salamat, Syazmin Saprudin, and Caitlynn Savari, doing Heartbreaker/Guilty/Chain Reaction.

And here’s the guy I came to see, and how I knew of this show – the very funky Herman Ramanado! He grew up on the good ol’ stuff with his brothers and now he’s doing a tribute!

Islands In The Stream, by Caleb and Caitlynn, with spot on vocals and nuances.

Darryl Diengdoh from India, is another standout.

Another Herman shot.

I wish I knew of this series earlier – apparently, they did tributes to The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Queen!

On a side note, it is ironic that the Gibb brothers, including Andy Gibb who wasn’t part of the Bee Gees but had some disco hits, would pass away, youngest first, leaving only the oldest, Barry Gibb. (Although Maurice and Robin are twins, Maurice was born 35 minutes later.)

Open Mic @ The Venue #2 – Hosted by Az Samad, 29th October 2012. Here’s Az Samad, emcee and organizer.

Here’s Khairil M. Bahar, one of the featured acts of the night, with a very, very cool T-shirt.

Here’s Kiss Kill Mary, with disco funk rock. So this is Jenn!

Sani, also from her other band, with hair quite like my old hair. I quite miss it.

Alloy, the beatboxer.

Liyana Fizi, featured act!

Guitarist Izaad Amir.

Normally I’d shoot stage performances like this with the Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA, but occasionally I switch it up to a Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM for a wider perspective. Plus the lights were pretty!

Liyana is always cute as a button, down to her cough.

The very hardworking Yin, who does PR, photography and videography.

Tasha is backed by Alloy.

Serious Shaneil Devaser is serious.

Angie, singer-songwriter.

Markiza, of Peter And Markiza Brown.

Peter, the backbone of the singer-songwriter scene, who started one of the early singer-songwriter rounds that got many others starting their own.

As all musicians, theirs is a weathered tale.

It does not stop them from singing songs about the environment – ironically you’d have called them activist-y then, but it’s now accepted as a song subject.

The Venue with all its great lighting, great sound, great sound engineers and great contribution to the scene, unfortunately no longer exists, replaced by another bar.

Az is proud to present the next performer…

Khairil M. Bahar! Here he is doing a stand-up comedy routine, instead of rocking out. Even when he does rock out, his band is full of entertainment value!

Another alternative is Nicol, reading spoken word poetry instead.

The venerable Rafique Rashid, with the cleverest of lyrics over familiar songs, did not sing this time. I didn’t take any other pictures of Rafique because I was busy recording video instead on my Sony Alpha 99. I could’ve brought my Sony Alpha 900 to take pictures while the A99 shot video, but I wanted to travel lighter.

He got Alex to sing his songs, like Schizophrenia and Death Of A Urban Middle-class Post-adolescent Indian Relationship.

Reza Salleh, who also runs an open mic.

The old-school boys of Jumero!

Also, for a change, featuring Natallie Ng…

…and talented keyboardist Melvin Goh.

The Morkuthi Sisters, with Naveen and Matt Chor behind. They did covers of Leonard Cohen – Hallehujah and John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John – Summer Nights.

Dean Shaari.

Michael Chen, filmmaker by day, hidden rock star by night.

Izram Harris.

The night ended with rockers pieremiddle.

I’ve always liked them Gibson SG guitars.

Sometimes vocalists get in front of the camera for added stage presence.

Nu Culture, down at Tom Dick & Harry’s Live @ Pavilion, on the 25th of October 2012.

They comprise of some familiar faces to me – like Chad Smith Jared of The Ramanados.

They did covers, keeping the funky groove of Michael Jackson – Rock With You…

…and the white soul of Bee Gees, with both Love You Inside Out and a jazzified Staying Alive.

However, they were soon joined by a familiar face – Herman Ramanado!

Gregory Ramanado, infectious as ever, introduces his brother on stage.

The audience clamors for more.

Herman’s buddies from International College Of Music also join him on stage…

…for a virtuoso performance. I think. I don’t remember. It is the expected norm of ICOM students to be elite masters of music.

All shots with the Sony Alpha 99 and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

This would be the first gig I’d shoot in a consistently low-light, low contrast situation (except when there was backlight.)

A friend of theirs also came up to sing.

Here’s ISO6400 on the A99, with a bit of exposure boost. The look is due to low-contrast lighting.

In contrast (heh) this is what a spotlit scene looks like.

I also brought the Samyang 35mm F1.4 UMC along (it was to be sent to repair by Chia Hau) for one last spin. Gotta love the lens for capturing the atmosphere.

This same lens took this picture, that I used for my Facebook profile for quite a while. (I accidentally wiped my original RAW setting for this, so this is a reprocessed image.) Thanks to Chia Hau for this shot!

23rd October 2012: Feedback Open Mic, at The Bee, Publika! Here’s electro dance rock Kiss Kill Mary.

The drummer’s expression is priceless.

Heil Mary!

I didn’t catch this band’s name…

…though it had my ex-colleague from Xfresh, Naz.

I think this was Wondering Hollies.

Shaneil Devaser, with awesome hair.

Hameer’s shirt is awesome too.

Remy J, with the new wave of acoustic sensibility.

Jon Liddell.

Reza Salleh, organizer and emcee.

Didn’t catch his name but I think it was Khas.

Gregory Ramanado chillin’ out.

Featured act, Car Park! (I didn’t get shots of the other featured act, Sphere.)

They play indulgent rock kapak (glam rock).

Some of the band members also double for Diandra Arjunaidi.

Madam Mohsin, I think.

All shots with the Sony Alpha 99 and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

Sunburst? He laid down a bluesy jam.

Najwa did a cover of Dionne Warwick – Walk On By.

Masha’s Berg.

Jocelyn Wong, looking quite different.

Meanwhile, outside, Greg doing the usual lady-serenadin’.

He is always full of energy and insanely fun to watch!

Later on in the car park (not the band.)