Altimet (I did not take this picture; it was taken from Shugar Studios’s pictures.)
An Honest Mistake
Ash Nair (I did not take this picture; it was taken from Baldwin’s blog.)
Broken Scar (more)
Broken Scar (even more)
Broken Scar (that’s it)
Dina & The Crazy People (aka Dina of Malaysian Idol 1)
DJ Biggie
DJ Cza
Dragon Red
Estranged (featuring Adam on vocals)
Freeloaders Inc
Frequency Cannon
Groovetank
Hunny Madu
Ila Damiaa
James Baum
Jin Hackman
Joe Flizzow
Kimberly Chin
Liang
Moodswings
Mr. Noisee (thanks to Francis Cobb for this picture)
Narmi
Once Upon A Time There Was A Sausage Named Bob
One Buck Short
P
Q
Rendra Zawawi
Ryan Lucas
SonaOne
Sufiah Noor (Malaysian Idol Season 1)
U
Wisdom Of Sorrows
X
Y
What do all these bands have in common? Well, Alda Tan has played for all of them! I asked him once if he could list all the bands he has played for, from A to Z, even if it is just as a sessionist. He said then, many years ago when he was still involved with JamAsia, that he could at least cover A to M.
I don’t remember the list, but I searched back in my blog for every mention of Alda, and this is what I got. Can you fill in the blanks? What are the bands he played for?
Also, thanks to Adam Lobo, Aliff Screwthebox, David Rafael Buri, Jin Hackman, Joanne Kay, Francis Cobb, and the official Kartel Twitter account social media person, for their contributions to the list.
The band names are linked back to the blog post where I blogged about the gig that the picture comes from – some are re-edited in higher resolution. Some don’t have links because I haven’t blogged about those gigs, yet!
The first gig that I had ever been to was Good Golly, It’s A Gig! and I think the second was The Most Wanted Gig. I wrote:
“Estranged, whose reputation preceded them, had the crowd cheering beforehand. I would find out why afterwards! They had influences of my two favorite bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Incubus. Interesting showmanship here too. Here was a bassist with the funky energy of Flea, sliding his bass, jumping about with the bass flying! At one point he was scratching his strings like a turntable! :O
The first song was somewhat grungy with electric guitar effects, followed by a bass-slap-intro metal-Incubus-style tune. Puzzle followed, with well-mannered screams in the bridge. Well mannered in the sense that the vocalist faced away from the crowd for his outburst. 🙂 Velocity played harder with effects, followed by another Incubus-chorused vocals song. They ended with a acid jazzy tune. My search was complete. However, where are any other Malaysian bands that sound like this?!?”
The bassist I was referring to was Alda. This was where I first met him! After the gig, I went up to him and complimented him on his awesomeness on bass.
Alda, who is well-known in the underground music scene of the Klang Valley, later went on to organize many gigs in many venues (though I don’t think I could do an A to Z on that one.)
Anyway – he just suffered a stroke. I quote Zona, Alda’s sister:
“My brother, Alda Evan Tan – talented musician and music promoter by night, social media community manager by day – turned 29 last month. And just last night, he had a stroke.
I’m living with my husband and my 14 month old daughter in Sydney, Australia – and was sickeningly devastated to get the news around 4am AEST that my brother was having brain surgery. I honestly thought my dad had his iPhone autocorrect go wrong on him. Sadly, no.
This is what happened, an account provided by very close friends of my brother’s (in Malaysian time):
Alda had a capillary burst in his brain last night. Brought to hospital and a brain op was conducted at 1.40am, done by 4.30am. It was successful but he is in an induced coma now to allow to heal. In ICU as well. He collapsed mid-song while jamming.
(Taken from http://www.midnitelily.com/vivo/2012/03/alda-evan-tan-you-will-recover.html)
Sadly, Alda and his family does not have health or medical insurance, so they have large bills to pay. So this is my call to whoever’s reading, to help him and his family out. You can help by sending his family contributions. Click here for details how to.
Back when I went bald to raise funds for charity, Alda did too! (Though he did so at home and recorded a video.)
On a side note, yes insurance does help somewhat – though not as smoothly, in my experience – I had gotten a Guarantee Letter that I could be admitted and the insurance company would pay, but when I was discharged, they said they would not. So I had to pop a vein and berate the insurance company! I had to pay for myself, to be discharged. It was only a few days later that the insurance company reversed their decision.
A government hospital is admittedly cheaper, even for a longer stay, but I still haven’t gotten my insurance claim form for that one! So it seems like you still gotta pay, but with insurance, you might get your money back!
Also, Alda was born in 1983, same year as me, and it scares the shit out of me that you can get a stroke at this age! This just reminds us all again that we’re not getting any younger and that we need to take care of our health. No more sleeping late, eating high-cholesterol food, copious amounts of alcohol and smoke – you might find a better quality of life with more portions of vegetables and fruit, water and exercise.
EDITED 11th June 2012: Alda passed away peacefully at 4:45am.
There will be a wake service at St. Ignatius Church, Jalan SS 25/23, Taman Plaza, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, at 8pm, on Monday 11th June, Tuesday 12th June and Wednesday 13th June. The funeral service will be at 10am Thursday 14th June at St. Ignatius Church as well. He will be cremated at the MBPJ Crematorium, Kampung Tunku, Petaling Jaya at 11:30am Thursday, 14th June 2012.
