Moonshine: A Homemade Music Show, 14th July 2011.

Here is the hard-rocking Cats In Love!

They throw us nice crunchy warm tube distorted bluesy licks just like they did in the 60’s.

Jimmy of Tempered Mental looks on.

Then came the modern indie rocking Busco…

…formerly known as Bus Company.

Darren Ashley on drums.

Guitar picks on floor.

Samuel Oh on vocals.

Jack in the back. (No he’s not part of Busco, though I am aware that my narrative style may lead you to think so.)

Then it was the Kugiran Warga…

…the backing band for Azmyl Yunor, folk rocker.

This time though, he was all electric, with scalloped frets!

When I see scalloped frets I only think of Yngwie Malmsteen.

Alas, Azmyl doesn’t do neo-classical – he does a street ditty with his blues harp.

Reza Salleh, the hard-working organizer of Malaysia’s longest-running gig series. Not sure if this is certified by the Malaysian Book Of Records – but the Malaysian Book Of Records is just a jaguh kampung compendium, isn’t it?

I love the new flourescent lights. Unfortunately they removed it a few months later.

Then came the progressive, heavy, artistic and technical metal of Tempered Mental.

Jimmy shows us a groove.

Jack belts out mind-blowing solos in between tricky riffs.

Also check out what Laundry Bar’s Official Photographer took here for a different perspective and more coverage: (with flash, and some borrowing my Opteka 85mm F1.4…)
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150240787869315.326694.128405559314&type=1

23rd June 2011: Rollin’ Sixers record launch party, down at La Bodega Lounge! Here’s the emcee.

Here’s Eddy, the frontman. He plays a mean blues harp.

This is Jay on bass.

Henry, the shredder, never seen without his hat with 3 sixers tucked in.

Khai, also doing guitar duty. Both Henry and him exchange rock and roll licks.

Before the gig, I shot a video of Khai just walking around, looking cool. He was not aware of this or how appropriate it was with the music.

Ian on drums. A long, long time ago, when the band was called Triple6Poser, Eddy was on drums and Khai sang. But this was ages ago.

The crowd rocks out!

Eddy harping on the harp, while Khai stands on an amp.

Blues solo (again!)

The crowd grooves to the hard rock!

Lefty versus righty.

I noticed Henry’s metal guitar slide – it was short and had a narrow radius, which was undoubtedly easier to control.

Full house.

Carolynn’s sexy back.

Moonshine: A Homemade Music Show, June 16th 2011 at Laundry Bar. Here’s emcee Faiz!

Maharajah Commission with some off-kilter rock stuff.

Man I don’t know what this is – an electric banjo?

The Carl Zeiss 135mm F1.8 on the A900 never disappoints for gigs in low light, like these.

The Carl Zeiss 24mm F2.0 on the A900 meanwhile, covers the wide end.

Next up – a hard-rocking band I hadn’t seen in ages!

This is Naked Breed.

Jack the shredder.

Justin in a hoodie, never once showing his bald head.

Rudy and friend.

Brainhead!

Catchy rock in Malay.

Ajin, brother of Ajan the vocalist.

Hot chick soundwoman!

Ryan L.B. on drums for the last band of the night…

Darren Ashley!

I was quite surprised to see his musical direction now – it was all flashy dancey rock with a dose of electronica.

Large crowd!

You gotta listen to his stuff:
http://soundcloud.com/darrenashley

Initially I wondered why he started dancing like Justin Bieber but then I should rephrase it – perhaps more like he had moves like Jagger.

Though I doubt that people who listen to radio know what Mick Jagger’s swagger is like.

Sound and lights!

Yeah they turned on the colored flourescent lights behind, and it was amazing!

He has always been blowing away people’s minds with his multiple talents, like beatboxing, rapping, singing in Chinese, and funky fingerstyle, becoming a one-man band… formerly known as Two Hand Band.

I wonder what’s with the wardrobe change though.

He used to be decked out in white shirts.

Gotta love the flourescent light! Too bad they removed it.

The big ensemble.

After the show.

27th May 2011: Moonshine, A Homemade Music Show, down at Laundry Bar!

DJ Reza! (Also the organizer.) No I kid, that is a sound engineer’s panel.

Awi Rafael, singer-songwriter with a big rock band!

A smiley shredder.

A space-staring Markiza.

What is going on?

Then it was time for the hippie-rock musings of Markiza, Peter Hassan Brown and Wong. Wong looks all shroudy.

Markiza sings songs to save the environment…

…and Peter has more activist words.

Hannah Howes from New Zealand was next.

Her voice was gentle and spacey…

…and her guitar folksy. Or at least I remember it – I don’t want to be too specific as I don’t remember, and it seems you could generally categorize them in the bigger buckets of indie, folk, blues, alternative, metal, hardcore, emo, etc.

Many, many years ago I’d carry a pen and paper and actually write these things down while writing an article for Xfresh. Do former journalists (or rather, web programmers who also write articles to get free entry to gigs) lose their impetus to write long summaries? Has Twitter and the Internet reduced the relevance of long-spanning verbiage?

Ronnie of Furniture.

Fender Jaguar gang!

It has been a long time since I’d seen this classic space/post-rock indie band!

Alang who is yet another drum slut.

Wong looks out.

Reza, Ella (Malaysia’s rock queen!) and Jeffry.

Also, there’s Moonshine this end of the month! Come check it out:

What: Moonshine, A Homemade Music Show
Where: Laundry Bar, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara
When: 9:30 PM Thursday, 29th September 2011
Who: Liyana Fizi, Zalila Lee, Rashdan Harith, Dzamira Dzafri
How Much: “Admission is free with a minimum purchase of drinks at the door.” – from its Facebook event page.

14th April 2011: Moonshine, A Homemade Music Show, at Laundry Bar!

Here’s Asmidar who is brandishing a Kiddy-cord accordion!

I still can’t figure out what her band plays though it sounds like world music to me when you feel like you’re teleported to a hut next to a waterfall somewhere.

Reza Salleh, gig organizer who just finished a month-long tour of Japan. Wow!

Kien Lim, all by himself.

He brings some brooding folk to the stage.

Narmi, whose real name is Imran. Somehow his vocal stylings remind me of Tracy Chapman.

Closing the show – Liyana Fizi!

She (in current tense) just launched her solo album, Between The Lines.

I have to say I like this series of shots of her most, compared to previous series.

Perhaps it’s a photographer thing – when revisiting a subject you attempt to capture the essence of what you see. It frustrates me when what I’ve shot isn’t anything like what I see.

Revisiting makes me sound like a ghost. This may be fitting due to how photographers often step out of the frame, out of what is happening, and become a floating observer.

And yet, my perception of one’s image may not match what the subject sees in the mirror.

But hey, while we indulge half a post for the lovely Miss Liyana, I shall break the seriousness by saying…

…eeeee batuk pun kiut! *cubit*

From the Twin Towers @Live 2011, 9th April 2011, down at the front of KLCC…

Colby O’Donis! (I came later and missed Joe Flizzow and Mizz Nina.)

Asha Gill, one of the emcees…

Joey G., the other emcee.

He… was to introduce a special guest.

Our Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Najib Razak! (And of course, his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor…)

He launched the Petronas PRIMAX95 Xtra fuel.

After pouring the fuel in, the stage was lit in green.

A flat surface suddenly became a petrol pump!

Dato’ Sri Najib Razak was presented with a Formula 1 helmet.

Meanwhile, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was presented with a bouquet of flowers. Hey why doesn’t she get a helmet?

They also donated USD 2.5 million to The Japanese Red Cross Society.

And then, for the act we’d all been waiting for…

The Earth, Wind And Fire Experience featuring Al McKay!

This is Devere Duckett, who sang for Stevie Wonder and Barry White!

All telephoto shots with the Sony Alpha 55 and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

Al McKay was an original member of the Earth, Wind And Fire funk band.

So was Michael Harris (on the right).

Ben Dowling on keyboard.

Tim Woods, who sang with KC and JoJo.

Ed Wynne (from Doobie Brothers) on saxophone.

Left to right: Claude Woods, Tim Owens and Devere Duckett.

Some of these pictures also appeared in JonYKT‘s blog – thanks dude for the media pass!

Freddy Fluellen on bass (of Paul Jackson Jr., and The Emotions).

Aaron Haggerty on drums. They played all the classic hits!

Skeletor closed the show.

After everyone was gone, I spotted a Samsung Galaxy Tab – a 7″ 3 megapixel camera!

4th December 2009: Intan’s farewell party, at a dance space somewhere in Ampang.

Intan is a classic – she has one and a half quarter of a brain!

Left to right: Kimberley, me and Ali, camwhoring with strong directional light.

Kim unveils her inner rockstar.

I don’t remember the band’s name but they were a bunch of international school teachers.

The entrance had a glass window.

Mac, outside, in the smoking area.

Kim does a John Frusciante.

Kim also does the pole.

Yes as you can tell from the cake, she turns one, five, ten or twenty. I think.

1st July 2011: MissyCheerio, came back from Melbourne, and so we went to find her at Laila’s Lounge, Kelana Jaya Plaza.

This is KJ.

This is a performer whose name I did not catch.

This is An Honest Mistake.

Oops flub!

Tight shots with the Opteka 85mm F1.4 on the Sony Alpha NEX-5. Most stage shots were shot by Gloson, I believe, though this shot feels like mine.

I set the camera’s Creative Style to black-and-white and used the focus peaking function with the color set to red, so you can see it stand out from the black-and-white.

Sheryl Goh!

Charis Ow.

All shots were at ISO1600 with a later +1 EV in RAW processing, making it effectively ISO3200.

Not a fan of slanted shots but this one works.

Ming Han.

Ellie, me and a meandering Lionel.

Darren Teh, also red-haired.

Moonshine: A Homemade Music Show, 10th February 2011, at Laundry Bar. Here’s a round of Monopoly going on outside!

Reza Salleh, organizer.

Seth Lael, who plays whatever you can play with a banjo.

Also guest starring his wife, Shelley Leong!

She can smell curry laksa again and other Malaysian delights.

Love the on-stage reactions!

Shelley was too jetlagged to perform her own set, so she took turns and sang together with Seth.

I’d admit this was the first time in the longest that I’d seen Shelley without a guitar!

The rocking Tashya’s Ink.

I told this guitarist that he reminded me so much of Randy Rhoads, with all his riffs. He didn’t know who Randy was, though the riffs were all there, citing Mark Tremonti as an influence instead.

That said I have to credit Mark for going all out in Alter Bridge – sure there were some bits of suppressed genius in Creed but nothing like in Alter Bridge.

Another husband and wife this time with Lab Rat!

And, of course, brothers.

Syahrul of Love Me Butch.

Halfway Kings, with the poetic Adeline.

This was a far more confident set. They’ve come a long way!

Gotta love the gritty lyrics. You don’t get much bands with so much vocal clarity these days.

Joachim on guitar, the only instrument in the band.

The addition of pedals is new! I sold him my wah pedal. Unfortunately it cringefully spoiled while they were performing a wah-ful acoustic song on stage! For that I apologize. My wah had been sitting around for ages not wah-ing.

And now, for some outtakes from outside, at Gelato. From left to right: Yi Ching, Bryan, Xiang, and me on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7″, for sh*ts and giggles.

Big-eyed Yi Ching.