6th November 2013: John Thomas at Backyard Pub, Sri Hartamas!
Teriver Cheung, shredder on guitar.
Ee Jeng Hin on keyboards.
Elvira Arul on souuul.
Kimberley, outside, as I explained POLITIKO the card game to her.
Came back in to discover Daniel Foong on bass joined in.
22nd October 2013: Feedback Open Mic @ The Bee Publika / October Edition. Here’s Reza Salleh, emcee, organizer, and a musician who signed up.
Jazlan Zakrin covered Oasis – Don’t Go Away.
Jonathan Lee.
Munnie & Nicky. Here’s Munnie.
Nicky loops with a serious Boss RC-300 Loop Station.
Devon.
Brandon.
Jerry.
Puria.
Keyboardist.
Nice guitar!
Debbie.
Nazrin.
Dzamira Dzafri, first featured act. I sometimes listen to bands on Soundcloud, that inadvertently then shuffles to her songs, and I don’t stop it, but listen anyway, because a song like Toothpaste just gets stuck in your head and not your teeth.
Gregory Ramanado, second featured act.
Ever the funkmeister, he brought a rougher sound with a guitar with humbuckers! I’m so used to hearing him with single-coil guitars.
Raksasa awakens from his slumber.
Tiah, with Faz on guitar.
19th October 2013: Day 2 of Publika Anniversary Jazz 2013 at The Square, Publika.
Here’s the Ray Cheong Band!
Jared Cheow on drums. He’s lost a fair bit of weight! I guess releasing gas does help. 😀
Jonathan Khor on violin.
Ray Cheong, fingerstyle guitarist.
The band, after the show.
Ocean Of Fire!
This is Kelvyn Yeang, amazing shredder. The scalloped guitar is named Sparkly. This picture is before Kelvyn got her name etched in her headstock.
The band hails from Penang, so it’s a rare delight to see technical shred rock.
He’d also put in a bit more vocals in the new songs.
Terrific bassist.
Backing vocalist.
Melissa Indot!
This bassist got groove.
Paul Morrison, producer and drummer.
Emcee for the night.
Steve Thornton! I’d been for his percussion class many years ago as a kid, with my mom.
This was the Azmi Hairudin Agreement.
In came Matthew Sayersz!
He was dressed straight out of Bel Air.
Awesome funk bassist. I picked this picture because it shows the bass the clearest.
Jose Thomas Band!
On vocals, the diva Rozz.
Very tall platform shoes. I asked Dasha how she’d go up on stage with her, since Rozz is tall and the platforms make her taller.
Gotta dig the samfoo.
Dasha Logan sang next.
She’s an energetic bubble on stage!
Jose and her in one of those classic call-and-response moments.
Back to the song.
I really can’t get over Jose’s new hair, or lack of it.
Meanwhile, nearby at The Bee, Poova was performing with Bassment Syndicate.
One more!
17th October 2013: Moonshine: Online / October Edition, at Laundry Bar, The Curve!
Reza Salleh, emcee and organizer in a 9gag pose.
This was the singer-songwriter’s round format – they’d all be on stage, and take turns to play.
Sometimes they’d harmonize or play backing guitar.
So here’s the adorable Liyana Fizi!
Reza Salleh, in stereo.
Jiwang king Narmi.
Diandra Arjunaidi…
…and her guitarist, who is one heck of a guitar lick master and soloist when backing other singer-songwriters playing.
Liyana plays jazzy chords, but never too busy, just lightly.
Reza sings, and Liyana looks beyond the horizon.
Diandra is serious, sometimes.
Narmi plays his hit Whirl.
Liyana’s got a really shiny feedback canceller on her guitar’s soundhole. I kept staring at it, thinking I could grate cheese with it.
Photographers in the crowd were plenty that night.
Sudden surprise harmonies from Jeremy.
Narmi and friends.
I should step up to this side of the stage more often. Cool lighting!
The upper lounge area.
Diandra intrepidly announced that she was going to do a cover of Mariah Carey – My All. I’d be nervous too, with such a powerhouse song!
She executed it well, to thunderous cheering.
3rd October 2013: Moonshine: Fundraiser / The Paul Lau Edition at Laundry Bar, The Curve.
Paul Lau, one of the founders of Tugu Drum Circle, and an awesome guy all around in the scene, was suffering from Recurrent Inverted Papilloma, a form of cancer. This Moonshine was organized to raise funds for his treatment.
This is Reza Salleh, emcee and organizer, and all-day Optimus Prime.
Tribe Dance!
Reza called out for bands who wanted to volunteer for this fundraiser, and 18 came to the call! So this blog entry will be a bit longer.
Chizu, rebooting radio since… 2013?
Kien Lim, folk rock and roll.
Reza of Reza Salleh & Zalila Lee.
Zalila.
Ardiv Jauhari…
…and his band.
Gotta dig his style.
Poet Stories.
Kajon and cello.
Afdeza has really shiny eyes. Spellbinding.
Shanthini Venugopal, who has an awesome voice and is a great entertainer in between songs.
Melvin Goh on keyboard.
She’s also got a children’s storybook out called Why Jellybeans Are Colourful.
Nish Tham jumps in on keyboard for the next song.
Wadaiko Syo.
Japanese drums…
..and a flute!
Gemm.
Funky saxophone.
Prettiest one I’d ever seen.
More of the band.
Melina William of Tempered Mental, in a solo configuration, doing all the riffage and licks of her band in one guitar.
Psycusix.
Took a 13 second exposure for this!
Elvira Arul! She was accompanied by Nish on keys.
Russell Curtis, owner of Rockafellas Bar in Petaling Jaya, and the voice behind Curtis Blues Review.
Julian Chan & Friends.
Junji Delfino (with Melvin on keys).
Emperor Obvious.
Post-hardcore, but mostly instrumental.
Elvira and friend in the crowd.
White Percussion Unit.
Hoedown with drums!
The grand total.
Paul expressed his gratitude.
Then, for the thing he was a core part of…
Tugu Drum Circle!
Performers joined in, in various ways.
People were given random percussive items. Here’s Reza.
Random props!
Leader of the beat.
What a night!
Spot your signature, perhaps? Yes, that’s my Glaring Notebook logo in the middle.
26th September 2013: Moonshine: Spotlight / September Edition. That’s a lot of keys.
Reza Salleh, emcee and organizer. Behind, his brother, Fariz.
Saturday Afternoon. Sounds just like its name implies.
Dianne Lim on guitar, vocals and one of the keyboards.
Fariz Salleh on guitar and vocals.
Melissa Toh on guitar and vocals.
Audience, from the elevated seating area.
Bassment Syndicate!
Marcus sings smooth soul.
Hiran, keymaster.
Tres Empre, who remind me of the earlier post-hardcore bands like Glassjaw…
…and I like it.
I also really like the look of this bass, because it has no fret inlays, so you get a very elongated look.
They were also the only band that didn’t play keyboards.
Kyoto Protocol.
6-stringed bass!
They did a refreshing cover of Lefthanded – Tiada Lagi Kidungmu.
24th September 2013: Feedback Open @ The Bee Publika / September Edition. Here’s Jocelyn Wong.
Left to right: Rohnie Tan, Jeremy Lim and Ryan Lee Bhaskaran.
Remy J. with Ryan on kajon.
Nazrin.
I missed Matthew McKelson‘s performance, but he was eager to play a song even as we were sitting in the outdoor area of The Bee, so we went over to a quiet place in Publika, ripe for practice. He has a thing for Malay jiwang karat songs (so do I!) and he played Iklim – Suci Dalam Debu in this little resonant lift lobby
Didn’t catch this guy’s name…
…or his keyboardist.
Devon Chew and a guitarist in the hood.
Didn’t catch his name.
Son Of A Policeman.
Joshua on guitar, and Tan on bass.
They played a metal version of The Rembrandts – I’ll Be There For You!
I think this is The Message…
…but Syakir Khalid, with the sweet scalloped guitar, do correct me if I’m wrong!
I missed Meliha Faisal and Benson & Hedges, the featured acts, because I came from a dinner.
22nd September 2013: Tres Fest, at The Square, Publika. This is The Endleaves.
90’s rock with solos.
Cool Volkswagen van!
Talitha Tan!
Small audience.
While her and her band played, a soon-to-be heartbreaker looked a girl right in the eye, and then his cap fell off.
Ministry Of Blunk.
These guys are young old-schoolers.
Shane on blues/funk vocals.
Kita-kita.
Christian Theseira, with a rock supergroup! Spot Jimmy of Tempered Mental and Oh Chentaku in the back.
Julian of The Infernal Conundrum and Bokazzi and oh I don’t know on bass!
Hiran of Bassment Syndicate on keyboard and Raja Farouque of FAZZ on guitar!
Ariff Danial.
Free Deserters.
Brendan doing the shoe-gazing thing.
Devroni & Sheree.
Nabeel Zulkifli!
This time, he’s not the only one playing guitar.
Nice bass.
This would be the first time I’d see him playing as a solo act.
Panda & The Astronauts.
Aseana Percussion Unit.
Percussion, of course!
Asian instruments represent.
Take it to the bridge!
Birthday song for birthday boy Ian (also an organizer of the event!)
The gig continued.
Spry frontman! A long time ago, I remember Prema Yin singing with them, too.
Sarah Danielle.
Ian filled in for keyboard duty as she sang.
Emilia Z..
Ann Na in full hipster-loves-Star-Wars mode.
The tilt is always a convenient way to defeat perspective causing height disparity and getting more subjects in the picture.
Like a robotic North Korean triangle player.
So, I’m Jenn. This is Jenn, and she dedicated her catchy song, Friendzone, to Daryll.
Each time I see her untethered by a seat it is as if there is a Stage Presence pedal and its Presence knob is cranked to 11.
Ethan Pnwee, magician, with a cute volunteer.
OHNEO!
Cool battery tattoo on Stanley’s shoulder.
Jumero, who played an awesome cover of Electric Light Orchestra – Last Train To London. Disco to acoustic guitar? Completely possible.
Shane was playing with my Sony Alpha 99 and Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA. This is what it does in low-contrast moonlight, with some spillover ambient light from the stage.
Hina; I’d meet her again later.
Amrita Soon.
Fazz brings Broadway music.
Gotta love the energy this band brings!
Cassandra pulls Hina to dance to the music.
Prakash rolls by on a trolley.
Grace smirks. It’s probably only once per show she lets her hair out.
20th September 2013: The Mezzanine, at Rasa @Damansara, Glomac Damansara. I had trouble finding the place, but it’s best described as it is on the road that the Tropicana City Mall ramp out to TTDI, leads to.
Nice deco! I love the clock.
Gotta dig the wall art, too.
Going up the stairs, you can see two lines of colored tiles leading down.
The mezzanine, upstairs.
Vincent & Friends.
Vincent Chan, organizer and self-professed older dude in a relatively younger music scene, has a rocker voice.
Mark Christopher on kajon.
Sound engineer on sound panel.
Talitha Tan & Friends.
Coincidentally, her mom owns the place.
One of those rare times she’d be up without a guitar.
Melvin, amazing keyboardist.
Derp got fans.
Percussionist got fans.
Josiah Tay.
Tallitha.
The amazing Darren Ashley, in an old configuration, sans Kaoss Pads, with guitar and beatbox in his throat.
Jocelyn Wong…
…and friends?
Juju.
Daniel Yoong.
Nick Davis.
Christian Palencia, whose hair is either floppy or funked up. This is funked up.
Melvin adds to the sound.
Talitha, still around.
19th September 2013: Moonshine: Online / September Edition. This is the area traditionally occupied by artistes.
A twist to the regular gig is that this was streamed online!
Tonight was a slightly different format – the songwriter’s round!
All performers would be on stage at the same time, taking turns to play.
It cycles for a few rounds.
Sometimes they’d improvise or sing along when another performer is playing a song.
Az Samad, fingerstyle maestro.
Azmyl Yunor, folk hero.
Az’s new purple guitar is beautiful.
Azmyl Yunor, intrigued.
Reza Salleh, emcee and organizer, telling a lame joke. He was also part of the singer-songwriter’s round.
Paolo Delfino, still juicing heartbreak for the best sad songs.
Az shows us the extra soundhole, useful for hearing yourself over the band.
The camera used to capture the video input for streaming.
Az and his magic box.
The microphone in the guitar also picks up voices!
He then got up from his tall stool (not so tall, by Az standards) and played.
Dance music suddenly heard from behind, where the deejay console was. Reza discovered the culprit – somebody was charging their phone there, and he was getting many missed calls!
Az, in a intricate ballet chord.