Rewind to the 25th of July 2008 – the Sunrise Mont Kiara Jazz Fest 2008!

With virtuoso drummer Lewis Prasagam…

…and his keyboardist.

Oh, and of course, hot vocalist Diana Liu!

…not to say that Hunny Madu is not a sizzler herself. She got soul and a lot of funk, while keeping some hip hop sensibilities from her bygone days.

By now we have fast forwarded to the 2nd of August 2008.

The Basics: Adil burns up the saxophone and Hiro slaps on bass.

Hey you look like somebody’s sister!

Hiro playing some of the funkiest snaky basslines.

Gotta love big stage light!

Karen Nunis Blackstone.

An ever recurring bassist (even for Lewis.)

John Thomas…

A certain 25th of July 2008, I stepped into a bar…

…all too familiar. Or not too familiar.

There was loud music rockin’. This band? Meh. I shouted Freebird! and they didn’t play it!

Yep, it was the reopened Jamasia.

Ah, such wonderful memories of sitting in front on the wooden floor. Note that the bar moved to where the sound console was last at, and the sound console moved into a corner of the stage, and yet it seemed much spacier, with room for a snooker table at the back!

The occasion? Khai‘s birthday!

This guy single-handedly brought me to places which I wouldn’t or hadn’t been to in ages. I had not been to The New Paul’s Place, after it got raided one New Year’s Eve for “black metal”… until Khai had his screening of Ciplak there.

Likewise, I hadn’t been to Jamasia for months until he sent us all invites on Facebook!

Ironically, the first ever gig I’d been to, Good Golly, It’s A Gig! at the original location of No Black Tie (where a backpacker’s lodge is now) was organized by FYI Entertainment, of which he is a part of.

Meanwhile, they painted the guitar on the wall anew! All the signatures and autographs were gone!

Yes, that’s what Peter Hassan Brown must’ve thought, too…

Fender Stratocasters don’t have 23 frets!

Beer bottle slidin’ with Rollin’ Sixers. (Yes, formerly known as Triple6Poser.)

Henry doing a Slash.

Eddy… OHMYGOD EDDY! Where are your trademark long locks?

When I first entered, I saw him, grabbed his shoulders and went NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Yes, everybody heard it… it’s like a part in a comedy where the character screams and the camera zooms out into outer space.

Davina makes the funniest faces. 😀

Khai getting the “it’s okay, you down this one, it’s the last one okay? I won’t make you down any more…” treatment.

I also took the opportunity to take pictures and say “This is going on Facebook! This is going on Facebook! I’m going to tag you!”

Well, I always wanted to say that. Not that I have actually uploaded any photos on Facebook of other people.

Davina’s got ants in her pants and wait whoa whazzat a very cool T-shirt!

Finally, the Rollin’ Sixers demarcated the big cyan guitar on the wall.

Moonshine: A Homemade Acoustic Show, at The Apartment KLCC, 19th July 2008! This is Eu Gene.

Playing, of course, for Paolo Delfino…

…and the Short Attention Span Band.

Guess who Stephanie is drumming for!

Yep, the acoustic version of Mili’z.

There’s the multi-instrumentalist Melina on guitar.

And hmmm, if they swapped violinists with Paolo they’d have an all-female band.

Say what?

Then, came the excellent David Knight.

He had this haunting voice, with some percussive guitar chops…

…to be used in loops and delay pedals.

I always love it whenever somebody comes up to stage and makes a boombox beat, records it in a loop, and adds layers to it.

Such is his power over the audience.

He went electronica, too!

Such inspired I was – the only artistes I’ve seen doing this were AJ of Pop Shuvit and Jamie Woon.

And then, on open mike, was the returning Cassandra!

She had a few covers from her jazz lounge days.

With that sultry voice, she’d surely be called back to stage.

And ending the set was the very hardworking gig organizer Reza Salleh with a couple of fresh new tunes of the upbeat variety!

Through a glass bowl.

Andrew Netto live at No Black Tie, 7th July 2008!

Full house with reservations.

This is the bar area of No Black Tie, separate from the performance area.

As you can see I’m experimenting with black-and-white, with a tendency to maintain midtones like medium format does. Blown highlights are the easiest thing to do, so I thought of doing something different for a change.

But first, we have the The Ramanados! These guys play straight up rock with a classic, soulful tinge.

…featuring Kishore on vocals, sometimes.

There was a kickass cover of Sweet Child O’ Mine and Sweet Home Alabama.

Herman Ramanado can be seen doing double duty on piano…

…and bass. Well, not both at the same time.

Ooo, Elaine ponders.

And then it was time for Malaysia’s youngest standup comedian!

Him impersonating a, well, you can tell from the picture.

One thing that continues to amaze me is that his jokes are off the hook…

…he can make a joke out of anything, just by flipping through the newspapers…

…or asking a member of the audience what they do for a living. That’s a major plus point – he could probably go unscripted, because he’s genuinely funny!

The crowd loves him.

Later, he is joined by the Ramanados for a little singalong, featuring a Travis-style Hit Me Baby One More Time with Andrew’s own lyrics.

I think, though, that there is a reason rappers don’t sing – not to say that he’s a rapper, heh heh.

Time for more acoustic goodness!

Billie Jean is not his lover, he sang.

…what you say?

Frantic beats. Strangely, percussive beats come easy to Indians.

For more pictures, in color, click on his No Black Tie July 2008 link.

KLue Urbanscapes, 28th June 2008!

Trash your ashes here.

Take him away!

Puppet bigger than its master.

How to film a Back To The Future scene.

The Otherside Orchestra.

Paolo Delfino.

The marketplace.

Fisheye shoots fisheye.

Otam.

Koko Kaina.

She looks so familiar! I didn’t know she was Malaysian. Like I met her through a friend before. And no I don’t say that as a pickup line ever.

And his percussion unit is a bottle of pepper.

Being cramped up to the side, shooting her interaction with her guitarist was more interesting, especially since she kept smiling at him!

Next band…

Saw the immense crowd for Koko Kaina leave, leaving a small group behind.

“HELLO! I’M PAOLO DELFINO’S EP!! BUY MEEEE!!!” it says.

Tugu Drum Circle.

Seven Collar T-Shirt.

I lined up for a burger (and the line was long), and suddenly Daft Punk started playing over at Lap Sap at the open field, just as I reached the front

of the queue. Argh! How was I to dance with a burger?

Later, I finished the burger, and danced. Then I was thirsty and got myself a drink… and at that moment, Twilight Action Girl played Daft Punk.

Argh!

Ooo, these guys look kinda familiar…

This is what happens when Jenga and glue mix.

Three out of four members of Twilight Action Girl. At first, Lap Sap sounded like TAG, but only when TAG came, I was able to tell the difference – Lap Sap

plays songs and blends them; TAG just plays an entire song without really trying to mix songs.

DJ Bunga crowd surfing!

Izal of One Buck Short rocking out with his bass… which unfortunately got stolen later that night.

These aren’t lasers – they’re real ropes.

These aren’t trance zombies.