28th December 2008 was the first time I stepped into Marketplace, a quaint venue off Jalan Yap Kwan Seng.

It was Doppelganger Open Mic night, and George Wong was headlining!

He pulls off the emo voice perfectly. Emo glasses? Check. Songs about breakup? Check.

Pick a guitar!

Vei comes up for some stand-up comedy. I think he could’ve warmed up the crowd a fair bit more as there were only a select few tuned in.

Come to think of it, a vital part of stand-up comedy is getting the audience’s attention – after all, we’ve all paid cover charge and redeemed our free beer. We should be able to laugh at anything, so it doesn’t matter if your joke are funny or not.

Speaking of beer, I think the tables are really cool! They have barriers to prevent drinks from falling off the table and spilling.

Then, there was the excellent, excellent Sparanormal!

For lack of better classification, I remember them as indie. Well not a very typical Brit indie, though.

Jasmine Low, who had earlier read poems, then interviews the entertaining Freda DragonStar!

And then, it was George’s friend Rina. She has catchy tunes, so catchy that I’d only heard them once before many many years ago, and yet I remember the songs when she performed them!

Then came the unforgettable Rafique Rashid. This guy is hilarious!

He played songs about being caught on video like a certain health minister, among other local commentary. He even changed the lyrics of The Kinks – Lola to go “Yoga, Y-O-G-A Yoga, yo yo yo yo yogaaa…”

Then, Freda DragonStar came on stage to recount funny stories and perform a duet with Rafique Rashid. Amazing stuff!

Christmas Eve, 24th December 2008, at Schokolart, a chocolatey heaven.

On the bill, finger-tapping extraordinaire Az Samad…

…and jazzy Shelley Leong! (Oh, and of course Zalila Lee in the background…)

She can kompang too!

There were a few remixes and style changes.

Often, there are songs that we are used to hearing in a sombre, melancholic way, best stripped down to just vocals and one instrument, that lose potency when spruced with fills and riffs. She did do a Berkley on Innocent Girl, I think… I told her later about this, which she had also realized.

Imagine Extreme playing their trademark funk metal over More Than Words, or Red Hot Chili Peppers freaky-stylin’ Under The Bridge. That doesn’t quite work…

Hot chick photographer!

Shelley has the amazing capability to hold completely still for… 1/6th of a second. 135mm F1.8 1/6s ISO3200 yo!

Meanwhile, Az has the amazing capability to never hold completely still for the camera.

Fear of the tuner.

I honestly have a slight fear of detuning my first string (the high E) because it has snapped twice while downtuning. Downtuning! Not tuning up!

“Why are you guys arguing whether I am a chocolate ganache or not?”

Az breaks out his new toy, the SoloEtte! This takes “reversed headstock” to another level.

Zalila stares out the Solaris.

The amusing Rafique Rashid on sound. He looks diabolical mixing sound sometimes. He also has a diabolical laugh.

Three shots here were taken with the Minolta 50mm F1.4 – the rest used the Carl Zeiss 135mm F1.8. A prize for you if you can figure out which ones!

Ask Az, “Who’s your daddy?” Our National Laureate with luminescent hair, but of course!

I had blue hair once. Here it looks like I have blue hair again.

You have to plug earphones in to hear what you’re playing! I realized that the form of the SoloEtte makes it look like a music-making stick.

Stereopath High Voltage, one 20th November 2008 at Laundry Bar.

This is the hard-rocking Aku, who did a cover of Jimi Hendrix – Little Wing.

Yes, I’ve seen this song covered more times than I’d care to. Bring on Freebird already!

Dragon Red is back, with their new bassist!

Amil takes on a new role, singing as well.

The emcee of the night.

Blister! They did a cover of Jimi Hendrix – Voodoo Child, in addition to their excellent hard rock/heavy metal stuff.

It is always a joy to see these dudes play. They go all out! Meet the Gene Simmons-esque tongue.

Meet the drum battle.

Hmmm, this guy looks new! I see a channelling of Robert Trujillo.

Sadly, everybody needs to bring their own drum stool…

They covered Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love, complete with violin bow bit!

Mmm, guitar strings… (pardon the out-of-focus, I almost missed this moment.)

Then it was The Times, Brit indie at its best.

There is a certain expression the members all wear.

Finally, it was Aggrobeats, with a good dosage of ska…

…and, contrastingly, the soul of James Brown.

I headed down to No Black Tie a certain 16th December 2008 to catch the return of Shelley Leong. Yes, she (or rather, her CD) goes well with wine!

But first, Zalila Lee the percussively funky!

Then, it was the return of Shelley Leong. Seriously.

Not so seriously.

Alda was having a minor time readjusting to the music. Each time Shelley comes back she turns the style of a song totally around, often in a fun way!

Rohnie Tan, guest, and Zalila percuss(es) as usual.

Then, it was the dramatic overture of rock that was Rendra Zawawi.

“Hey man, you could just call it folk rock, acoustic or indie…”

Well I do think there is a certain ingredient that is added.

Adil Johan adds sax to the mix.

The audience takes it all in.

There, I’ve broken the hiatus. I’m back!