16th December 2023: Rock The World 2023 at KL Base.

Parking, facing the Sungai Besi expressway, and the Setiawangsa-Pantai expressway layered above.

This was the very first Kuala Lumpur International Airport! In sequence, KLIA was 3 different locations:
1952-1965: this location in Sungai Besi, later known as the Royal Malaysian Air Force Kuala Lumpur Air Base
1965-1998: the second location in Subang, later known as Subang International Airport, then Subang Skypark or Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport
1998-current: the third location in Sepang

On this end, there was merch sold.

This structure is also where the toilets were.

Foodtrucks and stalls.

It was also the RMAF Museum from 1985 until it moved to Sendayan, Negeri Sembilan. Regretfully, I didn’t get to visit it when it was a museum. On the other end were these vehicles left behind.

Also left behind, a Grumman HU-16 Albatross seaplane.

de Havilland Canada DHC-4A Caribou cargo aircraft with short takeoff and landing.

Here’s a picture I found from 2005 when it was in the museum, which reminds me of every military airplane movie or video game scene.

The symbol on his jacket is the Royal Air Force roundel, which the Mod subculture (and famously, The Who) appropriated.

Naratu was the first band I caught.

Always love these shiny guitars.

The quilted maple top is a good look.

Then on to the other stage, Armpunk Sindicate.

Interesting Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster ukulele!

Throw in a Slash with a Gibson Les Paul Custom.

Horn section, not the only horn section you’ll see in any Rock The World.

My trusty Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA photographs drummers.

The Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM meanwhile takes wider shots. I knew Bijan from when he was the sound engineer at Laundry Bar!

Prasasti.

Jimmy!

Plague of Happiness.

Ska, punk, reggae, and anything in between.

OAG! You can see how they tweaked the Royal Air Force roundel to spell OAG on his shirt.

Emcee Big!

Purbawara.

Seeing these Ibanez RGs on stage brings me back to 2001 when I’d walk into Bentley Music and drool over what were essentially Superstrats.

The weather was getting darker, like the music.

Mate was happy to be carrying the staff.

There was a very long queue at the toilet, so I went off to Midvalley (which was the nearest mall) to use their toilet and have dinner there.

When I returned, it was dark.

Sekumpulan Orang Gila.

Crowd surfing.

The Suspects A.K.A..

A Malaysian skinhead band.

Street rock/Oi!

Roots N Boots.

More Oi!

Part of my love for Superstrats was the masochism of learning to tune and upkeep a double-locking floating Floyd Rose bridge.

Sometimes it is nice to take full-body street portraits with a telephoto, though this was just me stepping back to take a picture instead of changing lenses.

Or this, where the perspective looks better.

Meet Uncle Hussain!

Hazama Azmi on vocals.

Cliff Umar, also on vocals.

Patriots.

I wonder what the residents in this condo could hear.

Didn’t see what happened; hope everyone’s alright!