17th December 2016: Rock The World 16, at Car Park B, Bukit Jalil National Stadium.

A new structure, a big tent to house the food trucks and tired rockers!

Up on the big Main Stage…

…was Republic Of Brickfields!

You’ll all know it from Aru.

Slyde emcees for the Acoustic Stage.

Electronica…

…out of a box…

…from the likes of…

…KVLTS.

Most shots with the Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

Disagree.

David who I’d not seen on guitar for a long time.

It was good ol’ singalong time.

Kids enjoying themselves.

Rest and relax. This tent was the best idea ever, as it usually rains at Rock The World and everyone runs to the hills. Well no, not really.

Otam.

Joined by a full band!

Eu Gene on ukulele bass!

Saxophone!

Electric guitar!

Classical guitar!

I took a break and had myself one of these Pau Mushroom Viral Putrajaya. Filled with a chicken-mushroom paste, it was actually really, really delicious. Don’t be fooled by its hipster food look, it’s really awesome!

Color mosh time!

Oh Chentaku.

Cool Tarik T-shirt!

Jimmy with Jack watching behind.

Look ma I can reach behind my back to hold my bass…

Jack and his scalloped Telecaster.

High energy rock and roll!

They were throwing out free shoes. Box included.

Emcee Big for the Main Stage!

Feeltupenting.

Back at the acoustic stage…

…which you might be able to discern from the different background.

Restraint.

No restraint in rocking on stage!

Wei bro lama tak jumpa!

Love it when the band visits the lonely drummer at the back.

Dish.

They had quite an ardent fanbase!

Color moshed.

The vocalist jumps in.

The Padangs.

I like photographing them when they kneel down.

I’ve never noticed this before.

What a sofa was doing there, I don’t know.

Interesting names!

Gerhana Skacinta.

Big, big band.

Some familiar faces.

Modescape.

Cool Korg!

That’s right!

Plague Of Happiness, another big band.

Masdo.

Awesome fans!

Retro surf pop yeh yeh!

Couple.

More rock and roll.

They have too much fun on stage.

Wearing Beatles influences on their sleeves and straps.

A.C.A.B..

Good ol’ skins.

Portaloo queue. This was hilarious! One guy appeared to be impatient and wanted to cut queue, but his friend stopped him. He eventually broke free and instead of going to the toilet, he entered an opening to the bushes behind where a few guys were peeing in the bushes. He shouted, “JAKIM! Apa buat di sini?” A bunch of us laughed loudly!

Daarchlea.

I love their Opeth-like introduction.

It then goes into some super heavy death metal.

Massacre Conspiracy.

Cool shirt!

Five strings for more bass.

Bittersweet.

They have the instruments to suit their retro sound.

Old Automatic Garbage.

I like this backlight.

Good ol’ Radhi-O.

5th May 2016: The OBS: A Singapore Story Documentary Screening + Album Showcase at The Bee, Publika.

After the Q&A session, The Observatory took to the stage.

Art rock, experimental and electronica, apparently. As I’m not too familiar with the genres I’d say Radiohead comes to mind.

I’d first heard of Leslie Low, bandleader, on the Junk Vol 2 CD. His mellotron on All Things New was an instant favorite.

The music with the band was harder, though.

The documentary was eye-opening – it started with the history of the Singapore music scene (or lack thereof) due to government clampdown.

How ironic it is now that international bands play there and not here, even if we promise you can mosh and crowdsurf here.

One more of this otai and his shiny guitar.

30th April 2016: Night Before Tomorrow (NB4T) x Phyla LIVE at The Bee. This was the first of the Urbanscapes 2016 events I’d go to which is not at the Urbanscapes House. Here’s one of the organizers, Jin Hackman!

It was at hipster central mall, Publika. Here’s an indoor busker.

First up: Home Court, a duo with Jocelyn…

…and Dae Kim, who I’d seen everywhere.

The performance was captured with a panoramic sphere camera setup.

Performers would ebb in and out with the flow.

Santaroena.

I took a walk to the ATM, and snapped this.

My Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM let me get close.

The Bee had its tables moved to the back, making an breakdancing spot.

Similarobjects.

All shots with the Sony Alpha 7S with no flash.

Orang Malaya in the crowd.

Moonlight!

Mushroom Buttons.

Fatim.

This is how you make a shoutout.

Ashley Chan and Albert chin-chin-chin-chin-chin.

I’m in love with her hair. I also am not sure who took this picture (was it Rizki or Arthur?), but I remember somebody bought me a drink, which is why I don’t remember so much.

Fauxe.

Harv.

Unconventional Science.

29th April 2016: Soundstruck : LIVE (April 2016) at The Bee, Jaya One. First up, Sino-french-tinged Yinthong!

Kim on the guitar and vocals beside her.

Kuizz Shah.

Priscilla Xavier.

Night Skies & Visions.

Damn I am jealous of her hair color.

Lyanne Low Hui-Yi.

I know this bluehair!

Doin’ a Flea.

Special guest performer all the way from Singapore, Daphne Khoo!

Kent Sim, emcee.

After party jam…

…with David Soh and Annabel Michael.

28th April 2016: Open Mic @ Barlai #24, at Barlai, Jalan Sin Chew Kee. Nicholas Sia has some songwriting chops with a distinct grunge voice.

Ian Tai who is a natural at the microphone.

Here, he does a cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U, because Purple Rain isn’t his only song, y’know?

Redzwan Awang.

Alien Lipstick Fire.

This is their original, A Try.

Andy Kidd, who has the most interesting lyrics from Australia.

Ending the night, host Shaneil Devaser. Everything in this blog post, by the Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM on the Sony Alpha 7s, hence the wideness.

26th April 2016: Feedback Open Mic ft Lukarts & Sophia Andersen @ The Bee Publika / April 2016 Edition. Here’s emcee and organizer Reza Salleh!

The Suave.

I was all like, our local version of Eddie Vedder!

Seibelle?

Isaac Ho.

The Mox?

The unstoppable Reening Lau.

He has a band!

Manics.

I knew I’d seen her before, on one of them Malaysian Youtuber channels!

Sophia Andersen, first featured act.

Her guitarist.

Chirin Chirin, stitched together.

The Message.

The Vist.

The keyboardist.

The Michael.

The second featured act, Lukarts.

22nd June 2016: Jazzy Friday at Laundry (April 2016), 22nd April 2016!

First of two acts: Talitha Tan!

Checkout them guns yo.

You never know what you’re gonna get with this girl, as her band is also called Talitha Tan.

Her infectiously cute guitarist.

Second of two acts: Crinkle Cut!

More from the Samyang 35mm F1.4 UMC that I rarely bring out.

Vicky Chin, guest keyboardist.

We don’t got stars, so we serenade bokeh balls instead.

Ashley also sings in a choir! She also teaches piano. I’ve just not seen her with a guitar.

I scuttled over to pee and passed this busker, who had a backing track, from one of our fine 80s glam metal Malaysian bands.

Yuuup.

Random picture of the Don.

Random picture of the Talitha.

16th April 2016: A whole lot of music going on at Publika! I bumped into Samuel Lopez busking.

I then headed to White Box where I saw South & The Lowlands.

The whole day I wandered around with just one lens…

…the Samyang 35mm F1.4 UMC, a lens I wished I brought out more often.

Meanwhile, at the neighboring Black Box…

…and outside. 35mm is great for that street photography feeling!

I went for dinner and returned to see Pistols99 from Thailand.

Fortunately, the drummer wasn’t too far for the lens.

Arlyne, outside, rocking ash-dyed hair!

On the other end of Publika was Psytrus.

The occasion? Rock Legend Tribute Night – “Stairway to Heaven”.

Wicked Garden!

The night was a tribute to rock legends who have since passed on. As such, they covered stuff like Queen – Stone Cold Crazy and Iron Maiden – Aces High.

There was also this awesome medley of Pantera – Cemetery Gates and Metallica – Master Of Puppets. Particularly notable since I didn’t get to see a Dimebag Darrell tribute ever since he got shot on stage years back.

Velan, boss of the venue, BullsEye Pub.

Endleaves.

Outside, posters by the organizer, Zazz Productions, adorned the doors.

It was also Zazz’s first birthday.

I whisked over to The Bee…

…for a little drum and bass.

No really it’s Tasha Aleia who slays in leather while adding R to The Bee to make R&B!

She brought up a friend, Aalex.

Meanwhile, back at BullsEye…

Rock and roll with Temjin!

They strictly stuck to the theme of tributes, which I think Rafique Rashid, if he was seeing this, would approve of. Nearly 4 years ago, he got angry that Temjin played their own rock and roll stuff after covering Pink Floyd at a Pink Floyd tribute gig.

They did Gary Moore – Still Got The Blues, complete with all the solos!

They also did a regular cover – the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers theme song, Aaron Waters – Go Go Power Rangers. Aaron Waters is really just Ron Wasserman, who is still alive. He also wrote the X-Men cartoon theme song, which explains why it sticks so well! I say it still counts as a tribute since Thuy Trang (Trini Kwan or the Yellow Ranger) has passed away.

Cats In Love end the night.

The younger cats.

Lohan channels Pete Townshend (though I don’t remember them doing a tribute to The Who.) They did, however, cover Stone Temple Pilots – Plush and a few David Bowie songs.

They also covered Cream – Badge. It is thanks to this exact bassline, on a fretless bass, that drove me to get off a bus and buy an acoustic fretless bass. Rest in peace, Jack Bruce – you showed us how to rock and roll with a fretless.

Sadly, BullsEye Pub is closing! They are going to have a farewell gig.

What: The Curtain Call: BullsEye’s Final Farewell
Where: BullsEye Pub & Restaurant, D2-G4-03, Solaris Dutamas, PUBLIKA, No.1 Jalan Dutamas 1, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
When: 10pm Saturday 25th June 2016
Who: Pseudo Crescendo, Djezna’s Stalker, Infiltrate, Deumuseth, Wicked Garden
How Much: Free entrance!

12th April 2016: Feedback Open Mic @ The Bee Jaya One ft. Annatasha & Yinthong / April 2016 Edition. Here’s emcee and organizer Reza Salleh!

First up, A Virtuous Cycle.

At the tall table, we shot each other. Here’s the guy behind Sounds Of Kites.

Here’s the guy behind Happyfingers.

Here’s the guy behind… no wait, here’s Aiman.

Hello Luqman a.k.a. Loopman.

Atila who is so cute and pocketable!

Breis is a rapper.

“It’s the B to the R to the E to the I to the S to the!” Super catchy rap lines!

The next act, Reening Lau, was no softie either. He brought up the funk soul sister in the audience, and she danced to his groovy tune.

Sounds Of Kites. Can you hear it?

Riyal.

First featured act, Yinthong.

Happyfingers.

Second featured act, Annatasha.

She was really getting into her rap!

Reza Salleh on the community guitar of the night.

David Soh, too!

Chirin Chirin.

Amrita Soon.

9th April 2016: FAZZ at Rils’ bar. Here’s keyboardist Grace!

Bassist Farouque!

Drummer Jone!

Vocalist Kevin!

Tonight, they were a big band. Here’s Liu!

Kian Seng with the blue hair.

Ad in the horn section.

Eizaz does saxophone solos.

Patrick Terbrack, surprise guest.

High fives all around!

The bar upstairs at Rils’ Bar, Telawi, Bangsar.

Kevin is one of a kind, and it is with great sadness that he would leave the band to pursue his studies.

“Hey mom I’ll call you back, I’m in the middle of a bass solo.”
“K.”

It’s always been Kevin’s dream to hear Fazz as a big band, as some songs need that sound.

Here they are, doing a cover of Friend Like Me, from Disney’s Aladdin!

Guest vocalist Lyn.

She brings a different energy to the band!

Rils’ is dark so I brought my Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm F0.95 Dark Knight Pro Edition lens. I shouldn’t take my manual focusing skills for granted!

’twas a merry night.

Show closing!

Cheryl, everyone’s favorite bassist.

Albert, everyone’s favorite photographer. (Ha, I’d hope…)

“He’s not pining! He’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He’s expired and gone to meet his maker!” What wonderful decorations Rils’ has.