Sesi Butterfingers #1

Sesi Butterfingers - Acoustic (17th January 2009) @ Istana Budaya; 2pm-430pm

Session One: Featuring Bunkface as opening band

Held at the oh-my-gosh-posh Istana Budaya, nothing lesser than 'wow' was expected from these wowing grungers that's been sending crowds creaming for over 13 years now. Butterfingers, putting on their final showcases for the weekend before they split to move on with their lives, was presenting two acoustic showcases, of which the first one I was privileged enough to witness!

Because I went to cover for Magmug Magazine (www.magmug.com), and because it was RM35 per session, none of my usual gig-kakis were there with me, so I was left walking around alone fretting that I might not be able to enter as media coz' I didn't have any pass yet. Turns out my pass was actually meant for the third session, but whatever, I still managed to get in. :) Thanks to my oh-so-professional look. MUAHAHA. Perasaan je.

I was pretty blown away by the concept of the stage, which was at first awkward for me, but then turned out to be really cool actually. It was like some mini jamming area, with all the instruments crammed together... and that made the positions of the band members sitting together look really casual and intimate, and helped interact with the audience as well. Good, good stuff.

Bunkface kicked in first, playing 4 songs in total. Okay. Their performance - solid, lah. But the QUALITY of their performance wavered; maybe it was due to the fact that it was their first time ever performing their set acoustic, or maybe just that Sam Bunkface's vocals does not suit acoustic. Naw, man, it just didn't work for me.

I mean, the music and harmony... was all good. But the whole atmosphere needed for acoustic sets just wasn't there. But it was a good attempt, and did show something different for once, coming from these punkrockers. They performed Bunk Anthem, Fine (from their old EP), Silly Lily and Situasi, which they used two violins for. Pretty cool lah, I mean they did try, and that's what matters.

Butterfingers. Dude, flawless? Haha, I mean seriously! I'm so pissed that I didn't take any photos but I don't think I would've wanted to focus on taking shots of them, for I was too busy being blown away. They.Put.Me.In.A.Trance. Haha. Seriously. All the songs they played was so packed and stuffed with emotions, and... stories. I was really, really blown away. 

Absolute favourites were 1.2 Milligrams, Mating Season, Ruin By the Selling Out, The Chemistry... oh gosh, fck it, ALL of their songs blew me away! Hahaha.

Moe joined me halfway in to the set, for he was covering for ROTTW... late bum! Hehe. I think I made him feel a lil terasa (SORRY!) coz I was so into the songs Butterfingers was generously giving out to us, that I kind off tried to cut him off every time he talked. Haha, sorry Moeeee, but when I'm hooked on a song, especially live... man, my whole body's in it. :)

So if you ever go with me to watch a show by Damien Rice or any other 'atmospheric' geniuses... you know you gotta bring a cellophane tape to tape your mouth. Not only to Moe, this is a shoutout to everybody HAHAHA.

Loved Butterfingers! The lights were greatttt, too. And Emmett was just so friendly to everybody :) He was really nice, I think he almost teared up countless times before and after a song. Hehe. We feel you, really, we do. Favourite part was The Chemistry, not only because it was obviously THE song of the show. But, the lightings just made everything so amazing, I felt like I was breathing under water. And... the silence of the audience as we all listened... man... :)

Couldn't have been any better. Just disappointed I missed the evening one, with Hujan as opening band.. but yeah!

PS: Sorry for the late post, I was so stuffed with exams and all that!

Youth09 @ PWTC

GWARGH! 3 days of bouncing back and forth from Mont Kiara (where I stay) to PWTC, where Youth09 was taking place for the second time since they started. 30000+ people attended this event... and I was there to cover the event for a magazine I recently joined. Guys, check it out, it's cool! www.magmug.com

ANYWAY, the first day was a late one, arriving at PWTC around 3pm. Met up with Kodyb and Kolep, and headed to check out the battle of the bands that only just started. Kodyp was my photographer for all three days, and thanks soooo much dude! :)

So... what should I talk about? YES okay. Battle of the bands... What an annoying 3-day ongoing event! Personally, I was hardly impressed with the bands that went, I mean sure, kudos for trying, but guysss... if you want to audition for something as big as a battle... be at least of a certain level first lah...

Problems about BOTB:

a) TOO MUCH... TOOOO MUCHHHH of old school rock was revived. It's like... every other band... played some old rock tune... like come onnnnnn... The Dio age is gone!

b)Rockstar wannabes.

c) Tone deaf players = NOT GOOD.

d) Dead crowd xD but for once, I didn't blame them. HAHA

Spent a fun time dissing the bands with Moe and Kodyb... LOLZ

*One minute into the song* "Hey, their playing Seize the Day! Only realized now.."

Yeah, uh, that's how bad some of them were. I really like the whole purple jamming box thing... looked so cute!

First day was pretty bland. But I met the same Komplot crew from the Nu Year's gig, Kikie and Art, who (surprise surprise) were friends with part of the Durjana gang, too. Chilled with Rezza, Moe, Fahmi, Kikie, Shaz and Art after the event for a quick dinner... was fun! Then we took the train home, and that was the end of day one... heading into day two at friggin 9am in the morning!!! ARGHHH!!

Spent the morning listening to a read-off speech by some important guy... the minister of youth and sports... yeah. Read-off, it really was! The things he said would've been so inspiring if he didn't have to pause every two seconds to read what he supposed to say... my gosh.... so much for coming from the heart. xD

Battle of the bands started after the afternoon, so we didn't do much except catch some breakfast and met up with many people... friends... new friends... FAMILY! LOL. Met my cousin on the last day.. was cooool. Arul, now closer to me than ever since we got to know each other from the time we met, kept his promise and turned up (woohoo!). Met his brother too, who went by the name of Azam - which was kind of awkward for, considering that was my ex's name, too LOL. Helped out with the Komplot CD/Tshirt booth to make some moneyyyy. Was great fun, Art temporarily bought me a Komplot shirt (I WILL pay you back!) and Zac passed me their CD. YAY! Thanks guys...

Fell in love with snakes - there were snakes! - and played with them, causing everybody to creep away ahahah! It was the most hilarious moment ever. I was just sitting there and a saw the snake keeper walk past and I held out my arms for the snake. The moment the dude laid the snake on my hand, all my friends (guys!) who were sitting around me fled away! If it was an animated movie, you would have heard the "phhhuuu!" of the speed. HAHA. Zac and Jeffny looked so hilarious trying to touch the snake and CHAOM MADE ME LAUGH LIKE A HYENA LOL! He was so freaked about the snake, he was standing there all quiet. Then suddenly the music system behind us went BAM and while Arul kind of jumped and remained his cool, Chaom practically flew inches up HAHAHA. xD Silly boy.

Helping them promote "ZOMG, I always wanted this!!!!" (I had one in my bag already, lmao!)

The second night ended with a pretty okay gig... I did leave halfway though, after Komplot's performance. Couldn't stay in time to watch Pesawat though... sigh! But hell, as usual, Komplot was awesome, but the sound system at the venue was so stupid... the bass was so quiet... and Jeffny really had to puff hard to get the sounds from the sax out ahahah! But even throughout the whole day and the day before, the sound system wasn't tight... so... cacat-ed. Yeah.

Headed home with Arul, his brother Azam who was so superbly kickasssss but they were on the other side of the train station... bugger. heh.

Fell asleep waiting for the gig to start:

Third and final day.

FUNNN, FUNNN, SUPERBLY FUN! Because everybody was there :) Except Kolep... silly Kolep.. why didn't you show up!? Grr. Anyway, went to Sentul Timur to meet up with Arul - because he forced me to! - first before heading to PWTC together. It was a nice moment, and being on the train with him is just plain hilarious. Man, I should've made him look down the window.. gayat kan? xD ahah!

Arrived and met up with Kodyb, and immediately headed to the Komplot booth where we chilled for almost the whole day haha! Bumped into Afzaa, a school friend, and got harassed by Trett (my Aussie gig buddy!) (!) Hahaha can't believe he actually managed to go to a gig himself. Awww!

Trett: Aren't you proud of me, I went to a gig alone without you for once!

Got that white boy to buy Komplot's EP! Was soooo superbly happy when Moe showed up yayyyyyyyyy! Haha. So was I when Illey and Chaom showed up! Chilled at McD with Moe and Arul, stealing of Moe's money... sorryyyy. But thanks! :D hee! Got so amused by this one little boy who kept staring at me after I made a face at him... Like when I was long gone from McD, I turned back and he was still looking hahaha! Aww :)

And there was that moment when I choked on my fries coz Arul was singing "Touch my Body", then Moe turned to him and went *pokepokepoke*. HAHA!

Moe got all bullied and huddled around by everyone, that poor dude hehe and the ROTTW issue he got me was passed around; I'm surprised I got it back, even! xD Met two of Arul's friends, Nysa and Meor! I forgot his name the first time round wargh! But he was awesomepossum. Makes me laugh. They looked cute together, though they weren't dating. aiyo! XD Then met Kikie's friends, Malik, Epul, Suzy, etc... who were like... awesome. Haha. I think I scared one of them a lot, even though they looked scarier than me, being part of the Japanese rock-fashionistas.

FlyFM Campur chart was awesome! Love Me Butch was, of course, flawless.... Sang along to every song! Then Yuna came on and I went to kacau Faiz at the technical area heehee. Then Bunkface came on. Gulp! This was probably the most frustrating time I ever had in a gig, but it made me laugh as well hahaha! Was absolutely reluctant to go into the crowds to mosh to Bunkface, but Arul, Fahmi, Chaom, Kikie and Art were all upset, and kept wanting me to go into the crowd. My god, it was like friggin kidnap!!!

Me: *standing there unwilling to budge.

Bunkface: *kicks in with their music*

Kikie: Oookay!!! 1,2,3, JOM!

*They all run towards the stage*

Chaom: *Bursts out randomly from behind me, with Fahmi and pulls me towards the stage along with them*

Me: WOARGHHH!!!!

Everyone was staring dudeeeee! LMAO. Some had the "Wtf is with this chick?" expression, while others had the "Haha, I feel you, girl" expression. Look, I mosh people, just not to Bunkface. I escaped the moment I got the chance to (when they let me go to mosh themselves). But the moment the first song ended, Chaom came out to grab me in again, GOSH what an ass hahaha! Finally Moe helped me cover up while I went into the other hall to hide from the guys as the second song ended after I escaped again :D Yay!

Took the usual train back to Bangsar with Arul... Hahaha as usual, train rides with him left me in stitches. xD

Celine enjoyed the three days with her friends.

Nu Year Countdown @ Solaris, Mont Kiara

Happy New Year! 2009 greats me with a big bang of... sweat! As the clock struck twelve, I was in the midst of feet-tapping and nodding to DJ beats at SOHOkl Solaris, Mont Kiara, where the Nu Year Countdown gig was being held.

After a hearty munch at my place with Jarrod, and a casual argument with my mother of which I told her "I WANT YOU TO GO TONIGHT" and she retaliated an "I AM TOO LAZY"... we were dropped off at SOHO, just Jarrod and I, and headed over to the banks to deposit and withdraw cash. Doodoodoo... Met up with my other close friends, Moshi and Arul who we found sitting outside CIMB.

Skipping all the mamak talk and roaming around the area, we arrived back at the gig venue realizing with a heavy heart we had missed Killeur Calculateur's performance, and were greeted with a rather unenthusiastic sound of Broken Scars. Or shall I say... the band members seemed very much enthusiastic, but the response to their music and maybe the vibes they gave out lacked the 'oomph!'. All in all, I suppose I would've preferred seeing K.Calculateur as my first band of the night. Left shortly to get the rest of my friends... Ayen, Kolep, Nad, Illey and Azam (me and him have been no longer since my KAMI the Concert blog entry)... now everyone's here... not a minute to lose!

Next up... The Times! Ah... Since when are these guys a disappointment? Each band performing three songs each, it was just not enough from them. More, more! They gave us three fantastic songs, of which included "Khayal Khayalan" from their new album. With the great sound system along with their OMG-amazing equipments, The Times were nothing short of tight. Another fabulous performance by these leather jacketed rockers.

Next up? The ones I came for, the ones I haven't seen since last frigging year. Komplot! WHOO. Man, it's not only the fact that I have been waiting since forever to catch them live again, but also the fact that I couldn't wait to get my hands on their newly launched EP that made their show a big 'wow'. Okay, a few flaws perhaps, where sometimes the saxophones couldn't really be heard, but all in all, a performance that did not disappoint me at all. Vocals wise, aiyo... Zac is Zac, right? Nothing you can really say about him. Raw, and out there. Sadly, the drummer was holiday-ing somewhere in Jakarta, and couldn't make it to perform, but their sessionist did a pretty good job filling in. Performing the three songs I love the most from them, there was never a moment when I was not dancing. :)

Managed to catch a few words with Zac after their performance, and was harassed with a big "YOU DANCED, GIRL!" as I went to catch a call from Chaom after they performed. Haha hell yeah I did! Psht! Right after Komplot was a punch of the power band They Will Kill Us All who also just recently launched their new album (which took three years to produce gosh!). Again, what more can you expect when you hear the name TWKUA? In KL, they are never any less than perfect, all their songs with tight, angsty vocals from Fizul and surround sound music from the rest! Three songs again, was just not enough from them, and they indeed gave us one more extra song! Whoo!

After TWKUA, an energized me went out to chill for a bit, and kept getting calls from Chaom, Noel and back to Chaom all asking me the directions to the place. GAWSH. Saw Aidil chilling with Zac and was about to greet them went a call came in LOLZ

Me: *talks on phone, hangs up* Hey guys!

Zac: Heyyy you -

Me: Sorry! *picks up phone, talks, hangs up*

*picks up another call*

Zac: What the hell, busy girl la this one!

Aidil: Yeah, yeah, busy busy.

HAHAHA. Finally managed to talk with the both of them, and was about to grab a CD from Komplot's crew, when Zac told me he wanted to give it to me personally for free after the show. So, as hyped as I was, I waited, and stole his hat (hehe, sorry dude, I still have it). Told Aidil how amazing Couple's new album is. Yeah, tau la, bodek je la. Hahaha, nah really, that CD is great. Headed back to watch Pesawat in action with Zac, and by this time I had no idea where everyone had gone, and saw a guy looking exactly like Jarrod in the media area, but sat with the audiences. Pesawat! Missed one and a half song by them, but at least I managed to catch their most popular song "Mirage"! They were rather tight, too, with strong vocals, nice harmonies... Yeah, loved them!

Next up? Lots of hugging and goodbyes because EVERYONE decided to ditch me and Jarrod and head to Hartamas. Gosh. So uncool. But anyhoo, had a nice time lepaking at another mamak with Jarrod, Zac and some whole bunch of Zac's friends. Talked about cool stuff like gigs, music magazines... bands... yeah... what else, eh? :D

Headed back to catch the DJs, only to find Noel, Jeremy and their friend Calvin walking towards me. LIKE, HELLO! Hehe, really missed Noel ever since he left to Batu Pahat. So glad he's back, man. Also had a funny chat with Shaz... wait... was his name Shaz? Either Shaz or Shah, but definitely NOT Ryan Slater which he lied to me his name was, gosh!

Was greeted with fire dancers as Jarrod went missing, and oh gosh they were good. So envious of them! I would love to be able to perform an art like they did... So yeah, lot's of talking, and chilling... and laughing. :) A nice night.

The countdown came, 3 2 1, and we were plunged into the embrace of DJ Bo's kickass beats projecting from his turntables. Spent the whole night dancing after that, and had mini dance-offs with Noel - just like old times! :D

Left at around 2something, went to the mamak to grab a drink and squished the guys in the backseat of my mom's car to end the night.

Celine looks forward to the new year... but not the new school term... Exams! *gulp!*