KL GIGS

It's all about smoke & sweat.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Homegrown Showcase @ Wisma Bentley Auditorium

So it's a break from my one-month exam period, and I am all hyped up for another plunge into the journey of gigs which I have been straying away from for quite a long while now.

It is almost 4pm and the show has not started. I arrived at The Curve just about 3pm to meet up with my dear, dear friend Atin who was working part time (rajinnya :]) and was thrilled when Arul surprisingly showed up at the shop, though he had said he wouldn't be able to make it to the showcase today.

The messages start arriving on my phone to tell me to head over to Wisma Bentley Auditorium, for the show's about to start! So the three of us head over to across from Tesco, where my beloved music equipment heaven lives. The auditorium was pretty polished and had a something grandeur about it. Carpeted for people to sit cross-legged and relaxed upon the floor, it was clearly a place you wouldn't expect to leave sweating and dehydrated from a killer mosh.
True enough, some dude even found it necessary to tell me to head back home just because I was dressed a little to rocker for the place.

Well, don't hate me coz' you ain't me, brother. :)

After another period of waiting and feeling our fingers start to freeze in the air-conditioned hall, the first band steps up to claim the stage theirs. Forty Winks; a ska/punk band with a lot of energy in their sounds. Sorry, Faiz, I didn't sit at the front!!! :(



They hit in with a strong note, and played a lot of tunes that I had never heard before, so it was a good chance for me to groove with the music. Unimpressive skankers stood in front, skanking completely out of timing which kind of ruined the vibe after a bit. Thank god they sat down.
Of course, my favourite song was definitely "Tiada Masa" as usual :) Thanks for dedicating the song to me, Faiz! You rock my socks. The clean ones, not the smelly ones. LOL
Ahh, that boy with his never-ending sense of humor.
Faiz: Since we don't have much time left, we're going to sing the song "Tiada Masa" hahaha tak kelakar.
HAHA. You got me and my whole group of friends laughing at that, boy.

Their other song "It's Up To You" was pretty damn awesome too, with the all-out! instruments and sing-alongs with the whole band. I love those kind of songs when the whole band just joins in to sing a particular line/chorus! Then they took a dive down with a very jiwang-ish Malay song (was it Tenang?). See, I love this band, but I suck at their titles.
Whoo! Well done, guys. Definitely a good kick start for the Homegrown Showcase.



After a small break, it was Deserters' turn to hog the stage. And indeed they did. With songs that went well over 4minutes, and close to the sort of post-rock sound that can get people dreamy, I was soon drifting away with their tunes. However, I found something different about them this time; there was... something missing. The last time I saw them was ages ago at MCPA Hall for the Youngster's Rock & Roll gig, and they were the BOMB there!
This time, I found them a little too... forced? The vocals, if I were to be more precise; other than that, the music was well solid and big.

Brain dead - words are just not coming to my head right now.



Next up, PESAWAT! I managed to record one song... before leaving.
Had some... stuff to do. Arghhhh. So basically I could hear the bass and vibrations in the building during their performance which was then followed swiftly by Bittersweet's. They performed a LOT of new songs; I could hear them clearly from downstairs.



And though I wasn't watching them, I can tell they were awesome (as usual). Loud, clear and solid sounds were booming out of the auditorium during these Ipoh boys' performance! Great, great job.

Went back into the auditorium to find the hall almost empty... and there was still one band left. Seriously, people should've STAYED for them! Seven!!!!
Seven were absolutely a.m.a.z.i.n.g, just like they were at Sungei Wang Rooftop where I first saw them perform live. Absolutely. Wow.



Saxophones were sexy enough to drive shivers all over your body and feel like you're about to reach the climax of passionate sex. Metaphorically speaking. Of course, Bo's vocals were no disappointment, and I was so in love with the drummer's energy in his playing.
Great, great stuff. Arul was right when he said "I feel like I'm in a hotel". The jazzy mood, the dim lights; his words were pretty much the right definition to sum up the way Seven makes you feel. :)



All in all, a short and sweet event.
I posted videos as well because as you can see, the pictures are pathetic.



After the event, we had dinner at McDonald's and Celine went home under the rain.

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