Rise Up vol.2 @ Reggae Bar, Changkat BB

I missed the first volume of Rise Up, which was more towards punk rock, so I decided to swing by to catch it this time round, also due to the fact that three bands I wanted to watch were going to perform. :)

Headed to Lot 10 first with Huixin, my cousin, and Moe, and FINALLY BOUGHT THE FCKING L.O.G TICKETSSSS!!! WHOOO. cantwaitcantwaitcantwait. Anyway, headed to Changkat after that, bumping into Vanse and Rath on the way. (Vanse *to HuiXin*: My name is Jay Chou.) LOL! Biar betul.. xD

Went down to Changkat, worrying I might've missed Zack (worked with him for a week at Zag T3) and his band Whales. But the gig hadn't even started yet when we arrived - agak typical la, so we sat around and waited for them to set up and perform. Okay, I wouldn't want to use cliches to describe bands, but Whales simply said - blew me away. Good, good stuff. I was sort of expecting post-rock stuff but not how they had it, it was... GREAT! Haha. Loved the mini breakdowns and parts where you could almost feel like trashing a place. Didn't matter when they made some mistakes, it was their first gig, for they really nailed their set.

Chatted with Zack for a bit and to Ajin about Beatburns... Watched a band next called Sally Fearie, but were not really impressed, and felt sorry for their nerves, since they had travelled all the way up from JB. Pity la. Decided to head down to Kitaro where Mia and gang were dwelling, also to meet the birthday boy, CHAOMMM!!! I don't think my mind was set right that day, I kept screwing up my words...

"What time is Stonehead performing?" (maksud I actually nak sebut Stonebay atau Brainhead, but I sorta sais them together. -_-)

Stonehead pulaaaaakkk...

Birthday Boy!

Moshi dah botak LOL!

Everyone then ditched us to go One Cafe/Pavilion, so we headed back to Reggae Bar, in time to watch the end of a strong vocal-ed band, Goodbye 20th Century, and the final two bands - you guessed it! - "Stonehead"!!

Brainhead played first, finally releasing some sort of energy into the venue, as everybody applauded them on stage. They played three songs, one with Ajan's fiancee, and their duet was honestly awesome. :) Super comey dohhhh... Spent their whole set admiring Ajin's guitar, as usual (just like at New Year Rendezvous!!)

Then, STONEBAYYY. Already, I was in a jealousy mode with Afiq (the drummer) who had bought a Dennis Chambers pearl white snare... GWARSHHH!!!! I was so close to stealing it. Soooo close. As well as Ojie's hat... HAHA!

Had to hold Afiq's camera throughout the set, because Moe left it to me so he could set up the guitars for them (guitar tech la tuuu) so I just went on a photomania throughout their set. Was glad Moe helped me record Si Murai Penipu :) All in all, a cute acoustic set by them. Pity they couldn't play as a full band, for their bassist couldn't make it.

Earth Hour spirit was super dead this year, we didn't even see anything dramatically get darker or many lights turn off. Pfft. Malaysia. Hahahaha. In fact, we got more involved with watching a fight happening below the monorail station. Wanted to throw my burning cigg butt at the guy's head actually, it was obvious it was a gang versus one guy, which to me, is unfair, no matter who's wrong. One on one je la. Funny thing is, the guys who were hitting him started to slowly edge their way out of the scene when three police walked by to check on the situation. HAHA. Kalau memang berani, tak payah la lari, pengecutttts.

Anyhoo, left to Ampang, jammed with Beatburns, and headed to Al-Mehraj, makan-ed and went hooooome.

A simple day for Celine, it was.

AKD Fest 2010: Keramat is the Law @ One Cafe, KL

: AKD Statistics:

Deaths: 0

Major casualties: 1

Minor casualities: 10000+

Chaos: infinite

Finally. Finally. FINALLY. After a whole monthhhhhh of WAITING for this fest, it finally came! WOOHOOOO!!!! Boy, it was... inexplicable. It was absolutely, wow. A gig worth remembering.

AKD celebrated their 10 years of brotherhood by splashing out this event for us hardcore manics who are in search for a good mosh to release ourselves. And boy, was this gig successful. Hell, this gig was... a blast. Maybe it was because of the longgg wait plus all the stupid stress my school's been giving me, a gig seemed so much more than it probably really is. Haha!

Headed to BB first to buy Alice in Wonderland tickets, and headed to AKD, only to find out with a heartwrench that I'd missed the first band (who I really like!!!!) Glamorous Evil Genius. Rushed in to catch A Ruthless Cleansing (asal slalu datang tepat masa to catch korang? haha!) and was again, awedddd by their performance. This time it was added with a really lovely crowd that showed maximum support, everybody probably as equally hyped as I was for the gig. When they played a Lamb of God cover, I literally died. Fucking good job, Scottayyy.

Next up were Catastrophe, another band I was looking forward to, and danggg, their energy. Terer ah, Nazim :P By the way, thanks for the CD! Up next were Ana 4 Craig who also released a new EP in conjunction with AKD Fest (a lovely way to remember their EP release, i.m.o).

Then. jengjengjeng. DAARCHLEAAAA!!!!! These devils are the cause for my aching neck and tangled shoulder muscles. Serious. They played about 4 songs and I bloody headbanged all the way - not exactly the smartest thing to do, but hell, once you're with Daarchlea, you're with Daarchlea. Sumpah. One guy went on stage and looked like he was about to pass out from so much headbanging, I was like... "R u okay dude?"... then dia salam je. Hahah!

A boy dislocated his shoulder. Now that's hxc!

Went back in for Thy Regiment, and was excited to see this very tribal looking instrument on stage (hate to admit this, but I forgot its name, babi) and was even more thrilled to see TR's vocalist using it. Cute giler. Haha! Anyway, TR was AWESOME and we did not stop once from giving Azam an embarrassing glory of fame as we screamed for him every time they finished a song. HAHA! Kesian la, Zam. But hell, I love TR, they have the skill, the energy, the showmanship. Phoooo!

Then t'was Massacre Conspiracy, the band that guarantees a crazy crowd every time I see them in One Cafe. :) Two vocalists, one big band, one colossal sound. Who won't like these pretty boys who know how to make music? Followed swiftly was another two-voxed band... THIS SUNDAY!!! Dude, there is no explaining just how long I have been waiting to catch these boys live again. Grr. But the worst thing was the punch I received on the side of my cheek earlier during the day took its toll when I sang along to "THIS PLACEEEEEEE REMINDS ME OF WHAT WE'VE DOONNNEEEE!" and heard a horrible "Cruck!" on the side of my jaw.

Terus diam, sial. The pain was like.... kimak betul!

But other than that, This Sunday was absolutely great, the crowds went BALLISTIC for them, and the one video I recorded (soon will be on Youtube) was mentallll. Every other three seconds, another guy jumps off stage. Alie and Wira didn't even sing their final song because their microphones were goneeeee and their voices replaced by a hundred others. :) Loverly job dudes.

Caught the end of Elegy (who were busy making a speech about wanting this to be like Hellfest - fat chance, bro) and was shocked by how Suicide Silence they were. Coolness, coolness. Caught a bit of Raizhobium as well but decided to head back out and put the ice pack on my cheek, only to end up chatting with Nurul and Wira on another table. Lol.

Then, then? BLACK TERRITORYYYY!!!! Okay, trust me when I say I am not covering this band by band. Only on account of the times when I was actually IN the venue. Missed a few bands (okay not miss, but sat ouside). Singalongs, moshing, going wild... the usual BT atmosphere :)

And finally. Finafuckingly... naratu. NARATU. When Ijam walked on stage, I burst out laughing. Just.... look at what he wore at the pics below. He cracked nerdy jokes and kept making mistakes with his words (buttoned too tight perhaps?). Talked about how all the bands had their own special guest so he brought his own friend to come and sing Keramat Durjana with the band. Agak generous of Ijam :)

Questions? Kau Bangsat? Pukimak? What else to say? Their songs, their performance, their crowd pleasing was up to the max, and I could actually physically feel the gig ending with a vigorous explosion. Fucking awesome sial. No regrets whatsoever of having to stay til really late, and was in a good mood to head to BB to catch the movie.

The movie ended at around 4am - Apit fell asleep throughout - and we sat in front of Maybank til the sky lightened and talked and talked and talked and shared moments unforgettable. :) Thank you Rath, Bum, Moshi, Pit, Fahmy, Vanse (the guy who almost passed out during Daarchlea who was in fact Rath's friend!), Anep and everyone else who joined us momentarily during the overnight.

Celine wishes for every day to be just like this day

Dance Punk Party 2010 @ Noisy Studio, Ampang

It's not everyday you get a gig collaborating all the new-wave/dancepunk/psychadelic freak of natures. But DPP 2010 is exactly what it is all about. Music. Dancing Shoes. and moving moving movinggggg.

Left my house around 3something with Moe after transferring my drums down to the car (yes, i had to bring my own drums) and went straight to Noisy Studio, only to find Jarrod not there yet, so I went to set up the drums and waited for the bands to arrive. Whee.

Kaos Beat came first after us, and tried out the drums and amps whilst chilling at the next door mamak. Faez came as well, and so did Azri, Azam and Syafiq a little later. So after a long time of just chilling around waiting for everybody to arrive and the room to fill up, passing out glowsticks and forgetting about entry fees, we were ready to kick-start the show at 8.30pm.

Round Robin played first, a good start to pump up some energy to us tired souls, with funky synth effects and whatnot. Some parts sounded distorted though, but other than that, they had a definite funk-punch in their music.

M.O.I.S.T (which is Jarrod, Moe and I) were next. Can't comment, but I was so happy to see everybody enjoying themselves from where I sat behind the drums. Was cool to hear them going "Hey! hey! Hey!" during our song "Tuna". Yay, thanks guysssss!!! :)

Drums wise...? I need to practice real hard again man. HAHAHA

Next up: Kaos Beat. Thanks for dedicating "Black Diamond" to me, guys :) Sayanggg korang. Hahaha. Played a solid set, definitely a newer sound to the previous DPP, they're now a lot more chilled out and fit for stoners. Hahahaha.

A band I couldn't wait to catch was Part Time Lovers. I was told that they apparently sounded like m83, and I couldn't agree more. They were basically that... plus a bit more catchier tunes. Definitely worth a check out and I was awed to have caught them live, them men clad in Joy Division like style.

Then it was my turn again, with Enrai. Four songs, killed me. Haha!

The Fridays! Funny confusion between "Pavilion is for losers" and "Blackberry is for losers" was debated after their set. Loved loved loved them, they definitely pulled my adrenaline up. Was hilarious dancing to their freakish music with pauses and creepy zombie, creature feature-like music. :) Hehe.

Chaos, chaos, The Dramatic stepped on stage as second last, and had to replay one of their songs because their last song was sabotaged by a keyboard falling off the stand and malfunctioning. Haha. But they had a supportive crowd + good music, so it was no worry to have to repeat one song again. :)

It was exciting waiting for Ben's Bitches. I mean... ITS BLOODY BEN'S BITCHES MAN! DPP pulled them out of their retirement, and boy did we have fun listening to them! They played hilarious tunes like "Aku Suka Jolok", "Ini Gitar Mak Aku" and "Panda". Good stuff man, serious good stuff.

Finally the show ended at around midnight, and we packed the drums out and waited for Moe to come back from PJ to pick it up and send me home, having drinks outside the venue and listening to a bunch of rastafarians having their fun with reggae music. Loverly.

Celine needs to get back in touch with drums!