Back in the month of May, there were weekly events at the auditorium of Wisma Bentley organised by Homegrown Productions (http://www.homegrown.com.my/). One of them was the Homegrown Space which featured performances by local music acts. I had the chance to attend the show held on the second weekend which featured Forty Winks, The Deserters, Pesawat, Bittersweet, Hello Is This The Band and Seven.

Forty Winks started the show with their dose of ska music. The venue was dark, air conditioned and carpetted, which led to people sitting down and relaxing while listening to the music. Of course, the front of the stage was where the action was with small bunch of people dancing to the music.

The vocalist managed to crack some ‘jokes’, in which he ended his statements with a laugh to himself, but managed to make the crowd laugh as well. I didn’t really catch their song titles, but Mak Minah was definitely one of them.

The Deserters was on after Forty Winks ended their set and boy, I was really amazed by their set this time (listened to them at Laundry Bar previously) as the acoustics at the auditorium was much better. The vocals were a bit muffled though.

Their music have elements of brit-rock and well to me, some Bittersweet feel to them as well. Do check them out!

Pesawat, a band which is coming up really strong took the stage next. Their songs have already received heavy airplay on radio stations and their set included the ever so popular Mirage as well as their newer one, Rasional Emosional.

Crowd favorite Bittersweet took stage next and more people were standing up this time and filled the front of the stage. Bittersweet started off with Kuching Hitam (oddly enough, as they usually play this song near the end of their sets) and proceeded onto promoting their newer songs as they get closer to releasing their new album (probably sometime after Hari Raya?).

They played Burn Berlin Down (one of their earlier new songs), and the awesome sounding and very well crafted Ceritera (I think they first played it at KAMI The Concert back in 2008). Speaking about Ceritera, it feels like a national anthem, makes you feel proud about an achievement or success. Superb sing along song. Ah and do note Pijie’s new haircut!

Hello Is This The Band? was up next but almost 90% of the crowd left after Bittersweet’s set (presumably for dinner?). I too had to go and have a bite as my stomach was empty.

When I returned, Seven was already up on stage. Arrmand, one of the guitarist was absent, but this did not make the band sound one bit weaker. Well, the cozy environment and lack of people really make their set feel very personal, relaxing and enjoying.

The Homegrown Space event is still ongoing and feature different bands every week. For updates, check out their website at http://homegrownspace.com.my/