Finally, Steven & CoconutTreez comes to Malaysia! This is an event not to be missed by anyone, yes, ANYONE. Just listening to the tunes of Steven & CoconutTreez makes you feel so relaxed and happy. Not convinced? Go check out Welcome To My Paradise at YouTube. Or Kembali.

Besides Steven & CoconutTreez, our local bands are performing there as well. You will get to catch OAG, Republic of Brickfields, Bittersweet, Pure Vibracion, Rivernation, Skudap Skudip, Plague of Happiness, Whimsical, Redemption, Priority and Maddame.

Event Details:
Venue: CapSquare, KL
Date: 29th November 2008
Time: 2pm
Tickets: RM38 presale/RM45 at door

After listening to both their albums, The Other Side and Easy Going for 2 years, we definitely are going for this even. You can’t miss this event!

The launch was supposed to start at 3pm but it was raining heavily at that time so I could not make it over. By the time I reached the venue, it was already 5pm and I missed Couple’s performance. The organisers gave me a free Free Love album as part of the media pack, so I will be reviewing the album real soon (I was listening to it in my car for over a week already). Although it wasn’t packed inside, the attendance was pretty good.

Denial (from Indonesia) was already playing when I entered the venue and ended their set as soon as I got to the front of the stage.

Killer Calculateur took over and performed a killer set (pun intended), getting the crowd warmed up for Free Love. Hey, hey, yellow arm bands on all band members!

Free Love of course, played last, and they played all the songs from their new album, Feed Us With Your Love. 12 songs in total. The harmonica and cow bell was there as well. If you guys don’t know already, Free Love is a band from Ipoh, Perak and are under Bodysurf Music, also based in Ipoh. Besides signing to local labels, they also managed to impress a New York based label, Sizzleteen Records who signed a deal with them as well.

The show ended at around 6.40pm and the skies were still clear outside.

The second leg of the X-Gig installment will starting at Ipoh this time! It will be held at Rum Jungle (Sunway City Ipoh) on the 22nd of November 2008.

Featured Bands:
Bittersweet
Bunkface
Free Love
Harmacy
Muck
Pesawat
plus other open session bands

Information:
Venue: Rum Jungle, Sunway City Ipoh
Date: 22 November 2008
Time: 2pm - 6pm
Tickets: Free

Finally, Rock The World is back again! For all I thought, KAMI The Concert at Bukit Jalil was the killer concert this year, but Rock The World 8 is just around the corner, just one month away!

So my plan was to get an airbrush of Venom done on it for starters. Got me self this design that i like off the net.

Sadly they quoted that to get this done would cost about RM700. Heck that’s why rempits don’t airbrush their helmets.

Since I’ve been assigned to a Project in Malacca for 3 months I tried to see if I could get my helmet done a little cheaper there. So i dropped by the famous EVERPLOT in Mahkota Parade. Showed them the pic and suprisingly they gave me a freaking cheap quote costing RM200. Heck so i sent it in since it was dirt cheap.

Here’s a few pictures of how it turned out.

Front view

Top view

Back view

Check out Everplot in Malacca if you are down there. They can do sticker customizations for you as well. So if you want to get quality workman ship to suit your budget try venturing outside of KL. It can be really cheap sometimes.

Hujan finally held their very own showcase at Planet Hollywood on the 25th of October 2008. Tickets were priced at RM25 each. COCO and Free Love (who recently launched their album) were there to open for Hujan.

The event start just slightly after 4pm and the venue was already packed. There was one booth, just beside the stairs, selling Dirt-Tee clothing, and also some Hujan merchandise (umbrellas, car stickers, etc).

COCO were the first to play, with AG on the guitar. I was stuck at the right side of the stage, as I couldn’t make my way to the center front of the stage due to the packed crowd. Even before COCO came on stage, the crowd was already there.

Free Love was next, playing a few of their crowd favorite songs, including the Ya Ya Song. At this point, I abandoned my hope of getting the front row spot and navigated myself around the venue, ending up at the left side of the stage, slightly.

Just right after the opening bands finished performing, Hujan came on stage, with band members donning a smart black and white outfit. They even had this tiny Hujan badge on the left chest side of their shirts. I soon found myself at the back of the stage, and was able to take close up shots of Am, the drummer, and also some crowd shots. It was also there where I manage to spot their playlist, so refer to the playlist for the songs they sang at that day okay.

The playlist

After exhausting all my options backstage, I moved myself to the back of the crowd, this time, with an aim of getting to the front of the stage. I noticed 2 other photographers there, so I signalled them, and all 3 of us, together with some other kids pushed our way into the crowd and I managed to get second row position. The first row were a bunch of girls, shorter than me. I did not want to spoil their excitement that day, so I just stood behind them. There was a biggish security guard standing there though, blocking my shots every now and then.

Hujan dished nearly all their songs for this showcase, and as usual, Bila Aku Sudah Tiada garnered a massive sing along and so did their latest hit single, Dugaannya. There was also a Happy Birthday song, dedicated to those who celebrated their birthday on that day. There were slight moshing, but heavy moshing and crowd surfing was kept to a minimum due to the security guards limiting them.

They kept the best for the last, playing Aku Scandal and Lonely Soldier Boy near the end of their set. As for all Hujan shows, the last 2 songs of their set would always be Pagi Yang Gelap, which will be followed by Empayarmu. Dukegong finally came on stage to play for Hujan for the last time. And of course, Noh abused his guitar strings on the mic stand after they finish playing.

Fly FM will celebrate their 3rd anniversary at 1 Utama on the 15th of November, 2008. It will be held at Central Park Avenue, which is just outside the new wing. The line up consists of some artists from last year such as Faizal Tahir (new publicity stunt this year?), Jaclyn Victor, Bittersweet, Bass Agents and will also feature bands such as SevenCollar T-Shirt, Estrella, Bunkface and Estranged, among others.

Event Details:
Date: 15th November 2008
Time: 7pm - 11:30pm
Venue: Central Park Avenue, 1 Utama
Tickets: Free

Hujan and Deja Voodoo Spells will be playing there so don’t miss it!!

For more info, head to www.levi.com.my

Vain Music Records is organising a gig at KL Tower this coming weekend, November 16 at KL Tower. It will be the same place where the KL Indie Fest ‘08 took place a couple of months back.

Music Against Racism, with the tagline, One Love, One Heart, One Nation will feature bands such as OAG, Couple, The Times, The A.C.A.B., and The Aggrobeats, among others. There will be a total of 20 bands performing throughout the day for just RM20!! That’s just RM1 per band, which will of course play around 3 - 4 songs each. As the event will start from 12 noon to 10pm at night, each band will play for an average of 30 mintues each.

Music Against Racism
Venue: KL Tower, Kuala Lumpur
Date: 16th November 2008
Time: 12pm - 10pm
Tickets: RM20

Additional Information
http://www.vainmusic.com.my
http://myspace.com/vainmusix

See you there folks!!

The Times took stage right after Bittersweet’s rendition of the Hari Raya song. They started off with Singapura Ke Kuala Lumpur, a crowd favorite, taken from their latest album, Modern Minimalist Glamour. They chugged through the night, churning out Khayal Khayalan, Tunjuk Perasaan and also the title track from the same album.

Hotlink Lucky Draw

It was time for more reggae with Republic Of Brickfields. Aru came on stage again, the first time being with Koffin Kanser. Aru had a costume change and he wore a nice bright yellow striped jumper. As always, they did not fail to please the crowd with strong vocals from Aru and solid music from the band. They played their staple diet of Rahsia, Orang Planet, Emansipasi and lastly, Ku Tak Bisa.

Love Me Butch came on stage to give the crowd some moshing, right after they had some slow, relaxing skanking. As usual, Meng was running around the stage with his guitar and Syarul was screaming energetically into the microphone. Reconcile and Hollywood Holiday were among the songs in their set. It was nearly 11pm when Love Me Butch started playing but the crowd was still strong, staying on to catch the upcoming bands.

Meet Uncle Hussain came up and played only 3 (or was it 4??) songs but the vocalist was too emo. he was constantly abusing the microphone stand, throwing it around and making it fall over and over again, even after the stage crew stood it up again. Finally, he took out an umbrella and smashed it on stage, destroying it. I wonder why. Was he being really angry because the band’s set was cut short or was it just a performance/stunt.

Butterfingers also played only 3 songs as the time was nearing 12 midnight. They opened their set with Royal Jelly and after the song, Emmet smashed his old looking strat guitar onto the floor, accidently hitting his forehead in the process, leaving him with a slightly bleeing head. No worries though, it did not stop him at all. I forgot what was the second song, but they ended their set with The Chemistry Between Us, which was a superb. Damn, if they could only played more songs, but the time was already 11.55pm and there’s still OAG up next!

OAG were on stage preparing to perform but before they could start, there was an annoucement saying that the event has to end because the time is already 12 midnight. After a commotion and booing from the crowd, the event organisers complied (probably managed to discuss with the police) and allowed OAG to play only ONE song. Well, rules are rules, OAG played 60’s TV, brought the house down, and it was lights off after that.

As soon as the event ended, everyone quickly left the area. Me, I asked ah_mei to drive the car out of the carpark before the rush started. Besides the OAG drama at the end of the event, it was an all out fest! No sound check delays, superb sound system, nice weather, no thrash talking emcees, huge crowd (around 18,000 according to some online sources) and best of all, it’s FREE! Thanks to 8TV and Hotlink for sponsoring and organising such an event. This could well be the Rock The World for 2008! Can’t wait for the next one to come!