Urbanscapes 2009

Didn't get to go online yesterday night as I was feeling rather lazy after coming back from the Urbanscapes Art Festival 2009. Was supposed to go with gf but then she had to attend a wedding and couldn't come. =( So decided to call Ivan along with me as not to waste the free tickets.

Time: 12 p.m.- 12 a.m.

Venue: KL Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC)

Not anymore!

At first when we reached at approximately 11.15 a.m., there wasn't much to see and I was beginning to wonder how the festival would be like. There were a few booths selling designs and artwork, and a wall that had many creative-looking postcards on them. With nothing much to do, I just grabbed a couple of those and some art drawings (they were freebies!).

Artbook and Postcards

Something created out of plastic bottles which were lit later on

Stuffed dolls for sale!

Some creative (but expensive) badges

After that, Ivan and I went into a movie room and got conned into watching a weird documentary about the homosexual social issue in Malaysia. T_T After that, we decided not to walk into any movie rooms again! That was a pretty awkward experience.

But soon it started to get crowded. Then the show really got underway...

These fellas were walking around looking weird

The crowd started to fill the place

So much so that I couldn't get a good shot of the entrance!

Started out by watching The KL Stompers perform. This group was kinda inspired by STOMP the last time they came down to Malaysia. So they decided to get together and start a percussions group. It was a pretty interesting performance and it got people around cheering.

Performing the broom routine

Hyah!

Then we went over to the stalls that sold merchandizes and stuff. Tried to play this Japanese toy called Kendama. I really sucked at it so I just gave up after a while. LOL

Went over to watch a few good rock shows and disco stage performances. A few bands there were pretty techno and it was an eye-opener for me as I haven't much exposure to this genre. If you asked me I'd say a lot of them are influenced by Coldplay or Moby.

Then we went on to watch some acoustic performances in the "Stage Room", and we watched this pretty cool dude called Rashdan Harith. He has some solid vocals and he played with this skillful guitarist called Colin and a violinist who was equally skillful. He put up a good performance that got the people worked and asking for an encore. But the organizers didn't allow for it.

(from left) Rashdan, Me, Colin

Acoustic performance stage

From time to time we went back to the drama place and saw a few interesting acts. But there was this one that really stood out for me. They played this game about scenarios and they had a few costumed individuals to freeze in motion and form a representation of the scenario. For example, some guy suggested "Pak Lah in his most productive moment", this actor did a "sleeping at desk" action and froze.

The actors were dressed as Chun Li, Mechanic, Camera-happy Tourist, The Joker, Little Red Riding Hood and so on.

I forgot what this was! lol

One of the last performances we watched was from Pop Shuvit. They really did impress me even though I wasn't much of a fan due to watching some of their previous performances which weren't that good. But this time they seriously put the meaning into the phrase "Rocked the stage" and it was so crowded that I couldn't get a good shot of the stage with my phone. *grrr*

Went back pretty tired so I just read a little book before sleeping. Overall Urbanscapes 2009 was a wonderful experience, save for the fact that gf wasn't there with me. =( But it's okay! We'll be there at Urbanscapes 2010!! =D

I Love Hate Sony Ericsson

For some reason. Sony Ericsson just ruined the Daughtry Street Jam. Was so looking forward to watching them that girlfriend and I were willing to take the weekend to travel to KL. Since we were already kinda pissed that Sony Ericsson decided to sell tickets buy forcing people to buy phones. It's like about 300++ for 1 ticket. Regardless of where you are standing.

Went all the way to 1 Utama, which is actually pretty inconvenient for a street party. They sealed up the whole place from the view of the public (who did not buy their phones) and even took extensive measures to block off certain places in the shopping mall that would allow people to peep into the concert. Of course, that didn't stop us from being able to catch a glimpse of the band warming up though.

Thanks to the efforts of Jason, we found out that the restaurant "Chilis" has a place that overlooks the concert ground. So with some painstaking efforts, we finally got a place at that coveted balcony area (many people were eyeing it though), but the worst was yet to come.

We had to wait 4 FREAKIN' HOURS for Daughtry to come out. There were so many (and I really really mean MANY) performances by Malaysian artists, one after another. No offence to Malaysian artists. They were good and all, especially the turntablists. The thing is, people don't pay Sony Ericsson so freakin' much to have Daughtry come as a sideshow. Daughtry only performed about 30 minutes or so (fyi, the turntablists had 45 minutes! until they made it more like a street clubbing party).

But here comes the climax. We were just done with another performance and the emcees came out saying, "Do you wanna see Daughtry?" crowd cheers. "Then chant with me. Daughtry, Daughtry..." crowd chants. "Put your hands together for... idol... Ladies and gentlemen... DANIEL LEE!!!" =.='' That was the last straw.

Conclusion. I Hate Sony Ericsson.

Some Photos (The Forgotten Band)

I have mentioned a lot about my band "Confusion" in the previous posts. But then it seems that this band has been a forgotten band after the preliminary rounds. There's even no recording of our band done by the IT Media people who came the other day available on DC++. But anyways, here are some photos that came from the camera of a band member.

The whole band together onstage

The band from another side

The other 3 pics are self-explanatory =P

Adding To The Noise

Have been busy for the past few weeks staying up late at night just to jam and practice for the Euphonious 2008 preliminary round. Finally got a load off my shoulders after today's performances. But come to think of it, I'll probably miss performing on stage just to entertain the crowd. *grins*

To be playing in Euphonious is not what I expected to be doing this year, let alone playing in 2 bands. Initially I only expected to be playing in the jazz band we formed since last year, comprising of me (vocals), Dhany (keyboard- he's brilliant and if he doesn't win best keyboardist, the judges are tone-deaf), Dr. Bambang (yes, the lecturer plays bass. And really really well), Hann (drums), Sherman (saxophone) and a string of guitarists which never really worked out. But because the thought Dr. Bambang was going to be one of the judges and due to Hann's withdrawal, we had to find replacements or just scrap the band.

Just when I almost cold storage-ed the idea of performing this year, Kee Hui came knocking. So I ended up having 2 bands after Dhany found the replacements. The band with Kee Hui was called "Project Summer" and Dhany's band was called "Confusion" (which I am, until now, confused about why it is called that).

Before prelims, I already knew what to expect as the previous year champions were joining again and many bands I knew of were very strong. But I kinda thought we stood a chance to impress at least.

Some facts you must at least know to have a clue in this post:

1. I played drums for Confusion.
2. I played rhythm guitar and did lead vocals for Project Summer.
3. Both bands really rocked the stage (seriously).
   
4. I thought the judges would at least say something good after the rocking performance we (Confusion) did instead of just saying "not too bad".
5. NONE of us in Project Summer expected to actually make an impact with the audience, let alone the judges (Or even be in the Top 7!).

Thank You's:

To the band members of Confusion:-

Dhany- Brilliant. If I could describe you in 1 word that would be it. You are the fulcrum of the band and if it wasn't for you, all this wouldn't have happened. Thanks a lot. I'm gonna have lots of trouble finding a new keyboardist when u leave UTP. =D

Ofi- My new staple bassist. Hehe. After this year, we gonna have to find new band members from scratch, if Rizki and Sherman aren't interested in joining us. Enjoy grooving with you. Remember, next time we play Dream Theater. So practice harder. Our next band's name's Invictus (unconquered).

Rizki- My Hydraulics lab demonstrator. You play good guitar man. It's just a pity the sound settings went off when you were playing. or else everyone would have known how well you can play. The next Santana.

Sherman- You have some serious skills there you know that? You just have to realize how good you really are, then you'll be able to apply your skills very much more easily and be more spontaneous. Without your saxophone, our band really doesn't sound as good.

Adonis- Although you made a mistake, but that was a good performance. I'm impressed. I believe this is your first time? Well, trust me. You will get better and better with experience. Btw, enjoyed that acoustic jam session with you.

Fauzan- Even though some people didn't hear your voice clearly, I think you were good man. Thanks for being there when the band needed you.


To the band members of Project Summer:

That was really really fun. I loved the whole performance. Everyone was getting bored when they heard we were gonna sing Oasis' Don't Look Back In Anger, but we showed them. *cheeky grin* All of you did well. Especially for that Oasis song. I bet this is the first time anyone did such a punk cover. Too bad the bassist couldn't jump as his cable was too short. LOL


To Hui Lyng:

Thank you so so so so so so much for being so understanding and so so so so so so supportive throughout this entire arc of practices and jamming sessions right up to the prelims. You didn't even complain when things didn't go the way we planned it to be. To me it doesn't even matter if the judges didn't think much of us. All that matters is that I have done the best I can and that you are proud of me and that I can use the talents God blessed me with. =D So proud to have you. Really appreciate you a lot a lot.


To all the bands that performed, kudos for the courage to do what many other people would not dare to do and it was fun to be adding to the noise with all of you. Congratulations to Sebastian, Stella and Vinod for going through to the final. Proud of you guys.

N.B. To those who are completely clueless, Euphonious is the name of the band competition in UTP