A Vampire Azizah's personal thoughts on the event~~
Foreword~ before the event
Yeah ..yeah..i know . This event happened like eons ago! But hey , i did say some of the materials in SharkyMonthly may not be current! Personally being the j-rock fan that i am..i was really just looking forward to watching Baroque(a visual band of sorts).This is due to the fact that they are the 1st visual-kei band ever to reach S'pore's shores!
Months before the event , there was already speculation about a visual-kei band that was coming to S'pore. I remember discussing about which indies band i would like to see with my bro.Lots of names came up during these discussions but i guess both of us wanted very much to see Noir Fleurir eventhough we knew it was impossible considering the fact that they have disbanded.
Finally , the ground breaking news came...Baroque was the indies band scheduled to perform in S'pore . The 1st question that popped in my head when i heard of this was "WHO the hell is Baroque??" You may say i lack the knowledge or something but as far as music's concerned ..i feel that there are better indies bands out there. Well..that is just in my humble opinion.*No offence to Baroque and Baroque's fans* Anyway, after sampling one of their songs , "irokoi" , i got a feel of the kind of music Baroque plays and being the j-rock fanatic that i am..i was looking forward to their performance on 29th June ! Not that the song was really great or something like that but as i've said before...They were THE 1ST j-rock band ever to perform in S'pore so you can imagine my excitement!
The Event
It was a rather warm day on the day of the event. I arrived late....4:15pm i think.Had to work on that day and was only able to get off work @ 3:30pm . I went to Youth Park by means of a taxi...Thank God the cabdriver was kind enough to speed on my behalf. I was worried that i might miss Baroque's performance. But as it turns out..they performed much much later!!
Anyway , upon my arrival , there was already a band in the midst of a performance. A S'porean band i think...not sure which one though. Saw a couple of cosplayers there but i think the best one would be this girl(?) who had dyed her hair a flaming red and had on one of those masks with spikes(?) on it. I wasn't able to get a clear view. I sat with my bro who had arrived there earlier. We were about 3 rows from the stage. Despite the free admission , the place was not as packed as i thought it would be .
Sitting on the 1st row near the barricades were i guess contest winners from Japan and also some of the S'porean cosplayers. One thing that i have to comment about them is that though they were all dressed up like they were ready to party , none of them and I REPEAT , NONE OF THEM even bothered to CLAP THEIR HANDS TO SHOW AT LEAST A GLIMMER OF SUPPORT FOR THE OTHER BANDS PERFORMING!! OK..maybe they did clap..like once throughout the entire event. That is until it was Baroque's turn to perform. IF they were DEAD before..THEY're ALIVE now~~!!
I feel that this is truly DEPLORABLE behaviour. It is not as if the other bands were bad..in fact i would say some were even better than Baroque who is supposedly the main attraction. But with the lack of support and the fact that these dead , listless people who do not know how to enjoy themselves were seated right in front , where their crude behaviour is all too clear from the musician's view , i guess the other performing bands also feel like giving a half-hearted performance<--not that they did of course. I mean ..how would you feel if you were in their shoes??There they were , performing with all their heart and yet people are not even bothered to at least clap for them~~!! Thank god for those of us who actually showed our appreciation!! The fact is that those deadbeats should have been placed RIGHT AT THE BACK !! There..i've said it ..and if any you who reads this and feel that i've misjudged you..well..i don't really care! I saw the way you people acted so don't tell me i'm wrong!!
Ok..now that i have gotten this off my chest , let's get back to the event!!
Last i left you , was when i had already arrived at Youth Park and am somehow seated rather comfortably on the floor with my bro. At around 4:30pm , DJ Randolf introduced an all Indian metal band , Rudra!! Wow..the support they got was great eventhough it was minority who actually got up and stood by the speakers and just head-bang away!! It was really satisfying!! Most of them were dressed in black and had their arms around each other's shoulders and were crazily head-banging away. One guy in particular i think had the security guards on duty worried. He was dressed in the all too famous "Mat Rocker" get up. The black leather jacket & tee plus jeans and the killer boots to match!! Throughout Rudra's performance , he had his arms stretched out like Christ on the crucifix(<-- sorry if any of you are offended by this description but it is the only way i can think of to describe his action!!) , head thrown back and had his tongue flicking in and out like that of a snake. I think he gave the Japs and the security guards quite a scare!! The security guards had their eyes on him throughout the entire performance!!
Rudra was well..DAMN ROCKING!! They were dressed very simply..no outrageous costumes like those visual indies bands. But they gave a damned good performance. I'm not really into metal but nonetheless..their performance was exquisite!
Next up , was Love Me Butch(the Malaysian band). Though there was a slight glitch in the beginning of their performance , the staff managed to rectify it and they were soon jamming again! Their songs had an alternative rock feel to it ! Very exciting indeed. Theirs was an excellent performance , however they had too much of the typical Limp Bizkit , Linkin Park type sound that is all too common nowadays. Not to say that they are bad or something...this is just in my humble opinion.
Ahli Fikirz came on next. For their opening, they put up a little skit based on the theme of the event. It was really quite hilarious! It was after the skit that their actual performance took place. The songs sung were in Malay. The lyrics of their songs is very meaningful. I know cos' i understood them~~ hehe.. One song in particular were about "Samsengs" or gangsters. In the song , they commented about how people may think being a gangster is cool and how in the end , these gangsters came to a sorry end , landing up in jail with no one caring about them. Ahli Fikirz's music style is rap and the band consists of a female vocalist and a male vocalist who does the rapping! They are quite excellent if you ask me!
After Ahli Fikirz , came another S'porean band..'Bushmen'!!! For me , this is the highlight of the event!! Bushmen's vocal , Sheikh Haikel , called out to the audience to stand up ! That was the turning point. Many of the youngsters(excluding the cosplayers & gang) were there to support Bushmen. Most of us stood up..no..i would say all of us stood up even the cosplayers seated in front! But for them , i guess they did not have a choice ..stand up or be trampled!! It was really wonderful...everyone was dancing and jamming to the smooth raggae sounds of Bushmen. As i turned to look at the crowd behind me..i was taken aback by the spectacular view!! There is so many people dancing and jamming!! NOW that is what i call a PARTY!!! Their performance was the turning point of the entire event as people continued to stand till the end of the event!
After Bushmen's performance which lasted for quite a while, there was a break in the performances. While we waited for the next act , there was a screening of this short clip of sorts about the effects of drug abuse ! It was very well made! By that time , it was already 7.30 pm perhaps? I think around 8.15pm , Spinnerbait(one of the Japanese bands) came out to perform! Theirs was a jazzy alternative kind of sound. I don't really know how to sum up their music. But they too are really very good! The male vocalist tried to speak to us in English. He really tried very hard ne~ But at one point all of us went like " HUH??" hehehe..It was very heart warming. He was clearly embarrassed but that did not stop them from giving a great performance. I liked their songs . I'd say their songs are the easy listening kind~! They performed for like 30 minutes i think.
After Spinnerbait, came the band that most of us were waiting for , Baroque! My camera having gone bonkers in the early part of the show wasn't able to take any pictures of them or any of the other performers . However i managed to get some pics from those who were at the event. Here is some pictures of Baroque during the performance. Something visual for you to see after reading so much!
Pics from the event
There is it! Baroque during their performance. I would say that i had fun that night. Afterall, it is my 1st j-rock concert of sorts. Eventhough their performance lasted for only 45 minutes or so , it was packed with energy and the audience..wow..finally i see life in the audience! We were all jumping and screaming together. I think it was fun cos the audience made it so. Of course the fact that Baroque gave a good performance was also one of the reasons ne~ There was no significant part in their performance that made it extra special like that of Screamfeeder. But i think..Kei(is it?..can't really remember who's who!) splashed us wif some water at the end of the performance and he also threw the bottle at the crowd. I do not know most of the songs that was played by them except 'Irokoi' . The opening song was fast paced and rocking , after that followed by another rock song and then 'irokoi' . I think they played a ballad also and towards the end they played a medley of songs. Their performance was quite exciting for one who has never been to a j-rock concert eventhough it was a mini one. Overall it was pretty good.
After Baroque , came Screamfeeder! All the cosplayers were gone ..what else can we expect from them? *rolls eyes* Anyway , Screamfeeder came on next! They looked like they are in their late twenties. The band comprises of 4(?) persons . There is this very cool lady who plays the bass i think! She is rocking! The songs played by Screamfeeder are mainly punk or alternative! Maybe they belong in both genre! Anyway, by that time my bro and i were right in front as all those cosplayers were gone from there! And so finally i had a clear view ! Behind , some europeans had gathered and a different crowd was formed! The last performance before the closing of the event was REALLY GREAT! Though i am not familiar with Screamfeeder's songs , i had a great time listening to them and here is the great part! At the end of the last song , the lead vocalist , just tore the stage apart! He first smashed his guitar! And then proceeded to use his mangled guitar to smash everything else!! IT WAS SOOO ROCKING!! Now that is what i call a ROCK concert! YEAH!!! He wanted to throw his mangled guitar to the crowd but the security forbade it ! PARTY POOPERS!! *sigh* Well , i guess they had to make sure there was safety for the audience! But boy was i all ready to catch the guitar!!
Towards the end of the event some of the performers came out again to say their final goodbyes. It was nice , we had Bushmen , Spinnerbait , Screamfeeder and some of the other local bands coming out to say Thank You and stuff! At last the event drew to a close. It was successful in every right due to the fantastic performances of all the wonderful bands! I am so glad to be able to be a part of it and i wish that there would be another event like this next year! Thus i conclude about the Asian Youth and Music festival 2002!!! THANK YOU !
Tribute To The Late Leslie Cheung(1956-2003)
Screamfeeder
