More than 1,000 people were sold out on Alex Peters at the Carlsberg-MUM Top of the Pubs '88 finals at Subang Merlin's Rampaisari Ballroom last Saturday night.
Eleven finalists took part in the competition to determine the country's best pub singer, giving a fine display of techniques and skills. But it was Alex Peters who stole the show with his astounding creativity on the use of sound equipment.
Well-known as an efficient one-man band, Alex did little to sweet-talk his audience. He spoke little, but it was obvious that his music would be doing the talking for him when he did the opening bars of James Taylor's Fire and Rain.
With the help of his four-track machine, Alex also did a version of Herbie Hancock's Rockit, sliding his fingers along the frets for scratching effect.
The mood to party was sustained on Timbuk 3's Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades); when his supporters, all equipped with dark glasses, got up on stage to dance. One local female vocalist even stood on a chair to dance.
Alex has his supporters to thank for. Even before emcee Patrick Teoh introduced him as the final contestant, the audience had responded with thundering applause. A small section of the crowd booed.
Some of Alex's fans had brought along his "Souled Out on Alex Peters" banner from the Treffpunkt pub in Damansara Jaya (where he is currently performing).
First runner-up guitarist-singer Leonard Tan, a highly respected pub singer, was another mesmeriser. His imitation of voice - Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Stylistics - was simple mind-boggling.
Presenting two of his best pub acts, Leonard rubbed off the novelty of his kazoo (a whistle-like instrument) on the audience.
His version of Nat King Cole's Teach Me Tonight and jazz standard Mack the Knife must have been familiar to regular pub goers by now, but the audience lapped them up all the same.
Frankie Tan's no-frills performance of Alphaville's Forever Young and Don't Cry for me, Argentina, a song from the play, Evita, earned him the third placing.
Accompanied only on acoustic guitar, Frankie displayed tremendous polish as a pub musician, using songs with simple and clean melodies. His diction was superb and his voice came out crystal clear.
If there's a special prize for the best stand-up act, it must go to organist Bernard Gomes, who had the audience literally rolling with laughter the first five minutes with his jokes.
Others contesting for the top three placings were Francissca Peter's back-up vocalist-dancer Mark David (One Hundred Waves, Stand by Me, Stuck on You), pianist David Gomes (From Broadway, Tell me What I Got to Do and Take Five, done with instrumental backup).
The other finalists were guitarist-singer Wilson Samuel (Summertime, Selayang Pandang, Joget Pahang, Luciana), keyboardist John Derek Johnson (who breezed through 11 songs in the time given), model-singer-beauty queen Yzara Wong (Cabaret, Conga, The Best is Yet to Come), former Lizards' guitarist Bille Lee (apache, La Bamba, I Want to Break Free) and music teacher-pianist Roslan Ariffin (Swing Street, I Write the Songs).
Judges for the finals comprised of professional musicians and top industry people like Adnan Abu Hassan, Fauzi Marzuki, Goh Boon Hoe, Mike Bernie Chin, Yasmin Yusoff, Jerry Ventura, William de Cruz and Freddie Fernandez.
Points were awarded for creativity, presentation and technical skills.
Apart from minor problems with the jacks during the first quarter of the show, Top of the Pubs '88 finals, can be called a roaring success. MUM officials said all the 1,000 tickets were sold out by last Friday. In terms of value-for-money entertainment, the event is unmatched.
