Friday, October 20, 2006



After being in Vietnam for several months I have become unaccustomed to seeing people who are more crafted in their look and attitude. Kind of a strange situation after living in Vancouver for the last couple of years and growing up in Victoria as well. Lip-piercings, tattoos, asymmetrical haircuts, and types of retro-rehashing are things that my life has been completely devoid of since leaving Canada.These external trappings tend to go along with seeing local bands, which is exactly what I was doing last night. A friend of a friend of an acquaintance organizes a show for local bands the third Thursday of every month at Laundry Bar in Petaling Jaya and calls this undertaking Project Bazooka. I think this is a great thing because I am sure that in a relatively conservative environment like Malaysia, not many venues are begging to have local rockers play. They have different groups play at every show, which takes place on the third Thursday of the month.
Last night there were three bands, first was called Seven and they were kind of soulful and funky with a saxophone accompanying the typical vocals and guitar set up; this one was my favorite. Best of all, the lead singer had a really impressive ‘fro, especially for an Asian guy. The next band called themselves Edge of Fire and they were more along the emo side of things, a little derivative but the leader had a great voice and technique for the style. The last group was kind of a “nu metal” a la Korn and they took themselves a little too seriously, but it was still entertaining. Going by the name Dragon Red, this group were the headliners and played two sets, the first being acoustic, which felt a little MTV-unplugged with the singers on stools their voices faltering in unfamiliar musical territory. For their second set one of the singers put on this big black leather glove covered in plates of shiny metal…. Just in case you were not sure of the tone they were trying to set with the tunes. He kept bulging out his eyes and flicking his dreadlocks around in an attempt to look a little crazy, but I felt like I was seeing something that had been practiced in the mirror a few too many times and I couldn’t help but thinking about how all these guys probably still live at home. Anyway, I had a great time and was happy to support the local scene regardless of the style of music or stage antics.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is also worth noting that this venue was completely devoid of the cultural segregation I mentioned in a previous post. Maybe younger generations are different, or it is the common love of rock-stylings that will bring the country together.

khailee said...

thanks for coming flo~!! c u again next month? ;)