The bands that performed yesterday were Carburetor Dung, Swampy Zombie Fever, Pusher and The Garrison. It was my first time being in the club and the atmosphere was chillexing. As usual, a lot of familiar faces ^_^ Yes this is a community of people loving hardcore punk rock music. Although I sometimes get edgy when meeting and surrounded by huge crowd, I did enjoy myself that night~
Where do I even begin to start?
Carburetor Dung opened the night with their kick ass set! They are awesome punk rockers. Father of punk rock in Malaysia. They are getting old but still sounded as loud and fast as any young blood bands. I’ve heard of them since I was in high school through friends but I’ve never seen them play until I got involved in Food Not Bombs. It’s crazy that you seemed to idolize a band through stories from friends who worshiped them. Later in your life you’d know them and became friends with them thus seeing the friendly and cuddly side of them. I did felt kind of anxious when I first hang out with the old timers. I think it’s really great that Joe Kid opened up Ricecooker shop as it had provided a space for people to get to know one another closer besides the usual place –the gigs. This is especially for anxious people like me who a lot of times try to avoid crowded places. There’s a term for this condition – anxiety disorder. Mine is mild (i think). I used to have to gather my “courage” kononnya to go to gigs and try to enjoy the music without being too obviously awkward. The music really helps a lot to distract the mind and give it some sort of strength.Dulu takde kawan..Heh.
They played two sets last night. Opening and closing.Can’t get enough of Carburetor. I will finally get their CDs this time. Some funny stuff uttered that night; after the first song, Joe called out for the drummer to be given water as Joe said the drummer is old already. Haha..it is the usual joke for the band. Dah tak berapa larat tapi jiwa masih muda dan punk rawk! Before playing their song “Jilat”, Joe added that the song almost got them killed.
Controversy habis! The story goes like this..ni nak bukak cerita ni... :p They were invited to perform at an oil hike protest organized by the opposition party back in July 2008 and Alak did the butt showing act while shoutingjilat (lick) in front of the conservative left wing people! Mana tak naik darah diorang. But he did not exactly show off his butt in the flesh. He showed part of his boxers from behind as part of the symbolization of the song. You know, sucking up to people with authority sampai sanggup lick their butts if it need be. That caused the mob to throw bottles and stuff at him. Then they got on the stage to bash him. The stage bouncers who sympathized with the band rescued Alak. He was brought to a safe place and the show was called off as the angry mob started to attack other bands by giving them the stink eyes and cynical verbal attacks along with some takbirs. Hisham Rais who was responsible to invite the bands to perform calmed the mob by giving a speech of apology. Alak's face made HEADLINE in the newspapers the next day. They reviewed the band and their controversial song. It was a "free" promotion for Carburetor and an exposure for the mass to really look at the lyrics. This is big. They've made us proud! minus the violent threat on Alak and the band.
The whole event had shown signs of trouble from the start. First there was a commotion about the poster of the event. It was too punk and too “entertainment” to be associated with the opposition party. The issue got bigger as their supporters had googled the bands listed in the poster/flyer and found photos of the bands. Stinky, thrashy, skull+black+sick kids in myspace photos. How technology had helped improved conservatism. There were several blogs that wrote about this and opposed the concert to be part of the anti oil-hike protest’s agenda. After some protests over the issue, Hisham had reduce the number of bands playing from eight bands to about three I think which goes under different names. Even the famous Malaysian mainstream rocker, Amy Search got stroked off from the list.
Secondly, since the opposition party took over the Selangor state under their wing, it was often the choice to held demonstrations or talks over this jurisdiction. They wanted to use the Amcorp Mall field in Petaling Jaya but they failed to obtain police permit and had to oblige to the order despite the fact that the state minister was one of them who had the authority to give out the order to allow them to do so. Perhaps there were also some other factors they were considering at that time. Like canopies, parking space, accommodations such as toilet, surau etc. In the end they chose the Shah Alam Stadium to gather people for the protest - a place that can accommodate people for big occasions.
Lastly and most often tricky, the event was about common issue – people’s issue. But it is always been “misdirected” and used as a platform for the use of political parties, which opposes the current government to gain supporters and votes. Never on a neutral grounds. I guess, being neutral only “solves” problems and does not really give them to be the “rightfully” representation of the people. Furthermore, they did all the work to mobilize the people or their supporters..so yeah.. it’s their turf to further convince, campaign and own the “support” from the people. Am I making sense?
Swampy Zombie Fever is next. It’s Aiman’s new band. If I’m not mistaken, they’re cover bands? I’m so pekak in gigs. Selalu cannot hear announcements. They covered Transmission by Joy Division as their first song. They’re solid hardcore punk rock. The drummer even looks like Poodien. Hana, Ekin, Yoyo and I laughed about this because so many people looks like Poodien. The afro hair, the cut sleeves shirt, the shorts, the Poodien style. Wahh Poodien ada trademark dah! The fourth and last songs were quite amazing. Aiman also used to play in a band called Dum Dum Tak.
Next to perform that night was Pusher. Hana kept going on about how Pusher had become post rock. They do sound streaky. I fell instantly for them when I watched their new video Artificialize. The crowd started to pogo and mosh wildly while they play their set. Everyone was getting warmed up and getting in the zone. Hmm.. I knew so little about this band. A few info I know from friends, Pusher has been around since Alak was in uni matriculation. They sounded rich and intense. The Garrison is next.
The Garrison has always been the center of attention as they were the few who played reggae and punk. Only recently they had toned down they reggae tune and sounded more punk rock in their new album. El Pheng, the vocal has a beautiful rare voice. Kind of like those deep old school voices. The band also has the 80’s vibe whenever you see them together. The bassist has got this personified style from the good old days. Their combination with Pusher was said to be an atomic killer and a must. That night they covered an Operation Ivy song. I like their song Pagan Second Coming and Media Protest. The skin head boys who lined the front row in front of the stage loved them.
I saw Chem very much enjoyed the music that night. Everyone did. It was pretty much a reunion as many close friends in the scene were there. About 70 percent of girls I knew that were in the scene were present! Aie, Lili, Rauda, Ekin, Yoyo, Linda (Ekin’s friend), Hana, Karen, Maya and the lovely Nor who was very much pregnant were the equalizers, the dazzlings, the important people amongst the crowd. For the longest time it was not really that many girls. It is improving not just by numbers but as well as the things we’ve contributed. It was really great to meet them there. Marr was sick and couldn’t cycle this time.. Kesiannya….
The mosh pit was outrageously fast and physical as always. Epie was practically naked. His clothes and belongings flew everywhere leaving him with only his boxers. Joe Kid did not let the younger kids get all the fun. He jumped into the crowd as they were moshing when Pusher and Garrison performed. Avroco was as usual chaos and messing with the mic on stage. Everything was going really fast. Like a ship on the verge of a wreck in the middle of a hurricane. Messed up.
At last, the final performance by the legend Carburetor Dung. They played their old songs. By this time I was already exhausted and had to sit down at the back of the room. The crowd had shrunk into half. They performed five songs. Someone said Alak was getting too much glamour as he performed for three times in a row that night. Alak pecah malam tu. He even forgot the initial plan to celebrate Yuen’s surprise birthday party after the gig.
Yeah we had planned a party for Yuen that night after several changes of dates and places. His birthday is on 13 February which fell on the same day as Chinese New Year. There was no way to celebrate it on that day as he was going back to his kampong. So the only time that people could get together that didn’t clash with his class schedule was on the day of the gig. It was really last minute confirmation. We didn’t have a proper cake for him. Takpe lah we had settled for some manufactured banana cake, marble cake, and fruit cake bought at a kedai runcit instead.
It’s time for the presents! Chem gave Yuen a very sweet sketch of Yuen sticking his two fingers up his nose. (Why does this sound weird? Do you get what I wanted to describe?) Kawaii! Cem had improved a lot on his drawing skills. He said he is really serious to brush-up his drawing skills because he wants to practice to become a tattooist and open up a tattoo shop someday. Good luck Cem! I gave Yuen a stenciled picture of a bird on a paper and a cross stitched patch with the Pacman’s enemy icon which also reads Pause. (yes it was a hipster thing) It was all last minute. Hana gave him a card which kind of teases him a bit. He always said he wants to be one of us and that he felt left out every time we girls get together and he’d be the only guy. The card reads Happy Birthday Girl!
That night we went to Yuen’s house in Kajang to keep the birthday boy company. Happy 27 years of younger days Yuen. Shang Yat Fai Lok!
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