the Black Parade
3rd December 2007 - My Chemical Romance's 'the Black Parade is Dead' tour finally made their stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. My cousins, Charmaine and Sherman, sister, Jenny and I have been faithfully listening to 'the Black Parade' since its debut in 2006 and squealed the second we heard that the awesome five-piece were coming to our country of all places -Malaysia wasn't exactly crawling with awesome international acts then.
My parents decided we were too young to go on our own (I, the oldest among the kids, was only 15) so they chaperoned, even though the idea of being smack in the middle of dark clothed teens headbanging to loud, theatrical rock music wasn't very appealing. Jenny didn't go because she didn't think she would be missing out on much although she loved their music. Then again, she WAS only 11. Charmaine, then 14 and Sherman, then 12 were as psyched as I was.
We got tickets to the Rock Pit, the nearest zone to the stage. But we got there pretty late (first time concert goers think going on time -7,8pm- should be alright) and so had to stand at the end of that rock zone. The stage must've been five tennis courts' sizes away and we weren't the tallest there, being only recently hit by puberty but all was forgotten the second MCR took to the stage.
I remember they opened with my favourite in the album, 'This Is How I Disappear'. The crowd was cheering at a billion decibels as Gerard Way (frontman) greeted Kuala Lumpur and the band started playing. I felt pretty much like a helium balloon, high from excitement, seeing such an awesome band in its prime in the flesh. The atmosphere did not die for a second, not even when it started to rain.
I remember they opened with my favourite in the album, 'This Is How I Disappear'. The crowd was cheering at a billion decibels as Gerard Way (frontman) greeted Kuala Lumpur and the band started playing. I felt pretty much like a helium balloon, high from excitement, seeing such an awesome band in its prime in the flesh. The atmosphere did not die for a second, not even when it started to rain.
The concert was full of youthful, loud and rebellious energy from start to finish and I relished every second. For those of you who're unfamiliar with MCR, Gerard Way, the singer, is a man of quirky, demented and lovable energy. You'd know from the way he strutted on stage like a chicken during 'Teenagers' that he was a born entertainer, even if his live vocals may leave something to be desired. Mikey Way, his younger brother plays bass and plays it coolly. He's like that cute, social outcast you can't help but have a crush on, silently rocking out on the bass in the background. Then there's Frank Iero, the tattoo laden bad boy on rhythm guitar and Ray Toro, the amazing afro guy with crazy skills on lead guitar. Drummer Bob Bryar wasn't there that day, and he's not in the band anymore now.
For a first concert, it was more than I could hope for, though some imbecils yelled 'boo' after the encore and asked for their money back because MCR wouldn't come out to give us some more of that sick talent of theirs.
I went home tired and hoarse from screaming but deliriously contented after cleaning up. I believed I slept with a smile on my face. My Chemical Romance. For sure the best damn band ever.
Glamnation
October 14th 2010 was smack in the middle of my A-levels examination but nothing could've stopped me from going to watch the boy with legendary vocals perform in KL. Adam Mitchel Lambert and his glittery crew came to town and I am a big ass Glambert/Lambskank. I've religiously watched every song he's sung on American Idol repetitively and almost cried when I heard he lost the title to Kris Allen. Anyway, he was coming, and I made sure I would be part of his Glamnation tour.
I wanted to look the part too, so I carefully picked out the most shiny, pretty, black pieces from my wardrobe and did not hold back on eyeliner. This time round, I got there pretty early -4pm- with my friend Annie and when the gates to the arena opened, I dashed into the Rock Zone and although I wasn't standing in the absolute first row, I was in the third and I got to be about 5m from the Glam God.
Before Adam appeared, the crowd sang and danced along to the pop tunes they played and I recall clearly and very amusingly, every time an ad or video with Adam in it played on the screens at both sides of the stage, this tall Chinese guy beside me would yell 'Adaaaaaaaaaaaaam!' at the top of his lungs at a pitch so high I would only dream of reaching.
When Adam finally took to the stage, the stadium filled with more than 10,000 fans was filled with screams, squeals and crying. I thought I would have cried too, but when I laid eyes on him walking towards us on stage in his glitter eyeliner and dark get up, I was mesmerised by how beautiful he was. And I don't say that only because he's gay. He really looked seraphic, contrary to his getup and when he started singing in that signature thick, unabashed and commanding voice, the audience went berserk. Well, berserk-er.
I knew all the songs by heart except for a few covers he did and I had an amazing time even though I lost my friend in the sardine-packed crowd. Adam loves his band and dancers and introduced every single one in the middle of the concert. Each wore more lace and leather than the last, and everyone was awfully talented. And to think the PAS representatives outside the stadium tried to refuse us Glamberts that amazing moment in our lives on the grounds that he is homosexual and so somehow we all will follow suit. Because for some reason, they think being LGBT is contagious.
Anyway, another highlight of my life was seeing this gifted human being do what he was born to, even if that cost me my then iPhone :( Yeah it got stolen in the crowd.
MTV World Stage 2011
I already blogged about MTV World Stage -which was top notch- a few posts ago so here're just some pictures of the talented acts who visited Malaysia in 2011.
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| Rex!dove <3 My favourite people |
 First Act Pop Shuvit (Malaysia) |
 Beast (Korea)  Neon Trees (USA)  30 Seconds to Mars (USA) |
SMtown Singapore 2012
There seems to be a trend in my taste of music as I aged. I still love MCR, Adam Lambert's still my favourite artiste, but I've ventured into a genre I never thought I would listen to. Voluntarily.
Korean pop.
It was like a resistant strain of bateria, constantly finding its way into my music preference system and for a long time, my music antibody kept it at bay, but before long, just a year ago, that defence would collapse and K-pop took over my musical innards very effortlessly. I've never been one to criticise people's taste in music and just really didn't pay attention to what didn't appeal to me. But on my own accord, I've drowned in the Hallyu wave without putting up much of a fight.
November 23rd 2012 - I attended my first k-pop concert; SMtown Singapore. SM Entertainment is a company to which most of the K-pop pioneer groups belong to, e.g. Super Junior, SHINee, Girls Generation, TVXQ and BoA. Many of whom my sisters, Jenny, Janet and I have come to obsess over, the most recent culprits being EXO, a group of 12 fresh young boys SM dished out early this year.
After securing our tickets, (I queued online at 12am just for them, which turned out to be miles away from the stage, sadly) Jenny, Janet and I were buzzing with thoughts on what to wear, what fanboard to make and how to make the experience most memorable.
Daddy and mummy would enjoy their time alone in the Lion City while we screamed ourselves hoarse at the concert on that Friday night. Daddy drove from KL but when we reached Singapore, it was pouring heavily; you couldn't see the buildings right next to our hotel through the sheets of rain. The concert was an outdoors one with an amazing view of the Singapore city skyline, Marina Bay Sands and Art Science Museum in the background and the concert was a 'rain or shine' event. We were pretty worried but prayed silently for fairer weather and quickly put on our outfits and makeup.
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| From left to right: Myself, Jenny and Janet in our best K-pop worthy outfits and makeup. The gesture is that of EXO's greeting; 'We are one!' |
Although we complained and were pretty upset about seeing our idols in the size of rice grains -the stage was THAT far away because the capacity of the arena was ridiculously huge-, we screamed and shouted when the acts started their energetic dancing to the loud infectious pop music and near impeccable vocals filled the air.
Naysayers may say what they like about the culture of K-pop; that they're not real artistes, they lipsync all the time, they're all plastics and fakes and of course, gay because of the makeup and dances etc. But if you could, without bias, watch them perform just one song live, you'll know how real their talent is. I'll bet moving the way they do on stage will already leave you panting, that is, if you can catch the moves in the first place, but doing that while hitting the right notes is another ballgame altogether. And let me tell you, the Koreans are not shy on range or vocal prowess either.
Yes. So, SMtown concert. The stage was dangerously slippery after the rain but this was unknown to me till I looked for photos from the concert afterwards. And because I could barely see what happened on stage, I only found out that quite a few of the performers had slipped on stage -especially my bias from EXO-M, Lay, the lead dancer. He sustained some injuries from his fall and I felt especially upset. Here is an example of how SM lives up to its reputation of suppressing and not taking enough precautionary care of the artistes. Hope you recover quickly, Yixing <3
We remained passionate and loud throughout the almost 5 hour long concert -I started losing my voice already halfway through the show. Every act was deserving of applause and cheers and that's the least us fans could do for them in return.
The current group that is pulling at our heart strings is rookie group EXO. When a teaser video of theirs started playing on the big screens, the crowd went wild -Jenny who sat on my left made me temporarily deaf when Sehun's (her favourite member) picture came up with a scream at a pitch so high, bats must've heard it. If it was even possible, the screams got louder when they boys appeared on stage and the familiar Gregorian chanting from 'MAMA' began. Just like so many of the live videos I've watched on Youtube, the boys executed the dance routines effortlessly. Unfortunately, because of their newbie status, they only lip sync at SMtown concerts, but the fans lapped it all up. The one other song they performed was 'History'after their introduction and interaction with the crowd. Then EXO's time in the spotlight would be over until the finale.
Towards the end of the concert, before the finale which involves all of SM's artistes walking around on stage and putting on a show for the fans, the top five groups from SM performed their biggest hits in this order: f(x) - Electric Shock, SHINee - Sherlock, SNSD - the Boys, Super Junior - Sexy, Free and Single and TVXQ - Rising Sun.
Just as f(x) got into position one of the stages exposed to the elements, it started to drizzle. Fans started taking out umbrellas and ponchos as the into to 'Electric Shock' blared from the speakers. As I put my poncho on, I worried for the girls in f(x). Were they really going to do the whole song in the rain? Rainfall got heavier and it wasn't a drizzle anymore. The flashes of lighting and sonorous thunder filled the air but f(x) soldiered on. If anything, the rain gave f(x) more power in their performance. I remember seeing Luna, the petite but vocally very powerful lead singer, slicking back her long brown hair, her made up face wet but defiant against the rain as she hit the high notes spot on. The crowd, especially my sisters and myself screamed at the top of our lungs in support of the girls.
We especially love 'Sherlock' by SHINee and when they also took to a stage exposed to the rain, we were ready to give them auditory support at the expense of our voice boxes. At the end of the song their hair, face and clothes were drenched, much to the delight of the female fans which made up the majority of the audience.
For the top three prized groups, their performances were in the shelter; this could go 2 ways, one being that SM did not want to risk any more falls on the wet platforms or the other being the sunbaenims (seniors) get higher preference.
Then it was the finale. Miraculously, the rain stopped completely, allowing the artistes to bound cheerily onto the platforms to get closer to the fans. Balloons and fireworks completed the experience as the performers took their bows.
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| The young, multi-talented boys of EXO performing 'MAMA' From left: Kai, Lay, not sure who's behind Lay, Kris, Sehun and Luhan |
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f(x) powerfully performed 'Electric Shock' in the rain
From left: Amber, Sulli, Krystal, Victoria and Luna |
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| SHINee kicking up a storm From left: Jonghyun, Onew, Taemin, Minho and Key  There are too many to name and I can't tell who's who clearly heh |
Anyway, this has been my recount of my experience with a few of my favourite artistes in the world :)
Thanks for reading !
