SUPERMAN IS DEAD, live in Kuala Lumpur + a RockinRoll Love Story

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flashback

I first education on SUPERMAN IS DEAD when i went for a vacation in Bali with Joker, Rehot and Pak Halim back in 2005 dec 2004. The story goes like this: 

One fine day, a few weeks before my trip to Bali, my eternal friend nemesis, Mat Jos, beg me to accompany him to a friend's wedding in Bangi.

Hard Rock Hotel, Bali 2004

At the wedding hall, we settled down at a table which apparently was occupied by Jos' friend Liza.  Liza was with her friend Im. Despite being total strangers (i am the odd one out) the 4 of us chatted casually. Topic ranges from Power Rangers, x-IGP Rahim Noor and the usual work-related subjects. Im informed that she will fly to Bali for holiday in a few weeks...and what a small airport, she will be in the same plane as mine!

S I D, Hard Rock 2004

Fast forward a few weeks later: Joker, Rehot, Pak Halim & me check inn at Bali's Hard Rock Hotel in the middle of Kuta Rock City. Im and her friend (alamax, dah lupe lak nama that kakak) would come over to the hotel and checkout the live bands. All of us clicked well.

One morning I saw a banner outside the venue: 'Superman Is Dead's The Hangover Decade album launch gig, Hard Rock Hotel'. i asked Im, who is an expert of all things Indo, who the bloody hell is Superman Is Dead? Im replied "SID play PUNK ROCK!" damn, i gotta check out these guys...and true enough, SID ripped the stage that nite...i could easily detect the influence of Californian iconic bands such as Social Distortion, NOFX and Bad Religion in their tunes

Meanwhile, Im and my friend Rehot kinda acquainted good (read: 'kinda get the hots for each other'...hehe). They share the common interest in Indonesian music, food and place... In fact, one day during the holiday they went looking for 1 particular cassette, walking together nearly 20km! covering Galeria Mall - Super Nova - Jln Legian - Pasar Seni Melasti - Jln Legian - Poppies Lane 2...hmmm... i smell love is in the air...ada apape ke? (...to be continued, last paragraph below)

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The Gig: Calm Before The Storm

rehot, me & tedbundy jr.

Met up with Subandi@TedBundy Jr, Rehot & Im outside the venue, Later i bumped into my good mate Jaferi Achip, a rocker-cum-college lecturer who moonlight as the head-honcho/manager of local punkrock legend Subculture.  Apparently the gig started late from the time it should be, and we killed time by mengumpat the passers-by and checking out the merchandise on display

 Openers

Subculture

the show's curtain was raised with a marathon of opening bands to wet the appetite...a 9-piece ska band who called themselves '40Winks' (influence of skapunk stalwards Reel Big Fish & Catch 22) starts the ball rolling followed by 'The Jespers' (i heard some Lagwagon-esque skatepunk in their song!) and later 'Stubburn'.  

Then the mighty Subculture pulls up onstage. Among the openers, their mixed bag of old and new songs brought the loudest cheer from the crowd...and the ugly moshpit went ape-shit when the Subs covered the RAMONES cult-favourite 'I Wanna Be Sedated'

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, its S I D's time!

bobby kool

jrx

They are one of the best and hardworking punk act to merge from this side of the (under)world. Bobby Kool (vocal/guitar), JRX (drums/vocal) and Eka Rock (bass/vocal), the trio that made up SID are widely regarded as Bali's favourite sons.

eka rock

 Bizarrely  signed to label giant Sony Music, SID managed to control their own musical terms and withholding the DIY work-ethics at the same time...quite an achievement for an underground band. In 2009, they were invited to the prestigious Vans Warped Tour, performing in 16 American cities in the process, followed by a tour of Australia soon after...and when NOFX, Hoobastank and MXPX went down to perform in Indonesia, SID was selected hands down as the opening act

Since their inception back in 1995 SID never put on a show in Tanah Melayu... So it is understandable that back in August the local kids were stoked on the hype of their scheduled appearance here... and tonite is the ultimate nite!..without further ado, they went straight to activate 5th gear, blasting 2 songs back to back  'We are outSIDers' (cult anthem of SID supporters) and 'Luka Indonesia' , the latter in which brought a total absolute chaos among the Indo kids in the pit!

mayhem was the order of the day

clip 'Luka Indonesia' here

the 3 favourites

Personally i was eager to 'xperience a seizure' to  songs selected from a trio of my favourite SID discography: 'Kuta Rock City'(2003), 'The Hangover Decade'(2005) and 'Black Market Love' (2006); and the band didn't let jimlucky down with a barrel of sonic attack from those albums: among them  'Hanya Hari Ini', 'Vodkability', 'Kuta Rock City', 'Bad Bad Bad', 'Black Market Love' (in a downnote, yours truly got totally bummed when one of his ultimate favourite SID song 'Cerita Semalam' was not included in the setlist)




clip 'Black Market Love' here
clip 'Vodkability' here

"Bersama kawan, bersama-sama kita rayakan kemenangan"

Keeping stage banter to a minimum in between songs, Bobby, JRX and Eka managed to put on a sublime performance all nite. Their years of burning the moshpit day in day out really shows: vocal harmonies are sincere n spot on; the rhythm/lead, bass and drum bashing are tighter than your school pants! The muhibbah royal local and Indo kids went mental for 2 plus hours! Candidly in middle of the set JRX pulls out from the skins and put on a guitar for an awesome rendition of 'Lady Rose' (clip 'Lady Rose' part 1 here, 'Lady Rose' part 2 here). Rad!

At the end of the nite i dont think anybody will doubt that this is hard-earned money well spent. This is what punkrock show is all about: an event for social misfits to enjoy the music that everybody else love to hate

S I D with Rehot & Im, at the end of the show (pic courtesy im's fb)

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epilogue 

(from the top) after the Bali trip in 2005 dec 2004, Rehot and Im went on to become the best of friends. Predictably :] the love bug hit them like an unexplainable tsunami, and they went on to become an item.  After 2 plus year courtship, they tied the knot on July 2008.  I'm so very happy for them, but unfortunately could not attend their wedding since I was based in Dubai at that time. A true rockinroll love story!

2011: rehot + im = azzakira (pic courtesy of im's fb)

terima kasih

 good times with u

karak, 0539

randomness #4

part 4 of the randomness series

seventeen angst

Pertandingan Rekacipta Sains Peringkat Kebangsaan

Sekolah Raja Tun Azlan Shah (SERATAS), Taiping

salam Ma'al Hijrah 1433H

signifies the emigration of Prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. The remembrance of this historic event serves as a reminder for Muslims to better themselves in all aspects of their lives, leaving and moving from the bad to good, and from the better to the best, all in the name of Allah

"Orang yang sempurna Islamnya ialah orang yang kaum muslimin selamat dari gangguan lisan dan tangannya dan orang yang berhijrah sebenarnya ialah orang yang meninggalkan apa yang dilarang Allah". (HR Bukhari, 6484) 

lets do better this year

SEA Games football gold: a triumph of true grit & spirit over hatred & malice

its true, doa orang-orang yang teraniaya lebih makbul

left:2 armoured vehicles (dubbed 'barracuda') carrying the malaysian players into the hostile gelora bung karno, jakarta; right: centreback fadhli shas inside the barracuda

read these 2 articles:

'Timnas tolong hilangkan kebencian dan dendam'
'Goal are more important than gold'

and 1 word: respect!

Eiduladha 1432H

shah alam, 06/11/2011

فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ 

“Maka bersolatlah kamu untuk Tuhanmu dan bersembelihlah (berqurban untuk Tuhanmu)’(Al-Kausar : 2 )"

RED CITY RADIO- 'Spinning In Circles Is A Gateway Drug', live at FEST 10 (+a marrige proposal by some dude to his girlfriend)

Here’s a video from last weekend's FEST 10 with a different spin. Right before Oklahoma punk act Red City Radio performed their song “Spinning In Circles Is A Gateway Drug” some dude pulls his girlfriend up on stage and 'bend his knee'

Red City Radio releases 'The Danger of Standing Still' earlier this year...currently my choice as album of the year

ClipOfTheDay: The Menzingers, live

full live set of one of  the finest new generation of punkrockers The Menzingers.
Performing songs mostly from the brilliant critically acclaimed full-length 'Chamberlain Waits' (jimlucky top album of 2010) and the epic EP 'Hold On Dogde'

Team 5: Birthday Bash & Farah's Farewell

(F,l-r)azman,masni,sherin,anne,denira,farah,wan lin,azrina,aainaa,sofea,irma (B,l-r)azrina,jim,hedzril,lan

awie,farah,anne,aainaa

cekik!

ali,fauzi,lan

 lawak izani sungguh maharaja. sume kaku

the boss

aainaa abusing the cake

team V

checkout farah's tangkap leleh farewell speech below

sir arif fiqri in the cockpit

Normal service resumes in F1 as defending world champ/ jim's nephew Sir Arif Fiqri stormed to a convincing victory without much of a fuss. The young Bolehlander started from pole, had an untroubled fight to flag victory, and bagged the  race’s fastest lap with 1:41.852.
Sebastian Vettel, who had no answer to the pace of the sambal-belacan powered engine in front of him, was a distant second for Red Bull Racing, 24.20 seconds behind. Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso completed the podium.

NAPALM DEATH, live in Kuala Lumpur June 2011

the 3rd visit by the grindcore godfathers after previous shows back in 2001 & 2007... all of them attended by yours truly...and this time it was the most enjoyable!

Review courtesy of SPADESMAGAZINE.com

For all the nonsensical talk of communist infiltrators and Masonic plots to overthrow the government, the powers-that-be overlooked the fact that a truly subversive group was in town tonight.

Yes, the titans of grind – Napalm Death – was preaching against oppressive regimes, warmongers, police brutality, religious hypocrites, racial bigots and corrupt politicians with the volume knob fixed at maximum overload.Still angry and fooking pissed off, Barney Greenway, Shane Embury, Mitch Harris and Danny Herera, shook the rafters of this appropriately dank and dingy venue with their incendiary brand of anarcho-protest metal.

pic courtesy of KARISMA mag

Though the venue was much smaller than the Life Centre which hosted the previous two Napalm gigs in KL, this was the sort of setting which suits the band. Small, stuffy and intimate in which the back row could clearly see the stage while the front row punters were covered in cold water which vocalist Barney was regularly dousing himself with as well as his spittle from his enthusiastic singing.

setlist

The band hit the stage like a typhoon of energy and by the time they hit the opening chords to Continuing War On Stupidity, the mosh pit was in full flow. It was amazing to see that many of the punters that turned up were teens who were mere protein in their fathers’ scrotums when seminal album Scum was released in 1987.

Yet, the young fans seem to react best to the oldies as the band thrashed through a selection from Scum to Mentally Murdered. They even surprised everybody by including the Guinness Books of Records entry for shortest single ever – You Suffer while politely declining to do the song again when fans asked for a reprise. (“It wouldn’t be a suprise then,” deadpanned Barney)

read more here

related blogpost:
Sambutan Kemerdekaan Peringkat Kebangsaan: Napalm Death, Live In Kuala Lumpur 2007

jim, raja azhar, jos, tedbundyjr after the show

ClipOfTheDay: "AYAM"

Waiter: "How would you take it, sir?"

                                                        Alex: "Well done! "

RED (faced) DEVILS yang sombong & bongkak was ayam-ed last weekend

Barcelona - Manchester United UCL FInal 28.05... (HD) by iNfRaS0NiC

btw, did u guys watch the incident-packed Monaco GP later that nite? damn...as far as i could remember, that was the most thrilling F1 race on the streets/waterfront of Monte Carlo in years, with more overtaking than anyone had dared before due to the constraint of tight walls and corners

u could watch the race hilight here

10K anniversary

last November i wrote this sappy blog entry

an update 6 months later 

 music to my ears: THE DOPAMINES full blast

the Days of New

been a month

CAMPIONI D ITALIA 2011!

Forza Milan!

18th Scudetto...ah respecto Rossoneri

Daily Dump #3: 17 years

17 years ago this note was written

a well worth 41 minutes of vintage ol skool:

stoke part 15: SCUDETTO showdown!

update! : Milan 3 Inter 0

Alexandre Pato's double and Antonio Cassano penalty saw Milan beat Inter... gained a significant advantage in the title race with 7 games remaining.It was an eventful match with passionate tifosis, end to end action and 2 red cards!

match report 

player ratings

watch match highlight below 

part 15 of the stoked series

the infamous 2003 UEFA Champions League Semifinal  derby

it doesn't get any better than this:
the top of the table clash between eternal derby nemesis Milan and Inter

the Rossoneri are in pole position in Serie A with 62 points from 30 matches, two points clear of second-placed Nerazzurri. With only 7 games remaining, the showdown would certainly tip the balance of the Scudetto, not to mention the ultimate bossing bragging right in the province of Lombardy

read match preview and probable line-up here

talking about the derby (often dubbed as 'Derby Della Madonnina') i would like to revisit a classic  encounter back in season 2004 when Inter was leading Milan 2-0 (goals by Stankovic and Zanetti), only for the latter to score 3 times and won the game! (Tomasson, Kaka, Seedorf). 
Checkout hilight below, especially the long range missile strikes by Kaka & Seedorf.  
Epic stuff!