Published in Sunday People, New Sunday Times
23 August 2009
Feeling the heat
MAX KOH
Kasabian wowing the pool-struck crowd
TORRENTIAL rain could not deter the sonic wave in Sunway Lagoon as thousands descended into the man-made pool for the MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia concert last Saturday.
Arriving as early as 3pm, fans were looking forward to watch their favorite acts — Kasabian, All-American Rejects, Boys Like Girls, Hoobastank, Pixie Lott, Ray Gun and Estranged — perform live.
About 15,000 occupied the man-made pool, which was drained for the first time to host the event.
“I couldn’t believe it when I came here and saw that we were going to play in a swimming pool but it is awesome,” said Hoobastank lead singer Doug Robb before the show.
The concert kicked off on time at 6.30pm as homegrown Estranged roused the crowd with a hard-hitting set of four songs including Slave With Us, Ketika Ini, Yang Pernah and its latest In No Time. The songs got the head-bangers going.
Disappointingly, the band did not play Itu Kamu, their seminal hit that garnered them an Anugerah Indusri Muzik award, probably because of the limited stage time given.
Massachusetts-based Boys Like Girls hit the stage next with a tantalising offering of its current single, Love Drunk.
It is obvious that girls like Boys Like Girls, as they screamed and sang along to their lyrics, especially the ballad Thunder and The Great Escape.
Girls loved Boys Like Girls.
By this time, the crowd was beginning to swell for upcoming British band Ray Gun who proved to be a pleasant surprise of the night. The band churned out four funky songs including its single, Just Because.
Fusing the funk-rock of the 70s with 80s dance-rock sensibilities, the band got the crowd dancing in no time.
The rose among the thorns, Briton Pixie Lott, certainly held her own against the boys as she effortlessly sang three songs, injecting a dance-pop vibe to an otherwise rock-saturated show.
The 18-year-old proved she’s more than just a copycat of Lady Gaga and native Duffy.
American band Hoobastank took to the stage next and rocked the crowd with My Turn, followed by the ballad, The Letter.
The Oklahoma band who recently released its fourth album For(n)ever, sprung the biggest surprise of the night when it played an impromptu version of Ray Parker Jr’s Ghostbusters.
Being a child of the 80s, I enjoyed that tasty offering to bits and was also happy that most of the audience knew the words to the song. I almost expected the Marshmallow Man to appear at the concert.
Hoobastank then ignited the biggest sing-along of the night with The Reason.
Hoobastank in action
In between sets, there were long pauses but the crowd was kept entertained with live Twitter updates that appeared on the screen.
That was rather clever on part of the organisers although the phone connection was horribly intermittent.
An amusing Twitter update included one that asked whether the Hoobastank’s lead singer is Chinese and no, he is not.
All-American Rejects was up next and performed its Billboard Top Ten hit, Dirty Little Secret, followed by I Wanna, Swing Swing (its first hit), The Wind Blows and Real World.
The band got the most cheers and crowd participation, probably because of the glitter dust-covered frontman Tyson Ritter, who pranced onstage with flamboyant style.
At one point, he climbed the stage’s scaffolding in true rock star form when performing Gives You Hell, as well as singing into two microphones for another song.
Most of the concert-goers began to leave the venue after that performance. Their loss as they missed a rock-solid set by headlining act Kasabian.
The rock-and-roll band proved by it’s extremely popular in Britain when it performed Club Foot, Fire, Vlad The Impaler and L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever).
The night ended with a big bang literally, as fireworks lit the sky and the fake volcano “erupted”.
You can catch the televised version of the concert on MTV Asia on Aug 28.
Minor gripes during the event include the long sound checks between acts, and the grossly overpriced food and drinks sold at the venue.
But it was a terrific concert.
23 August 2009
Feeling the heat
MAX KOH
Kasabian wowing the pool-struck crowd
TORRENTIAL rain could not deter the sonic wave in Sunway Lagoon as thousands descended into the man-made pool for the MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia concert last Saturday.
Arriving as early as 3pm, fans were looking forward to watch their favorite acts — Kasabian, All-American Rejects, Boys Like Girls, Hoobastank, Pixie Lott, Ray Gun and Estranged — perform live.
About 15,000 occupied the man-made pool, which was drained for the first time to host the event.
“I couldn’t believe it when I came here and saw that we were going to play in a swimming pool but it is awesome,” said Hoobastank lead singer Doug Robb before the show.
The concert kicked off on time at 6.30pm as homegrown Estranged roused the crowd with a hard-hitting set of four songs including Slave With Us, Ketika Ini, Yang Pernah and its latest In No Time. The songs got the head-bangers going.
Disappointingly, the band did not play Itu Kamu, their seminal hit that garnered them an Anugerah Indusri Muzik award, probably because of the limited stage time given.
Massachusetts-based Boys Like Girls hit the stage next with a tantalising offering of its current single, Love Drunk.
It is obvious that girls like Boys Like Girls, as they screamed and sang along to their lyrics, especially the ballad Thunder and The Great Escape.
Girls loved Boys Like Girls.
By this time, the crowd was beginning to swell for upcoming British band Ray Gun who proved to be a pleasant surprise of the night. The band churned out four funky songs including its single, Just Because.
Fusing the funk-rock of the 70s with 80s dance-rock sensibilities, the band got the crowd dancing in no time.
The rose among the thorns, Briton Pixie Lott, certainly held her own against the boys as she effortlessly sang three songs, injecting a dance-pop vibe to an otherwise rock-saturated show.
The 18-year-old proved she’s more than just a copycat of Lady Gaga and native Duffy.
American band Hoobastank took to the stage next and rocked the crowd with My Turn, followed by the ballad, The Letter.
The Oklahoma band who recently released its fourth album For(n)ever, sprung the biggest surprise of the night when it played an impromptu version of Ray Parker Jr’s Ghostbusters.
Being a child of the 80s, I enjoyed that tasty offering to bits and was also happy that most of the audience knew the words to the song. I almost expected the Marshmallow Man to appear at the concert.
Hoobastank then ignited the biggest sing-along of the night with The Reason.
Hoobastank in action
In between sets, there were long pauses but the crowd was kept entertained with live Twitter updates that appeared on the screen.
That was rather clever on part of the organisers although the phone connection was horribly intermittent.
An amusing Twitter update included one that asked whether the Hoobastank’s lead singer is Chinese and no, he is not.
All-American Rejects was up next and performed its Billboard Top Ten hit, Dirty Little Secret, followed by I Wanna, Swing Swing (its first hit), The Wind Blows and Real World.
The band got the most cheers and crowd participation, probably because of the glitter dust-covered frontman Tyson Ritter, who pranced onstage with flamboyant style.
At one point, he climbed the stage’s scaffolding in true rock star form when performing Gives You Hell, as well as singing into two microphones for another song.
Most of the concert-goers began to leave the venue after that performance. Their loss as they missed a rock-solid set by headlining act Kasabian.
The rock-and-roll band proved by it’s extremely popular in Britain when it performed Club Foot, Fire, Vlad The Impaler and L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever).
The night ended with a big bang literally, as fireworks lit the sky and the fake volcano “erupted”.
You can catch the televised version of the concert on MTV Asia on Aug 28.
Minor gripes during the event include the long sound checks between acts, and the grossly overpriced food and drinks sold at the venue.
But it was a terrific concert.
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