Recently in Music, gigs Category

Last Friday's gig at the Skate Park was a blast! Pictures are posted below. Now that we're done with that, our next performance's on this Sunday. Details are below:

ORCHARD JAM '06 BY ARTS FOR US ALL
Date: 02 JUL 2006 (SUN)
Time: 5.00 pm - 6.00pm
Venue: Outside Wisma Atria (next to Orchard MRT)

It's a charity/busking performance which all proceeds will go to the Children's Cancer Foundation and AFUA, so if you wanna do your bit or just enjoy the music, do drop by this Sunday ;)

Last Friday was the launch of the National Youth Forum and LGF was one of the bands invited to perform there. We arrived around 4pm that day for soundcheck and were pretty excited to see the setup for the stage.

I love the black-themed stage! Looks really slick and cool! Crew is still setting it up and making final adjustments.

We did our soundcheck around 4.30pm and surprisingly, none of the other bands had their soundcheck yet!

That's the theme of the event and the launch is about to start...

VIPs, guests and audiences slowly streamed in...

Gave a cheeky wink when the photographer (can't remember/see who he was due to the glaring spotlights) asked me to strike a pose before our set starts ;) (Click to enlarge)

Seto and Choo manning their keyboards and effects respectively...

...while Mel whacks the drums in a flurry!

As SOCP and I jam it out...

...seto plays it cool with his 'no-shadow' hands :P

Vocalist Emi belting out her stuff and grooving to beat at the same time.

Flea-inspired SOCP lets it rip with is basslines...

...while my hair explodes as I deal out a sonic boom (click to enlarge)

After 5 songs, our set came to an end, leaving us all drenched in perspiration and adrenalin rushes. We took some time to cool ourselves down and chat up with our friends while checking out the rest of the bands performing for that night.

For those who've missed our performance, good news...We managed to capture it on film (much thanks to Anna for the awesome camera work) and uploaded to Youtube:

For more videos of our performances for that night, you can head down to our Youtube profile, LGFmusic to check it out :)

Oh, we're on Myspace as well, so do pay us a visit and talk to us, yah? (yeah, we're late bloomers, but better late than not!) *lol*

Urrrgh! I hope nobody here went to our gig last night (but it's quite comforting cos I didn't see any familiar faces save for a few friends *lol*)! Cos it was quite a disaster. I feel quite embaressed to make some really obvious mistakes here and there during some of the songs :/

I've learnt my lesson: Never use up all my energy during the first 3 songs. After seeing how emi (our vocalist) jumped up and down during the 3rd song and looking at me as if I was not jumping enough, I hopped like a bunny and ended up coming in too early on the guitar part. Doh!

Then I messed up a bit of the introduction to our most played song, Kero Kero! Yikes. Fortunately, I didn't make mistakes on one of the new songs...but only to strike a wrote note during the introduction the Stefanie Sun song we played next. TWANG! Eeeew.

By this time, I've decided to 'heck care' and went all out with the show despite the mistakes, aches, perspiration and messed-up hair from all the chaotic on-stage antics. But it seemed like the mistakes persistently haunted me when I realised my guitar tone sounded quite weird during one of our slower songs: I accidentally hit the pickup switch prior to starting the song and that explained why my part suddenly sounded muddy and unclear :( My gawd...when will it end?!

Next up, our 2nd new song that was to be played the first time to the public. The moment I started the first chord, I was like like, 'damn'. I forgot to change my effects and it was a clean sound instead of an overdriven sound! Quickly stepped on my pedal and wait a minute...it still wasn't the right sound! I forgot to switch off my Flanger pedal!!! @#)$*@%@% And my pre-chorus parts were atrocious! Couldn't hear what I was playing and played some wrong chords :( Happened again for the ending cos I couldn't really hear myself. Boy I wished they'd turn off the 1000 watt spotlight so that I could hide my face.

Managed to get my act together for the next few songs until our last song...got off a nice start...until the solo...boy, I hopped across the stage again as if my guru was Angus Young of AC/DC, only to be so drained of what's left of my energy that I just gave up playing the last few bars of my solo...and by the time we usually stretch our ending chord for that song, I gave the ending solo a miss too, considering the fact that I'd only make more mistakes if I continue playing under that condition...

So, that pretty much sums up my pespective of what happened. But if the audience couldn't tell whether they were screw ups or something 'special', good for me *lol* And the good thing was that most of the audiences were old folks/uncles/aunties considering the location of the OG in Albert Complex and performing for a theme like dumpling festival *LOL*

Well, I've come to accept that these are part and parcel of live performances. Just feel like ranting and getting it off my chest. The next best thing is to learn from the mistakes, control my stage antics, and probably work out and exercise more so that I have more stamina *lol* Playing an 11-song, 1-hour gig after months of rest is no kidding matter!

On another note, it was really comforting to have an elderly man spotting me (and my drummer) and telling us how he liked our performance due to our lively stage antics and energy when we were eating in the nearby fast food restaurant after the gig :) Funny thing was that he claimed he was a sailor and having seen many performances around the world *lol*

Will try to put up some pics of the performance as soon as they're made available. And oh, did I mention that all these were captured on video by one of our friends whose band played prior to ours? *rolls eyes*

~Edited: Please note the change in our performance timing!~

UPDATES! UPDATES! UPDATES!

My band, LGF, is gonna perform this coming Saturday. AND I WANT TO SEE YOU THERE!!!! Yes, YOU! In front of the monitor. And YOU too, who's peeping behind! :P

Well, we've been on hiatus for a few months already, busy writing new songs and all...so, we're taking a breather and bringing out some new songs for the first time. Anyway, here are the details:

Dumpling Mid Autumn Festival gig

Date: 27th May (Saturday)
Time: 7.30pm 8.30pm to 9.30pm
Venue: Bugis, near OG shopping centre. Map

This gig is in conjunction with the Dumpling Mid Autumn Festival celebrations going on at Bugis. Come on down and celebrate with your 'Bah zhang' (glutinous rice) lanterns and mooncakes! (but please be careful and don't burn down the place, ok?) *lol*

Do remember to say hi to us (or me if you're particular shy *LOL*), yah?

~Edit~ Pardon the mix-up in the festivals...hahah...I think we jammed too hard yesterday *lol*

After going through a grueling 4 hours of waiting yesterday (you have no idea how sitting in a stuffy tent with more than a hundred people and a speaker a metre away blasting the theme songs of Superhost and Superband on repeat can drive one nuts), we finally got the results for the 18 finalists for the Superband competition.

Since a picture tells a thousand words:

(With acting skills like that, I should've joined Super Idol siah *LOL*) Alright, stop puking already.

Obviously we didn't get in.

Prior to the announcement, we had already abandoned hopes of getting in, judging from the sheer number of contestants and some being very talented ones. But as one by one, we witnessed our friends?(and acquaintances? bands got in and while I feel happy for them, a tiny thought that we could have a share of the pie and eat it, flashed briefly through my mind. And the pie soon turned into bitter pills I had to swallow.

Ugh, real bitter pills they were, so the only way to deal with it was:

Junk food therapy.

Yeah, it sorta doubled up as a celebration of sorts because apart from disappointment, a huge heave of relief surged through me as I could finally throw away all the uncertainties of being in the competition…issues, restrictions, obligations, schedules, work commitment, etc.

Although that also meant goodbye to appearances on national tv, sponsored wardrobe, advertisement endorsements, magazine spreads, banner-waving screaming fans and the chance to do the ‘if you support us, please call 1900-112-LGF?hand-signs, I’m really glad that we can immediately go back to our good old-fashion, start-from-the-ground way of upholding our passion…that is, playing more gigs, writing more songs (writing more blog entries for some of us too *lol*) and best of all…to actually start planning and recording our album on our own efforts.

While being booted from the competition, I’m sure we’d still watch it since it’s the first ever band-related big scale competition done on tv. Personally, I’d really hope one of bands will be the grand winner (no offense to the boybands/hip-hoppers/accapella/girl-groups, which I think are just as fantastic) because I’d like to see how it works out for a real band to go through commercial success via this direction. It’s pretty typical to see what’s gonna happen to non-instruments playing groups if they win it: they’d have songs written for them, recorded by sessionists, dancesteps choreographed, finally…groomed, packaged and marketed. But I’ll be more interested to see how much of the band’s own song-writing, music direction, image, etc all falls into place with the media/recording company’s own marketing direction. Anyway, here's wishing all the contestants good luck and savour the rare experience.

Finally, I gotta thank all my friends, family and relatives who’ve showed so much support and enthusiasm when they heard about us being in the competition. All the well-wishes in the form of SMSes, comments, verbal encouragement, etc really meant a lot to me (and the band I’m sure). Don’t worry, we’ll still keep our passion alive as long as we still have a tooth in our mouth, still able to strum a string or two (or keep up a beat) ;)

Alright, I’ve more or less gotten everything off my mind and chest…and whatever emo left will be vent in the jamming of Stockholm syndrome and Hysteria *lol*

*I love this song from Ukulele

My band, LGF, went for the Superband audition today and despite our mediocre performance (as far as I know, I played like crap this time!), we got into the 2nd round of audition. Saw a few friends' band today and was quite glad for them that they made it in too.

A few of the funny experiences were the interview sessions and the short 'cheer' segment that'd probably make it to the tv trailers for some fortunate participants *lol*

Will be preparing for the next audition held in Mediacorp next Sunday...can't wait to see how it's like in there...hahahha...

The emo bug is creeping up on me again *shrugs*. I'll need to do more filtering before I speak up from now on. Will learn to switch to my 'Ignorance is bliss' mode more often. Also, it seems like there's not much to lose these days when happiness is like a commodity up for trade.

~Updated: Time of our gig is changed to 10pm~
It's nearing the end of 2005 and for the first time, my band, LGF, is playing for a countdown event at Countdown 2006@Boon Lay on the 31st of Dec (please click to find out more about the programme and venue). In short, the highlights of the countdown will be performances put up by Hong Junyang, one of the Superstar finalist, Mediacorp artistes Jeanette Aw, Felicia Chin, Jeff Wang, dance and band performances, a foam party and more...We'll be banging up the heat at 10.10pm to 10.40pm as the last act around 12.10am...so, do drop by if you're free or if you're staying in that area and party with us to a new year ;)

Recently, I finally got the chance to watch the original 1973 version of 'The Exorcist' but with the missing scenes added. We (my bro and I) also got hold of 'The Exorcist: The Beginning' and 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' DVDs. Sounds a litle fanatic over these shows, but after watching two of these films, they got me more intrigued (as well as disturbed) by the dark forces around us. It's quite coincidental that weeks ago before watching the films, I had a nightmare that I was disturbed by such forces...I can still remember I was covered by a blanket and 'something' violently shook me...damn, still send chills down my spine when I think about it. After watching the films, it gave me more insight and understanding to things on posessions. Now they got me really curious about things like 'The Roman Ritual of Exorcism' and the real life Emily Rose case...very touchy and sensitive topics :/

Moving onto a different topic...Lately, I experienced for myself something similiar to what many quoted 'The more you want/looking for something, the less likely it'd appear...and just when you least expected it, it comes along'. However, it's with a wicked twist though. I'm not going into details for now...I still think that alot of 'wrong' people have entered into my life, but despite that, I can only hope that one right person will change my life for the better.

Something bizarre but naively beautiful just happened and I do wish it'll make a difference this time...

Wrote a short new song the other day. It's called "On a night like this" (right-click to download). Wanted to try something different, thus this little bluesjazz-influenced piece even though I know nuts about blues (and jazz) and all, just anyhow whack (heck, I know there are definitely things that sound weird or wrong in there but I'll leave it as it is). When I listen to it, it gives me different feelings each time...sometimes, images of neon lights on empty streets, sometimes a rainy night with cars passing by...other times, it reminds me of film noir, but the only common element is the loneliness and melancholy present.

This time, I utilised a midi-based keyboard programme Seto uploaded, thus I was finally able to add in some keyboard/piano/strings/ambience type of sounds which definitely made things more interesting than just a drum machine and layers of guitars :) Not sure if my band, LGF, will be keen to incorporate it into our repertoire and make it into a jammable/live version with sultry female vocals ;)

I stayed at home for 4 days consecutively while last minute clearing my leave. Didn't shave for 4 days and looking haggard like this:

Without any styling of my hair, stubbles-growing out and donning my spectacles, no wonder this ah pek feels like writing a jazzy song lah! *lol*

On a different note, I stumbled upon the news of a local blogger, Sondra of Idle Days who suddenly passed away roughly a month ago due to a rare blood disorder. Even though I've not read her blog before or known her, it's still somewhat unbelieveable and freaky kinda strange feeling to see her last entry that inevitably led to her passing on. Nevertheless, a tinge of sadness still hits me, and sparked me some thoughts.

If I ever leave this world in such a sudden fashion, would those who'd know me...either just acquaintance, online-only, msn-only, music-related ones, etc ever know what has happened to me? For one who's capable of not updating his blog for more than a month, or not appear on msn for days, or respond to certain smses, I think the world will pass me by for weeks or even months without realising I'd no longer be around *lol* It may sound strange but if I wanna leave this world, I wanna say a proper 'goodbye' to everyone in my life. Everyone is important to me as you're part of my life. Even those who've hurt me or those who've now forgotten me. Afterall, each and everyone out there is once part of my life and has shaped me to become the person I am now. Of course, there are specific things I'd say to some, but if given the chance, I'd still like to tell them how much they mean to me for the last time.

All these are still possible unless I happen to pass away suddenly. So, I figured I need to do a few things in advance. Maybe I should write out an impromptu will of sorts. This one will definitely need some thinking. Take my guitars for example, I don't even know what to do with them or who to give them to when I leave! I mean, if I've got my own children, I'll definitely give them all to them and hopefully, pass down to the future generations but in situations like this, maybe I'll just leave them to my family as remembrance but if they don't want them, I'll have them donated or something :)

I'd also want my family members to know about the diaries I've kept in my drawers. In fact, I want them to discover everything I've kept. Songs I've written, my blog entries, pictures taken, everything...kept in my computer. They'll definitely discover things about me they've never seen/known...wonderful/terrible/strange/intriguing sides of me.

Last but not least, I'm gonna let my closest friends cum bandmembers know the password to this blog and ask of them to post an entry announcing my departure over here, should I not have the chance ^^

Ahhh...a solemn entry but it's necessary! *lol*

Wrote a new song call Stand Again (right-click to download)

I hate to add vocals to it cos my whiny voice seem to ruin every song I write...but a song without lyrics/vocals sounded empty, and I wanted to put lyrics and express myself in it. So, what the heck...if you can't stand it, just delete it after listening, yah? *lol*

This time, I harmonized my singing quite alot in this song...okay, I was inspired by what Coldplay did in 'Fix it'...which Chris Martin claimed was inspired by Bee Gees' harmonizing vocals.

For the first time, I actually recorded that part using 6 different vocal parts and you can listen to the harmonized vocals here. Boy, I'm a one-man choir!! *lol*

The lyrics goes:

Stand Again

Lying next to me,
She traces the lines on my hand.
She should be
Chasing the dreams in her head.

After you've learnt to love yourself
You can be loved...

Before anything else, my band's next performance is coming up this Saturday at the Esplanade. Details are:

Bash & Pop@Esplanade
Date: 24th Sept (Saturday)
Venue: Esplanade. Open air stage.
Time/band lineups:
07.30pm - LGF
08.45pm - Barrecoda
10.00pm - Camra

It's the second time we're playing at the Esplanade. The last one was in January 2004 for the Huayi festival, so it's been a long time since we've got the chance to perform there. Hopefully things will turn out good. I'm sure the crowd will be better compared to last year's due to the rain (crossing my fingers though)...also, not sure what to expect cos mandarin-based bands are usually not that sought-after or appreciated...

These days, everything seems out of reach. Makes me feel like I'm losing a bit of myself and losing others. But the worse is over I guess. Time to pick myself up and start living again. Tomorrow's gig is a great start. Can't wait to do it. Also, I've got a crazy thought of getting a tattoo...or tattoos in the long run. I feel like getting my whole arm sleeved (okay, a bit far fetched but only if I'm okay with my pain threshold). But for now, what stand in my way are my parents and thoughts of my future girlfriend's parents giving me a disapproved look. I'm not really bothered about the rest like how my workplace will think of it or how I'd look when I'm 70 with wrinkled tattoos *lol* Being a girl in this situation has so much less issues. Do it in hidden places, cover it in front of parents, and flaunt it outside. No hassles.

And no, it's not about being rebellious or emo. I think I've been more rebellious 20 years ago when I sat on floors and kicked my feet when my parents didn't agree to buy me toys when compared to getting a tattoo *lol*

An ultra last-minute announcement:

LGF will be performing at 7.30pm at the National Library official opening event on this Friday, 22nd July (which is tomorrow!). Event will be held inside the ground floor sheltered area of the National Library at Victoria Street. (Lifted from Mel's blog. heh)

First time making so much 'noise' in a library...Hiak hiak ;)