Monday, December 10, 2007

Of Rain & Open Air Gigs . . .

RE: My Chemical Romance, Live at Stadium Merdeka, 9 Dec 2007

First off, let me get a few complaints off me fooking chest. Why did the organisers (Celcom & Galaxy) feel that it was ok to keep fans locked out of the stadium while the support acts had already started. It was not only fooked up but courting danger as an impatient & restless crowd surged & pushed to get in. In fact by the time most people got in, the support act were done & dusted. No big shit fer me but most fans felt fleeced. I was just plain annoyed with the shoddy fooking treatment.

Secondly, fer an act that appeals to the teen market, shouldn't have the tickets been a bit more reasonably priced? RM103 was the cheapest & was a bit steep in me opinion, thus pricing out a huge segment of youngsters. A 50% reduction to say, RM55 would have seen twice the number turn out fer band currently riding high on the success of third LP The Black Parade.
Thirdly, why have an open air gig fer around 10,000 punters during the rainy season when the infinitely more appropriate & "intimate" venue of Stadium Negara is available?

And yes, apart from a few accompanying parents, I was the quite possibly the oldest geezer at last nite's My Chemical Romance gig. (This was further highlighted by the fact that all the souvenir T-shirt stalls only carried the anorexic teen sizes of 'S' & 'XS'.)
But that didn't deter me from enjoying meself. In fact, it was great being able to feed off the youthful energy of the crowd. Though MCR's brand of MTV-friendly pooonk-lite anthems aren't quite me cup of todi; there's still no more thrilling sensation than to hear several thousand people belt out a chorus in unison. Seasoned gig-goers will know precisely what I mean.


Well, MCR belted out all them hits such as Mama, Famous Last Words, I Don't Love You and the title track. The eager & eye-linered crowd bounced, sang & generally ate up MCR's none-too-original stage antics which included the ultra-rebellious act of using words such as "effing", "friggin" & "f.u.c.k" as well as the ubiquitous "Kuala Lumpur, are you ready to rock?".

Did I mention it was pissing down last nite? The rain (eeriely) started and stopped precisely as when MCR took/left the stage! Bet you the organisers tried to stinge & decided against a pawang hujan. However, the rain only added to the Woodstock-atmospherics. Wifey & meself kept warm with a hip-flask of Suvvern Comfort which gave proceedings a nice buzz.

Somewhat surprising was the fact that halfway thru, the guitarist decides to invoke the spirit of Stevie Ray Vaughn as he launched into an extended guitar solo. Thought these new bands didn't belive in the rock-dinosaur traditions?!? Still he managed to keep it down to just the right duration & wasn't too flashy; erring on the right side of caution.

MCR played fer just over an hour & I was shocked there was no encore, especially with a crowd consisting of dedicated fans. In fact, even more shocking was the fact that the fans just buggered off without demanding fer more. S'ppose both band & fans alike have a few things to learn regarding concert etiquette.

But the best thing fer me was seeing me wifey thoroughly enjoying herself & the huge fooking grin on her face afterwards. That alone was worth the price of admission . . . (I know, I know, am a fooking sweet romantic).

ps: Miss Siew Pau (below) cried like a fooking teenybopper when MCR sang Cancer. Quite unbecoming fer a "over-the-hill" 26-year old, don't you think?

pps; I urge all those who were at yesterday's gig to post yer grievances at http://www.galaxy.com.my/ (0r call 03-2282 2020) or bombard Celcom with yer complaints.

18 comments:

Tinesh said...

Kakakaka..MCR is emo rock la uncle..But apparently the lead guitarist is a metal fan so that's why he solo-ed like an old schooler..haha..I may be only 20 (still 19 till 18th of dec hehe) but there's nothing betta than listening/watching old school rock bands la..i havent had the chance to do so but watching videos on youtube gives me the chill down the spine when someone (eg jimmy page) breaks into a chunted solo..You been for Rock The World anot?? Crowd there is defs betta than any other concert Ive seen

anfield devotee said...

tinesh: I didn't use the word 'emo' coz I think that's a pretty lame name fer a genre. Besides MCR have said "emo is a pile of shit".

No, have not been fer Rock The World. But the recent Napalm Death gig was fooking awesome. Great crowd, great music. Were u there?

Hello, this uncle has actually seen Tool live whilst you haven't even heard of em (saw yer comment's on mandeep's blog!). tsk tsk, young people these days. . .

ps: I trust you have a copy of The Song Remains The Same? If not, seek out at Pertama complex.

Unknown said...

Bala: Really never thought I'd live to see you attend a pop concert! Might as well have attended a Blink 182 show or Fall Out Boy - hahaha! If I come off sounding like a pretentious old-skool jaded rock twat - cool! Cos I am one and - don't kid yourself - you are one too.

But I guess stranger things have happened... Now before you go lambasting me with defensive replies of how MCR are actually good and bla bla so forth, lemme just say one man's pint of bitter is another man's racun serangga!

Anyways must say that I'm glad you and Reena had a great time together - lovely! The sight of you two hopeless romantics sharing a flask of bourbon in the peltering rain is enough to make any disaffected MTV goth's eyeshadow go all runny. Snif! 'Tis a sight to behold - Oh how love is grand!!

Question: Is it me or does MCR's lead singer bear an uncanny resemblence to the Pumpkins Billy Corgan? They look alike and both have whiny voices.

nick m said...

i don't know about you, but i think i would have felt REALLY OUT OF PLACE. i can't say anything about MCR since i haven't heard them, but the kids these days, sorry la! i heard one good charlotte track on the radio, and it was sooooooooo fucking lame!

anfield devotee said...

premo: Nope, no defensive remarks. MCR not me to me taste but since am there for wifey's sake, might as well enjoy the experience. The booze helped. . . a lot plus ot was nice & romantic like u said, in the rain, sharing a flask of suvverrn comfort.

nick: Brudder, you need to be young at heart. And I know I still am a big fuggin kid who yearns to wear Celtic Frost-type leather & chains metal look.

So once you remain young @ heart, you'll never feel out of place.

Lame? Again, if you compare em to yer straight edged stuff, sure lar.

But to nick & premo, it sure was fooking more tolerable than the 3.5hours of Jackie fooking Cheung!!!

Jon-C said...

Er.... any mosh pit? Me out of my depth with all this new gothic looking bands.

I dun even consider myself a rocker anymore.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

hey fellas, give bala some credits la friends.

he was at merdeka stadium, come rain or shine wathing a teeny bopper's act, solely for his wife's sake. hahaha...

but admittedly, if i had the ticket for say, 70% less i'd attend the concert. first, MCR's still a rock band plays rock n roll stuff. secondly, they're no n'sync and finally, they're known globally so there must be something in them thats appealing to the masses, albeit young masses. so i say they're not bad a band to listen to, to while away your time.

*only thing is i cant stand those local MCR-wannabes. eye-liners, red ties are ok but whats up with the umbrellas la geng?

mozisgod said...

ahhhhh..*sighhh*
*grinsshowingreallydecayingteeth*

a weekend of respite..finally northlondon reverbs..to a different tune..at least for this week la..been a long time bro..
r-e-a-l-l-y long time.

wenger's kotex is
falling down
falling downnn..
my fair gooners..

having said that, i'd like to reiterate that still..there is no disrespect for the kind of football they play...any kaki-ayam-taman-padang-football-player worth his salt..worth his farkin intended sliding tackes on mud-soaked padang botaks..(and those who missed and hit the nearby see-saw)...any taman players who wears his football trunks inside his school pants to save the hassle of changing after skolah petang...any player who's graced the shoddy pitches with their piss..in malaysia..would tell yu..when it comes to the art of the game..
them gooners are playin
it the way it should be played.
keeping the eyes glazed
and glued to the moving ball. mezmerized.
yes. i'm farking jealous as hell.

but said done.
wenger's kotex is
falling down
falling down..
my fairrr gooonerrs.

transfer window looming. BBTOV proably leaving..sensed the ants in his pants..with the spaniard aboard..need a back...how i wish..they could find a back...in the vein of breitner/rijkaard..or even andy brehme......the overlapping kind...or even a viv farkin anderson...always a treat to watch.
now if only them farkin devils had lost.

see ya later dudes.
got nothing much to comment on mcr sorry even if you did not want me to. the music does not turn me on.

p.s. dirty goal? yes yes i know.... so what..at least..we're at the scoring end..
p.s.2. psstttt..chief...pssttt...since i'm in a such good mood today..let yu in a secret..there's another 2 clubs..that i'm a lifelong fan of...which i never publically admit...other than selangor fc of course.
the other team? theywear green and whites..hori strips not vertical..north of the english border..and they're not glaswegian. from the "other" city up there.
but really? like anyone cares.
thank you for reading. spit at the screen if you want. good night.

nick m said...

right you are bro. i'm sure it was more tolerable than 3.5 hours of jacky cheung. i mean what could be worse than 3.5 hours of jacky cheung? i suppose 4.5 hours of jacky cheung. ;-)

Vageliser said...

long time buddy. good to see you getting into some EMO. But like yoiu being a little older than the norm, prefer my Killers or Muse

MCR are decent and I hear a decent act to watch live. As for prices, what elsa can u do lah!! damm bands want lots of $$$ to perform so us punters have to pay.

so thoughts on tomorrow mornings match? we need the win, sucks we lost to reading but i want to destroy the mancs.

will blog soon and u also got to blog about footy mate.

anfield devotee said...

mr d: Will save footie comments after tonite's crunch match v marseille. Got a fooking bad feeling that Yanks are looking fer an excuse to sack Rafa and poor results v marseille & the scum will be provide them with just that.

kerp: TQ. Yuo, did it fer wifey but really, it wasn't too bad. Once you've been tortured at a Javkie fooking Cheung gig, everything else pales in comparison.

jonC: Hullo, brudder, time to put on yer metal spikes & relive them glory days as a heavy metal warrior!

Kopite78 said...

Bala, stop blaming the wife for all the ah beng and pop concerts you have been going for.

I think deep down you are a fan. Hahahahah!!!

The Rocker King is Dead!!! Sob! Sob! Sob!

anfield devotee said...

Yeah rite, St Kopite78. Going fer MCR is better than NOT going fer any concerts at all . . .

Tinesh said...

I have heard of Tool..I play drums so I have to know the names of good drummers so Danny Carey introduced me to Tool..

Ive gotta go get it when I come back from Lkawi

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

i beg to differ, bala. i'd rather stay at home watching business news than to attend concerts of some boybands even for free.

anfield devotee said...

kerp: Was refereing to one of me mates lar & how he never goes fer any concert. Even when its a fooking fantastic, great band turning up at his doorstep. Tapi kutuk orang pandai.

Yes, I agree with you. Boybands - no way, jose.

senorita.. said...

%$@%!#@$!%!%

u get to see MCR

#@%#%!%!#^

anfield devotee said...

senorita: eh, thought you were in KL? Why tak pergi?