Were you there at the 2nd edition of Asia Music Festival? No? You have no idea what you've missed people! This was my 2nd time covering this event and here I am, sharing with you,my dear readers, my experience.
Like any event or festivals organized by STB, it usually starts off with a Tree Planting Ceremony. I remembered what YB Lee Kim Shin said " we humans come to these festivals and we breathe out carbon monoxide, lets plant trees so we can have fun and at the same time, give these trees some food".
Later that day, we had a press conference with some of the performers. Top Left : Olivia Ting and Nalvin Sim from MisaLuvi ( Malaysia) Bottom Left : JC Estrada representing Pancake80 (Philipines) Top Right : Bernie Chiang representing Masia One (Singapore) Middle Right : Clement Empaling represnting Drumcall (Malaysia) Bottom Right : Steve Lee representing MAD August.
Before the actual event starts, strolled along the EastWood Valley Musical Corridor and watching the visitors getting their tattos. I was so tempted to get a tattoo but I've told myself, wait till I gain more weight and if i were to do a tattoo, it would have a meaning to me. Something that really impacted my life and it would be there as a constant reminder. (Checkout the slide show above. *pictures taken on day 1 and 2).
Let The Fun Begin........ Day 1
The evening started off with DrumCall. A group of percussionist mostly based in Kuching,Sarawak beating the beat out of their instruments. It was a slow start at first but not long after that, you can see visitors starts storming the front stage and dancing little by little following the rhythm of the drums.
In between the band performances, the crowd was entertained by one of the best DJ's in the industry, with at least 20 years of experience, once crowned as the Malaysian DJ Champion for 3 years in a row, DJ RoundHead. From Old Skool Hip Hip to the latest hits on the decks. That kept the crowd grovin'.He even did some frestylin'. As seen on the picture above, Dj RoundHead taking the crowd to a whole new level of frestylin' emcee.
Second up on stage was Pisco from Taiwan. How did they got their name? PIano + Disco = Pisco.. What I love about this band? The the lead guitarist and bassist was a girl! The bassist, probably the cutest bassist I've ever seen,with her bob cut hair style, small sized girl-next-door look can really slap that bass. Who would have known that this Apple App Editor by day, a turn into a badas* chick at night. Not to miss the lead guitarist, if you've seen through the slide show I've made, is purely rocker chick but still cute at the same time.
The third band that was performing that night was Masia One from Singapore. The first band that played reggae which got the crowd really grovin'. I mean, how can you not move to Reggae? Honestly, based on her autobiography, I was expecting her to perform more Hip Hop based genre but I had fun listening to her as well. It shows that Masia One has really developed into a multi-genre artist.
This band was one of the bands that I looked forward see performing on the first night. Pancake80 from the Philippines and they didn't disappoint me. The vocalist was very versatile with her notes and they played my all time favorite song which was Cryin' by BonJovi. The lead vocalist plays the harmonica and guess what? Their guitarist looks like Jacoby Shaddix (PapaRoach vocalist) too. :D.
This was the last band that was performing night. A band that was no longer a stranger in our local music scene. SalamMusik from Kuala Lumpur.
Day 2....
Misaluvi and Motion Family was the opening act for Day 2. Although this group doesn't sing or play any musical instrument, the energy they brought with them was definitely there. Not much I can say about this group as we, the Sarawak Bloggers was busy taking our group picture during the performance. Sorrrrrryyy.....
Next up was SoulMate all the way from India. Being the 2nd performer up for the night, bringing blues rock genre was really soothing after the energetic performance by Misaluvi & Motion Family. Tipriti, the female vocalist/guitarist is considered one of the finest female singers to have emerged from the North East India, paired with Wallang, who is considered one of the respected blues guitarist of India, you know they're gonna make your heart skips a beat with their performance. I personally fell in love with Tipriti's soulful voice. They really know their music well.
This one here, is a proof that music knows no language. Retrospect from Thailand.Although they sang mostly/if not all, in Thai language, it didn't stop the crowd from jumping around rocking to their music. I have to say that this band, was the cherry on top of the cake.
MAD August!! I love this band! Somehow they remind me a lot of one particular Hong Kong Band, Beyond. MAD August stands for Make A Difference and August was included in the band's name because the band was formed in August. They performed a few of their singles and did a cover of Nirvana's Song, Smells Like Teen Spirit.. Two of the band members got tattoo-ed earlier that day at the tattoo expo too.
The last band to perform that night was Ras Muhamad representing Indonesia. Known as the Indonesian Reggae Ambassador, Ras didnt disappoint the crowd that night. From the start of his performance till the end, you can see the dance floor was packed. Towards the end of the performance, they did an impromptu performance with Masia One and Salamusik.
The Media, The Crowd and the After party.....
Need I say more? Let the pictures speak for themselves.
Well, that was one of the best events I've attended so far. Before I end this post, I would like to thank Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) for the opportunity, the performers, my fellow Sarawak Bloggers, members of media from all over the world, and the volunteers who made this all possible. I kid you knot, I'm already looking forward to the next event by them.
If you wish to read more on the event coverage, below are the links of my fellow bloggers who covered the event as well.
Abang Joe
Elena Aradia
Miss Alvy
Cik Reyyana
Fabian
Pei Pei
LadyBird Eileen
Pictures?
You can find them Here
Or if you want to see the pictures taken by the official photographer, Andy Kho, below are the links.
*Note : Please take note that all pictures, be it taken by me or anybody else, if you wish to use them, please give credits to the owner of the pictures.
Asia Music Festival Day 1 By Andy Kho
Asia MUsic Festival Day 2 By Andy Kho
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