Loud night out or quiet night in? The phrase was playing in my head the whole of yesterday because I had to decide if I wanted to stalk All-American Rejects in the evening. I chose the later and rushed back from a friend's place to pick up Muscle Man. We braved the rain and traffic and made it in time at Central Market sans dinner.
Ah, such a quaint scene at Annexe. Unlike the previous years which was held at Klpac, Annexe proved to be intimate and warm, but the turnout was terribly poor. Could it be because of the rain? Malaysians actually celebrating Halloween? People flocking to Bukit Jalil for a free-for-all concert? A formula of all of the above?
Back to KL Sing Song. Yvonne played 'door bitch' and jokingly said she was contributing free slavery because of Azmyl and we chatted for a while before making our way into the gallery. As host Fahmi introduced the first set, musicians Slowjaxx, Edwin & Albert and Wani made their way up on stage.
Now, why have I not gotten into Slowjaxx any sooner? The combo of saxophone and Jeff's voice were enough to blow me away. I took a liking to 'Liberty' and another song, I can't quite remember, when he burst in with a flurry of finger nimbling artistry. Edwin & Alvert reminded me a lot of Michael & Victor, who are now popularly known as erm, Michael and Victor individually. Muscle Man actually liked their first opening track 'Monday Blues'; I can see why, they sounded a bit Jason Mraz-ish. Now, Wani came on next. Lecturer with UiTM in Creative Writing, her voice made me sit up and I paid attention to her like a dutiful student would do. I wouldn't say she has a great voice but it was soothing and her lyrics were poignant. 'Lampu Jalan' was one of them.
During the 15-minute break, Muscle Man and I had to go to the loo but they closed up Central Market and I had to brace the mamak's. Then we headed right back up and lingered around. He also wouldn't let me near the stalls, which were selling the artiste's cds because he knew I'd be erm, wasting my money on some good' ol quality stuff. Azmyl was there and er, is it me but his hair seems to have a life on its own? I giggled to myself. I still like you and Yvonne very much, okay?
Meor walked by and I waved at him. Introduced him to Muscle Man for a bit. And made small chat before we were ushered into the gallery again.
The second set was made up of veterans in the indie scene, namely, Pete Teo, Karen Nunis and Meor. Meor kickstarted the set with 'Hari-hari Autistik', which is another fave of mine. The song, which is based on his autistic son, tells a story of how the little one is living in his own world and the father often wonders what is he thinking about. It's really poignant and touching and of course, honest. Other songs he covered that night were 'Sofa Biru' and my all-time favourite which he sang during encore: 'Yang Terlintas Di Fikiran.'
During Karen's set, she was good at keeping the audience's attention as she conversed back and forth, making small chats. I liked that her set was bewitching and mesmerising. My fave song from her has to be 'Oh My World', and I believe she did say it was downloable. Will go search for it.
Pete was his usual confident self but you could tell he was still upset over the passing of his dear friend. He kept to a 'suicidal mode' so he said. I thought he was going to shed a tear during 'Blue', but he kept it strong and managed to finish it. I love 'Blue' and all its blue-ness. It's a tender, intimate song and the venue was perfect, for the song resonated wonderfully within the walls and the high ceiling. And yes, I was laughing at you, Pete, because you made that joke about your finger - how could anyone not laugh at that?
It ended about early 12am and I bid farewell to the familiar faces. Made my way to Tung Shin, where I gobbled down some beef noodles. I didn't regret missing AAR for this; the sombre weather and the pool of talented musicians reminded me how much I've missed catching gigs around town. Will get back on it soon as I'm planning to check out Lepaq cafe.
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