The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Posted: 22 Jul 2011 02:36 AM PDT On the live music front, Urbanscapes 2011 was a hit and miss affair. ONE day, nine stages, dozens of acts: Urbanscapes 2011 last Saturday had the numbers, but did they get their math right? One thing was for sure, the organisers certainly shook things up by moving Urbanscapes from its home of three years in KLPac in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur to Padang Astaka in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. In theory, having one huge field would be perfect for bringing all the festival had to offer together. Business wise, there was no longer a need to set aside (read: cordon off) the bands, as a ticket was now needed to enter the festival, as opposed to last year, where tickets were only necessary for access to paid areas. To be fair, the tickets cost the same as during Urbanscapes 2010 at RM40 per entry. For fans of the local music scene and hipsters that needed to be seen, this annual festival is pretty much a compulsory event. This year's line-up featured several fairly new acts like Tilu, Friday King Road and Najwa earlier in the day, while established names like They Will Kill Us All, Kyoto Protocol and Bunkface came on after sundown. Bands started as early as 1pm with Cats In Love on the mainstage while a variety of local hip hop acts beatboxed and rapped away during the Movemint Segment on the Junk stage. Unfortunately for them, most fest-goers were either arriving fashionably late or still trying to find their friends and bearings around the sprawling field. There were enough acts at any one point to ensure that if you didn't like something, there was always another stage waiting just round the corner. On the flipside, those with a kiasu must-watch-everything attitude found it physically impossible to do so. Having to track through an ever-shifting landscape of mud also made moving between stages a chore. Luckily, the weather held up and somehow became even hotter at 5pm after a brief threat of rain an hour earlier. Better prepared Urbanscape veterans knew what footwear to bring, leading to some outrageous fashion statements like cocktail dresses paired with combat boots and leather jacket bad boys wearing flip flops. Breaking up the stages by genre helped keep the treking down to a minimum, but it was still pretty cruel to force fans to make a choice every hour: "Lab The Rat v Project Disco Baldi at 5pm", "Najwa v Furniture at 6pm" then "Stonebay v Khottal at 8pm". One of the biggest issues with having so many stages playing at the same time was the sound from different bands blending together. A cool idea on paper or if it was deliberate like on The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka album, but a hot mess in real life. Amplified stages like the TM EveryoneConnects Stage and the Junk Stage put out the biggest sounds, cancelling each other out, while overshadowing the smaller Experience Live and acoustic Moonshine stages. Some acts that rose above the din were post rock sextet The Metaphor, funky jazz band Tilu, folksy songbird Liyana Fizi and the slightly mad boys from Kyoto Protocol. Hot off opening for Indonesian band Sore (pronounced soh-ray) at Bentley Music Auditorium early this month, Tilu filled out the small Junk stage, both literally and musically. Highlights from the eight-piece outfit were keyboardist Bajai's understated jazz-piano style and leading lady Mira Amirah Asraf's sweet vocals and cheeky stage presence. Coming on right after Tilu was indie singer-songwriter Liyana wielding her trademark electro-acoustic guitar. Joining her was violinist Jason who added some drama to her otherwise straightforward set. Fans were treated to the debut of Blindfold from her upcoming album and a cover of the legendary Tan Sri P. Ramlee's Tanya Sama Pokok from Anakku Sazali. Confused on why her audience kept a distance from the stage, she asked them to come forward before realising the front of the Junk stage had become a mini paddy-field. "Oops, banyak lecak, tu! (Oops, that's a lot of mud!)," she said, and asked the fans to singalong to former Estrella hit Stay instead. Liyana later joined Reza Salleh for a duet on the mainstage. As the sun set, only the amplified stages remained open. Which is ironic, considering the acoustic stage was called the Moonshine stage. The Moonshine store next door remained open throughout the day, selling band merchandise and CDs, and saving fans the trouble of hunting high and low to get their favorite music on record. Those with a sharp eye could also find the band members wandering the festival, before and after their sets, and bugged their idols for autographs and photos. The final few acts were a mixed bag. Fiesty alternative rock act Kyoto Protocol rocked it out in their shorts, inspired by its music video for Pussycat. That split the 800 strong fans between laughing their heads off or looking away in horror. Although the much hyped Busco played at the same time as indie outfit They Will Kill Us All, the two bands were miles apart. Busco, lacking fire and enthusiasm on stage, were largely uneventful. On the otherhand, They Will Kill Us All roared through a set that had the band's faithful pumped up and behind the cause. Even Bunkface had trouble maintaining its crowd, as those at the mainstage were slowly pulled away by the deep-bass siren song of LapSap's "TidakPop" collaboration with DJ Goldfish and Mutant Mayhem. At that point, the crowd no longer cared about the sea of mud at the Junk stage and happily danced the night away to the electro mayhem under a starless sky. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Posted: 22 Jul 2011 02:27 AM PDT Malaysian melodic metal core outfit Massacre Conspiracy is taking its heavy sound to Canada's Envol et Macadam alternative music festival in September. METAL core is alive and kicking – and screaming, too – in Malaysia. And the genre's brightest hope comes in the guise of Massacre Conspiracy, a sextet that takes no prisoners with its rampaging music. And the band is taking its brand of heaviness to the 16th edition of Envol et Macadam, Quebec, Canada's top alternative music festival, from Sept 29 to Oct 1, following its win at Planetrox, the newest band competition to hit town. Massacre Conspiracy's success is all the more astounding because the band from the Klang Valley had to pit its skills against heavyweights and proven road warriors like Estranged, alternative pop punkers The Jespers and experimental new wavers Later All. Audience votes combined 50/50 with the judges' decided the winner of Planetrox Malaysia. Each band performed a 20-minute set to convince the judges and the audience why they should have that chance of a lifetime to perform in front of rock royalty, thousands of fans and top band headliners at Envol et Macadam in Quebec. "I'm sure Massacre Conspiracy will be a hit in Quebec," said Simon Gaudry, Envol et Macadam and Planetrox general director who chaired the judges' panel and spoke highly of the band's potential. "They have great energy and their music is tight," added fellow judge Stuart Shaw, public affairs officer of the High Commission of Canada in Malaysia. Both he and Gaudry agreed that Massacre Conspiracy is ready for the world stage in Quebec. And so did the crowd at Celebrities Hall of Music in Solaris Mont Kiara last Saturday, which gave the band substantial votes for a convincing win. Gaudry flew in to judge Malaysia's inaugural year of Planetrox after travelling around Asia to judge the South Korea, China and Japan legs of the competition. This first year of Planetrox involves Canada, the United States, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Morocco, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea. The project is an initiative of Envol et Macadam, in collaboration with the city of Quebec. The mission of this international undertaking is to discover the best up-and-coming bands in each of the participating countries and to present them at the Envol et Macadam Festival every September. For its efforts, Massacre Conspiracy's win includes a live performance of 20 minutes on one of the outdoor stages of the Envol et Macadam Festival 2011, airfare tickets for the entire band plus internal travel, four-star accommodation in central Quebec for four nights, free passes to the festival and promotion of the band in festival communications. "We are constantly bringing events, competitions and musical platforms to Malaysia that will mark our local talents' emergence in the global music arena. We hope that with Planetrox, more emerging musical talents will be noticed by respected figures in the international music business," stated Issa Rodriguez, Planetrox Malaysia director. Planetrox seeks out the best alternative bands from 15 different countries for a chance to play at the huge music fest that annually attracts an average 25,000 music fans, as well as many industry professionals. In the past years, the likes of Bad Religion, Mastodon, Sum 41, Pennywise, Karkwa, The Sounds, Metric, Malajube, Raekwon and Bloc Party have played and delighted festival goers at Envol et Macadam. For the past 15 years, Envol et Macadam has been an urban festival featuring outdoor concerts and live indoor shows in downtown Quebec to support the development of emerging artistes. More than 100 local and international bands participate each year featuring alternative music – rock, punk, hip-hop, rap, R&B, folk, pop, metal, indie and electro. Envol et Macadam's activities present live, emerging as well as well-known artistes from each of these musical categories. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| YouTube to stream Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Posted: 21 Jul 2011 11:52 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP): YouTube will live stream Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits in the video site's continuing push to bring music festivals to digital screens. The Google Inc.-owned YouTube will announce Friday that it will present online coverage of the festivals, two of the summer's largest. YouTube has previously streamed festivals such as Tennessee's Bonnaroo, San Francisco's Outside Lands and, earlier this year, Southern California's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, both produced by C3 Presents, will be presented with extensive live concert coverage from the various festival stages. Dell and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. will sponsor the streaming. Chicago's Lollapalooza takes place Aug. 5-7 and will be promoted with a "Lollapalooza Week" on YouTube. Exactly which acts will be streamed is yet to be announced, but this year's top performers include Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse and My Morning Jacket. It's the 20th anniversary for the Perry Farrell-founded event, which began as a touring festival. "For those of us who can't make it - we have YouTube," said Farrell in a statement. "Be a voyeur to this year's Lollapalooza. Watch as musicians offer their souls and the crowd devours them. You just may forget that you aren't really there." Austin City Limits, which runs from Sept. 16-18 in the Texas capital, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Its acts include Kanye West, Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire, Coldplay and My Morning Jacket. For YouTube, the deal represents growth toward an increasingly robust digital festival-going experience. Streaming festivals is appealing to the site because sponsors like having their names attached to the well-known events, and users typically stay longer than they might for three-minute videos. Viewing length can average nearly an hour. "This allows us to showcase multiple artists each day, which is really exciting to users," says Dana Vetter, YouTube's music marketing programs manager. "And we can hope to expect longer viewing times from people who catch one set and trickle into the next one." How many tune in will depend partly on which acts are streamed, but online audiences for festivals often number in the tens of millions and can even - over the full weekend - rival the audience YouTube attracts for live events like the royal wedding in April. About 72 million people watched YouTube's coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding. "In the past 12 to 18 months, we've come a really long way in terms of live music," said Vetter. "There's a huge audience connected with these things. The trajectory of live music has come a long way and we hope to see it continue." There will be a primary live stream of performances as well as a secondary feed of the backstage areas and interviews. Interactivity with Facebook and Twitter will also be integrated. Videos will remain on YouTube for four weeks after the festivals. In the last few years, mega-festivals have increasingly spread into the digital space where music fans unable to make the trek (or those who simply would rather avoid mud and heat) can follow along online. Vevo, the joint venture of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media Co., streamed acts from this year's Bonnaroo. National Public Radio will webcast this year's Newport Folk Festival (July 30-31) and the Newport Jazz Festival (Aug. 6-7). Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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