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Posted: 07 Aug 2011 12:27 AM PDT

Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams is now closer to her bandmates after two others left.

LATE last year, two founding members of American rock band Paramore abruptly left the band, accusing frontwoman Hayley Williams of using the group to further her own personal career.

The 22-year-old red-haired singer denied the charge and, with the remaining band members, released a new single titled Monster, with lyrics such as "now that you're gone, the world is ours."

In an interview ahead of their Singapore Indoor Stadium show on Aug 21, Williams was evasive when asked if the lyrics were squarely aimed at her former bandmates, brothers Josh and Zac Farro.

"I would like for our fans to interpret the song in their own way," she says over the telephone from the band's hometown, Nashville.

"After all the drama that went down, we wrote these songs and, to me, we don't need to talk about it anymore."

Ties between Williams and her erstwhile bandmates go way back. She started playing music with the Farro brothers when she was 13 years old, two years before the three of them, along with bass player Jeremy Davis, formed Paramore.

In the early years, the band's pop melodies and hard-driving rock music, coupled with a hardworking touring schedule, earned them a cult following.

Their second album, Riot! (2007), saw them reach out to an even wider audience across the world, as well as garnering a nomination for Best New Artiste at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

Their third and most recent album released in 2009, Brand New Eyes, is their most commercially successful effort yet, hitting No.1 in the mainstream charts in places such as Britain and New Zealand, and No.2 in the United States.

Williams also appears as guest singer on the No.1 hit single, Airplanes, by American rapper B.o.B.

Currently dating rock band New Found Glory's guitarist Chad Gilbert, Williams has been voted Sexiest Female twice by the readers of British rock magazine Kerrang! in 2008 and 2009.

The singer, bassist Davis and guitarist Taylor York will perform with session musicians at their upcoming show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. They played at the same venue to 8,500 mostly teenaged and young adult fans in March last year.

You found global success at an early age. Do you feel that you are growing old a little too fast?

There are things I missed out on. I didn't go to prom, I graduated but didn't go to a graduation ceremony at high school. But I had the best teenage years ever. I got to see the world. I went to Japan twice, we went to Canada andBritain, and we've played to 16,000 people at festivals. I don't think I was meant to live a normal, high-school teenage life. I was meant to be on a stage with my friends and find other people who love music.

Paramore played in Singapore last March. What do you remember most about that time here?

It was so fun. It was a really cool tour for us because we had never been to Singapore. And just before that, we were travelling from New Zealand, which we had also never been to.

It was just an amazing time for us to experience new people and new fans all over the world. The fans in Singapore are crazy and I can't wait for us to go back because I think it will be even better.

Do you find your fans at your shows in Asia any different from fans from the rest of the world?

Yeah, I do. It's not that I think it's worse or better. There's a different vibe and their energy is so amazing and contagious. When I played in Singapore, it was like the energy was almost aggressive because they were so excited.

We had never been there before, so it was like we got hit in the face. There was an amazing vibe and it was a great show because we really fed off the crowd.

It has been over half a year since Josh and Zac Farro left the band. Looking back on the drama that followed, how do you feel about their departure now?

It was hard but I feel that it is a very positive thing now. Changes happen naturally and I feel closer to remaining members Jeremy and Taylor. I can't imagine not feeling this way.

What is it like for you to start touring and playing live with a new band line-up?

I feel good about it. I feel like the shows are really energetic. When we played in South America earlier this year, it was the first time without Zac and Josh and, to me, the show was just so explosive.

It's our job to make sure that fans and people are having a good time, on their feet and enjoying the show.

You released a solo song, Teenagers, on the soundtrack to 2009 horror-comedy movie Jennifer's Body and, early this year, you posted online a song that you wrote, In The Mourning. Do you ever see yourself striking it out as a solo artiste?

In The Mourning isn't really a solo song. It's a song I wrote by myself but I brought it to the guys, not expecting them to like or hate it – I just wanted to see what they thought. When we played that song live, people loved it. It will most likely be released as a Paramore song as soon as we put out a new album.

It's hard for me to be a solo act. I can't say never because I don't know the future. But I love being in Paramore and there is no other place I would rather be.

Will the songs in the new album have a new musical direction since the band's line-up has changed?

Monster, the new single, is almost like a return to form. It's heavier Paramore, it's kind of reminiscent to the vibe of maybe one or two songs from our first album.

The other songs that we wrote – one of them is like a folk song. It doesn't sound like anything we've ever done before.

It's hard to tell where we go from here because there is a lot of stuff we can do if we want, we just never explored it. So we'll just see how the inspiration comes out and take it from there.

How would you like to be remembered?

I want to be remembered for making music that we knew our fans will love. We're not here for any other reason than to hopefully inspire people and motivate them to do positive things, even if that means going through a really hard time and accepting all the tough things that get thrown at you.

It's not about just us as a band or the fans, it's about something even more than all of us. – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network

Paramore plays a concert at Singapore Indoor Stadium on Aug 21. Browse sistic.com.sg for more details.

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Sizzling at Splendour

Posted: 07 Aug 2011 12:24 AM PDT

Splendour In The Grass 2011, arguably the largest festival of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, was a three-day party to remember.

COLDPLAY, Kanye West, Elbow, Pulp, Kaiser Chiefs, Jane's Addiction, The Hives, The Kills, and Regina Spektor. It's hard to imagine that one can actually catch all these stellar acts (and many more) at the same event, all within a three day period. Heck, that's almost a whole year's worth of gigs in Malaysia!

Then again, the splendid Splendour In The Grass Arts and Music Festival is no ordinary music festival. Now into its eleventh year, Splendour is arguably the largest festival of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region. For this year's edition, almost 100 bands, deejays and artistes performed over three days (July 29-31).

For those three days deep in the Australian winter, the quiet rural town of Woodford in Queensland, Australia, is transformed into a thriving hub of tents, caravans, music and mayhem, as more than 30,000 festival-goers descend upon the Woodfordia festival site.

For the past four years, AirAsia X has been a strong supporter of the festival, proving that the budget carrier is not just concerned with making sure everyone can fly, but also that you have something great to look forward to when you get there. Where attending major arts, music and cultural festivals such as Splendour used to be a pipe dream for Malaysians; AirAsia X has now made them more accessible than ever before, thanks to their affordable flights to Gold Coast (five times a week), as well as daily flights to Melbourne and Perth.

After landing at Gold Coast Airport, it is a mere two hour journey by car to Woodfordia, where you are greeted by a horde of tents, caravans and trailers. This year's event saw over 20,000 campers pitching their tents and parking their caravans at the event's various 'Tent Cities'.

Credit to event organisers Village Sounds And Secret Service though, they managed to get the event running like clockwork, handling every aspect of it with almost ruthless efficiency, from the waste management down to the bands' logistics. That is no mean feat, as the site is practically a mini city of music-lovers; with food stalls, bars, and err ... very small shopping malls all located within the 202ha festival site.

With three major tents showcasing simultaneous performances throughout the day, Splendour is also a place to discover new music and expand your musical horizons. Like popular, more accessible stuff like Kanye West and Coldplay? Stick around at the Amphitheatre, the largest of the arenas. Like your music edgier, folksier or simply less mainstream? Check out the shows at the smaller G.W. McLennan tent (a tribute to the late Australian singer-songwriter/Go-Betweens co-founder). Prefer pounding beats, dazzling light shows and music you can dance to? The Mix-Up Tent is the place to be. No matter where your musical tastes lie, chances are you would find something to suit your palate any time throughout the day.

Day One: Kanye mayhem

The day may have started with a display of British Sea Power, but the opening day of Splendour ultimately belonged to the Americans. More specifically, one American with an ego the size of a continent – Kanye West.

Making his entrance from the middle of the crowd atop a high platform, West's set was an impressive and sometimes haughty display of lavishness and glamour, with bombastic backdrop of stone angels, scantily-clad dancers kneeling down to "worship" him.

But say what you want about the hip-hop megastar, he is one heck of a performer. West owned the stage that night – even when he was the only person on stage, it felt as though the stage just wasn't enough to contain the massive presence of Kanye West.

Whether he was spitting out rhymes on megahits Gold Digger, Stronger and Monster; or surrounded by a posse of scantily-clad dancers, you just could not take your eyes off him.

Non hip hop-loving punters were also spoiled for choice, as Scottish post rock outfit Mogwai were also rocking the G.W. McLennan tent at the same time; while the more electronically inclined were treated to an amazing lights and laser show at the Mix-Up tent thanks to DJ Shadow and his spectacular Shadowsphere stage set-up.

Earlier in the day, there were plenty of gems for punters to enjoy. Besides the aforementioned British Sea Power, the Amphitheatre also saw great shows by Modest Mouse, The Hives, little-known Australian band Jinja Safari, and Glaswegian epic rockers Glasvegas; as well as a scintillating, thumping performance by British duo The Kills, in which a snarling, stage stalking Alison Mosshart showed more bad*** rock chick attitude than a thousand Joan Jetts combined.

At the same time, Australian band Boy And Bear played to a packed to the brim McLennan tent; while James Blake and the raging Does It Offend You, Yeah? wreaked havoc on the Mix-Up tent.

Day Two: Spektor spectacle

The intimate, smaller-capacity G.W. McLennan Tent was the place to be on a second day devoid of hip hop superstars or British megabands.

Among the highlights there were Sydney-based outfit up-and-comers The Jezabels, led by an impassioned performance by lead singer Hayley Mary; and Aussie all-girl 'supergroup' Seeker Lover Keeper. The day ended with a triple whammy consisting of indie pop duo Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, alternative rockers Gomez and finally, Regina Spektor.

With just one piano, one keyboard and a guitar accompanying her on stage, Spektor's stripped-down solo set was a huge contrast to the lavish spectacle of Kanye the night before.

Although it proved to be too small to hold all her fans, the McLennan tent turned out to be the perfect arena for the Russian-born indie pop-folk singer's brand of kooky, anti-folk music. Singing hits like Consequence Of Sound, Us and Blue Lips, Spektor's crystal clear voice articulated every single word in her richly detailed lyrical stories perfectly.

Magical, delightful and utterly charming, it's hard to imagine another Splendour act being just as memorable with the same minimal amount of effort.

It wasn't all quiet at the Amphitheatre though, thanks to entertaining shows by comeback alternative pioneers Jane's Addiction, and the prog-rock mayhem of The Mars Volta.

The latter literally tore up the stage during their evening set. Lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala was a veritable hurricane on stage, leaping around like a crazed lunatic, hurling everything he could get his hands on around the stage (the mike stand was a regularly chucked victim); while snarling and screeching his way through songs such as Wax Simulacra and Son et Lumiere.

Ironically, the band that preceded Jane's Addiction was Australian rock legends The Living End, the same band that was drafted in as emergency replacements when Jane's Addiction cancelled its 2009 Splendour appearance at the very last minute after its drummer was hospitalised.

While it is doubtful that that past disappointment may have had anything to do with it, the crowd that stayed on for Jane's Addiction turned out to be a quarter of the mob that thronged the Amphitheatre grounds for Kanye West the day before (most of the punters were probably at the Mix-Up Tent moshing to dynamic dance duo Pnau at the time).

Still, that didn't bother the veteran rockers one bit, despite frontman Perry Farrell playfully pleading "Don't leave without us" after seeing some audience members leaving midway through their set.

Proving that age hasn't slowed him down one bit, the 52-year-old Farrell strutted and sneered his way enthusiastically through a sexually-charged set (thanks in part to the presence of two dancers in very provocative clothing); while guitarist Dave Navarro served up a master class in guitar shredding skills before closing the day's proceedings with a stripped down version of one the group's hits Jane Says.

Day Three: British invasion

Day three at Splendour belonged to the British; with young upstarts The Vaccines, the resurgent journeymen Elbow, the popular pop maestros Kaiser Chiefs, the comeback kings Pulp, and the so-called biggest band in the world Coldplay rocking the Amphitheatre and ending the festival in spectacular fashion.

If you couldn't afford the Glastonbury fest in England, this last day at Splendour was easily a condensed version.

Festival-goers were out to rock on the final day, and it was a tough call between staying at the Amphitheatre for the big arena acts, or checking out the smaller but equally excellent acts at the McLennan Tent, such as British folk-rock band Noah And the Whale, Aussie groups The Panics and indie pop eccentric Devendra Banhart.

There was also a shock for fans of Aussie folk-pop band The Middle East, who announced on stage that Splendour would be its last performance together as the band was splitting up after six years together.

Even the Mix-Up Tent was not short of class acts, with Cut Copy, Friendly Fires, Yelle and Bliss N' Eso keeping the beats pumping over there.

The main action of the day, however, was at the Amphitheatre, and those who chose to stay there throughout the day were rewarded with a sequence of performances that blew the rest of the festival away.

The Vaccines started off early in the day, playing an energetic set that included hits from its debut album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines. Full of fresh-faced youthfulness and energy, it's not hard to see why critics have been hailing this young London band as the saviours of guitar rock music.

It was also a battle between the English cities. What London could do, Manchester could do better. With frontman Guy Garvey enthusiastically getting the audience to do 'festival-ly things' like waving their hands and singing along, the Manchester-raised Elbow's set proved to be suitably epic, with soaring anthem On A Day Like This proving to be one of the festival's best singalongs.

After the subtlety of Elbow, the high-energy performance of Kaiser Chiefs was almost a shock to the senses, but once the band ripped into the frenetic beats of Everyday I Love You Less And Less and Never Miss A Beat early on, there was not a single person left standing still in the entire arena.

The British assault then continued on with an utterly brilliant show by Pulp, newly reformed this year.

The Britpop band's lead singer Jarvis Cocker has got to be one of the most eccentric frontmen at the entire festival, especially with the way he filled pauses between each song with amusing anecdotes in that rambling drone of his; performed atop what he called the "wobbliest speakers in the history of mankind"; and that strange Vogue-like dance moves of his.

Oh, and the songs were not half bad either.

When it comes to ending festivals on a high note, however, there a few bands that can do it as well as Coldplay.

Say what you want about the group's fairly inoffensive mainstream style, these guys are an unstoppable force on stage.

Led by the enigmatic Chris Martin, the band mixed new material from its upcoming album with perennial favourites like Yellow, The Scientist, Viva La Vida and Violet Hill, and had the capacity-crowd eating out of its hands.

In the entire festival's most poignant moment, Martin led a brief tribute to the recently departed Amy Winehouse by singing a few lines of Rehab; before continuing on to the truly apt Fix You. With the 20,000 strong crowd wailing along to lines like When you lose something you can't replace; it felt like the perfect send-off to the talented but tragic Winehouse.

After such a highly emotional moment, it was almost a shame that the band chose to finish off their set anti-climatically with latest single Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall. Still, it was hard to begrudge Coldplay that one last chance to promote its new songs, especially after it had closed the three splendid days of Splendour so spectacularly.

This trip to Splendour In The Grass at Woodford, Queensland, Australia was made possible by AirAsia X.

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Canadian rock band Alexisonfire breaks up

Posted: 06 Aug 2011 04:59 PM PDT

TORONTO (AP) - The Canadian rock band Alexisonfire is splitting up after two members decided to leave the group in a break up that frontman George Pettit says is "not really" amicable.

The band announced its decision in a lengthy note posted to its website Saturday. The note was written by Pettit.

The band issued its self-titled debut album in 2002 and followed up with 2004's platinum-selling breakthrough "Watch Out." A moody fusion of emo, metal and hardcore, "Watch Out" won the group a mass audience that identified with their searching, angst-ridden lyrics.

The group's third album "Crisis" in 2006 opened in the top spot on the Canadian charts en route to platinum sales, while 2009's "Old Crows/Young Cardinals" - which could now stand as their final full-length - opened at No. 2 and also sold briskly.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Ahad, 7 Ogos 2011

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

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