The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Posted: 27 Nov 2012 03:18 PM PST ON the first day of Urbanscapes, winners of the R.AGE Open Mic competition strutted their stuff at The Next Stage. Hosted by Capital FM deejay Liang, the one-hour session opened with Avalanche doing a mellow version of We Are Young by Fun. The talented group flaunted their perfect harmonisation with Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, before moving on to Party Rock Anthem, the song that caught the judges' eyes (or ears) from the beginning. An element of surprise was incorporated when they ended with a splendid mash up of Thriller and Gangnam Style. Next up was Natallie Ng, who was accompanied by her sister and friend on the violin and guitar respectively. Her rendition of Make You Feel My Love, originally written by Bob Dylan, was simply mellifluous. She did a delightful and upbeat cover of Coldplay's Charlie Brown after singing June 18, an original composition in which her haunting vocals were evident. For her last song Little Talks, Ng invited the boys from Jumero to share the stage with her. Jumero then had the limelight all to itself when the acoustic trio performed their original songs Shot Down and Stand Up, entertaining a fairly large crowd with its signature blend of jazz and blues. Perhaps its most memorable rendition was a pop-rock version of Adele's Rolling In The Deep, making the audience groove to every beat. The trio closed with Fantasy Killer, another original about preventing one's dreams from being killed. – Phyllis Ho Related Story: |
| Posted: 27 Nov 2012 03:17 PM PST Despite intermittent rain and a muddy venue, city-dwellers were determined to have fun at Urbanscapes 2012. SHEILA Majid got it right when she said, "A little rain is not going to dampen our spirits!" to a crowd of over 6,000 people at the main stage of Urbanscapes 2012 on Sunday. It was the final day of the festival, and it had been drizzling since late afternoon, turning the already muddy grounds of Padang Astaka in Petaling Jaya, Selangor into a messy bog. But all that didn't seem to matter to most of the revellers, who took things in their stride. Naveena Lakshmi, an 18-year-old free spirit, kicked her shoes off and walked around barefoot. "I felt rather irritated at first when I had my shoes on, having to walk slowly and cautiously so that I wouldn't dirty them. "But the moment I took off my shoes, I felt free and comfortable," said Naveena, who has attended Urbanscapes five times now. Typically held in July, the annual music and creative arts festival took place in the monsoon season this time around. The 10th anniversary celebration lasted two days. Perhaps the mud was Mother Nature's way of beckoning city-dwellers to experience the arts in its rawest, "muddiest" form. Visitors ditched their fancy footwear – some had the foresight to purchase boots – could immediately feel the field pulsating, as if even the ground could not contain itself from this gathering of all things fun and creative. When electro-pop singer Darren Ashley and his band performed on Saturday, one could actually feel the thumping beats of his music reverberating throughout the field. The singer's fiery red quiff bobbed up and down as he worked the stage with his best moves while singing the infectious If I Don't Stay. Midway, Darren also toyed with his vocals, throwing some robotic sound effects into the mix. Bold, charming and charismatic, Ashley was a big hit with the ladies. The crowd went wild when the 24-year-old singer brought folk trio The Impatient Sisters up on stage to perform their latest collaborative effort Mana Diriku. Together they were a force to reckon with despite it being their first attempt at performing a song in Bahasa Malaysia. But Ashley wasn't the only one who had a way with the ladies. Clad in a denim jacket with a guitar in hand, all eyes were on the suave Sabahan singer-songwriter, Guba, as he opened his set with the up-tempo crowd-pleaser Purple River. He later switched gears and drowned the audience with sweet melancholy, reflecting on failed relationships with You And Me and appreciating the simple pleasures of life with the laid-back Sunday Morning. You know you've really got the crowd going when someone starts dancing unabashedly. Australian tourist Mikky Mathers was so consumed by Guba's performance that she moved and grooved gracefully (with her shoes off) to the music, as if caught in a trance. "I felt a strong connection to his music and I couldn't help but start dancing to it," said the free-spirited 23-year-old Mathers, who learned about the festival after seeing a flyer at her travel lodge. While Guba managed to inspire Mathers to break out in dance, Charlie Lim got his audience to break out in song. Often referred to as Singapore's John Mayer, Lim's earthy, rustic sound drew a chorus of backup singers – made up of the audience – when he performed his rendition of Frank Ocean's Super Rich Kids. But the crowd immediately fell silent when the singer showed off his hair-raising falsettos in What Can I Do and Bitter. And just like Mayer, Lim scrunched up his face when hitting the high notes. Talking about hair-raising performances, there was nothing more electrifying than listening to post-hardcore band Love Me Butch live. Frontman Syarul Reza's spine-chilling vocals in rock anthem Come Out, Come Out took the festival to a whole new level. Here cometh the queens Following this was Malaysia's current indie princess, Yuna, whose simple "What's up KL?" greeting was received with much joy and enthusiasm from the thousand-strong crowd. She kicked off her full concert set with the fan favourite, Gadis Semasa. Hearing her sing the line, "Aku memang begitu, tetap seperti dahulu" ("This is the way I am, same as before"), made some wonder if the LA-based singer-songwriter was trying to say she hasn't changed; that she's still down-to-earth and the bright lights of Hollywood have not affected her. Experience gained from performing abroad has somehow also made the singer's soft, soothing vocals significantly stronger and more powerful. Cinta Sempurna is still the haunting ballad it once was but for a moment, fans could hear a hint of rocker Alanis Morissette when she ad-libbed. Yuna's ethereal take on Nirvana's electric guitar-blaring Come As You Are was perhaps the singer's most unforgettable cover performance to date, as she brought out the subtle, finer nuances of the song in her signature hushed, subdued tone. Right from the start, Yuna had been a good choice to include in Saturday's line-up as the rest of the acts on day one provided the same kind of vibe. However, one name that initially stood out like a sore thumb was Sheila Majid, who was only added to Sunday's schedule less than two weeks prior to the festival. Somehow, having Malaysia's jazz queen perform alongside the mostly indie acts felt a little out of place. Even Sheila seemed to have some reservations about performing at Urbanscapes, judging from her tweets and her friendly banter on stage. "I wonder how many of you actually know my stuff?" she asked on stage, while looking at the mostly young audience. Fortunately, the crowd replied enthusiastically, and Sheila – feeding off everyone's energy – performed one of the best sets at the festival that night. In fact, Sheila was so taken by the audience's response that she added a few extra songs to the set, taking her show way past the scheduled 45-minute mark. No one was complaining, though. Audio overload Over at the smaller and more intimate The Next Stage, Indonesian band White Shoes And The Couples Company was a little drowned out at first by the sounds coming from the main stage. This was a recurring problem throughout the day, as artistes playing at the smaller stages struggled to have their music heard while folks at the main stage performed or did their soundchecks. But apart from this, things went smoothly during the two-day festival, especially when it came to performance schedules. It was quite impressive how every set seemed to start – and end (well, except Sheila's set of course) – right on time, with nary a major setback. Even Icelandic band Sigur Rós, the festival's big ticket artiste this year, played its set without a hitch. It's "soundcheck" was actually a continuous, monotonous hum, which some people initially thought was feedback coming from the microphones! Judging from the response from the crowd, Sigur Rós was the perfect artiste to close this year's Urbanscapes. Besides listening to the awesome musical line-up, the festival-goers definitely seemed to enjoy stopping by the various booths that were strategically placed all over the field. Diets went out the window that weekend as everyone chowed down on "festival food". A restaurant called The Bee (which had a mobile unit at the festival) even upped the festival atmosphere by rolling in a modified school bus to serve out of. Those who stopped by the AirAsia tent managed to get a free back massage, while Levi's gave out some pretty decent goodies to those who participated in their fun activities. Most people who attended the event didn't go home empty handed as the vendors did their best to send them off with more than just mud on their feet. From umbrellas (they sure came in handy) to T-shirts and other memorabilia, everyone got something to remember Urbanscapes 2012 by – on top of the sunburn, muddy shoes, heatstroke and aching legs, of course. The Star is the official paper of Urbanscapes 2012. Related Story: |
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