Still can't believe that my first ever concert was actually the Alice Nine "Supernova Symphonia" two months ago. I've always thought my first would be The Gazette, or Granrodeo hahaha. But i did not regret though! I haven't felt so much love towards Alice Nine until I've been to their live! Now every songs from them sounds great and I can't help but to recall how great was the concert and how much fun I had that night.
My mum dropped me at Sayoko's house in the evening because her driver will be sending us to Mega Star Arena. Both of us did not take our dinner because we thought there'll be stalls around the arena but of course we were wrong =___=. It was puasa month so all stalls around the area closed so means we could only eat after the concert lol.
Sadly many merchandises were sold out hours before the concert began. We saw from Facebook that some people actually reached as early as 11am omg to sweep off all merchandises. The Ali-can that we wanted is sold out as well. But we still managed to get the Supernova CD and Ochazuke (with their lovely pictures on top!). It was kinda fun trying to pray hard to get the pictures I wanted for Ochazuke haha. We signed a banner for Alice Nine too hehe, although super small because there wasn't much space left.
The waiting crowd. Photos credit to Mega Stars Arena.
Our tickets. Damn sad case coz the free tickets has Alice Nine photos on it, while us the paid tickets looked so plain sobss.
Best thing to do while waiting to enter the arena: Photos!
And Selfies.
This is how it looks like in the hall. We had a really really good standing spot! Even better than the VIP rows in fact. For VIP rows only the first two rows at most gets to see clearly I guess, while our spots has no one blocking in front of us, it's spacey and the view was really clear ^^.
More selfies.
Pictures during the live. Photos credit to Mega Stars Arena. OMG Shou is soooo handsome!!! Saga too!!! And of course Tora as well~~~~
I almost felt like crying during Daybreak hahaha. Or better to say I felt like going crazy lol.
Short clip taken by Sayoko, she recorded this song (Senkou) because she said it's the first Alice Nine song she listenned when she first started liking jrock music. My first Alice Nine song was "Q", sadly they didn't play that during the live.
I'll try my best to go for more concerts! Concerts are just so great for destressing haha. We were feeling slightly regret for not getting the VIP tix though, missed the chance to take a photo with them haiz. But it's okay coz we had a great spot throughout the concert, so it's even.
Our merchandises~ First one was mine, while the bottom pic was Sacchin's share. Sacchin was seriously happy because she got Saga for her first try haha. My tora looks cool too (and I got like two of him) so it's okay~
Gah wonder when will they come Malaysia again. Or maybe other bands! I need to destress again haha.
Super Backdated post: 22 March 2014 (Although typed this right after the day lol)
I just had a short mini 2 piece acoustic performance with Joee (The CrestFall's keyboardist) at ACG Fiesta 2014, UTAR Sungai Long. Here's the page if you guys wanna know more about the event: ACG Fiesta.
We broke the record of shortest practice time before performance LOL, but it wasn't as scary as the time where our full band only met up for the FIRST (means we haven't even see each other before) time TWO days before the band performance, that was seriously nerve wrecking. This time we only met up twice for practice; first one was the Monday before the performance where both of us weren't really prepared ahem, and the 2nd practice was few hours before the performance =__=. I was feeling uneasy and all, but we were all in 'nankurunaisa~" (whatever will be will be) mode.
Selfie of the day~
I have to say though, this is a really small event (with very few booths and a small hall), but the committees were really helpful and friendly (example we were given a room to rest and practice)~ The audience were very supportive by singing along with us~ and were very attentive and cheered for us even though there's some who have never heard the songs before ^^. So both of us had quite a fun time performing and spending time together.
Some performance pictures~
This year's performance was a whole lot better than last year's, in terms of the PA and sound equipments etc; but somehow our performance was full of echos in the hall which I don't really know why. And as usual we can't really hear ourselves on stage (there's no monitor), but I'm starting to get used to this (am being quite pro performing in worse situations). Performance wise I think we did quite well!~ I did some lyrics mistakes here and there but I don't think anyone would realize during the live performance ^^.
I'm looking forward for more performances with my band, really miss spending time with them. Kinda regret not buying stuff from the booths haiz, I was too tired to look around.
Ending the post with performance videos:
1st song : The Beginning by ONE OK ROCK
2nd song: Everything's Alright by Laura Shigihara -- from the game 'To The Moon"
Around Mid-June I got a message from Carlson (CrestFall band leader) to sort of ask me if it's possible to go perform for this event since our band got invited to perform. I find the dates rather rushed and find it impossible to gather for a full electric band performance; however an idea crossed me that I could try out for a 3 pcs acoustic band performance instead since my keyboardist and guitarist were itching to perform as well.
And off we go, the usual meet up practice process lol. This time we've decided to meet at my place instead of booking a studio because...well, there's only 3 of us. We did a total of 3 practices, but rather long and relaxed hours because it's free (duh it's my house) and there's no time restrictions. First practice is Always, always and always very laid back as most members haven't prepared and practice well, especially David (guitarist) who didn't even listen to the song once before the practice.
Nevertheless it was real fun being together with them, can't stop our laughters whenever David said something or even when he did nothing wth. On our first practice we had Sushi Tei for dinner, and due to David's forgetfullness or funny-ness or whatever, i spilled green tea on my sushi =_=. Well no use crying over spilled tea on sushi i guess lol.
2nd practice is a little different because we were practicing for about 2 hours before going for a Music Composition Workshop at Bentley Music. Thanks a lot to Akiko for the directions!
The workshop was "...". It literally made me speachless hahaha. All the speaker has to say was "it's very hard to explain composing, all you need is feel". Which is rather lame as most of us has music background and I'm sure we would hope to learn up some skills which would help to ease the process of composing. Just like a teacher asking students to FEEL the drawing to learn how to draw, so very "helpful".
But! I fell in love with the entire building that is filled with music equipments and books and instruments!!! Really feel like getting a sequencer >_<.
Our final (3rd) practice went rather well, and we decided to drop a song because we got too bored playing it. Personally I still feel that we didn't practice thoroughly enough but I guess it's just me, I couldn't stand if there's any mistakes during practice lol. But am trying hard to control myself and let things go a bit since, well, not everyone is like me.
I'm rather satisfied with the song choice this time: Wherever you are by One OK Rock; Last song by Gackt; and This Love by Angela Aki. I've did Wherever you are with Osiria Rose before, and I definitely miss the duet with their vocalist. Last song was a great song to cover for an acoustic performance so I totally bought the idea of doing this right when Joee (keyboardist) brought this up. As for This Love, am feeling really excited and happy practicing this song as it's quite a high level song and I've been wanting to sing it for years and do not have the ability to do so.
Event day
It was of course, a rather small event since the campus is quite small to me lol. Anyway, outfit of the day!
Matte Sequin top and grey skinny jeans (both from Mango, jeans got them from Spain ^^); washed light blue jeans cap; back studded boots.
Max love my sequin top because it's really rare to find a matte sequin because usually they are all shiny and disco looking.
Here's our (performers) resting area. A small lecture hall ^^ Unfortunately we didn't make full use of the room for warm ups because we spent most of the time setting up the stage and EQs (which is kinda pointless because the PA people tempered with it right after we set =_=).
The event has very few stalls, selling document files, handmade goodies, sushi lol.
Really love this file~ Bought them for my sis. I feel like getting one as well but I know I'll just keep it aside and won't use it since it's too pretty haha.
Handmade goodies~~ Kinda regretted not buying.
As predicted, David was late, apparently his car broke down. Setting up took a while because there's some problem with the speaker (it got burst haizzz, don't know why PA people didn't go change it). For some reason the usually chilled to the core David went nervous, probably his first time singing while playing the guitar.
First song (Wherever you are by One ok Rock) was okay, nothing much except our mics got toned down. It was rather soft so I was pretty worried about the dynamics. 2nd song (Last song by Gackt) was a disaster lol. First the keyboard and PA settings got messed up, then Joee's mic became so soft that her solo was difficult to be heard and I went near her to hold my mic for her. And then came the biggest disaster: Joee's keyboard cable got unplugged ohnoessss.
While Joee singing I realised that there was no power from the keyboard, and there's no lights on the screen! And then I looked at the floor....cable was lying flat. I picked the cable and showed her, and panic attack begins!! Ergh it was quite a brain storming process trying to think what to do to continue the performance.
Before the 3rd song (This Love by Angela Aki), we paused for several minutes to try to set the equipments but it's kinda futile. I don't get why the stage crews did not change the speakers while we paused our performance, instead, they changed it AFTER our performance *criessss*
Our This Love was okay, except some mistakes here and there on the keyboard; but thats acceptable after the panic attack. Personally I did not make mistakes for this performance and am kinda proud that I'm levelled up enough to sing Angela Aki songs~ YAY~~
Some on-the-stage pictures:
Two pictures below were taking by Joee's sister, it's blurry since she did not realise there's thumb prints on the lens hahaha. But it made us look as if we are performing in the midst of haze, kinda cool lol
Like got some light effects right haha.
I hope to perform This Love again, next time a much better cover! Why why why Animangaki's performance slot not open yet T_T.
Most of the problems in this performance were caused by the inexperience of stage crews in the event, as such the way they handled situation and made wrong decisions gave us huge problems during our performance. But still, they were all really nice and friendly, and tried their best to work their first-time event out; so I hope they could improve and make a better event next time~
I'll end with two videos from this performance, do enjoy~
JRockの集い JRock Gathering 4: A Tribute to ONE OK ROCK
Time and Date: Sat, 23 February 2013, 2:30 pm - 6.00pm Venue: Studio Lounge, Sunway Pyramid
There has been JRock gatherings organised by JRock no Tamashii every month since last year October, which I've attended their first gathering (for blog post click here). Gatherings after the first were all tribute to some JRock bands, where local bands get to perform tribute songs for tribute band's fan, it's an event held by fans for fans~
And for the month of February this year, it's a tribute to the ever amazing band One OK Rock! I personally liked several songs from them because I find them rather different from other jrock bands as their music are quite western influenced. Really good for them because they captured even the hearts of many non-jrock fans and Taka's (One OK Rock's vocalist) voice and english sounds great too.
So Acap and I were usually chatting about how we wanted to join up both me (as a featured vocalist) with his band - Osiria Rose for a performance; Since his band was invited to perform for this tribute we thought that this could be a great chance since his band loves and usually jams One OK Rock songs and obviously I like the songs as well. Then I started becoming FB friends with Osiria Rose members, (thats always the routine to know someone right? lol).
Members of OSIRIA ROSE (do visit their page and give them some support~) for this tribute performance:
I've joined their band for jamming twice, at ICONS puchong jamming studio. Studio was really great and cozy and cheap, good props (I don't have to keep setting the mics' EQ like in all other studios); too bad my band members stay rather far from Puchong, if not I would definitely recommend it to them. Jamming with another band feels different (duh.) but I'm glad that Osiria Rose members were friendly and easy to talk to. However joining another band's jamming made me miss my band a lot, as I have not seen them since new year eve countdown (around two months), was really hoping to see them soon~
To be honest song choice was one of the hardest thing to decide as most One OK Rock songs are freaking hard for a girl to sing, especially when mine isn't those deep low kinda voice. "Wherever you are" was a must pick since it's the easiest for me to sing, Amir will be doing a duet with me so it suits the feel of the song. Other than that all other songs were all rocks, which I agreed to singing "The Beginning" (backing harmonies + bridge part), and half of "Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer". Was pretty happy that we all chose Dreamer because ever since I've listened that song it has been a little dream of mine to perform it on stage (coz I can't perform it solo and i doubt my band would want me to do that song lol).
Performance day!
Studio Lounge is Sunway Pyramid, not that hard to find but I seriously didn't know that place exist even though I've been to Sunway for like a zillion times haha. The interior for Studio Lounge was kinda cool, typical bar-like ambience; with mostly purple and yellow lights:
Caption: Not bad right? mirrors like these were around the venue...
While the sound engineers and stage crews were busying with setting up the stage, Osiria Rose and I were chilling around near the lounge, chit chatting and trying not to be nervous (especially the band members lol). I did not feel much nervousness probably because I was performing as a featured vocalist and it's more of a coordination thing rather than just me alone.
And, I had a nice surprise (not really surprise la, I knew about it the day before)....
Huge thanks to Josh Lemphek, a DJ from Australia who took the trouble to watch our performance (when he could have go visit other places during his vacation)!! A day before Lemphek and I were chatting and I found out that he will be in Malaysia for few days before going back to Adelaide. So I asked him if he is interested in watching the performance and so he cam to support~ He is just super cool: he actually travels for more than 3 months from Aus to M'sia, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and China! Alone!! And he is like super young, still 15/16 something like that. It's currently one of my dreams is to leave home for a month travelling alone! Gonna keep quiet on that since it's still on planning phase lol.
By the way my OOTD is: Berska Limited Gothic Collection Dress; Black beret with white pearls; Metal Cross necklace; black and white crystal bracelet; ribbon tattoo stockings; Neko design wedges. Oh yeah and my punk coffin cross bag.
We were the first performance of the day, so while waiting, everyone poses for the camera haha.
Acap - Drummer
Vocalist - Amir
Keyboardist - Fauzan
The two guitarist of the day - Najmi and Amzar
Bassist (sessionist) - Mosh
(Sorry I forgot his name lol) and Lemphek. Don't know what are they starring at lol. Can see my hat in this picture haha.
Us posing for the camera but I think it's too dark.
When it's brighter Lemphek and Amzar not posing anymore =_=. Left me alone..
Oh yeah, before I forget, when I(we) first saw the stage, we were a little worried, because it was reallllllllllly small. We keep thinking about how to arrange ourselves so that we won't fall off the stage lol, as it's kinda difficult to fit all 7 of us on stage. So yeah, we ended up standing stiffly, dare not move too much scared we might hit someone and he falls off the stage haha.
Selina (Flying Pan) Making an announcement on stage. And then it's our turn to set up the instruments and get ready to rock on!
Mosh and Seikan set up the amps.
As well as Fauzan and Amzar..
Of course the drummer Acap too doing his work to make sure everything's fine for the performance.
Najmi and the rest working. Lol I'm running out of caption, but basically everyone is busy prepping and setting up their instruments. I like the view from down stage (2nd pic). As you can roughly see, everyone is gonna be standing side by side, the stage fits justttt nice with all 7 of us standing straight.
In case you are wondering what I'm doing during preparation, I have to say that I'm the most free one among all other members because I have nothing to set up lol. There isn't even space for me to walk around on stage, so I figure I'll be just a nuisance if I stand there blocking their path while they are busy working. So I just pose for the camera haha.
Those who finish setting up early poses as well.
Done as well!~
The first song is by Osiria Rose only, without me. Let the main band heat up the crowd! In this picture: Dante the emcee introducing the band and they are ready to blast their first song!
First song they did was 'No Scared'. Song with loads of screaming.
Fauzan was the back up vocalist~
And....after the first song it's my turn~
Set up; and stand firmly on a spot securely (you can see for yourself how much space I have lol).
Started my performance with 'wherever you are', a super romantic song so we did a light rock duet!
Initially I could sing this song full of emotion but the band just had to spoil it lol (but I did ok during the performance la). During the jam practice Amir accidentally sang the chorus as 'wherever you are, i'll always make you cry', and i spotted that. Since then everytime we play that song we have to control our laughters =_=. And I had to focus a lot while singing because I was so used to the joke I may make the same mistake as him haha.
For our 3rd song we did 'The Beginning' and the last was my favourite 'kanzen kankaku dreamer'. I'm letting the pictures to speak for themselves:
I have to say,the audience were great!!! They were so supportive, and it was probably one of the best crowd I've ever encountered. They screamed, sang along and cheered for us throughout our entire performance. The front row even headbang with us; made us feel really appreciated ^^
One last picture of the full Osiria Rose band and me~~
I don't know how well I did on that day because none of us could hear anything we sang/played (plus there's no video recorded because the one who recorded for us lost the file - don't ask me how it happened), most probably due to the stage size and sound engineering settings. But with the crowd enjoying and cheering so much for us I guess it doesn't matter anymore.
I'm really glad to have joined Osiria Rose for this performance and am grateful to them who accepted me as a featured vocalist and treated me so kindly. I do wish to be able to perform even more this year; solo, duet, with my band, or collaborating with other musicians. Nothing beats seeing the audience cheering and supporting your stage.
