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Style Jam @ Emporium Grande Cafe Soft Touch never got to play in ElectroMagnetism 2 because of important committments of band members. Their last big engagement was on March 2nd at the Emporium Grande Cafe. We had some problems with the sound, and when I listen to the recording, what's really wrong is that the snare is way too loud, which is unfair on Mokhtar 'cause it makes it sound as though he is doing nothing more interesting than hitting the snare in time with the bar. However people of - dare I say "discerning taste" seemed to like the show and we had a good review of the show in ROTTW - April 2003 edition - and a picture to boot! (written and taken by Salma Datia - thanks Salma) However she repeated the mistake that Markiza made in announcing a song "Return to Forever" (which we are planning to put on a future album if we get per from EMI). Markiza told everyone the song was by Chick Corea (Heh! very cool, that means that Soft Touch was actually playing JAZZ that night - which means we might be eligible to be written about in Men's Review, The Malaysian Tatler and other classy mags!) Actually the song is by Dick Rudolf and Randy Waldman and was recorded by the late great Minnie Riperton (her of the stratospheric voice if you remember), who had Stevie Wonder featuring on her album pseudonymed "The Black Bull" I wish we could have Stevie Wonder play on our album. Okay, come down to Earth (that
part of it called Malaysia - more specifically Jalan P. Ramlee, KL) to
the Emporium. That night we also performed "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood
Mac, and various Passion songs (Crescendo, Vacant Eyes, Meeting of Minds)
and "Move on Down the Line" from WARM, "Listen to What
you See" and "Better World" Electro-Magnetism
2 This was the first alt gig to be held at Paul's Place, and consisted of D_va (pronouced "Diva"), Abe du Bango, Tempered Mental and Dragon Red (Soft Touch had to pull out due to members exams). D_va entertained with a selection of mostly Malay language songs, mostly covers which brought cheers from the audience, few in numbers but very appreciative . They performed two of their own songs written by guitarist Zairul, who also shared singing roles with their new female singer Farina. Abe du Bango had better sound; their songs were strong on melody and very satisfying. Tempered Mental awed people with their instrumental and vocal (in the case of Melina - especially amazing the way she plays complex running bass arrangements while singing) skills, in fact I never heard them before sounding better - there was more warmth and expression in Melina's voice - a fine set. Finally Dragon Red
showed how charismatic it's possible to be with their hybrid style of
music: nu metal grafted onto rap-core, but with a lot of fun and humour
which made their act very entertaining as well as musically hard-hitting.
They ended the hight with "Fade Away" which is really more-ish.
These guys will go far I am thinking...
ICOM & Blue Planet SOFT TOUCH (or rather two fifths
of them) (Markiza and HP alone) performed at two gigs, The Friday gig was part of the Music for the Masses series at ICOM. You get good sound there and all the bands, Estranged, Fifth Room and Khaimano sounded good even though the drums took on a life of their own during Khaimano's set much to Ariff's consternation. But it was a side-splitting performance and NO CENSORSHIP (thanks Khai). Even we sounded okay I think (sounded good on stage - you could hear everything clearly). We played "Meeting of Minds", "Prayer for the Future", "Crazy Heart" (from WARM), and anti-war songs "Path of Love" (from Love & Music) and "Better World" (also from WARM). And we actually sold a few albums - thanks buyers, hope you're enjoying them.
Performers include: Estrogen Energy at its most explosive! Come watch a bunch of the most talented, dynamic and irresistibly sexy guys and grrrrls get in touch with their inner SuperWoman! About AWAM (All Women’s Action Society Malaysia) AWAM is an independent feminist
organisation committed to improving the lives of women in Malaysia. Our
vision is to create a just and equitable society where women are treated
with respect, and free from all forms of violence and AWAM operates on the strength
of a dynamic group of volunteer members and a pool of dedicated staff.
Both are responsible for the direction and policies of the organisation.
The latter also ensures the smooth running of day-to-day activities. We
build strategic alliances to achieve our objectives and belong to various
networks such as Joint Action Group
LAUNCH
OF QINGS & KUEENS FIRST ALBUM!!! 21st
June 2003
7th
August 2003
Sunday
7th September 2003
Saturday
4th October 2003 Monday
20th October 2003 In the mean time, share it
with your friends about the site. The Qings & Kueens web site & 2nd single launch party was surely a great get-together event for all the supporters and friends. About 100 people turned up and JamAsia was jam-packed. The event started around 9.10pm with the charming MC, Ms. Naomi steering the night away. The first band up was Fallen Leaves. Last seen them in my event Indie-Fest 2002, last night marked their friendly come back with lots of integrity in the band. Really, glad to know that they are back in our struggling music scene to continue from where they had left behind. They really have good solid creative music in their belts. Keep up the spirit, James and buddies! Next up was Soft Touch. Need not much intro about this band and they still are the inspiration for most of the bands/musicians. Fine musicianship carved during their set with Markisa & Peter Hasssan taking charge on the vocals respectively. The legendary track, 'Better World' still remained the all time favourite sing a long tune last night. We are struggling indeed to live in a better world. Then, it was time for a short preview of Qings & Kueens official web site content. Narrated by the creative web designer and also the drummer for the band, Jerry poured some short & sweet words on the web page thru the projection from a LCD projector screen with the help of the lovely MC. Everyone was very excited about the web site. Kohl was on stage next. Being the only female vocalist thruout the night, Saz Lo stole the night with her enchanting vocals. Really got the attention of all the female in the house to cheer for her........not to mention the guys too! Belting out some new materials, they even had a good friend to back up on the rhythm guitar. I guess its time for them to release their materials in recording coz I've been asked by few people about their CDs. A really good chemistry among the musicians with a groovy touch! Finally, the bad boys were on stage, Qings & Kueens was up with the screaming supporters tearing the place down! Kicking off with a new track, then unleashing their 2nd single, 'Silent Melody'. Followed by a good friend to join in as guest with the band, Kevin Teh (Broken Scar) belted out a wonderfully written track called 'Scratch'. They even did a birthday song for one of the supporters followed by a candle lit cake for a good wish ahead. An energetic set was performed with such a strong stage charisma to relate to everyone singing out loud their 1st single, 'We're Gonna Rock You', which hit the airwaves heavily 3 months back. It was a fun party with freebies given away during the games/quiz session when bands were setting up to perform. SHOUT Entertainment would like
to express our highest appreciation to JamAsia as the venue sponsor, Music can be a powerful driving
force in our lives as a musician but Andy Fam
5 days of acoustic music entertainment!!! Venue : Paul's Place, Uptown,
105m (first floor), Tickets : RM3 per night Bands Playing : 8th December - Broken Scar,
Alias, Auburn, DragonRed For more information ring
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