What a long wait for a new post! I have been getting involved in a lot of happenings [Chinese New Year open houses], activities [spacing out at a graveyard], normalities [exploring shophouses] and the S word. Not to worry, those will all be documented right after this post is published.
But nothing is bigger than watching Explosions In The Sky on the night of the 19th of February. They are one of the top four of the highest-rated band on my iTunes, because other than Amanset, Pinback and Thrice, nothing else matters. It's also because I started listening to them back during my Glaucon days.
I went to Ruums [the club where Explosions were to perform] with my mother, arriving at around 8 p.m. We were about to enter the club when my mother got a surprise seeing Reza Salleh. For awhile, my mind went "Er, WTF?". Then my mother told me, "This is Reza, Audi's friend! The one who used to come to our house when they were in BB Boys School". And I was like, "Oh! That Reza!" and laughed while looking away.
Harhar, funny encounter aside, my mother wanted to chill our near the bar to have some tea and grilled chicken sandwiches, while I opted the closest spot to the stage. Waiting minutes were spent staring at the DSLR youth and admiring the band's trademark Texan flag draped over an amplifier.
Then, four foreigners walked to the front of the stage. Crowd cheers and I was delighted. One of them gave a short welcome speech Malay, which was probably the greatest thing an American can say.
First song was First Breath After Coma, which I have argued with myself to be the best song they have ever made, and not The Only Moment We Were Alone back when I first heard it. Everyone was happy with the music Explosions played, and some couldn't stop shooting the band with flash [we were told not to before the show started].
Yeah, blurry stuff. I can't help but shaking to their music. But one thing I can't stand was seeing selfish spectators blowing their second-hand smoke to the band who were obviously totally into their performance. How rude! Look at how... er, this particular band member [I don't know who's who] sways about when he's not grilling his guitar.
Song after song went by, and I manage to record a video of the most intense part of Greet Death.
There was one song [I think it was Catastrophe and the Cure] when that same swaying guy went ballistic over a drum, which looked a little like this:
Right when his 'drum solo' ended, his drumsticks went flying away to hit my camera, before bouncing off to a hand belonging to the person standing next to me. Drats!
Here's a look of the drummer and the Texan flag which has a tiny print of the band's name in cursive.
The show ended at about 1.5 hours after 9 p.m., with The Only Moment We Were Alone. Now, I think this is their best song they have ever made. This was the song that have made me bounced about the most, too.
Then, it was time for them to leave the stage. The crowd obviously didn't like this, and a "We want more!" chant came as expected. I was screaming for So Long, Lonesome, but the very same Swaying Guy came out to tell us that they can't play anymore because they "had pour our hearts into our performance". He waved at us and said "Selamat Malam".
Several moments later, one of the guy from the organisers told us that the band will have an autograph session "if we lined up nicely outside", which some of us did, but nothing came up for about a half hour. When the band passed us by, some fanatic was screaming "Leave them alone!!!" because the guys couldn't stick around any longer and had to be escorted out of the place. I had my journal in my hands and hoped for luck than one of them could sign a page.
I got to shoot one of them while he was signing for some guy...
and when the rest of them passed my way, I held my February 19 page open and asked one of them, "Please sign this". The guy was ready to leave but I insisted by looking into his eyes for 2 seconds, with a face that looked like as if I was being killed and had to say my last words. He was so pleasant to write his name [which I found out later that he is Mark Smith]. In return, I said to him "Thank you very much".
I returned to my mother, who was still chilling out with her tea and a free copy of Junk magazine [handed from Reza, of course]. Apparently she has a good view of the band from her seat! She also told me about some drunken guy passing out in front of her, and how a girl thought that my mother was the organiser of the show. I finished the last half of the grilled chicken sandwich after shooting several men hanging about at ground level. The my mother and I went to Hotel Equatorial to collect our car and landed home by midnight.
Spectacular 19th of February! Now, anyone interested in checking out Explosions back in Texas to watch them play So Long, Lonesome? ARGH!!
Post-show thoughts: Something important was missing in the show. The sound of the piano! So that's why they didn't play So Long, Lonesome, along with other songs that have the usage of a piano. I guess it was too expensive to bring in their own keyboard? Well, Ruums should have let them borrowed their in-hours keyboard so that all of us can go even crazier with the show! I mean, I remember the last time I was at Ruums, when Dirty Three came to perform, and it had endless opening acts and lasted way after 11 p.m.! I still couldn't believe that the band I just saw on Tuesday night were indeed the band that has 200+ play counts on my iTunes. And due to this unbelievable amazement, I think I'll be adding another 200+ more play counts. I mean, seriously. Of all cities, why did they choose Kuala Lumpur? I am sure they didn't have time to tour the city because they are due for a show in Taipei two days after Tuesday.And also: anyone noticed the elder lady who was sitting by the escalator break with a 12-inch PowerBook after the show? Wonder what she was up to.
Apologies to those who were bugged out by my excessive movements [stepping on people's shoes, hitting people with my hair and whatnot]. I was very happy acknowledging the existence of Explosions before my eyes, which made me feel grateful for being alive.
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