KTJ is so fly, even Pesawat landed there.

Credits to Stanley for all the concert pictures! 
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KTJ Global Debates decided to hold a charity concert dubbed Crossing Woodstock to raise money for UNHCR Malaysia which supports the refugees in Malaysia. It was the first rock concert to be held in the new auditorium and there was much excitement and anxiety about it. 

Opening act: Gee!

Well, what can I say, in all my four years in KTJ  I could quite assuredly tell you that this was by far the best Saturday evening event held and possibly ever in KTJ’s history. It was to involve performances by our own students plus a guest appearance by a local Malaysian ‘up and coming’ band.

   “Oh, Pesawat is going to perform for us at Woodstock.”

   “Pesa-what?”

A precious few of us ever heard of them. Our first impressions (or rather, preconceptions) can be summed up in the following two pictures:

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Pesawat

Lagu rok

And that plane just now: that's not even a G6, it’s one of those noisy Fokkers. No offence to the band intended in any way because later that night, they blew away our preconceptions completely.

The evening began with student performances, most of which I watched from behind curtains at the side of the stage. I generally prefer to perform earlier so the pre-performance anxiety doesn’t end up clouding my pleasure as an audience member.  

Setting up

We were the third or fourth performance to come on.

   “Give it up for Anger Management!”

Not everyone in the band agreed with the name but if you ask me it’s actually a pretty apt name. See, as a band we fight, argue and disagree quite a lot. We had only begun properly preparing the songs on the day of Woodstock itself. This was due to conflicts over song choice and commitments. Nevertheless, when we walked on to the stage to face the crowd all thoughts of conflict wafted away. The drums were mic-ed up, the amps were set up perfect, blue lights engulfed us as we looked to the crowd. 

There was an air of electric tension about it all – like a loaded gun. We were going to save music – at least that’s what we decided to say. I cued the beats and we were off, performing Harrowdown Hill first.

My drumming was rusty (plus I only started rehearsing the song on the day), so I screwed up in some spots. I just dug into the song, kept going and went with the flow. 

There really is something very, very empowering and galvanising about kicking the bass-drum pedal and feeling the powerful thud pulsate through every single person in the auditorium. That’s why I LOVE playing with mic-ed up drum kits (only have done so twice in my life). 

Harrowdown Hill went well, Hysteria even better. I never know for sure how good we sounded, but with the monitors and levels all set up it sure felt great. Head banged until my neck hurt. 
All in all, we had a great performance and enjoyed our stage time thoroughly. Hysteria on Harrowdown Hill FTW!

Other bands were really fantastic, and I truly mean that. The standard of musical performance at KTJ has improved significantly over the past year, and that’s even with Monkey Bones gone! Of course, part of the praise has to go to the auditorium and the manager. The sound was so crisp and perfect.

Aidan's band's performance. Epic!

Daniel, Agu and Saiful

Saiful, Agu and Daniel’s rendition of Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah was nothing short of amazing; gave me goosebumps.

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The last part of the concert was for Pesawat to perform.

"Are you ready to fly with us?"

Remember the first impressions we talked about earlier? Most of us were half expecting drone-y vocals with passionate lyrics like "Akuuu rinduuuu muuuu....." and the all too familiar echoing, reverbed out guitar solos. Well, it was nothing like that. Their songs had us from the start; we clambered over chairs to the front making an impromptu mosh pit. Having been in the indie scene for so long only meant that their live performances are really polished. Before long, we were jumping and clapping like crazed teenagers.

Not really sure what genre their music falls into; very radio friendly but also great for live shows. Not the kind of music I would listen to everyday, but the kind that everybody can enjoy. I had a great time just jumping around and yelling till my calfs cramped and voice became hoarse.

Click to see larger picture. Can you spot me wearing blue plaid?

Somebody even tried to crowdsurf but failed miserably crashing straight to the ground after a few metres. Looked painful, but he got right back up. Their performances were really fantastic and energetic, so was the crowd! The band members were even playing tag on stage.
They ended with their final and apparently most well known song, which was written for Twisties' advertisment.

I really like the synth accents in this song's chorus. Great song for it's purpose and for the casual listener. :)

After the concert ended, we were all really exhausted but also really happy. Pesawat hung around to chat with us and shake hands. I think it's really quite noble of them to come play for charity at some secluded area in Negeri Sembilan. In any case, it sure paid off since they now have like 400 new enthusiastic young fans.

Band pic

Great night, great performances, great experience. KTJ has reached a whole new level of awesome.
The Global Debates team has set the bar high for Blood Brothers and everything else to come!