Monday August 17, 2009
Music for the masses
By MICHAEL CHEANG
Saturday night turned out to be an affair to remember for Malaysia’s MTV-loving generation.
THE world stage came to Malaysia last Saturday night, literally. The first ever MTV World Stage (MTVWS) concert event was a rocking affair, with over 15,000 music fans thronging the surf beach in Sunway Lagoon to catch Kasabian, The All-American Rejects, Hoobastank, Boys Like Girls, Raygun, Pixie Lott and local rockers Estranged in action.
Tickets for the show had been given out free of charge via contests on MTV, online, radio and other avenues and it was rumoured that some were even sold on eBay for prices as high as RM180. This proves that there is a real demand for more international bands (even those as MTV-friendly as the one on show here).
Swing out mister: All-American Rejects’ Tyson Ritter and his onstage antics turn out to be highlights at the MTV World Stage event, making the over five-hour long concert a worthwhile outing indeed. MTV veejays Denise, Utt, Taya, Andy (from MTV China) and Sean (MTV Korea) were the emcees for the event, which will be broadcast on 44 different MTV channels across Asia soon. This was MTV’s first originally produced MTVWS event in Malaysia.
Fans started trickling into the venue as early as 3pm. However, the bulk of the crowd missed out on Estranged’s performance – which kicked off the show at approximately 6.30pm – as most were still on their way in. Even by the time Boys Like Girls took the stage, the surf pool area which had been drained out for the concert – was only half full.
Raygun came on next, performing four songs, including Just Because; and were then followed by 18-year-old Brit Pixie Lott.
The pixie-like Lott sang three songs from her upcoming album Turn It Up, with her first single, the catchy Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh), getting the biggest cheers.
For all the energy exuded by the earlier bands, the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for the final three acts – Hoobastank, The All-American Rejects and Kasabian.
Hoobastank are huge in Malaysia for some reason, having been here three times before; and this was proven by the huge roar that greeted their set, which they kicked off with the rocking My Turn, and then the ballad Too Late.
Building an empire: Prim and proper Tom Meighan of Kasabian (left) offers a taste of true alt rock style and confidence. Despite all their predictability, they sprung the biggest surprise of the night, breaking into an impromptu rocking version of Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghostbusters. They also had the song that sparked the greatest sing-along of the night - The Reason (after which the crowd called out for more, though one suspects they just wanted the band to sing that song one more time).
Up next, the All-American Rejects were anything but rejects. Led by flamboyant, glitter dust-covered Tyson Ritter, the Oklahoma band roared into Dirty Little Secret followed by I Wanna (from their latest album When The World Comes Down); and Swing Swing (their first hit), before toning it down for The Wind Blows.
This was a band that obviously really enjoys playing live, as evidenced by Ritter’s fiery, over the top antics on stage. Ritter was a force unto himself – showboating unabashedly on Real World, comically stopping mid-song to flick some gold dust off his tongue, singing with two microphones in hand… the Rejects’ music may be standard pop rock stuff, but their live shows are definitely fun to watch, thanks to their eccentric front man.
And when he sang Gives You Hell, Ritter really meant it, even climbing up the stage scaffolding to give it to you (much to the dismay of some of the security guards around him). Now that’s some rock star cred for you.
After the wild antics of the All-American Rejects, Kasabian seemed almost prim and proper in contrast. With his dark shades chequered shirt tucked into his jeans, dapper-looking lead Tom Meighan was truly a stark contrast to the flamboyant Ritter.
Who you gonna call: Doug Robb of Hoobastank gives the crowds at MTV World Stage good reason to cheer. Beyond some pyrotechnics and the cheeky proclamation, “I’M STILL ALIVE!” – referring to the band’s A(H1N1) scare in Australia just prior to boarding their flight here – there was little if any tom-foolery from Meighan and his band.
All the same, all those fans who left the venue early to beat the jam missed a true blue live rock act – full of energy, confidence and a solid rocking set of hits like L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever), Club Foot, as well as some from their latest album, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum.
Sunway Lagoon is proving to be a pretty popular concert venue these days, what with this event, the Eason Chan concert on Sunday, and the upcoming Black Eyes Peas concert slated for September.
Admittedly, the drained out surf pool area (allegedly the largest man-made one in the world), provided an almost perfect concert venue. Not only could it contain almost 20,000 fans, the ground at the mosh pit was shaking from the loud sound waves emanating from the speakers, making it an almost unique experience.
There were some strange decisions made though, not least the one that consisted of having a DJ spin techno music in between the last three acts. It may have been a necessary evil while waiting for the bands to complete their sound checks, but it still proved to be an unwelcome interruption to the flow.
Still, for all the minor gripes, it was a long, but ultimately entertaining night of rock and pop for the large crowd.
It may not have reached the epic proportions of a full-fledged Coldplay or Nine Inch Nails concert, but at least we had a good time, right? Now, if only someone would get some less MTV-friendly bands into the country ....
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