'Beautiful Junk 2006'

Listening to: 'Samskeyti' by Sigur Rós

At 2:00 P.M. we stood at the side of some shop, cautiously absorbing the scene of two police officers and a small gathered crowd unfolding before us in front of Gallery Seni Mutiara. It was later learned that this stemmed from a neighbor, who was dissatisfied enough (with the soundcheck, I presume) to call on the authorities to disband the gig / art exhibition. Fortunately for the organizers (and attendees), a permit was secured beforehand.

I'm still pretty much in the dark about the details of this matter.

Me and my friend, V, conversed with a man in his fifties (who was at first supervising his Indian subordinates on the collection of some aluminum tin cans) as he offered us plastic chairs, under the shelter of the lot opposite from his shop: it had started to rain.

"It's just a bunch of kids having fun. And that's wrong?!" he said, in a slight tone of disgust as he whipped out a cigarette and lit it. We nodded. We were contemplating then during those critical moments: as we'd both been caught in raids before and weren't going to welcome a repeat of such to our list of experiences any time soon.

So we opted for lunch nearby instead.

And that was when I missed Swearwood. (This is the second time that I've been to gig with them playing and not seen them live. The first was when I was outside Dewan Sri Pinang having my lunch when they were performing. This was Beautiful Junk 2005.)

By the time we returned, Panic Overdrive was already in the middle of their alternative rock / metal set. The moment I stepped into Gallery Seni Mutiara, I was suddenly very conscious of the art-prints which were hanging almost delicately from the ceiling; kept in their places by the weight of stones. I think.

I really paid attention to where all the art was when I was moving from the front towards the back, where all the merchandise was. The band performed in the middle section of the building. The equipment set-up this year was much better than Beautiful Junk 2005 (in my opinion, anyway) as the sound was able to reverberate well within the building. The audience enjoyed Moe Nasrul's (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) charismatic banter in between songs (confidently, even with a broken guitar string) and when Yingkit (lead guitar) belted out his blistering solos, I realized that I was standing way too near the amps. But after a bit, I grew accustomed to the volume (I was right beside the band, so what the heck I thought). That night V and I talked about tinnitus.

Damn Dirty Apes' slot was taken by a band called 'Ceased.War' (that's what their friend told me) and their brand of heavy metal brought the house down. Well, not literally; there wasn't enough place for moshing and what not. But a lot of heads were sure bobbing about, especially when they presented excellent covers of Sepultura's 'Refuse / Resist' and Soulfly's 'Eye for an Eye'. I'm pretty sure that I saw a lot of people mouthing the lyrics or at least bobbing their heads at every juncture of the songs, and in time.

As disappointed as I was that Damn Dirty Apes did not play that day, my post-rock supplement was realized in the form of Crispy Yam Toasted. They were the band with the most tranquil moments; moving within the most fragile of song structures at times: almost note by note. Some songs started with fast-paced progressions, enough for another bout of bopping amid the audience. Ultimately theirs was beautifully performed instrumental music (they hardly spoke though; and most songs were done without any verbal introduction).

We were glad that we had stayed on the wooden couch after that because Nao performed (we were just a few feet away, utterly blown away by their precision, quirky time-signatures and incorporation of various music styles). They're probably the first all-out political band that I've had the privilege to see live (and thank God: not get arrested for). Though honestly speaking, I do not understand a word sung by Tat (vocals, guitar) as it is all in Mandarin. We were very surprised to learn afterwards that their second guitarist had left for greener pastures during our query as to why they were performing as a three piece that day (Tat did one heck of a job anyhow: simultaneously performing a huge amount of technical guitar work while singing). With or without words, their songs speak volumes against injustice, complacency, ignorance, tyranny. Nothing short of spectacular live.

I had pins and needles for a while after that.

While Citizens of Ice Cream set up, it started to rain heavily. The stuff that eats modems for breakfast. Technical difficulty was experienced by various members of the band. And then, much to the horror of every one there, the band performance area was gradually flooded as it stormed.

"What would you do in a situation like this?" asked V. "I don't know, but it's a true test from above," I replied.

And by 5:25 P.M. amps, cables, effect boxes--all of it was balanced precariously on pieces of furniture made almost for such an ocassion (the drums were pulled back from the area) and as every bit dangerous as it sounds, the band played their first song.

And in reaction: the beginning of their set was greeted with generous applause and cheer from everyone there, yours truly included. "I think I'll remember this for all time," I said to no one in particular, smiling. It's not every day that you get to see an indie band triumph against the elements of nature, much less pitted against these forces.

We left at the end of Citizens' set; the day had taken its toll on me.

All in all, though a few bands couldn't manage to play due to what had happened afterwards, I personally didn't feel that it was a total waste of time or effort by the organizers, contributors and bands--this event was meant as an outlet for exposing upcoming artistes, in terms of art and music to the public. An awareness, if I can call it that; that along with every society is its generation of youths; talents which need to be recognized, accepted, groomed. These are our seeds of life, bloodlines.

And for as long as it lasted, it served just that.

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Links:
1) Beautiful Junk 2006 (with a link to pictures taken at the event)
2) A review of the event by BrightEyes