This is the first song for 2007 to make my heart palpitate so bad. Les Claypool, you just rock. And Victor Wooten. And all funk bassists in the world.
If there are purists reading this post and are probably scoffing at the redundancy between funk and bassist, think thrashy american school rock. The bass is meant for walking, not make people walk away.
Good Vibrations was madness. Not the musicians, on stage- but the crowd the Stallion and I bumped into when we mashed our way to the front. See one familiar face, and you get yourself a family. We were there early to collect the media passes, and spent the early part of the festival downing our Heineken quietly by the steps, fazed by the cacophony of colors that greeted us. Heavy rain, muddy ground, humidity + thick make up, heels, and stylized hair. Oh god, how do they do it? Already I felt stifled, wishing I had worn my berms, oversized tshirt and sandals.
There I was in an old ratty t-shirt, folded denim pants watching the fashion sycophants swell into a discordant visual all over the muddy field.
Thend. Don’t get me started on the UWC kids. Hey, I love the international flags represented on the field-the more, the diverse the merrier correct? But oh ma gawd.. I don’t speak for the whole international college population in Singapore of course, but we do have these kids with loaded parents, parents paying our local acts thousands of dollars to come perform for one of their children’s bashes in their pristine, paid-for properties spewing their mouth off with vulgarities and showing no manners whatsoever shoving and pushing others about in their frat-like group.
Crazed fan. What will the world be without fools?
Manners are manners, no matter where you go.
Brats. There’s nothing more I hate than rich spoilt brats.
Nothing much happened until Beastie Boys came along. I was pretty annoyed with 1) the repertoire and 2) the arrangement. You have good bands that got the crowd going early on in the day, Bushmen (with the reinstated Said on stage), Wicked Aura and then proceed to play spine numbing bands towards the later part of the show. Electrico was great, but they aren’t crowd pleasers. And so were the foreign imports: Cicada from the
*Getai singer: The female, for lack of a better term, “vocalist” you see around your neighborhood during the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival. They are normally decked out to represent the following words: tacky, garish, loud, obnoxious etc.
I know it’s harsh. I just don’t dig eurothrash pop.
So we waited, and waited and waited. There was Jurassic Five lacing the track, locking the flow and all that jazz. It was good, but too monotonous for my liking. I can't say much because I don't and have never dig them but they had energy, and they heightened the mood for the next act.
Well that didn't work too well, because the crowd was kept waiting for half an hour. 2Phat was passed on, for reasons unknown (actually, I heard the prior bands overran their stipulated time and the license was until 1 a.m so 2Phat had to be given a miss for all that overrunning. Which pissed 400 of their fans who came from all parts of S.E Asia to see them perform. Note: They've not been performing for quite some time now and they're a noteworthy hip hop act worth seeing. Heck, I was pretty annoyed myself)
The Beastie Boys came onstage immaculate in their business suits and briefcases and launched into their old numbers from Ill communication. The rest, as the other reviews will say is a non-stop political anthem stretching generation(s). Baldie Brit was right when he expressed his disappointment with the Beastie Boys's political correct-ness. You would have thought they'd had a thing or two to say about the government here.
Daym.
Although I highly doubt many people understood the political significance behind their lyrics. Not being elitist. But the MTV generation is utterly devoid of any intellectual depth, swallowing marketing debris and other bullcrap coming their way. I was guilty of it. I listened to Beastie Boys ten years ago, thinking it was cool and nothing else came out of it until my dear brother grabbed my album, smacked my hands and asked, “do you even understand what you’re listening?”
He smirked and walked off.
Yes, despite differing mindsets which is spiraling inevitably into separate chasms, my brother taught me to question. Not surprising, considering he falls under the intelligent mat rawk category. But while both of us are ethnocentric malays, he abhors what we call the Western values, whereas I attempt to blend both belief systems in the sake of erhem self-betterment
Confucian me? Hell yes. As much as I love my bratwurst and aglio olio, I can’t do without my Nasi Ayam and Mee Soto. A very (effective) and fun belief system. For example, your dating options are unlimited and table conversations are spread out for more cultural exchange. Even if you know you’ll never end up marrying your date and have his kids on your first date, (yes, I'm a dramaqueen lah!) there’s always a good lesson stored up there, somewhere.
So I say: Open up, spread around and be merry.
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