The day before Buzzcocks' gig in Kuala Lumpur, I realised One Cafe had shifted to the new venue. Thank goodness, I didn't head for the old venue!!
I took Putra LRT and Star LRT to reach Sogo/Pertama Complex area. Then walked for a few minutes to look for Tune Hotel knowing that One Cafe was not far from the hotel. Unfortunately, I didn't even know the location of Tune Hotel. So, it was a new adventure for me. With the help of google map, I managed to figure out the place eventually.
As I walked towards One Cafe, I saw a big group of kids and I knew for sure that I had arrived at the right place. Then I saw someone with a familiar hairstyle (I called the Alleycats' hairstyle) - the lead singer of The Fridays, Ashraf. I was so glad to see an old friend there thinking I would be alone before the arrival of another friend, Maya (former DJ of Traxx FM). It's ridiculous for me to worry about being alone actually because I eventually found many of my friends there. One of the organisers, Joe Kidd, is an old friend. Aiman from Civil Disorder was the crew. Farez of Maharajah Commission was the "bouncer" :). Jay of Free Love was another friend I had not seen for ages. Ben from Ben's Bitches/Panda Head Curry was there. Rafil from 360 Degree Head Rotation/Panda Head Curry came late. Unfortunately, old man like me could not recognise a few familiar faces. I had to admit I could not recognise Aidil from Couple and Farez the "bouncer" initially after years of not seeing them. I spent most of the time chatting away with Ashraf, Aidil, Azwad (another familiar face), Ben, etc while waiting for the tickets to be sold. As usual, the event was delayed.
The bands performed in the following order:
Dichi Michi
Gasoline Grenade
Free Love
Subculture
Carburetor Dung
then the headliner, Buzzcocks.
The first 2 bands were not my cup of tea honestly but the heat started when Free Love started playing. I think Jay of Free Love was playing really well because of his energetic performance. I think a lot of people enjoyed his performance that day. A friend even mentioned that he performed like a rock star.
The crowd went crazy the moment Subculture went on the stage. The band was an old veteran influenced greatly by The Ramones. Slam dancing, stage diving, body surfing, etc started. Everyone seemed so happy and enjoyed themselves. Obviously Subculture performed well - as usual I preferred their live performance than their recording.
The crowd remained crazy when Carburetor Dung started playing. I lost a bit of concentration here as I moved away from the crowd. My headache started due to the cigarette smoke and heat. I just stood at the back taking photos. I felt regret for moving away from the front stage as I could not get any proper photos of the bands there.
There was a short break after Carburetor Dung finished playing. People were rushing for drinks & toilets. I just wanted to get away from the smoke.
The moment Buzzcocks stepped on the stage, I realised I ran out of camera battery. My built-in flash was not functioning as I expected. I was digging for my spare battery but I realised that it was not with me. I should have checked to make sure I had the battery before leaving the house. So, I failed badly in capturing any good photos. Furthermore, I was at the far end away from the stage. Nevertheless, Buzzcocks played really well. The band was very tight and professional. They even played extra sets as the crowd demanded for more songs. Outside their performance, the band members seemed very friendly too.
I didn't stay back much longer after the gig as my headache got really bad that I just wanted to rush home. I felt like puking!!! I met 2 fellows who attended the gig at the LRT and we had a brief chat in the train.
It was what I called a fun day on a Sunday!!!
