Ulasan Lovehunters konsert terakhir- 1 January 2011 @ Esplanade Concert Hall

suka aku gambo ni snap bahagian blakang ngan bertingkat tu guna pakai henpon masa aku masuk, in fact later the whole place was really full-house for all seats at all tiers.
Untuk korang nak tahu, Shiela Majid main kat sini bulan lepas, tiket dah sold-out sebulan sebelum hari persembahan padahal mahal giler tiket2 dia.
Aku plan nak beli tiket last minit tapi bila kawan aku cakap masa Sweet Charity dulu pun dia lambat sikit terus sold-out dan dia tak dapat pergi ( kesian dia hehe ), terus aku beli tiket aku untuk Lovehunters ni one week in advance. Nasib baik. As usual a great malay live band at a great place, so aku dont mind ikat perut paying for the highest price seating.


I think this is going to be a long review with a lot of Aku punye Merapek-Meraban. Dah la show tiga jam lebih macam2 jadi. Bear with me. Ni show dirakam jadi nanti sapa tak pergi korang boleh tengok, tapi tak tahu ada edit tak apa2 pasal of the time length 3 jam dan jugak content dia haha. So ni report gue what happen ok.

Cerita sikit - 1st Januari 2011 is a public holiday but not for me. Rushing giler siak dari subuh sampai besoknye subuh. Kerja pagi/balik rumah Spore/gi Esplanade tengok Lovehunters/kejar last bas midnite balik KL dari Beach Rd. And lari I did for the last segment. Boleh aku tepon suruh bas tunggu aku? star karat siak gua, 5 minit, 5 minit aku plead pakai henpon kat uncle kedai bas express aku nak naik. Run Lola Run!



So ni story-mori dia.
Lovehunters - (possibly) the final concert of Yazid/Moliano/Saha
Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore. (The show is full-house).
1 Januari 2011
Start 8pm
Habis 11.15pm
setlist ( listening to the playback of the show now, aku harap aku tak silap pasal dah riban tahun tak dengar lagu dorang, although on the video screen ada keluar the titles that helps, even lagu Di menara singgahsana pun aku confuse, aku kena tanya orang lagu sekian2 lirik tu apa exact title dia? hehe. ) -
pandemonia, sehari dalam hidup, realiti, panggung cengeng/paradise city, ekspresi wira jalanan, ku tetap menanti , ingatlah, ozon, hidup sederhana, demam, berpindah minda, angel in the nite, shed no tears, di menara singgahsana, gadis kayan cintaku, teman, melayu, *demi cinta, *bayang-bayang, *blues untuk rakyat/whole lotta love (these 3 songs with Ramli Sarip), soldier of fortune, inside looking out, rock n roll, drum solo/moby dick, ku ukir nama mu, sambutlah kasih ku.


So aku sampai, ramai je orang... as usual fans from all ages, young and older, males and females with variety of dressing style. Aku standard la pakai slipper sua.
So aku masuk quite early then aku realise macam nak sold out je.. and by 8pm memang full house.



Aku tengok stage, hahhh simple. So aku tengok je camni aku expect this show to be full rock n roll by a great live band. Bukan aku tak suka orkestra2 ni semua aku suka tapi kena bertempat, tapi kalo aku tengok band rock aku suka, then kalo ada orkestra, aku takut, yes takut...banyak lagu slow buat aku tido. Aku pernah cakap dulu kan? everytime aku tengok Search live, aku really fuckin hate it kalo ada Isabella and to make it worse aku tengok the crowd around me are having the time of their lives singing this song haha. So aku hiburkan hati tengok gelagat peminat2 and wishing the song finish asap. Ni pendapat aku la, unless kalo dah umumkan dari awal, sekian2 band ngan orkestra, so gitu terpulang pada aku sebagai peminat yang beli tiket, nak keluar duit beli tiket ke tak nak, kerana aku tak mau cam aku ingat konsert rock, sekali tu rupanya banyak main lagu slow untuk ambik hati sekian2 pihak dan peminat2.

8pm on the dot. Lovehunters go on stage with a support keyboardist ( who also plays the saxophone on some songs ), a 'Metallica' backing gitarist, and a percussionist and for the first song also a Malay lady who later on support on some other songs with her violin and she really I think is fantastic everytime she appears on stage. Show-stealer gitu this lady violinist.

So a female compere give a few welcome words. And off we go! And SOUND dia dari starting... dahsyat giler siak!! And really I like it, and the lighting.. lampu2 dia punye spot lights, tukar2 warna , pusing sana pusing sini, zig-zag, giler babi punye best lighting show dia... aku suka sangat. Well done to the lighting and sound staff.

First few songs semua rock n roll abis.. takde hegeh2, takde slow down,.. sampai Yazid tanya kat audience " yang tak faham rock n roll boleh tak? ". Pasal memang malam tu mixed crowd tapi jangan sangka makcik2 ni bukan rockers k. Mesti semua 70s/80s nye cengkih ni semua haha.

Pandemonia is opening song , followed by Sehari Dalam Hidup so very sedap song, Realiti and lagu ni start je ramai suka siak, then Panggung Cengeng and then terus masuk Paradise City gnr - part singalong chorus tu untuk audience nyanyi kuat2, then a blazing super fantastic version of expresi wira jalanan.
Like I say, aku mungkin silap title lagu pasal dah berabad siak tapi should be correct la haha.



Then dah berdarah telinga dan again proving they are a great live rock band , baru Yazid start to talk, greeting the audience , mentioning the whole show is done and supported by Singapore Malays , ooo dia lempar dia punye cincin gi kat crowd.. tiga.. takpelah aku tak dapat, pasal aku cuma nak dapat cincin green-lantern aje.
Siol kan? aku dah cakap aku merapek meraban dah ni post. Sorry ah.

So Yazid cakap dah 10 tahun dorang tak sama2, then its full house for the show and how happy they are.
Then... a slow rock but very nice song - Ku Tetap Menanti. Hehee lagu cinta pun kadang2 tangkap leleh ok kalo kena mood. HAHA.

Interlude - So Lovehunters left the stage.. and the video screen starts to play some pre-recorded videos of personalities talking and paying tribute to Lovehunters.
Art Fadzil, Ramli Sarip, Joe Salim ( ni producer Clash Of The Bands and he remiscent how he discover Lovehunters kat Orchard nye battle of the bands ), Hartina Ahmad who writes a lot for Lovehunters and other music personalities.. Ohh and Mr Cikgu Yusnor Ef also has praises and stories of Lovehunters..pasal rambut panjang dorang masa nak buat rakaman tv and they left the recording stage secara hormat without proceeding with the recording pasal dorang nye principle,

Art Fadzil has this great words - Kekuatan Lovehunters terletak kat huruf ta. Or else it will become Lovehun'ers and dah tak cool.
Mr Yusnor Ef also say about Lovehunters songs meaningful for the Malay community, and being ahead of their time - the song ozon, and also writing about aids and he say something about manusia berperangai macam monyet haha.

Then Lovehunters keluar balik... Aku ingat dah slow tapi sambung lagi rock n roll. Hah, ni sua bagus.

Ingatlah.. fuyooo. laju and heavy as %*$&
Ozon - such a gloomy doomy slow heavy number. Lagu ni buat aku teringat Black Sabbath zaman Ronnie James Dio. ooo this song starts with a newsreader appearing on the video screen. A lot of effort has been put in for this concert la. Very worth it.



Then Yazid says some nasihat about all of us should be living a sederhana life. So they next play Hidup Sederhana. A very nice catchy song this one.
Then an old song I had not heard for a very long time, the raggae sounding Demam. Ooohh suka sangat aku lagu ni dorang main live.

Then Yazid introduce next song by saying about how proud and happy they are when RTM use their Berpindah Minda song.
Then he say bukan pasal RTM buat lagu tu popular tapi the Lovehunter fans.
Lepas tu ada a group of budak2 dikir barat join them on-stage for this song..
and aku dah berpuluh-puluh-puluh tahun tak main dikir barat, tapi aku tengok step dorang was so amazing...
clap right, clap left, clap right, clap left, ........., clap right clap left, clap Devil Horn, clap clap clap Devil Horn, clap left, clap right......... something like that.
GEREK GILER STEP !! Budak2 zaman dulu lagu Scorpions ' When The Smoke Is Going Down pun jadi lagu dikir barat, tapi this was even more rocking.
Anyway, this song Berpindah Minda is so fantastic live. A rousing version. Mintak maaf la tapi kalo compare ngan yang segmen kat tv ngan artis2 pop tu semua, well.... hehe.


then interlude lagik with more short words from different personalities.

Then Lovehunters keluar lagik, ahhh ni kali dah accoustic unledded gitu. And also segment paling lawak with all the stage banters, members lovehunters sakating ( i mean sakat ) each other, audience join in cracking merriment, lagu hindustan pun ada, and also they share personal stories with the audience.
The best was especially when Moliano was called mat kental by Yazid , and he in return tells a secret about how he met Yazid and seriously I think this is the loudest 'lawak sakit perut' moment of the night. The way Moliano tells the story.. Tak payah la aku cerita kat sini...tunggu sampai official dvd keluar tu pun kalo dorang tak edit ni portion, tapi cuma... Yazid end up being the Mat Kental Buah Lychee. Kelakar giler.
Sapa2 kalau kena panggil 'mat kental' mesti dah bingit, kena panggil mat kental buah lagi la...haha. Tak rela siol.
Saha cerita pasal dia nye rambut panjang, dan there is this 'sayur moment haha. Also Fire. Ooo he also says rock tak terletak pada rambut haha. Tapi I think he is an inspiration to everyone, skarang dia dah jadi teacher.

First song they played this part was Angel In The Nite. Amboi audience kuat siak singalong lagu ni. Aku rasa ramai orang pun tak sangka dulu2 tu 90an lagu ni was top English song kat radio singapore 98.7. Unsangkarable band rock melayu punye break-thru.
Then they say a thank you to Art Fadzil who was in the crowd. Then they say the next song is written by him.
Skalitukan, skalitukan, siol... dorang main wa nye feberet song siak haha. Tak rugi wa pergi.
Shed No Tears. Suka siak aku. The best moment of the whole nite for me.

They introduce next song as song never played before, Yazid says its a very difficult song to sing. Lagu " Di Menara Singgahsana ".
Aku cakap eh, Lovehunters tiga orang ni stage banter memang amazing giler siak.
Ni kira macam... taruk tiga Awie onstage. Pasal aku suka Awie nye stage banter, dia sorang dah boleh attract attention crowd, tapi Lovehunters nye stage banter kali ngan tiga orang. So imegin dorang punye kecoh. Aku was trying to bootleg the sound so aku kontrol ketawa , sakit perut siak.

After a fabulous Di Menara Singgahsana with the lady violinist really a show stealer with her gesekan which macam aku cakap tadi very fascinating nak-nak untuk uncultured people like myself. Dia ni from Singapore Malay Orchestra tak salah.



Then next song was " Gadis Kayan Cintaku ". Antara setiap lagu macam2 la dorang tiga cerita2 pasal sejarah lagu2 tu dan buat2 kelakar lawak giler. Siot je jadi Gadis Boyan.
And all these " dahsyat giler! " , " Siak! " " kangkang " stim "mat kental" and other words yang memorable.
Gadis Kayan , si Yazid was asked to sing like Jamal Abdillah and to kneel down at the last part. He nail it.

Next song features a saxophone and Saha cakap la , lagu ni kat Singapore tak top, tapi kat SinarFM ni lagu nombor satu. Lagu dimainkan ialah Teman. Wooo best woo version ni, nanti aku ada waktu , aku try taruk kat youtube kalo takde orang upload, sound je pun dan sound bootleg macam siol tapi ok la kasi korang idea how Lovehunters did this song live.
Bila ni live album atau dvd keluar, korang kena get it la. memang best.

Lagu seterusnye, dorang cakap pasal lagu ni kontroversial dan tak boleh main kat radio. Lagu Melayu. So Saha was giving the background to this song.
A song about Melayu, berserah pada pujannga, tiada cuba hanya pasrah, merayu, terpaku, kena berdikari. In Singapore's Malays context, this song is very meaningful. Work 100% effort and tersemat di hati semangat berdikari. Saha ni memang bagus jadi cikgu. He speaks very well walau dalam suasana rock n roll kecoh.
I think ni live version is so fantastic, nanti dah keluar dvd korang tengok la, siap pakai akordian dan jugak lyrically meaningful, also end up as singalong with the audience. wooo hooo Wooo hooo. best. One of the most important Lovehunter songs of the evening.


Then Lovehunters keluar stage lagik, and then interlude kejap with pre-recorded messages from personalities, and then.. Lovehunters keluar and saxophone blowing and terus suara Ramli Sarip starting Demi Cinta tapi dia takde kat stage, dia cuma keluar at end of 1st verse.
Best giler Ramli Sarip nyanyi live lagu ni 1st verse. Really really sedap suara dia.
Ni show nak kena ada official live cd. Ni lagu was amazing as a duet this nite.



Lepas tu Sweet Charity nye lagu Bayang Bayang... wooo rock abis...hangguk2 kepala headbanging sey. Ramli Sarip + Lovehunters memang lethal combination live.
Anyway ni lagu original was Double Vision Foreigners for sapa2 korang yang minat rock melayu nye trivia.

Ramli Sarip then talk a bit, about the audience attendance, about the Singapore music scene, dan jugak pasal orang seni takde CPF, so kena continue berkarya.

Then the Malay lady joins in for violin then Ramli Sarip with his harmonica and they all play Blues Untuk Rakyat.
Ramli Sarip add-on liriks mana dia Lorong Engku Aman, Kota Rajah, Tun Sri Lanang, Sang Nila Utama, Satay Club ( current Esplanade) haha... I think he meant the locations of the places and schools. Tu tiga tu sekolah2 legend siol. Aku cuma dengar je orang2 lagi lama cerita kelegendan sekolah2 ni. Nak2 Sekolah Kota Raja. Legend maut sekolah ni.
Also he add-on about semua dah overtime, besok ada kenduri kahwin, then sekolah nak bukak..
Best dan happening giler ni version.
And they end this song with Led Zeppelin Whole Lotta Love nye riff. Amacam? rugi tak korang baca tak pergi? haha.

Then semua keluar tinggalkan cuma Lovehunters and Yazid start with Deep Purple's Soldier Of Fortune. Banyak crowd punye usik2..
terus masuk Grand Funk Railroad nye Inside Looking Outside... hah ko 10 minit gitu layan Grand Funk nye lagu ni. wooo macam band omputeh la Lovehunters kalo main lagu omputeh. Yazid macam Glenn Hughes pun ada ngan bass dia.
Korang masuk youtube type grand funk inside looking outside then korang carik yang live version late 60s gitu then sikit lebih kurang , sama exciting ngan Lovehunters main.



Then Rock n Roll Led Zeppelin.
Ni part aku pun dah tengok jam dah nak masuk tiga jam... hah ko boleh? Saha terus masuk drum solo. Dahsyat giler haha. By this time Yazid and Moliano dah tak pakai baju, macam Red Hot Chili Pepper pun ada dah. Then abis drum solo terus masuk Moby Dick Led Zep anaje then terus abis. Fuuuhh ni segment lagu2 rock omputeh was like on fire siak.

Then a short interlude with a video of this Malay rocker duk bawah blok saying " asyik lagu rock je mana lagu tangkap lentuk? " haha. Lepas tu bini dia datang haha.

Then Lovehunters keluar balik and perform Ku Ukir Nama Mu. Ni kaset pertama dorang ni kan... Lama dah lagu ni...klassik abis. Ku terpaut sejak pertemuan itu...ewah. Dia punye audience participation " kuuuuuuuu " buat mahal tu haha.
Aku tak tahan pasal audience suruh Saha bukak baju jugak. bukak! bukak! bukak! Hilarious siak. Memang kecoh giler malam ni. Tak abis2 buat kelakar.

Then Saha says thank you to the backing musicians who are I think semua memang excellent.
And they have to play the last song and they say Sambutlah Kasih tak main haha.
So they play Sambutlah kasih Ku and apa aku cuma boleh cakap, dalam tiap kali aku tengok Lovehunters...memang standard operating procedure la ni lagu audience nyanyi korus, dan ni malam nye penonton singalong was kuat and lantang giler.
Ni lagu tak payah nak prompt pun suruh nyanyi, audience tahu apa nak buat haha.
Aku was dengaring the bootleg and it gives me the shivers. Bulu roma kat tengkok ternaik. Dah la aku skarang sorang2 kul 2 pagi kat.... oppsss.

Esplanade is really a fantastic place tapi kena band yang memang entertaining live band la. Semua pun best walau atmosphere duduk dan kena pandai pilih seat haha.

So then abis kan? Yazid was asking the whole place to singalong again chorus Sambut Kasih Ku. Tak boleh game ah.
So thank yous to certain people. Then Saha announce they dah perform 3 jam, and this is Lovehunters last performance. Ooohhh they really mean it siak, last concert. And they mention about ticket abis and ramai tak dapat datang.

Dalam hati aku " bila nak game ni? Lovehunters tak tinggalkan stage "
then terus sambung singalong Sambut Kasih Ku sekali lagi. Giler sporting ah audience nye crowd participation. Kot ni last kopek kot nyanyi lagu ni ramai2 kat rock concert haha.



In conclusion a brilliant show. Memang berbaloi. Mungkin ni show aku pilih sebagai feberet live show for 2011 walaupun kita smua takde apa aral melintang akan tengok Iron Maiden bulan depan wooohooo!!!!
The three members of Lovehunters are brilliant entertainers live. At least in my eyes la. Great songs,
dan satu aku nak cakap - dorang nye momentum tak hilang walau main 3 jam. Walaupun aku dalam keadaan nak cepat nak kejar bas, tapi aku was like absorbed gitu. Pacing dorang best, tak boring...lagu laju lagu rock lagu slow , stage banters semua menarik perhatian, takde langsung keadaan lembap atau slow down in excitment.
Mungkin ni salah satu tanda band tu adalah a great live band with great songs kot? aku rasa la.

So Lovehunters keluar stage aje...aku fast game start lari2 lincah nak fast game...I notice the crowd a bit down, maybe because of Saha nye announcement at the end tu yang ni dorang nye persembahan terakhir. So aku keluar Esplanade gi Beach Road, then tak larat, sampai yang bus stop no 100 tu kan tunggu, siak nye bas...takdelak...
aku dah panik...bas 100 datang..aku naik, terus tepon " uncle, sir, wait for me last bus ah!! ", haha.
Nasib baik bus driver tunggu gue. Siap tunggukan aku beli kacang, dah la aku kebulur tak makan lagik.
Tapi...ala...bas aku naik abis kat Bukit Bintang lak, aku suruh hantarkan aku gi Bukit Jalil kejap, driver tak mau masuk sana, then aku mintak abang driver hantar aku special la gi Puduraya haha...
So lepak lah kat luar Puduraya kedai mamak sampai lrt start kul 6 and ala...baru dorang nak buat cantik sikit plaza rakyat nye station dah kena vandalise ngan graffiti. ala...macam siol la.

Sekian. Happy New Year.

p.s - I was amusing myself, Lovehunters kalo short form aku akan taruk LH. Lost Horizon band metal Sweden yang aku paling suka giler pun short form pun LH.
wahhh hurup LH ni best la eh haha.