Tuesday, November 29, 2011

20/02/2012 bukit larangan - judas priest FAREWELL world tour

After 30 over years, finally Judas Priest ( without KK Downing ) has included South East Asia on their travels and its labelled as the Epitaph FAREWELL.

The only Asia show outside of Japan. Early bird ticket went on sale yesterday.

Unlike Maiden who played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium which can easily fit in over 12,000, Judas Priest will be playing open air at the Bukit Larangan Forbidden Hills of lush sloping green fields of Fort Canning Park which is about max 7000 plus plus I think.

Worse, to have Lamb Of God which I think is very popular among music listeners as openers, so I got a bit KANCHONG about the tickets availability..

Furthermore, as the tickets are free standing, no staggering of ticket prices which dictates where you stand ( or sit ) near or far so I think there wont much stressful thinking on the deepness of fans pocket, its a straightforward GO or NO GO.

Me GO OR me NO GO - I dont know, its three months away...

But, I try to go... seems its the only time to ever see Rob Halford & Glen Tipton & Ian Hil performed some of their Judas Priest Style Heavy Metal for the one and only time...

Collect the tickets this morning..





Fuck, it would have been nice to have KK Downing, and the beautiful alternate solos of Derita Bangsa aka Sentinel and Rock Hard Ride Free, but the Steve Harris daughter guitar player isnt he? the new guy.

Saw Lauren Harris band opening for Maiden in 2008, and I was like reminded of Zakk Wylde of the new Judas Priest guitar player. If its the same one rite?
So whatever..

Onward we catapult, we're thrusting to the hilt!

Will write more when the date draw nearer... as for now...Its Search Rock N Roll City Week..

and then its the celebratons of the Paradise Lost triple disc release...

huhu. Yeah rite, life has it ups and downs, life has its priorities but rock....

rock maintain.

Friday, November 25, 2011

minggu depan...

Lagi seminggu Johor Bahru akan jadi ROCK N ROLL CITY lagi sekali!! huhu...

I hope to be at Larkin Stadium JB this 3rd December 2011. Lets really hope Search does a great show in their "coming home" 30th anniversary gig.
I was like noticing the last week Penang 30th anniversary show setlist, ok la... not really 100% my taste, but ok la.. Lets hope they mix and swap a few songs more to my liking. ( Tak boleh cakap aku hampa ah tengok setlist 30th anniversary tapi kalo aku la boleh select setlist dorang , haha )

Two things..
1) This GME album...









I tell you all... Am I being a sucker or what...? I like this album.
But since the release, in 2006?
And seeing them with Hillary + Joe Wings, seeing them Hillary + Nordin, seeing them Kid + Nordin... at different locations
and I was frustrated it is always the song Gothik Malam Edan being performed and nothing else.
Am I getting it correct? Or I fall asleep standing at their shows?

I think there are a few good live songs here but always its GME only, yet I know Amy performed Irama Marakas as a solo performance? So why cant Search?





Maybe Search pernah main lagu lain yang kat album ni kat shows yang aku tak pergi, so its my lost haha.

I hope Search perform something else from this album, but or else, I will " suffer " again being a sucker.




2) All my life.... I never never hear and see PEMBAKAR PERASAAN live.
Malay rock music is so lacking in a proper archieves of live informations and bootlegs thru the years that it is so frustrating.
I have known Pembakar Perasaan was played live during Lola years at Penang? which of course I never go but by the time they played I think that time was Larkin also, the song was never in the setlist,
SO I dont know if its true...

Well.... I guess if I really go, I go with not much hope...

but who knows? these things might happen
- Kereta Merah - if they want Rock N Roll Pie to be represented.
- Pembakar Perasaan
- Irama Marakas
- THE WHOLE KARISMA ALBUM BEING PLAYED!!!!



Then I will be so happy..



Tuesday, November 22, 2011

masalah kesihatan tinnitus & Black Sabbath 12th December 1995 Forbidden Tour gig

This Two Things in the title are related for me.
dari wikipedia, Tinnitus is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.


Jadi tu hari ada internet news bilang satu orang ni bunuh diri pasal dia dah tak tahan lepas dia kena tinnitus lepas tengok band John Paul Jones/Dave Grohl nama Them Crooked Vultures ke hapa tu.
Betul kot berita ni, anyway, dah masuk tv dulu, ada satu apek local, lalui pembedahan untuk pekakkan telinga dia seluruhnya, pasal dah tak boleh buat apa. Apek tu sanggup untuk jadi pekak selamanya dari menanggung gangguan tinnitus ni.
Korang pun, sama ada pasal muzik atau kerja ( dan aku kadang2 tengok pekerja2 India/Bangla/China/Indon ) yang buat drill work/cutting work/ tak pakai hearing aid, aku pun sedih sangat pasal dorang takde sapa nak enforce, pasal memang kadang2 dorang ni ada yang memang ungkal.
ok lagi sekali, korang pun ada mesti pernah lalui pengalaman tinnitus atau yang serupa ngan ni dalam hidup korang kan?
Ni experience aku... ( switch omputeh lak ).

So, there I was , in my younger days ( aceh ceh ceh )..back in 12th December 1995, at World Trade Center Harbour Pavillion ( yes, those days when we mentioned Pavillion its at harbour front, nowadays Pavillion is synonym with Expo MRT station, where some of the bands that you all go and enjoy was Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force ( when first time they come )where Dougie White, another Rainbow alumni bluff the audience that they are doing a live recording, and make all of us to sing I AM A VIKING as loud as humanly possible haha, and of course Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer!Slayer! which I think is the band that makes me so most exhausted just seeing them play live. If anyone havent see Slayer, go the next time come, or you go to Soundwave nearby to see them on the bill,.. its like an experience.

And there is also the gossipy article of Metallica being accused of putting Theraphy? between them in Donington many years ago just because of worrying the audience is tired haha. Even in heavy rock music, you can find lots of gossip.
But I think not true, Iron Maiden have Slayer to open their London dates in 2000/2001 so I think its just gossip, or its really true. I mean, Lulu is not a gossip, Lulu is true hahahaha.

Anyway back to the topic of this blog,
It was Black Sabbath.. not fronted by Ozzy, not Ronnie James Dio, not Ian Gillan, but Toni Martin from the Forbidden/Headless Cross/Tyr period.
I was somewhere at front, directly facing and lower a bit than those huge monster speakers.
It was impressive and unforgettable, whenever Toni Iommi come to the side I was standing with his Children of The Grave riffs etc, with Bobby Rondinelli a Rainbow alumni, ( Cozy Powell just left before the Asian tour ), so its sad that I never get to see the late great Cozy Powell ( another Rainbow alumni ) in action live even once. The rest of the band are some musicians with names we often read in those hard rock magazines and cassette inlets at that time - Neil Murray/Geof Nichols.

Its like yesterday, I was like in awe when Toni Iommi I remember was playing this little keyboards set up for him quickly on stage for the song Changes.
I think, that was the time that teach me, whenever I go see a band play especially those western bands, which until now makes me aware and look for out whats happening and what could happen next when a band stops playing a while or the lights on stage all blacked out, a good example is the Maiden's final frontier gig in Singapore when I had avoid hard rock music internet websites for a few days just so I wont know what is the setlist in Moscow, and when they stop a while and an accoustic guitar was being set up for Janick, it really interest me cause I got to feel excited and amuse and my brains try to work out about whats coming up next. Similar to the 2008 Perth show which was was also the 2nd date and I had restraint myself from sufing the internet so I wont know what is the Mumbai setlist, and an accoustic guitar suddenly was set up at Dave Murray's area.
.
.
.
ok, back to the that day..And they still had Paranoid ending with the Heaven And Hell loop , if you get what I mean.
And speaking of Paranoid, there very near me, was a handsome man, enjoying himself during that song, with his circle of friends/bodyguards?? who really looks like Amy Search, I never go up to him and talk la, but its him la, sorry for me, rock stars are rock stars when they come on stage, but if I see them off stage, at the shopping malls, or even selling vegetables ( and we know one of the greatest drummers jual sayur satu masa dahulu and as a kid I buy kelapa parut or whatever I forget from him ), they are just normal people who I guess wants to be left alone, and for me I have no heran if I dont take photo or shake hands with them, because I have love their music since I was young and always look up to them, when they are on stage - they are my heroes since young and now as a much older person as I like to see these bands live thru the years. Anyway, They ( I mean this Amy Search looking person and his friends/bodyguards?? all come very late after the show starts, I still remember, like it was yesterday.. There are some shows which are unforgettable, and basically this is one of them. Toni Iommi got this aura and if you are near to the front its magical if he comes to stand near front of you.

*******
So lets hope, Black Sabbath with the original classic line up comes to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore in 2012 or beyond if they or me are still alive haha.. ( ok ok joke macam sial, I know ).
-We already got Forbidden line up ( excluding Cozy Powell, sigh ),
-we already got the late Ronnie James Dio/Geezer Butler/Vinnie Appice lineup under the Heaven and Hell moniker,
so lets hope for the Ozzy/Bill Wards line up, as this two persons is left for me to see. Ian Gillan - I never seen him with Sabbath but love the Sabbath bootlegs of his era, but with Purple I had seen Gillan, 4? 5? times. so its ok la. So is Glen Hughes, got one bootleg of him fronting Sabbath from Hammersmith that is so awesome sounding.

********


And I most love the intro of the Ozzy " live and loud " cd with Zakk Wylde, that very last song or something where Ozzy introduce the band as " Mr Toni Iommi, Mr Geezer Butler, Mr Bill Wards, Ozzy Osbourne, we got black sabbath back man! ".
If you dont have that double cd ( I used to have the metal speaker carboard version with the fake tattoos which I had lost those cute tattoos ), or dont know what I am talking about, listen -
here

ok, back to the tinnitus thingy
After the show, I was like lepaking outside and there is this horrible horrible undescribable sound in my ears which I dont know whether its tinnitus, or tin-tintinus, or asterixtus or obelixtus, I dont ever want to go thru it again..
The sound follows me for like till the next day.. It really is bothersome rabak punye.
Its so scary because I was like, ok, its one thing to go deaf, but for the sound to follow you...
That is why this man's suicide is horrible... Maybe there are medical ways to help, but it makes some people go crazy, or decide to completely medically go deaf just to make this thing go away, or worse case like this rock fan, kill himself.

So like Phua Chu Kang says before he kena sent for Speak Proper English Class by the gomen ( Government ) as students are answering exam scripts based on his character on tv - " dont pray pray ".

Friday, November 18, 2011

'pekak' badak putih ( white rhino ) - now then I like them more and more..


out of topik kejap - Apa jadi siak semalam? Lepas show kawan aku sms cakap pagar semua roboh? haha... Biar betik. Untung ah kawan aku seems smalam show ada staggered pricing, dia ambik peasant tiket, tup2 cakap dia dah kat depan, !!siol!! mesti best...
Aku paling last tengok pagar roboh as in macam " war zone " ialah Search 2003? 2004? dulu zaman Lola kat Larkin, tu memang dah nampak cam besi buruk je la tinggal lepas show haha. And that is why, aku kalo boleh, takkan dan tak mau miss tengok Search kat JB walau aku get frustrated sometimes tengok Search live. Betul2 punye " homecoming show in front of their passionate home fans ".. last four? five shows? aku dah start tak miss every one, so I try not to miss their upcoming gig there.

Anyway crowd smalam, Korang baik2...hah...mau kang nanti dorang enforce rules regulations lagi ketat, nanti Judas Priest karang, duk bersila ramai2 macam dikir barat. MUAHAHAHAHA..
Lawak bodoh pagi jumaat k.

ok la, actually aku nak blog about what else, animals la, I love them so, ewah. apapun...antara perkataan kutukan yang memang selalu dipakai untuk yang mereka tak boleh dengar jelas ( MACAM AKU!! ) ialah
" Pekak Badak sey!! ".. atau " Pekak Badak siak ", janji ada pekak badak.
Mungkin nak rhyme kan '..ak' tu.
Dulu aku tak minat tau White Rhino ni.. aku assume kira direct same species reference dalam bahasa melayu ialah Badak Putih ye.
Aku macam ok...badak putih...ok....boleh la tahan pengsi dia...



Tapi lately, white rhino ni ialah satu animal atau haiwan yang aku dah take note...aku dah macam, oooo you guys are so beautiful, aku dah macam..ok...baca pasal dorang kat internet....
Dulu macam...ok......a badak is a badak is a badak...haha.



Harap dorang tak pupus. A big loud " F*$k you! " to the poachers.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

aku dengki so...

kawan aku cakap ni malam dia nak gi tengok Children Of Bodom kat Fort Canning.

Siak giler ah, aku ni.... keja part time ah, mana nak gi konsert2 ni smua. ( ewah!!)

So aku dengki kan?

so aku sms dia..

" Children Of Boredom Yawnn... ". Sms sakit hati je bukan apa pun.

Tapi apa pun, aku nak tunggu ulasan dekni, dia punye pendapat pasal konsert2 dia pergi memang aku suka dengar.
Boleh dia cakap crowd Iron Maiden untuk Bali nye show dead. Hahaah!
Pendapat berani mati! Booo wak kang nye crowd.
Dia cerita, dia nak havoc la, tak tahu lagu apa, sekali orang sekeliling dia cam dead...haha..siap tengok dia one of a kind... Tu ah!! Aku dah cakap nak tengok konsert dangdut baru gi Indon haha.

Anyway.... Aku rasa2 la, cam aku baca smalam Judas Priest ngan Lamb Of God opening band.
Fort Canning.
Satu malam...
Katalah....katalah....max 7000.
Lamb Of God, ramai orang muda suka...tu hari LOG main show kat expo Pavilion macam sambutan baik aje.
Judas Priest tak yah cakap la...
Only Judas Priest show in Asia besides Japan....
Korang rasalah....
tiket abis berapa cepat?

Fort Canning ok!! Takde nak jadi kerja bodoh nak staggered2 harga tiket...
Aku rasa nabshot smua orang max $120 je kot
Minimum early bird kalo $100..
Rasa2 la, berapa cepat tiket abis?

Jangan macam Girl Generation tu hari indoor stadium, 4 jam terus sold out... aku rasa Malaysia ngan Indonesia nye K-Pop fans serbu online. Indoor Stadium, easily 12K, 13K crowd boleh sumbat.
Tapi tu GG dorang tambah lagi satu malam so ok la...

Sunday, November 13, 2011

cats in the morning..

I will forever cannot remember how to differentiate different cats. Cheetahs, Leopards - these two especially, besides that Jaguars, Pumas, panthers etc etc etc.. but love them all..







First time managed to get a few angry fierce snarls from a leopard, so am quite happy haha. marahhhh sey dekni...


cam aku cakap tak bleh beza la terutama cheetah ngan leopard. Memang aku fail



cheetahs.. fast and furious siak...giler babi nye laju aku tengok dalam rencana national geographic.




meoowwww...

The other cats, sorry they are not being photogenic and hide far away...so have to catch them other day

but this cats is around only I dont know how to take photos of these lions properly.
I wish one day I can borrow someone or anyone who have a 'dlsr camera' and use to take photos at the zoo.


Thursday, November 10, 2011

continue - ON BOARD FLIGHT 666 book ( the second half about the final frontier tour )

continue from here , as the book is really a monster I have to post twice.
thanks to caspera for informing the book for Kinokuniya KLCC Malaysia is RM129.90 and online checking for Kinokuniya Singapore the book cost S$75.
Mental Conversion rates and clearly Kinokuniya Malaysia is giving a super price compared to the Singapore one, so maybe you guys check it out and also check online prices from Europe/US too before ordering.








the summary pages on the final frontier 2010 and 2011 tours. Actually you can gauge the beauty of this book from this two pages already, so its really a good buy even if you dont like Iron Maiden and think they are crap but just want to see great music & entertainment theme photos of travels and fans worldwide having fun and the band itself off stage and in full action live. Its mostly happiness but also sadness and also the way of living in other places which is so different than us, whether better or worst.



the photo spread showing Maiden rehearsing for this tour is nice


lawa lak selipar Dave Murray haha. Survey beb doran pakai apa... dulu aku tak pakai seluar jeans lois, sekali tengok gambo Dave Murray pakai , ada satu from the backstage photo boleh nampak brand jeans dia pakai (rasa rasa nye la), terus aku pun start pakai seluar jeans lois haha. Tapi dia pakai smart la, aku pakai cam sarung nangka. muahaha.
You know? like the jackfruit cover.
Anyway then I know Lois jeans is originally Spain Espana Sepanyol brand. I think.

l love those " off stage and on stage on the same day " photos in this book. There are a few of them. This is another one of Bruce wearing his shoes and moments later he is flying on stage.



the moscow photos is very nice..
as I like to take photos for fun, this book actually also teach me a lot of things.
So its ok to have slanted " senget " photos haha


Adrian Smith could be even bigger than Brad Pitt, handsome, great guitarist, songwriter and fantastic singer, fashionable trendy and all the making of a hollywood star, but he already has in Maiden fans mind.


final frontier tour section of 2011 using Ed Force One is extra nice because of Iron Maiden playing in South East Asia and makes us no need to travel much which cost alot of money of one two three years hard to earned savings , and needs lots of sacrifices.

and also playing in Singapore and Indonesia finally allow tens of thousands of fans to finally see them live and many of these have been fans for a long time since the early days,
and allow a lot of people to at last bring along their family members, love ones, friends, neighbours, mere aquaintance ( ok I am now exagerating ) to savour Maiden live and see whats the excitment is all about and share the happiness that Maiden brings to people's life,
well, at least for myself thats how I feel.




Untung ah kerja kat airport changi dapat sambut2 cam gini cam braders kat atas ni, mau aku golek2 kat tarmac tu siak haha, tak pun mesti hapi siak kalo dapat jadi cleaner vacuum lantai ed force one atau lap2 kerusi buang habuk.
Kejap2 , aku tengah fikir
- selimut, sudu garfu ed force one semua simpan buat souvenir haha. Boleh? nanti tak dapat gi tengok Maiden, duk lock-up siak haha.


Singapore segment, you guys go and check out yourselves if your photos are inside haha. Like I say there are very nice photos of fans for the Singapore show , also the Jakarta show has a few Islamic / Muslim related photos which I will keep my comments to myself, and also Bali also has a lot of nice photos of the fans and the spectacular surrounding of the concert place.

So Marina Bay Sands, ok now I know how it looks like to be inside the rooms looking out at the Singapore skyline, I can only afford to look from far at this expensive place haha. Maybe one day I want to go to the roof-top la jalan-jalan.

Satu malam berapa siak bilik Adrian Smith ni...

.
.
.
.
.
.


Ooo and I was also here for this show. Tight security with some even have to surrender their belts and buckles. But funny I managed to catch lots of great Maiden action with my digital camera for this show. Ah, the luck of entering the arena using " First To The Barrier " contest haha.




and this also, I was here another intimate show before Maiden play Soundwave Festivals to 40-50 thousands, avoiding all the " raining beer" by the happy happy people around me haha. Lots of things happening I am not aware of the Janick with the bra situation on his guitar until I see the youtube.








and this one also, first time seeing Maiden in a headlining festival set-up, and.... I was also at the Koala Sanctuary. In fact, when I blog about visiting this place, someone replied on the blog post that Steve Harris was also there and I just miss him.
But really its a nice place, it even got a photo in this book. See..



like I say, even if you dont like Maiden, this book got lots to offer in term of what we are as humans. happiness and also sadness.
this is the description of the Japan Earthquake Tsunami and what was happening on Maiden's side before, during and after tragedy as they were about to land in Tokyo.





Without the descriptions and storyline and even timeline, we will not get the full picture of what is happening so its what makes this book so much superior.









the US Jet fighters and NASA Space Shuttle visits is also interesting.






few more









the book's ending has Bruce writting the lyrics of coming home , and he sign off as 'the singer bloke.'




at last finish,


this is the back cover and so I finish viewing the book, and it off it goes joining some of the rest of Iron Maiden proper photo books in my collection.






next, waiting for the book about Deep Purple and Rainbow written by their tour manager for what 30 years? oooooo cant wait. Especially with Whitesnake just playing here.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

book review - ON BOARD FLIGHT 666 ( the first half about SBIT Tour ).





Sepeminat-sepeminat Iron Maiden sekian, ( Fellow Maiden fans )

this photo book called On Board Flight 666 with photos and stories by official Maiden photographer John McMurtrie was out in UK on 20 Oct.
I pre-ordered in advance using Amazon UK and I got an attractive discount rate of 14.47pounds, and add shipping of 8.78pounds and I choose the basic Royal Mail. ( yang lain harga terkopak siak ).
I received the book on 27 Oct. I got a feeling Amazon UK posted my book before the official release which is great but to reach me this fast using basic postage is happiness to me.
So unless you Maiden freaks got money to spend, there is no need to choose the so much more expensive 'faster' shipping choice.
On the box, is indicated the weight as 1.75 kilogram. Berat siol.
Hardcover and Huge and about more than 250 pages of about 600 superfantasticmegaawesome photos printed on really quality paper.

So if you guys are waiting for this book to arrive at your local Kinokuniyas or kedai mamak, I dont know whats the cost. If you order online, do take note of the price I paid for the book itself and see if you can get an even better deal because on the book inside flap it list the book price as 25 pounds.

( AS USUAL CLICK ALL PHOTOS TO ENLARGE )
and I like this photo of Japan 2008 of Adrian Smith saluting the crowd and the other photos of this page very much.





I know one way or another you Maiden freaks will try to get this book, so if you want to remain feeling surprised, dont read this post.


Basically the book, is divided into two super segments.


Highlights from
Somewhere Back In Time World Tour 2008-2009
and
Final Frontier World Tour 2010-2011


with foreward by Iron Maiden singer and the plane pilot itself Bruce Dickinson ( and its a bloody long few pages and fully informative and sometimes technical aspects about everything regarding the Ed Force One which is very deep but interesting )


and also an introduction from the official photographer and author of the book John McMurtrie.


These are some of the pages... So you guys got many different places of both on stage and off- stage photos.
i was here



and many other places are documented worldwide... the twickenham stadium is nice from the stage view.. and lots more, here are some of them..








also the "same day, but different timing" shots means we get to see Maiden members off stage and on stage. We see contrast photos of them jalan-jalan, reading or tying their shoes and the next photo is of the on stage at that same day.
I hope you get what I mean la.



a very tiny portion of the photos we have seen before, in fan club magazines etc, but very little only. Most of those in the book is never seen before.
this photo is very nice...




And on some cases, there are notes or stories that give a clear detail of whats the photos about or the situation behind it.
The serious problems in preparing the shows are very intriguing.







or even airport permit problems that wont allow Ed Force One to take off.


the 'national geographic' stuffs are very nice too...




especially the amazon river segment... I never seen photos or read info about the particular section of amazon river mentioned in this book before.

I wish there were more Dave Murray, in my opinion, Dave has seems like the least photos of him, but when he did appear, his photos in action are very nice..




The Japan Tsunami report of the situation inside Ed Force One and after landing and cancellation of the shows is sad but at same time it allows us fans to get a feel of whats its really like due to the photographer is with them to document it.

This will be on my next review..

So go out and buy it and make Iron Maiden members even the more richer, but fans will be satisfied to flip the book and ogle them haha.




Cannot resist to take photo like this.


to be continued becos the book is damn a lot to talk about la.