Halloween

Track 4 of Ash's "A Life Less Ordinary" CD single is a b-side titled "Halloween". Whenever I listen to this, it always reminds me of my days in university - when Tim sings about moving out in October, going home to see his mom and dad months later and catching the express bus to get home.

1977 Deluxe Edition pre-order

This morning I received an e-mail from the Ash HQ with the following attachment:

The pre-order link takes you to Amazon where you can pre-order the 1977 deluxe edition boxset for £13.99. It's a steal at that price if you ask me considering that the entire album has been remastered and they've thrown in the Trailer mini album, Live At Wireless, Live at Reading 1996 and a whole load of b-sides & rarities. 65 tracks on 3 CDs crammed in a single boxset at the price of a single CD!

Sudafan has already pre-ordered my copy as a belated birthday pressie. A couple of birthdays ago he got me Ash's 'Intergalactic Sonic 7"s' CD which has since been played to death by yours truly :P

I'll be waiting in anticipation for the 1977 deluxe edition release

Penny For Your Thoughts

Come 30 November at Bangkok 100 Rock festival, Penny Century will be rocking the main stage before Ash. "Penny who?" I hear you say? Apparently they're a band from Sweden. Never heard of 'em and I hope they don't sound like ABBA haha!!

brr.. it's cold in Sweden

So I google'd them up and well, didn't find very much (not in English anyway :P) other than the above publicity band picture that I nicked from the band's blog (once again, in Swedish) I'm not particularly familiar with Swedish indie/rock, save for The Cardigans.. and only cos "Lovefool" was such a big hit when it was released.

Getting to the front for Ash means I'll have to wriggle my way to the front and 'sit' through Penny Century's performance ;0)

Decade In the Sun

Whilst browsing through numerous online record shops looking for the best deal for Ash's upcoming "1977" deluxe edition release, I stumbled on this: *gasp*

Decade In The Sun: The Best Of The Stereophonics (Deluxe Edition 2CD)
STEREOPHONICS
£13.99

Due for release on 10 November, Decade In The Sun is also available in a single CD version (minus the b-sides and rarities disc). Is it just me or is the market currently flooded with anniversary re-releases etc? Christmas is less than 2 months away and bands are scrambling to release albums cos CD sales always peak during the holiday season.

Tim at JD Birthday Show

Tim posted a blog entry at Ash-Official.com a couple of days back after he played at the Jack Daniels Birthday Show in Tennessee (I wonder if the performing musicians get to take home a few crates of JD each?)

Amusingly, Tim blogged:

“It was interesting stepping out of the ash world for a
moment. I left my 2 brothers behind in NYC that I've played with for the last 16
years. They've been working away in the studio on 5 new songs while I was away
galavanting and I'm looking forward to getting back in the studio and hearing
the work they've done. Mind you i always get a bit of a nervous feeling leaving
them to their own devices. One time I left the studio in Spain to have a weekend
back in London when we were recording "Free All Angels". They were meant to have
done a bunch of work, but when I got back they were all destroyed after partying
for 3 days and there was bullet hole in my 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG. But I know
that had a lot to do with our producer Owen Morris.”

Years ago when they first became popular, these guys were notorious for their sick parties and getting wasted. Looks like 16 years later nothing much has changed :P And yes they still make great music!

Meanwhile, I am counting down 10 days to the release of the 1977 Deluxe Edition (sudafan is getting me a copy for my belated birthday - yippee!) 1977 is being re-released as a 3-disc set crammed with all the Ash goodness: 1977 + Trailer packed on disc 1, Live at the Wireless + Live at Reading 1996 on disc 2 and b-sides + rare tracks crammed into disc 3 = a total of 66 tracks on the 3 CDs (whoa!) I am dying to listen to the 4 track demo version of "Girl from Mars", "A Life Less Ordinary (original Tim Simeon version)" and "The Scream (Infamous and yet unheard masterpiece: The pure undiluted sound of Hell)" !!!

Jester Jay

Taiwan’s king of mandopop Jay Chou released his latest studio album “Capricorn” earlier this month and pre-order sales figure broke an all-time high record in excess of 90,000 (only to have his record matched by Mayday’s “Poetry Of The Day After” a few weeks later)

Sudafan’s copy of the pre-order “Capricorn” came in the mail today – complete with the metal tin encased CD, playing cards and rubik's cube (both of which will come in handy on long distance flights)

Major Dorky Ash fans

That afternoon when Liz and I were watching the Ash soundcheck/rehearsal, a guy from Razor TV came up to talk to us - he had heard that we were fans from Malaysia (ooh did Tim tell him cos I think I only told Tim) He made us sing "Girl from Mars" holding the banner!!

I hope Darth Mark didn't see the video - I bet he'd fall over his chair laughing if he did!!

And cheers Liz for the video link - oh gee we really do look like the 2 MAJOR DORKY ASH FANS FROM MALAYSIA (and dead proud of it too lol)

What's up with the statement bout how Ash were "UNEXPECTEDLY nice and down to earth?" I don't recall them ever having a reputation for being otherwise. *sigh* Tim O'Dreamy is noticeably absent in the interview

How to make an Irish Car Bomb

Watching this video reminds me of how much I love Baileys Irish Cream! I used to buy the 1 litre bottle at the airport and use it in my milkshakes and milk drink. Now I haven't tried Irish car bomb but I'll be sure to order it the next time I'm at the bar (the drink looks potent but if Tim made me one I'd chug it down in a heartbeat hehe)

and once again, that sexy Irish accent is to die for LOL

Foodie weekend

Foodie galore!

Had lunch on Saturday at KLCC's O'Briens with Liz. Lovely yummy Irish sandwiches (just like the way Ash loves them LOL)

O'Briens at KLCC

Hot Honey Chilli Chicken wrappo at O'Briens

Root beer floats at A&W

Saturday dinner was at Wendy's Bistro in Sunway. I've read reviews about it in the Star but never actually got to try it till yesterday. It's a cosy little restaurant for pork lovers and their specialties are grilled pork belly, ribs and chops.

Wendy's Bistro

interior of Wendy's Bistro - Ooo Movenpick ice-cream!

I had the grilled pork chop which could have been better as the meat was far too lean (the Nory pork chop at Sri Hartamas' Riblees is tastier)

grilled pork chop

And today Yen took me to Jogoya for my belated birthday lunch (thanks Yen!!) Gosh I ate so much that I feel like a fat greedy pig :P I had more than what I ate the last time I was there!

round 1 - lots of salmon sashimi + abalone slices..yummy!

round 2

round 5 [final] - after having to wait 30 minutes for them to restock the Tiramisu

barely 2 hours after pigging out at Jogoya we found ourselves at Wong Kok restaurant having french toast.. LOL

I wonder if I'll be able to fit into my work clothes tomorrow.. haha

Guitar heroes of earth

Leehom's Music-Man Singapore concert is exactly 2 weeks away.. in anticipation of the upcoming concert, I had a listen to my Leehom promo CD that Jeanette bought for me in Taipei last month. Printed on the back of the CD was a picture of Leehom jumping in air playing his guitar (ah the classic rock guitar pose)

When I saw the picture, it struck me that one of my Ash CD had Tim in a similar pose. And I was right, I pulled out my Ash Envy CD single and on the back was the picture below:

Tim with his most awesome Gibson Flying V guitar (Charlotte in a pretty purple dress in the background with a matching colour guitar)

Back in form

I am listening to Oasis' Dig Out Your Soul on my CD player as I'm blogging this =] Lo and behold the CD arrived in the mail today!

Immediately I ripped open the plastic shrink wrap and popped it into the CD player. Track 1 "Bag It Up" blew me away on my first listen. (my current favourite track off the album at the mo) A great opening track and Liam's vocals never sounded better. The next song that caught my attention is track 3 "Waiting For The Rapture". Y'see, I've always been a big Noel fan hehe, despite what people may say about his singing, the man can really sing an epic rock anthem like no other. An exceptional songwriter no less. Track 5, Liam's "I'm Outta Time" is impressively good. A hauntingly beautiful Lennon-esque ballad.

Everyone's raving about how great the new Oasis album is since it's release in the UK last week. Google up "Dig Out Your Soul" and you'll find that the internet is flooded with so many positive reviews. The album features 11 tracks, with Gem and Andy contributing a track each, 3 by Liam (awww he's come a long way since "Little James"), and of course the remaining tracks by the Chief. Whenever I refer to Noel as Chief I am always reminded of this quote "Noel is Chief. Except Liam spells it C-U-N-T" :P

I bought my first ever Oasis CD in 1995 and over the many years I've amassed a collection of over 80 Oasis CDs (!!) It's really good to see Oasis truly back in form.

CDs that arrived in the mail today - Oasis' Dig Out Your Soul and Arctic Monkeys' Favourite Worst Nightmare

Oasis are back!

In the papers today was an article/review of sort on Oasis' seventh studio album, "Dig Out Your Soul" written by Alan McGee. Oasis fans would remember him as the now defunct Creation Records head honcho who discovered and signed on Oasis at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, Scotland. The rest as they say is history, Oasis went on to become the biggest, most popular and influential band in Britain and even till today they are regarded as the nation's working class heroes.

In the article, McGee sang nothing but high praises on Oasis and their latest studio effort, quoting that it's the band's best album since "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" and that the album is oozed with confidence and great songs.

My copy of Dig Out Your Soul was despatched from England earlier this week - will be waiting in anticipation for the postie to deliver it :)

Dig Out Your Soul is currently No. 1 on the UK album chart. Bravo Oasis!

"Being an Oasis fan is never having to say I'm sorry. And I'm
not. Leave saying sorry to the Coldplay imitators as their era of bedwetter
music is over. It's only Glasvegas and Oasis for competition in this country. If
you are in a band and are not artistically competing with the creative
rock'n'roll genius of Oasis or Glasvegas, it's time to just stop and get off the
treadmill. This is how rock'n'roll should be done in the United Kingdom today."
- Alan McGee

Bangkok rock fest tix on sale now!

Tickets for the Bangkok 100 Rock festival went on sale today and I've already secured 3 tickets :) Now all there's left is to book my flight and hotel. Anyone knows which hotel Ash and Manics are gonna be putting up in Bangkok? LOL

Full itinerary for the 2 day festival was also posted today and both Ash and Manics will be playing the main stage on Sunday 30 November 2008 at the following time:

22:15-23:00 Ash

23:15-24:30 Manic Street Preachers

The Manics are gonna sing till 12:30AM Monday morning! Ash are playing a 45-minute set (meaning they will only sing half of the number of songs they sang at the Singapore concert) At this point I'd fly to Bangkok even if they were singing just 2 songs =]

The main stage area looks massive from the site map! I think they're expecting at least 40,000+ rock fans? Looks like we better get there early to secure a nice spot in front of the stage.

Perfect Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth

Edgey-boy now has his own spin-off DS game from the Ace Attorney series

There's nothing I like to do better on a rainy night than to cuddle up in bed with the DS in the dark. Which was exactly what I got up to late last night and ended up regretting it this morning when I woke up feeling like a carwreck!

I'm now into the last episode of the final Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney series, and was pleasantly surprised when Miles Edgeworth made a come back in the last episode and took over the defense attorney role from Phoenix. I didn't realise till then that Miles speaks with an old English accent! It's a nice accent but why couldn't the game producers have given him a sexier Northern Irish accent like Tim's? LOL

On the newsfront (I blogged about it back in April), the new "Perfect Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth" game is still in the works. I've been told a demo was previewed at the recent Tokyo Game Show. I'll be waiting in anticipation for its release.

Ichiban Ash

If the Bangkok Rock Festival is anything like the Fuji Rock Festival, things are gonna get really crazy on 30 November. Tsu Ning sent me the link to her video of Ash playing at last year's Fuji Rock Festival and it looks amazingly FUN!! Just take a look of the sea of rock fans (Ash have always been big in Japan, even in their early days)

And oh, did I mention that Tim look absolutely dreamy in the video? And he really does rock guitars like a dream!!

Tim O'Dreamy and the Ash boys rocking the land of the rising sun

omigosh look at that big smile on Tim's face after listening to the Japanese fans sing Burn Baby Burn - sweeeeeet!!

And here's Travis at this year's Fuji Rock Festival - haha it was raining when they played "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" Check out all the fans in raincoats jumping!!

Weekend CD sale

Last week when I was in Singapore I walked into HMV at Citylink and asked if they had the new Oasis CD in stock. I was met with a blank look by the ignorant sales assistant (who I suspect was from the Chinese music section and have no idea who Oasis are) She went to the computer and checked but in the end all she could offer was "sorry dunno"

Last night bro pointed me to CD WOW, a UK online CD shop currently having a weekend sale and Oasis' "Dig Out Your Soul" is available for only £6.99 and postage is FREE!!!! Also available in their £6.99 sale catalogue are Coldplay's new album, The Verve's "Forth" (was tempted to pick this up - wonder if they are any good after they reformed), Keane's "Perfect Symmetry" (hmm maybe I should pick this up as well seeing I have their previous releases), Snow Patrol's "A Hundred Million Suns" (they've come a long way - I remember when they used to be a small-time indie band), Kaiser Chiefs' "Off With Their Heads" (each time I hear their name I am reminded of the song "Ruby" which was stuck in my head for the longest time!), Sharleen Spiteri's "Melody" (I keep forgetting that Texas has disbanded), and loads of other recent releases. £6.99 for a new release UK pressed CD is a steal!! Even a locally pressed copy would cost at least RM40. In addition to the Oasis CD, I also picked up Arctic Monkeys' sophomore album from last year, "Favourite Worst Nightmare" for only £4.99

The kind folks at CD WOW have given me a £10 cashback on my next CD purchase (to be used within 90 days) which will come in handy when I purchase Ash' "1977" deluxe edition next month :) What a great deal! Don't you just love this wonderful world of purchase power?

While waiting for the Oasis CD to arrive, I will be busy with my Manics' CDs in anticipation of Bangkok Rock Festival (am gonna blast my Ash and Manics CDs all month long till my ears start to bleed :P)

where's the Holy Bible??

Bangkok rocks!

Manics' James Dean Bradfield (chunky as ever LOL)

tsuriken talked me into going to the Bangkok 100 Rock Festival :) It seems Ash and the Manic Street Preachers are headlining the 2nd night of the festival i.e on 30 November so if we catch the flight to Bangkok from Singapore after the Lee Guitars All-Stars concert, we'd get there in time for Ash and Manics' performance. Harliza, fellow Ash fan from Jakarta, will be joining us as well. It's gonna be a blast! :)

One day ticket for the Bangkok Festival costs only 800 baht (RM80+ equivalent) Omigosh that's dirt cheap!! RM80 for a ticket to see both Ash and Manics is a joke :P

I'm dying to see Ash live again and it would be really nice to see the Manics live once again as the last time I saw them live was a long time ago. I hope they don't sing too many songs from their new albums cos I'm unfamiliar with songs post-"Know Your Enemy" era. Really hope to hear them sing "Yes" at Bangkok! Quite apt for them to sing "Yes" since they are playing in the Asian Capital of Prostitution. "Yes" is a song about life through the life of a prostitute though some fans have argued that it's actually really about 'prostitution of the self', i.e. selling yourself to consumerism. The Manics are well-known socialists and they are by far the most comprehensive and intelligent/intellectual band in the world! They are anti-conservative and they sing political songs that other bands shy away from. Now that's genius.

Am hoping to see Tim's flying V guitar and Nicky wearing skirt at the Bangkok festival hehe.

See you guys there!!

nice socks Nicky

Poetry Of The Day After

Pre-order for Mayday's upcoming 7th studio album, titled "Poetry Of The Day After" began in Taiwan 2 days ago and release is scheduled for 23 October 2008.

Not surprisingly, there are 4 different version of pre-order and each comes with different pre-order gifts. Have CD sales dwindled so badly in Asia that artists have to resort to such gimmicks in order to boost album sales?

In conjunction with the release of the new album, the guys are putting together a free concert in Taipei on 13 December for 50,000 fans and tickets for the concert will be given away with the pre-order. They did the exact same thing with their previous album and I've got the pre-order version for that with the ticket, which was sadly not utilised.

Bangkok Rock Festival 2008

Looks like the Ash boys will be back in this region again next month alongside their Welsh counterparts the Manics, playing at a 2 day Bangkok Rock Festival on 29-30 November 2008. From the poster it looks like Ash and Manics will be headlining the festival - woohoo!

Dang I'll be missing out cos I'll be in Singapore for the Lee Guitars All-stars concert on 29 November! Ah well, then again do I really wanna risk my life going there with all the chaos that's going on in Bangkok right now?

Have fun guys and stay safe!!

Post Ash concert syndrome

Exactly a week after the kickass Ash concert in Singapore, my desk is still littered with Ash CDs and Ash songs are still playing non-stop on my CD player!

Cheers to dmh Dark Lord [Mark] from Ash for linking up my blog on the official Ash website on the Singapore concert reviews page - you have no idea how chuffed I am!!

Mark has collated various reviews on last week's Singapore concert. Good job Mark! LOL. All the reviews were really favourable (notice how they all concluded with the exact same thing? Let's hope we don't have to wait another 10 years for the next Ash concert)

The review in Timeout Singapore is worth noting. Jonathan, the author of that review is clearly really upset that Charlotte is no longer in the band "The band now sorely lacks a focal point onstage (particularly if you’re a heterosexual male), but more importantly their stage set-up looks empty" [WTF?!! My bro is no better than Jonathan, he refused to attend the concert cos Charlotte's gone]

I particularly like the line he wrote about Tim hehe - "Frontman Tim Wheeler, meanwhile, at 31 still betrays the wide-eyed charm of a college freshman who’s unexpectedly won a ‘Battle of the Bands’ contest" And here's another one from the MTV Asia review - "Oh, did we mention that Tim rocked guitars like a dream as well?"

There's also an interview by MTV Asia here - absolutely hilarious!

"MTV: Do you think Charlotte's leaving has affected your music in any way? Like, are there new sounds that reflect Ash as a threesome now etc? Rick: Yeah. It's made it better. [Laughs]"

Let's not forget that Ash were in the first place formed as a trio. Charlotte joined the band in 1997 after the release of 1977. So they now have only a single guitarist and Rick fills in the gap as backing vocalist at live shows (though it seems they have problem playing double guitar songs live at shows now..) Charlotte had only contributed a pretty face, second guitar and a few lyrics *cough* Don't get me wrong, I like Charlotte and I think she rocks but I feel it's really unfair to write off Ash just cos their pretty girl guitarist has left the band.

The Manics are coming!

The last Manic Street Preachers studio album I bought was "Know Your Enemy" [released in 2001!] The year after that I bought "Forever Delayed - The Greatest Hits" and in 2003 I picked up "Lipstick Traces" (b-sides and live songs compilation). They've since released another 2 studio albums and became a 4 piece band again? The Manics were originally a 4 piece band but when Richey Edwards mysteriously disappeared from his home in 1995, band members swapped song and lyrics writing roles and soldiered on as a 3 piece.

Till today Richey is still missing, and I believe he has been declared legally dead in the UK. Now if my memory from law school serves me right, when a person goes missing for 7 years, he will be declared legally dead. I remember reading an interview with Richey's sister and she mentioned that some fans from around the world claimed to have spotted Richey. It's easy to tell if he's the real deal cos Richey has a scar on his arm when he carved the words "4 REAL" into his forearm with a razor blade during an interview with Steve Lamacq.

4 REAL

I last saw the Manics live when they played at T In The Park in Scotland - gosh it was a decade ago! LOL. Finally the Manics have decided to come to Asia (it's about time!!), playing Fort Canning Park in Singapore on 24 November 2008. I am so tempted to attend - it's gonna be the Manics' first show ever in SG!

I still have my old Manics tee! hehe And yes it still fits

Coincidentally, Kylie Minogue is staging a concert in Singapore the day after the Manics' show.. hmm.. anyone remember "Little Baby Nothing"? (one of my fav Manics song ever) Kylie was originally suppose to sing that. Now if only LAMC could arrange to get Kylie to guest star at the Manics' show and duet with James on Little Baby Nothing - won't that be so cool??!!

20081002 Ash live in Singapore

Last Thursday's journey to Fort Canning Park began at Clementi MRT station (is it just a coincidence that Liz and I both like Ash and we're both putting up with our respective relative in Clementi?) We alighted at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station and went inside Park Mall to ask for directions. We were given the following note:

Once we got out from behind Park Mall, right across the road was the entrance to Fort Canning Park.

We found our way to the gig site through the Legends. There we made our base to work on the Ash banner for about almost an hour before spotting that Ash had arrived and were rehearsing on the stage!!

Girls from KL Love Ash

view of the Fort Canning Park concert site from the Legends

We went down to the field, waited for a bit before the guys got offstage and managed to catch them right before they went inside the tent at the side of the stage for an interview. They went back onstage after the interview. It took Rick McMurray and Mark Hamilton about a good hour or so to tune their drumset and bass - meanwhile Tim Wheeler was pacing up and down the stage, and he had his water bottle with him everywhere he went. I bet he must be so dehydrated in the scorching hot and humid afternoon.

At the side of the field were 3 tents (which eventually became the booze and O'Briens Irish sandwich bar later that night) We took refuge there from the blazing afternoon sun and watched the guys from where we were seated in the tent, while working to complete the banner. Ah bliss.. I can't think of a better way to spend my afternoon :)

When Tim finally strapped on his guitar - we moved closer to stage to watch them soundcheck. After tuning his guitar, they played "You Can't Have It All" and they sounded so good even when they're rehearsing!! I was overjoyed when the sound engineer dude at the sound mixing tent told the guys to "PLAY ANOTHER SONG" hehe!! They then sang "Twilight Of The Innocents", "Blacklisted" and "Wildsurf" before wrapping up their 2 hour soundcheck at approx 4PM. OMG they are just TOO COOL and they sound so damn good live, even during rehearsal!! There we were watching Ash rehearsing - it was unbelievable! It's almost like watching my own exclusive private Ash gig haha

The video I recorded during their rehearsal ended up being posted on the Ash official site - whoa!!

Parked right outside the main entrance was an O'Briens van - one of the official sponsor of the gig. I guess they had to find an Irish sponsor for the gig eh?

The opening local band that night was Fishtank and they didn't didn't leave much of an impression on me. They were noisy alright and the fat frontman kept plugging their new album. Tim thanked them at the end of their set, and commented that Fishtank were "great". Did he really think so or was he just being diplomatic LOL

Ash finally came on about 9ish PM and by then the place was so packed I could not see the end of the field when I looked back into the crowd. Ash are so amazing live!! [they were #2 on Q's list of 50 Bands to See Before You Die] They played all my favourite songs - Kungfu (yeah!!), Girl from Mars, A Life Less Ordinary, Angel Interceptor, Oh Yeah, Wildsurf, Jack Names The Planet, Renegade Calvacade, Walking Barefoot, Shining Light, Orpheus, Meltdown, Burn Baby Burn, Goldfinger, Twilight of The Innocents, Blacklisted.. and they played Ichiban, a new song from their upcoming release (due out next year so keep an eye out for that).

Tim: "We're Irish. We don't drink"

It was pure energetic rock and despite not having their second guitarist Charlotte Hatherley around anymore, Tim does a great job on the guitar - my biggest disappointment that night was that Tim hadn't brought his signature V guitar to Singapore :( I absolutely love the way he strums his guitar so furiously as he sings and Rick's power drumming totally blew my socks off. Mark looks dead cool with his bass slung so low. And now that Charlotte's gone, Rick does the backing vocals as well. Very nice! Maybe one of these days he could sing "Stormy Waters" :)

The crowd of Ash fans that night knew the words to all the songs - you can hear everyone singing in unison when Tim sings! He must be so chuffed cos I saw him smiling throughout the gig. He has a such great smile and that Irish accent is really sexy LOL

Till today I can still hear Twilight Of The Innocents playing in my head each morning when I get up =D

Burn Baby Burn!

Click here for more live Ash vids

20081005 Superband Mayday

After a long crazy week in Singapore, I'm finally home!

Celebrated my birthday yesterday at Mediacorp studio watching Mayday =] which was televised live on national TV in Singapore.

Tickets for Superband 2008 Grand Finals were hard to come by and I went through a lot of trouble to secure them - I got them courtesy of the Tuzi family. Much thanks to them and congratulations for winning the Superband Finals!

The studio was smaller than I had expected and cos we were there early, we managed to secure a nice spot at the side of the stage - front row baby on national TV! I spent the entire night trying to avoid the camera but I guess I let my guard down when Mayday came on.. since last night my friends have been texting me saying they saw me on TV!

Mediacorp studio were Superband was recorded (i see a few familiar faces in that pic)

Superband stage

The Grand Finals had the final 4 bands taking turns to perform and elimination was through SMS voting. Guest performers for the night were Mi Lu Bing (former Superband winner), 2 other Singaporean bands whose names escapes me now, Jonathan Lee, Beyond and Mayday. And because Mayday are the Superband ambassador, naturally we had to wait till the end of the show to see them.

It was the closest I've ever seen Mayday performing live - I was on the left side of the stage and Monster was less than 3 feet from where I stood! They started setting up their gear during the commercial break (Ooo it was all too exciting) They played 孫悟空 and 離開地球表面 then hung around onstage for quite a bit (I got to take many piccies hehe!!)

Ashin's not-so-sexy back.. the guy has flatfeet.. looks like he also has a flat butt

look at that cute dimple!

and the winner of the Superband Funniest Face contest is...

err who is Ryan staring at??!

Beyond vs Mayday in the cutest frontman contest LOL

That dude from Beyond is wearing a super campy shirt that shows off his tits!!

I got a few videos recorded as well here. Sadly Ashin's vocals is barely audible in some of the vids cos there was an overzealous singing fan beside me

Ash rehearsal video

Got one of my Ash rehearsal video uploaded :)

It took me more than an hour to get the video compressed & converted, transferred and uploaded!　My uncle's desktop is so painfully slow grrr

Ash rehearsing at Fort Canning Park, Singapore

They sound so good live.. even when they are rehearsing!

Don't u just love Tim's Irish accent? =]

Meeting Ash :)

I did not expect to meet Ash but yesterday afternoon at Fort Canning Park, not only did Liz and Ｉ managed to meet Tim, Rick and Mark, we got to sit through the entire soundcheck/rehearsal!! It was surreal!! Tim was really nice - I got to speak to him for a bit :D The soundcheck cum rehearsal session went on for over 2 hours. We got to see them setting up their gear, soundchecking and Tim sang a couple of songs ^^

It was a blazing hot sunny afternoon and I think I got a little sunburned sitting in the sun watching the guys play but it was such an amazing experience to be able to see the guys rehearse :)

Didn't get any good pics during the concert despite being in the front row cos lighting was dim but I　ｔｏｏｋ　ａ　ｌｏｔ　ｏｆ　ｖｉｄｓ　ｓｏ　ｓｔａｙ　ｔｕｎｅｄ　－ｗｉｌｌ　ｐｏｓｔ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｗｈｅｎ　Ｉget home on Monday

Mark, Rick, myself and Tim　（Tim’s my fav Ash member!）

ｔhe stage (you can see Tim and Mark staring at Rick playing the drums)

Tim and Rick

Tim wondering why it’s so friggin hot in SG

Oh yeah Tim’s sexy back

Mark burning in the sun

The concert was WICKED! They played many songs (19 altogether) mostly songs off 1977．Sadly they didn't play Cantina Band [Ｉ heard them played a few lines of it during their soundcheck] but I'm not complaining cos they played Walking Barefoot, Renegade Calvacade, Jack Names The Planets and they totally brought the house down when they played Burn Baby Burn.

Will do a proper review when I am back in KL - meanwhile enjoy the rehearsal pics :)