Wow, what a show. Easily the best we've ever done.

But damn, it wasn't easy. Problems started in the morning. Soundcheck was supposed to be at 11 a.m, so I got up at 10 30, and gave everyone a call to make sure they knew where and when to go. After calling the leader of a fellow performing band, he proceeded to inform me it had been postponed an hour to 12 p.m. Ok, no problem, I thought.

So we show up at 12, and lo and behold, its postponed to 3 p.m, due to the hotel having a staff meeting, thereby prohibiting us from making any noise whatsoever. Again, we took it in stride, and then decided heck, we'd go jamming in the meantime. Before we left, we met with the organising chairperson for the Prom Night, who proceeded to inform us that the theme for the night would be Retro - Revival of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

My first thought was 'fuck'.

This was new information we hadn't been told about previously, and led to a hastily arranged band meeting, to consider changes to the song list. Russ said that we shouldnt change it too much, since we had already practised and agreed upon an earlier list. The rest, Rusydie and Archie were more along the lines of 'anything, as long as it turns out ok.' Since the only song we knew that was remotely retro was 'That Thing You Do', it was one of a few changes we made to the list.

Alvin and Omer had wanted to go jamming as well, so Russ and Archie went off to get them as we went went off to go get Radhie. Met up atht eh jamming centre, only to find all rooms were booked til... yeah, you guessed it, 3. Seeing that it was almost 2, we decided to just hang out at the hotel venue, and wait it out.

3 p.m came and passed, and still no soundcheck. The sound people hadn't arrived! Tempers were fraying and nerves were getting raw as we tried to maintain some semblance of patience. Finally, they arrived, and we had problems with the technical setup. First of all, when it comes ot gigs, a band would usually run the setup throuhg amps on stage, and Line-Out them to a mixing board, which would pump out the sound to monitors in front of the performing band, and the house speakers.

However, it was clear that the amps weren't up to the job, and the sound came out very muddled and, well, shite. So the main technical guy decided to run everything through the mixing board, bypassing the amps completely. Russ wasn't happy, because he couldn't really hear himself. Radhie wasn't happy either, but the sound people asked us to trust them, so we did.

Soundcheck went and passed by without too much incident. After that, we still found some strength to go jamming with Omer and Alvin.Well, not Russ, who looked as pale as a white bed sheet, and just as tired too.

Went home, picked out our outfits, with yours truly going for a classic look; black pants, black jacket, cream shirt, gold and black tie. Rusydie was similar, black pants, black jacket, creamish pink shirt, blue and pink tie. Radhie went off-beat; dark pink and white striped shirt, red tie, blue jeans and white U2 jacket. Russ and Archie made do with black pants + shirts, and silver ties.

This was our initial song list :
1st Set
1. That Thing You Do
2. Drive
2nd Set
3. Dirty Little Secrets
4. Pardon Me
5. Mungkin Nanti
3rd Set
6. Only One
7. Belaian Jiwa
8. Ghost of You

Now, considering that the Funny Rabbits at the last minute did NOT show up, we had to cover for them and play more. >.<

If that wasn't bad enough, turns out our guitarists had forgotten the Lead for Drive, so we had to scrap it. The night seemed to be heading for an anticlimax. However, the worries melted away when we opened up with That Thign You Do. They were clapping, singing along, moving their bodies, thumping their feet. Just the start we had hoped for. After that, to slow it down a bit before dinner, we played Talk Shows On Mute.

The rest of the night before our 2nd set passed in a blur. Next thing we knew, we were back on stage, for our second set. DLS and Pardon Me drew some warm applause, but we got them involved with that 'killer' hit, Mungkin Nanti. This is the reason why all musicians or bands perform and do live shows, I thought to myself. Yes, they were singing along. Yes they were all swaying their arms. Some had lighters lit up and were swaying them as well. Even the MC's were singing along on their mikes, going around the crowd, looking for people to sing along as well. The uproarious applause and cheering after that song was just amazing to feel.

Just as we were about to go down from stage, we heard cries of 'one more'. So I took a gamble on messing up the set list, and we did Only One. If anything, the cheers were even louder. :D

Next up were the United Kids of Oi, a band that oscillates between Ska, Reggae, and metal rock. Quite a combo, you say. They stuck to Reggae and Ska last night, and it got the crowd jumpy and all dance-y. After that was a Soul Star Search winner, (can't remember his name) and he warmed them up some more with Michael Buble's Sway and the immortal 'Can't Take My Eyes off of You'. Next thing, it was us back up on stage. As we prepared for our final set, the MCs gave out awards for Best Dressed Male and Female. Before we played our final set, I called them up to the dance floor, and announced that I wanted them to dance together as we played our next number.

Belaian Jiwa got the crowd to come up on to the dance floor infront of the stage, as they all swayed with us with our rendition of a perenial crowd favourite. And they swayed with us some more, as we played another sentimental number, the ecclectic Unintended by Muse. We played Ghost of You, which had stood us in good stead before this, and thought abotu finishing it off there and then. However, a few cries of 'one more' prompted me to close out the show with another perenial favourite, Pearl Jam's venerable Last Kiss. With the crowd on the dance floor, singing along nad dancing to what we were playing, it was deeply rewarding to see all of our practising and hard work pay off.

I'm deeply proud of the band and how we did that night, and it was easily the best show we had ever done. Russ, Rusydie, Radhie, Archie, we rock!

_rafie