The Language of Music & 7 Till Dawn
Music - the one language that brings people from all backgrounds and cultures together.
The scene, atmosphere and energy that exploded at SMU's Grand Opening's Rock Concert on the 20th January was simply awesome. Of all the SMU gigs that I have ever been to or performed at, this gig takes the cake.
Never in my wildest dreams, would i imagine a 200 - 300 strong crowd composing of local/foreign/exchange students, faculty, deans, school administration staff and outsiders all dancing, jumping, head-banging, singing along and rocking to the concert. Even the Minister for Education, Thaman Shanmugaratnam, who graced our event, had praises for the bands. I sincerely hope that he enjoyed the concert.
In the face of all the raving reviews from staff, faculty, friends and strangers, it seemed almost naive for me to have worried, before the concert, about a possible poor turnout, more than partly due to the fact that the concert started at 9.30 pm, an abnormally late time to hold a rock concert in campus grounds.
With an insane time schedule to follow, Bernard (the rock concert's 2IC) and I were literally managing the concert by the minutes, checking our watches constantly to ensure that the concert began on time and that the bands all stuck to their performance durations, for all 3 scheduled bands to have sufficient stage time. The precision with which time was measured by its seconds was truly another aspect of the experience of the gig. Thankfully, the concert's program went well, with only several minor hiccups during showtime.
The inclusion of Ngak's band into the show, as the external band to grace the event, was a decision that thankfully, yielded positive results, as they are pretty well known in the pub circuit, but relatively unknown in SMU. Thankfully, this gamble paid off. Many thanks and credit would go to Firdaus, who helped contact and source for the bands for this concert, providing valuable advice and council on the external bands. I owe you much thanks bro.
~
I am also very proud of 7 Till Dawn, for putting up one of the best shows we ever had, at the Grand Opening Rock Concert. Truly, in every gig that we do (despite not making it for JamX 2006 Finals, or winning the similarly rigged Euphoria @ Indocine event last year), we always aim to connect with the crowd and rock the stage and always walk out the performance venue accomplishing our objectives. Nothing beats the sight of the crowd abandoning their inhibitions and rocking to our music, or hearing them singing along to our songs louder than our monitors, or to experience the shouts of a frenzied crowd demanding "We want more!" to express their desire for an encore. These are the little things that will make up one's life memories.
Truly, the friendships, shared experiences, jamming time, suppers and common ambitions will, I believe, bring us to our desired destination one day. For now, all we have to do is to take things one step at a time. Hopefully, when we have graduated, we will still be jamming together, making music like how we do now and following our dreams and passions.
~
Talking about dreams and passion - Thank you Jamiel, for re-introducing the beauty of music into my life (read the link. I was a member of the Caribbean Curry Puffs). Without that fateful initial push from you, I would not have become the person I am in SMU and would not have found my place in this institute.
~
Certain persons in SMU praising the SMU Bands that they were on par (or better, in the words of my mother who attended the concert) with the guest bands, also made my day, allowing me to prove the value of our own local SMU talent. The positive comments and feedback received from other musicians out of SMU who attended the concert were also very encouraging.
~
Putting all this aside, now that the Grand Opening Rock Concert is over, 7 Till Dawn will now have to focus on preparing for Bondue's Dinner @ Timbre on 2nd February and the Combined Concert (Studio Comm, Guitarissimo and SoundFoundry) on 3rd March.
It's going to be a busy semester. *smiles*
The scene, atmosphere and energy that exploded at SMU's Grand Opening's Rock Concert on the 20th January was simply awesome. Of all the SMU gigs that I have ever been to or performed at, this gig takes the cake.
Never in my wildest dreams, would i imagine a 200 - 300 strong crowd composing of local/foreign/exchange students, faculty, deans, school administration staff and outsiders all dancing, jumping, head-banging, singing along and rocking to the concert. Even the Minister for Education, Thaman Shanmugaratnam, who graced our event, had praises for the bands. I sincerely hope that he enjoyed the concert.
In the face of all the raving reviews from staff, faculty, friends and strangers, it seemed almost naive for me to have worried, before the concert, about a possible poor turnout, more than partly due to the fact that the concert started at 9.30 pm, an abnormally late time to hold a rock concert in campus grounds.
With an insane time schedule to follow, Bernard (the rock concert's 2IC) and I were literally managing the concert by the minutes, checking our watches constantly to ensure that the concert began on time and that the bands all stuck to their performance durations, for all 3 scheduled bands to have sufficient stage time. The precision with which time was measured by its seconds was truly another aspect of the experience of the gig. Thankfully, the concert's program went well, with only several minor hiccups during showtime.
The inclusion of Ngak's band into the show, as the external band to grace the event, was a decision that thankfully, yielded positive results, as they are pretty well known in the pub circuit, but relatively unknown in SMU. Thankfully, this gamble paid off. Many thanks and credit would go to Firdaus, who helped contact and source for the bands for this concert, providing valuable advice and council on the external bands. I owe you much thanks bro.
~
I am also very proud of 7 Till Dawn, for putting up one of the best shows we ever had, at the Grand Opening Rock Concert. Truly, in every gig that we do (despite not making it for JamX 2006 Finals, or winning the similarly rigged Euphoria @ Indocine event last year), we always aim to connect with the crowd and rock the stage and always walk out the performance venue accomplishing our objectives. Nothing beats the sight of the crowd abandoning their inhibitions and rocking to our music, or hearing them singing along to our songs louder than our monitors, or to experience the shouts of a frenzied crowd demanding "We want more!" to express their desire for an encore. These are the little things that will make up one's life memories.
Truly, the friendships, shared experiences, jamming time, suppers and common ambitions will, I believe, bring us to our desired destination one day. For now, all we have to do is to take things one step at a time. Hopefully, when we have graduated, we will still be jamming together, making music like how we do now and following our dreams and passions.
~
Talking about dreams and passion - Thank you Jamiel, for re-introducing the beauty of music into my life (read the link. I was a member of the Caribbean Curry Puffs). Without that fateful initial push from you, I would not have become the person I am in SMU and would not have found my place in this institute.
~
Certain persons in SMU praising the SMU Bands that they were on par (or better, in the words of my mother who attended the concert) with the guest bands, also made my day, allowing me to prove the value of our own local SMU talent. The positive comments and feedback received from other musicians out of SMU who attended the concert were also very encouraging.
~
Putting all this aside, now that the Grand Opening Rock Concert is over, 7 Till Dawn will now have to focus on preparing for Bondue's Dinner @ Timbre on 2nd February and the Combined Concert (Studio Comm, Guitarissimo and SoundFoundry) on 3rd March.
It's going to be a busy semester. *smiles*
posted by Noir @ 1:59 AM
Comments: 1
