8 posts tagged “nofx”
In no particular order, the following are the favourite low and high moments of the last 12 months:
the arrival of my niece Miss Nurin Najwa to Planet Earth
(a.k.a balik mesia terus kayap trip)
I would like to repeat my ah respecto to Jos, Mamak and Mat Prean for their allround rad-ness
(Now that AirAsiaX fly to Goldcoast frequently, i recommend u holiday people out there to consider Goldcoast's Surfers Paradise. Definitely a nice place to chill. u wont regret it)
(photo credit: Ahmad 'Cipoi' Saiful)
Milan pathetic domestic league form for season 07-08 is a course for concern though
Two of my best college buddies Encik Epi and Encik Dino, who both regard UK as their current playground, went back to tanahair for a brief holiday. (If either one of u is reading this, please dont forget me when u got all famous and bling bling)
Fat Mike & Co of NOFX ripping the stage here in Bolehland? that is a bit hard to swallow. After all, the respected quartet is arguably the biggest institution in punkrock, along with Rancid maybe.
In fact, my first VOX post was about this particular event...and dammit Mawi was stoked too...he was all over the moshpit
A memorable trip with the right people,right attitude. I blog about this long and hard here.
Again, i would like to salute these people for their radness: joker, sedi, scott, kechique and jos
(confession: day 1,2,3,4&5 were posted; still owe u guys day 5,6 and 7...eerrrrr)
and hey....u must love your country:
on 31st of August of last year, Bolehland hit the half century mark
Parameswara, Alfonso D Albuquerque, Hang Tuah&Crew, Tun Sambanthan, Tun Tan Cheng Lok, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Sharifah Aini must be proud.
and at least Dr. Love can 'enjoy it more' and nobody shall give a damn
Last August Bolehland hosted the inaugural "Champions Youth Cup', a tournament which feature the youth teams of earth's biggest clubs.
The group stage was played in several cities...and the roadtrip to Melaka to catch Porto vs Inter and Man Utd vs Boca Juniors was good fun.
For this first edition, Man Utd was champion, beating Juventus in the Final. Flamengo pipped Milan AC for third place
...and the funny thing is throughout the tournament Joneng and Mie were busy stalking players..hehe
'Third Wave Ska' (i.e skapunks) hit the hightimes during mid to end of 90s with bands like No Doubt(!), Reel Big Fish, Rancid, Sublime and Mighty Mighty Bosstones. If you are an avid indie music listener, by now most probably u could observe that ska music is truly dead and buried.
But a complete turnaround in 2007: after a long hibernation, ska has return to form baby...great bands such as Big D and The Kids Table, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Streetlight Manifesto, Mustard Plug and Buck-O-Nine have all released solid and catchy skapunk release...the rudeboys could be safely invited back to the dancefloor.
i still have one wish though: a Suicide Machines reunion
and speaking of reunion...
2007 saw the reforming of two important bands: the first was a politically charged force and the second was arguably among the most influential band of all time
At Coachella music festival last year, Zach de la Rocha reunite with the rest of RATM members Tom Morello, Tim Bob and Brad Wilk (all 3 were members of the now-defunct Audioslave fame) after a feud due to creative and political differences. Their reformation signals the comeback of one of the most critical voice on the domestic and foreign policies of the Bushy Admin.
New album? according to Tom Morello it is still sketchy...but if there is one i hope it will be in the same vein as the classic 'self titled' album (93) and 'Evil Empire' (96)
Back in September when organizers announced the Led Zep reunion, the O2 Arena (formerly known as 'Millennium Dome') site selling tickets crashed as millions of fans across the world rushed for about 20,000 seats, which was then made available via a lottery system
well...what more could we say about Led Zep? they help to define the term 'rock' to a new level.
exclusively, check out these 2 songs off that concert: Schumi has retired...and what did we gain in return?
I tell u what...the most thrilling season in recent years that is.
Especially the unpredictable last three races which would have gone to any of the 3 frontrunners.
Hopefully there would be more thriller in store on the upcoming new season...i believe Alex Yoong is stoked
the best thingy about this 'study' trip... errr..it was fully sponsored by the office
<one of the HIGHLIGHT of the year (below left pic): poor Britney Spears getting seriously funny...and crazier...and sh*ttier.
Mickey Mouse Club members wont like this...but some people predicted she will commit
>and lastly, 2007 was ended good (below right pic)
Out of all the music festivals this year, which were the coolest? Did you travel to attend any of them?
Maybe the just concluded Van Warped Tour, now in its 13th year. The festival is regarded as the annual punkrock summer-camp, and this year's edition took place in 45 days between July to August, touring more than 20 cities from Philadelphia to California.
Bands on the bill this year include Bad Religion, Alkaline
Trio, Big D and The Kids Table, MXPX, Pennywise, The Vandals, Tiger Army, Buck-O-Nine, The
Used, Fishbone, Mustard Plug, Gallows, Killswitch Engage etc.
a typical day of the tour sees almost 50 bands play for up to 30 minutes over approximately 6 different
stages, although the biggest bands generally play the two 'main' stages.
some pix of this year's edition:
as kiasu as i am, i just wanted to post these journey pix for record-sake.
some odds and ends:
tired with the cekadax of of our respective bosses and the talkative tea ladies, last year mat jos and i when to a travel fair looking for a destination to crash and rocknroll. A few destinations came up to mind: sabak bernam, bukit kayu hitam and tampoi. but in the end, after hearing a lot of good vibe about it we choose goldcoast, australia. ask a bunch of friends if they are interested as well:
mat prean : "orait...gua on"
mamak izani : "jgn cakap banyak...jalan terusss"
alang alang kepalang cemerlang gemilang tembelang...after a few discussion, we agreed to xtend our journey to sydney as well.
the agent of travel
they suggest we would save about RM400-RM500 if we go via royal brunei due to lower fuel surcharge. However there is a catch: we have to spent a nite at bandar seri begawan ...errr..whatever..
KLIA to Brunei-Brunei to Brisbane(nearest airport to Goldcoast)-Goldcoast to Sydney (via train)-Sydney to Brunei-Brunei to KLIA
the suspex
bandar seri begawan, brunei, 16-17 February
contrary to popular belief, foods served onboard royal brunei is as good as MAS
and all the stewardess wore headscarfs..but the odd thing is, they take it off momentarily for the customary safety and emergency demo...and then wear it again...
aaaa...is that a routine protocol or blatant hypocracy?...harharhar
royal brunei gave us rooms to crash at Traders Inn. meet-up with jos brunei buddies, azam and isaac apek who brought us for a sightseeing ride to two of Brunei famous mosques and the Istana Nurul Iman...sultan hassanal bolkiah's wives nowhere to be seen though azam and apek belanja us makan and send we off at the airport..these guys turn out to be cool
goldcoast, australia, 17-24 February
transfered from Brisbane International Airport to Coutyard Marriott at Surfers Paradise,Goldcoast...right in the middle of the action...just the way we want it to be..
apart from the bitch...ahem..beach...we did manage to visit the Paradise Farm [aussie wildlife such as koala, kangaroo and animal (not tiger) shows], Warner Bros' Movieworld (hollywood-laden rides and shows) and Sea World (like our Sunway Lagoon, only 10 times bigger)
Looking at all the pix above, u may be wondering why all the NOFX Tees...actually on the second nite we manage to catch a NOFX show at a place called Coolangatta, the southern-most part of Goldcoast..and nice t-shirt was on sell as well
NOFX punkrock show, Coolangatta 18 February
the show was rad, except for the endless brawl between meat-hungry bouncers and the drunken mat sallehs..and too bad my digicam was accidentally damaged by one of em...which led me to write this post
we are transported to Goldcoast via Brisbane airport... and we kinda curious about Brisbane and on 22/2 decided to take a 2 hour train and spent half a day there.
sydney, australia 24-26 february
Our journey from Goldcoast to Sydney is on 24/2 via an integrated transportation service called 'Countrylink'- a 3 hour bus ride + 12 hour overnite train. basically we only have 2 full days at sydney....just enough time to checkout syydney citycentre + sydney opera house, Bondi Beach and the nitelife at victoria street
at the airport on the way back (Sydney International Airport- Brunei-KLIA)
THANX TO MAT PREAN, MAT JOS AND MAMAK
FOR THEIR ALL AROUND RAD-NESS
epilogue:
As they got onstage, El-Hefe, excited as a kindergarten kid, cheekly yelled "we are here!..we are here!". Then Fat Mike grab the mic, grinned and said "i dont see too many white people here... i like that"...hahaha.
Without further ado they got the adrenaline pumping by opening the set with 'Linoleum', off the classic "Punk In Drublic' (without a doubt my favourite NOFX album). The crowd was going frenzy...my back and shoulders started to be attacked by kids trying to push their way to the front, resulting to occasional shaking in the video.
Fat Mike was pumping his bass and shouts. Melvin and Hefe were earning their money and jumped like madmen. Smelly was doing his thing by bashing the skins and cymbals effortlessly. It's confirmed: NOFX is in the house.
On recent years these guys have become more vocal on their state of current affairs, as reflected in this particular song in this politically-charged album. In fact Fat Mike was responsible for gathering great bands such as ALKALINE TRIO, SOCIAL DISTORTION, ANTI-FLAG, DESCENDENTS, PENNYWISE, RISE AGAINST, GET UP KIDS, STRIKE ANYWHERE, LAGWAGON, RANCID, BAD RELIGION, STRUNG OUT, GREEN DAY, MAD CADDIES, HOT WATER MUSIC and LESS THAN JAKE for the' Rock Against Bush' Compilations. And they chosed to perform this song during a rare tv appearance in Late Nite With Conan O'Brien.
"this next song is dangerous" chanted Fat Mike. Dangerous? i hope not. But infectous and melodic? hell yes. El-Hefe's delicious guitar riff one feet from my lame face certainly proved that. The song is the opener for their latest effort 'Wolves in Wolves Clothing' and came with a sarcastic video clip. Provocative and funny as hell! u might want to check it out:
Parental advisory...explicit lyrics:
Perfect Government ie Protecting the Rich, Denying the Poor
Even if it's easy to be free- What's your definition of FREEDOM? And who the fuck are you, anyway?
Who the fuck are they?- Who the fuck am I to say?- What the fuck is really going on?
How did the CAT get so fat?-Why does the family die?- Do you care why?
Cause there hasn't been a sign- Of anything gettin' better in the ghetto- People fed up-But when they get up
Your point your fuckin finger- You racist, you bigot- But thats not the problem- Now is it?
Its all about the money- Political power is taken- Protecting the rich, denying the poor
They love to watch the war from the WHITE HOUSE- And I wonder?
How can they sleep at night?
How did the CAT get so fat?
Fat Mike&Co had a beef on George Bush, Dick Cheney&Co. Check out Mike's 'tongue in cheek' action at the beginning of the song...haha. Unfortunately my camera battery melts and spells the end of my amateurish journey into vidcapping. Too bad.
So in the end i could conclude that the show was a blast. Whilst most of the kids moshed and jumped about and were inches away from them, they didn't at any point attempt to bum-rush the stage and create havoc. Even better than the one i saw at Goldcoast, Australia where the attitude of the crowd of drunken mat sallehs spoiled the show. It was definitely a fun-filled evening of utter punkrock madness.