A few months back when I first heard about this music festival, I couldn’t help myself but wondered what it is going to be like, 30 international acts, including Western, Asian, and Thai artists. Such variety of line ups would only happen in here, “Sonic Bang: The Ultimate International Music Festival Experience.”

It was late morning on a lovely Saturday when the event started. Impact Arena was the place where people came to gather and experience the live music. I spotted four huge main stages which were set in different halls, the stages were called ‘Boom’, ‘Pow’, ‘Bang’, and ‘Wow’, following with another three minor ones, ‘Sound Blast’, ‘Silent Disco’, and ‘Park stage’. Sunlight and solar heat were not an obstacle here. You can even tell that the festival was slightly different from the infamous ones we know by seeing the participants’ outfits, some wearing cosplays, some wearing band t-shirts, and some wearing the same outfits carrying neon signs with running text.

In the daytime, the schedule was packed with Thai and Asian acts on the main stages including Scrubb, Miyavi, Lipta, Scandal, Far East Movement, and many more. Korean and Japanese fans seemed to be pleased well, many young girls kept running from stages to stages to see their favorite Asian artists. The festival started to please indie fans when the Sun began to set. The Standards, a Thai-English indie rock band was a great appetizing act before Ash, Placebo, and Pet Shop Boys got on stage.

The Irish alternate rock band, Ash, made their fourth comeback to Bangkok which it has been over a decade since the last time they performed here. I couldn’t help but noticed how Thai fans were thrilled to see them live again, not to mention plenty of foreigners as well. The band started their fifteen-song set with ‘Meltdown’ following up with well known singles like, ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Girl From Mars.’ Tim Wheeler, the frontman, also mentioned with his delightful smile how pleased the band felt to come back and play in Bangkok again. Ash continued to flow their show with ‘Oh Yeah’, ‘Kung Fu’, and ‘Evil Eye’, it’s too bad that every party has an end, when Tim said it’s going to be the last song for them, all the fans sobbed a little and let they finished the set with ‘Burn Baby Burn’, and that was such a joyful goodbye.

Coming up with the next main act that indie fans were waiting for, Placebo, an alternative rock band from England, which had their last show in Thailand three years ago and their performance was still memorable by many witnesses until today. Among the big crowd I stood in during the soundcheck, it looked like people tried their best to stand still, just to make sure that their best spots were not going to get stolen. Fortunately, they did not have to stay patient for that long. Placebo’s first appearance got all the fans screamed and shouted, it was such a good sign for the band to start playing their eighty minute set. The audiences got crazy over the songs like ‘Bionic’, ‘Loud Like Love’, ‘Every You Every Me’, ‘Meds’, and ‘Song To Say Goodbye.’ It was quite obvious to see that the band put so much energy to this show that you could not help it but received some power from them and sang along like crazy! It is sad but true that I needed to leave between Placebo set since the headliner, Pet Shop Boys, were about to start the dance party at Boom stage.

“Wow, it is like another world here!” that was my thought when I first stepped in the hall where Boom stage was at. Believe it or not, Pet Shop Boys already started playing before I got in, I felt sad a little but the sadness was easily disappeared in about five seconds by the beat I heard. And from what I saw, everybody was moving their bodies, everybody, they looked like they were occupied dancing and having a good time. Besides PSB themselves, the two dancers with their animal heads seemed to be one of the highlights of the party as well. With the lights, back screen motions, and the tunes like ‘Domino Dancing’, ‘West End Girl’, ‘Suburbia’, ‘It Is a Sin’, and ‘Always on My Mind’, all these amazing combinations allowed the whole audience in the hall to free themselves from the outside world. After a while, the disappearance of PSB from the stage, let us know that the set was over, even we all knew that, but still, no one left. They left us craving for more, I’m pretty sure that everyone felt this way, “We want more! Two more songs! We want more!” The shouting worked perfectly well when we all heard the familiar voice “Bangkok, you are amazing.” And for the desirable reason, people kept dancing and screaming to ‘Go West’, two songs passed by and the time had come, PSB were no longer on the stage, left a thousand of people there in the hall waiting for them to come back and play a few more songs, it wasn’t going to happen this time, people started to realize and walked out the hall with pleasurable memory. (Nette Kosit/Photos : Sonic Bang)

The concept is quite simple, a musical mecca to invite all kinds of people with the need to simmer down from life’s pressure with a company of music that will take you to a time where nothing mattered. We arrived just as the gates were open, the InternationalSepang Circuit was altered into a cement-floored amusement park, but instead of rides, they had stages, and instead of grass, they had crates. At a first glance, the venue seemed a tad bit pale, certainly was not up to par from what the poster illustrations that have been publicized. But as the night falls, stage lighting and Nina Marini’s art installations painted the festivities in colors, and that’s when you know the party had started.

There were four main spots, the Red, the Blue, the Green Stage and the Silent Discotek. The first three hours of the festival was packed with local artists among them includes LiyanaFizi, Kyoto Protocol and Tenderfist which we have caught in act and was pleased with what they have contributed to the growth of the local and international music scene.

Ash, the Irish alt rock band, was the first main act that we were all dreading for. Started out with their song ‘Meltdown’, the triad’s upsurge was cut abruptly due to technical difficulties backstage. Then again, what’s a musical festival without a little patience, eh? As soon as the problems were resolved, the band continued with their songs including ‘A Life Less Ordinary’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Girl From Mars’, their new song ‘Binary’, ‘Evil Eye’ and the crowd’s favorite ‘Oh Yeah’. Enjoying Ash’s energizing performance to fuel up the night, the band’s performance was nothing but easy and enjoyable music that makes your toes dance in the pink gleam of the sunset. After a generous one-hour set with 13 songs, Ash’s set was closed with ‘Burn Baby Burn’.

Continuing with the next main act, was both Japandroids and Modest Mouse, though it was painful to choose which one to go see, Modest Mouse seemed to be the wiser choice due to the strategic time and place before the main headliner. Modest Mouse’s performance was a full house, reflecting how they colonized the stage with unbelievable musical talents, from the drums, the violins to the sitar. The band performed a one-hour set with songs including ‘Float On’, ‘The View’, ‘Dashboard’, ‘ Ocean Breathes Salty’, ‘Fire It Up’ and their newest song, ‘Sh*t in Your Cut’. With their live formation of two drummers, extended guitarist, violinist and keyboardist, the sound system of the Red Stage was unable to adjust to the variety of the musical instrument the band had to offer. The staggering beats of both drums appeared to drown other sounds, though the interesting fusion between folk and rock they have engineered was radical, and the stampede-like energy of the performance was dominating.

The peak of the night was upon us, and the crowd grew even larger at the Red Stage for the main headline of the night. The crowd had its own flair, ranging from younger to older fans, all excited to finally see Smashing Pumpkins’ live debut in Malaysia. With the band’s years of ceaseless astonishment in the rock music scene, their Grammy-winning achievements and nine successful studio albums of grunge-goth-rock music, the band did justice to the audience as they played the first song of the night, the insanely anthemic single, ‘Tonight, Tonight’. It was clearly seen that the presence rock legends stunned the crowd, all the fans, acquainted or obsessed, had their inner 90s teenage spirit awaken as the band continued with the song ‘Cherub Rock’. The three songs ‘Starz’, ‘Space Oddity’ and ‘Disarm’ was a huge hit, a lot of the crowd was singing along tirelessly, some of them starteda crowdsurf. The song ‘Quasar’ was closed with ridiculous rhythms by none other the guitar hero, Jeff Schroeder, that promptly got the crowd hyped, continued with a non-released song ‘Gossamer’. We must never be apart, was beautifully sung by Billy Corgan, followed by the massive herd of fans in the song ‘Ava Adore’.  ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings’ was next, followed by their singles from more recent albums ‘One Diamond, One Heart’ and ‘Pale Horse’. Instant chemistry was felt when the first notes of ‘Today’ was played, the audience was head over heels and dancing to the song was inevitable.  ‘Zero’, ‘Stand Inside Your Love’ and ‘United States’ was the three closing songs before the encore-less one and half an hour epic set. The overall performance was mind-blowing, beyond fascinating, and we certainly had goosebumps when BillyCorgan closed the set with ‘We were, we are, we will be Smashing Pumpkins’. Though there may be a few sighs when ‘1979’ or ‘Thirty-Three’ was not on the list, the audience was still tongue-tied from witnessing the four rock prodigies on stage.

There was so many teen-spirit and liveliness happening throughout the venue on that very day. From the main stages, to the side DJs and Silent Discotek, the fashion and food offered, the festival was the perfect night out for the weekend. We’re expecting a lot more thrills and surprises for the next time the good vibes roam around town!

]]> http://www.svanapaper.com/good-vibes-festival-gave-the-good-vibes-in-kuala-lumpur/feed/ 0 http://www.svanapaper.com/sonic-bang-thailand-very-own-ultimate-international-music-festival/ http://www.svanapaper.com/sonic-bang-thailand-very-own-ultimate-international-music-festival/#comments Sat, 10 Aug 2013 13:35:56 +0000 Dorothy T. http://www.svanapaper.com/?p=4811 Get ready for SONIC BANG the Ultimate International Music Festival which will be held on..]]>