Tenderfist, a local band who have made quite the impression on the international indie society, opened the night faultlessly. The band brought seven of their songs, including “Nightshift”, “Kicking and Screaming“, “Somewhere” and “Postcards” that undoubtedly electrified the audience. In contrast to how awkwardly still the members of the band are onstage, it was impossible for the crowd to not to tap along with the dreamy toy-like beats, even for the first-listeners. The ambience of the venue was engineered precisely with the night’s shoegazers (kudos to the new lighting effects and fog machine at The Bee!), the music daze was drumbeats away to begin.

As the triad enters the stage with a start of their first song, there was an instant chemistry captivated by the music, the band and the audience. “I Don’t Like It Like This” was next, and being the opposite of the song title, the crowd appears to be in favor of how static and nonchalant the band was onstage, with the constantly changing backlights that outlines the silhouettes of the members. Two other songs were played after, including their new one, “Good Cop, Gay Cop“. Duncanson later thanked for the night’s enthusiasm, along with some repent that the band couldn’t stay in Kuala Lumpur where he described it as “a really nice place, and I’m not just saying it”. Frankly, the band was not so much into crowd interaction, despite how humble they seem to be, seen from the thank you’s after each song, the only connection made between the band and the crowd was the ecstatic euphoria from the bass, guitar reverbs and the mighty amplifiers.

“Token of Gratitude” hit the nighttime’s pinnacle, with the song’s heart-piercing strums and the venue’s massive audio, people seemed to be completely in the zone. A personal favorite, “The New Improved Hypocrisy“, was played next, followed by three other songs including the single “Liebling” and the ultimate crowd-pleaser, “I Want You To Feel The Same“. The mass was enjoying the night in different ways, some were mouthing the words quietly, couples were cuddling, a few were dancing with a beer in hand and some were even closing their eyes and nodding along to each beat. The Radio Dept.’s trance-like, shoegazing flair seemed to speak to people diversely, each having an unexplored dimension yet, and with confidence, a lot of people were enjoying. Another new song was played, now with the drums added, and clearly the band was working on yet another anticipating music. The three finale felt eternal, with “Never Follow Suit“, “Heaven’s on Fire” and their most recent single, “David”.

With thirteen tracks that have been played tremendously, people were nowhere near jaded and kept on screaming for encore. Although the band was known to not play for encores, it was our lucky night indeed that they played another song from “Lesser Matters, 1995“. It was an easy A for the band’s performance that night, no shenanigans, no hassle, a truly tranquil night out.

Having five members by that time, (Johan Duncanson (guitar & vocals), Martin Carlberg (guitar), Daniel Tjäder (keyboard & synths), Lisa Carlberg (bass) and Per Blomgren (drums), The Radio Dept. had their first big break when their music was sent to Sonic magazine and got signed by Labrador Records who discovered the talents. Categorized as indie pop, the band has a sound of its own, a laid-back garage sound type of music, so-called shoegazing genre, where the music is deeply influenced by distorted rhythm guitars with introspective live performance (most likely uses effect pedals, that’s why it’s called shoe gazing!).

In 2003, Lesser Matters was released and the band gained new audience with a top nine rank from NME’s 50 top albums of 2004. The song “Keen on Boys” and “Pulling Our Weight” got a foremost attention and became the soundtrack of Coppola’s adaptation of Marie Antoinette. The thirteen-tracks album were a good kick start for the band’s initial career. Unfortunately, three of the members bailed leaving a threesome formation of Duncanson, Carlberg and Tjäder. The second album, Pet Grief, did not get ratings as good as their first album, rated a 7 at best by NME.
Clinging to a Scheme, however, changed the critics mind, having a righteous 8 star rating by most music media, with singles from their third studio album, David, Heaven’s on Fire and Never Follow Suit. The third album certainly changes the perception of the band’s sound, from a low-profile indie noise into a more lively and bright music, despite of the melancholic lyrics of an unsung love.

It will certainly be another to-go event of the month, a delightful way to spend Friday nights with good friends, good drinks and most importantly, good music.

Date                 Thursday, April 25^th 2013

Venue             The Bee, Publika, Kuala Lumpur

Tickets             RM 98 (presale)

                        RM 128 (on the spot)

Tickets on sale at The Bee Outlets (Jaya One and Publika) and Rock Corner, Bangsar Village 1. Entrance opens at 8 pm. Fair warning that this intimate event is 18+.

Big Sound Festival seems going to be one of the most anticipated music festivals in South-East Asia, since the show will be headlined by Blur, the legendary band from England. Furthermore, the excitement for the festival which will be held on May 15th 2013 is going to be heated up first on April 24th 2013 by The Kooks, Delphic, and Radio Dept.

The Kooks are an English rock band formed in 2004. They have released three albums, Inside In/Inside Out (2006), Konk (2008), and Junk of The Heart (2012). The Kooks stealed the attention from the media once their first album exploded. The band consist of Luke Pritchard, Hugh Harris, Peter Denton, and Paul Garred.

Delphic are definitely a familiar name if You’re a fan of shoegazing and electronic rock music. Their name started rocketing when they did their national tv debut on “Later … With Jools Holland” in 2009. In January 2013, They just released their second album titled “Collections“.

The Radio Dept are totally not from England, the band were named after a gas-station-turned-radio-repair-shop called “Radioavdelningen” (Swedish for The Radio Department). Their first album, “Lesser Matters“, was ranked no.9 for NME’s list of the best 50 albums in 2004.

Dyandra Entertainment and Sound Rhythm have been calling this All-in-one event as the Road to Big Sound Fest, and the event will be held at Tennis Indoor Senayan. If You are an avid fan of those names above, the ticket can be purchased via online on February 27th 2013.