An evening of peril

So yesterday was a pivotal moment for the band. We were about to introduce ourselves properly to the masses (Arty Party doen't quite count, if you catch my drift). Everything was on the line.

I came early for soundchecks. Polarised blew me off, Ferns was their usual self, Priceless Stupid Box reminded me why I love/miss Cesspit so much, Mr. Sterile's too solid for a show of that calibre, Go Vertical was klutzy at first and Akta remained anonymously secretive by refusing to do one.

But why was Telephony Delivery denied a soundcheck slot?

Spontaneously the answer would be there isn't enough time to afford one slot for us. I can accept that, but I'm still quite bitter about it. Thank god at least Shah got to test his EMX before our set or his whole part would sound like an army of crickets buzzing to kill mankind. It was Adib's gig so we save it all to ourselves. He's been under monstrous pressure handling the gig itself and we wouldn't want to spoil his mood.


We got swept off the opening slot by Go Vertical. I'm very fond of this band already. The perfect fit of what I dreamt of achieving. They brilliantly combined my love for brooding, dynamics instrumentals with what Telephony's doing right now- fast/fast rock. Acid (prn: a-cheit) rocked the drum kit like it was the last thing he'd do before kicking the bucket. I expect to see them gigging around nearby soon.

Then it was us. Suddenly I felt everything went mute. As if we were on stage just moving things and packing stuff. Was it our lack of PR? Probably. I had to act as the band's spokesperson by default since Azmir's no longer with us and the others won't do it. So I mumbled and crap-talked my way as Azhar and Shah set up their equipments and then we were ok to go. All Was Lost was way below par I reckon. Thanks to my singing voice. Must find a solution to that. Everything went quite ok until we played Faux Fiancee Foe Pt. 2 where Bob slipped his solo bass break and one of the guitar strings snapped (it's Adib's. so sorry bro). I gave a shout-out to the bands playing that day wheather I could loan their guitar for just one more song but my plea was to no avail. I felt stupid then. Really. Stupid. So we decided to continue with The Overture Of Dollah Tiger & Mat Chicago with it and by then I don't give a rat's ass what'll happen. We played, done, packed and left. Playing a set like that after Go Vertical, surefire suicide I tell you.

My head was full of negativity as me, Azhar, Efry, Bono and Li went to Agros (Argos?) for drinks. Our set was morale-y disastrous for me personally. I had to rush to Pudu since my bus's departing by 7:30. Then all the while I was in the bus, I reflected on the gig. Did we just make a fool of ourselves? Would that be our last show before surfacing with another slot for another half a year? Then it hit me. That was our 1st show with Shah and Bob. The band's 2nd gig since it's inception.

I am to hard on myself I guess.


As I was lounging at my bach. pad's living room, Akak texted a well-done message. At least someone genuinely thinks we were decently ok. Then I popped the vidcam and reviewed our slot and I thought, "Hey, it was not that bad". Then today I checked tha band's Myspace. People actually liked Dollah Tiger and we sold 7-8/10 of our reissued demo.

But was I discouraged? No. The thought of us playing again in a very, very long while is strangely a motivation. We'll be hogging the drawing board, charting a better path and attacking a greater goal. We will be heard. Watch out.



Hmm. I am to hard on myself.