All The World's A Stage

... and all the men and women merely players. So goes the famous quote from Shakespeare's 'As You Like It'. Shakespeare may have been brilliant to see that life is played out almost like a stage performance but I bet he had no idea that a stage could rock!

Saturday, August 15, 2009 - what a blast it was at MTV World Stage in Sunway Lagoon! I was lucky enough to win 4 passes from VJ Utt at Zouk's Pre-Party the week before and I put them to good use, bringing my cousin and 2 crazy rock fans along. And boy, did we party!

We got there an hour early and were greeted by a slight drizzle which was threatening to turn into a thunderstorm. Luckily for us, the rain faded away soon after. It would've been funny if it poured 'cause Sunway Lagoon specifically drained the entire surf pool just for this event. Imagine having the pool fill up with water during the concert. Haha! That would've been totally insane!

We wanted to sneak in our cameras but were told by the organisers that cameras were not allowed. If only I'd known they hardly enforced the rule. When we got into the concert venue, we saw tons of people camwhoring away. That totally sucked. It was a good thing my student ran into her friend, who was one of those who smuggled in their cameras. So that meant we could camwhore too! Yay!

Local band Estranged were already playing by the time we got there but not many were interested. Estranged actually plays some good music but unfortunately, being a local band, not many people bother. So much for 'Malaysia Boleh'. Hah!

Then, VJs Utt and Tanya appeared on stage to throw some t-shirts and other prizes at the audience before announcing the next act. This was the first of 3 acts many of us had been waiting for and it was definitely a good one to begin with. Boys Like Girls roared off with their infectious new single ,'Love Drunk' which had the crowd jumping and screaming, including yours truly. That was the first official moment of me being 18 again on the night. After a fun-filled set, they capped their performance with 'The Great Escape' - awesome!

Raygun came up next and predictably, a majority of the crowd were like... 'okay...' Not the most enthusiastic, I can tell you!

After Raygun ended their set, the crowd (mostly the guys) started screaming again when the adorable yet foxy Pixie Lott heated up the stage with her presence. My... my... my... what a voice. I can't believe she's only 18. Man... she's HOT! Love the accent!

After a long wait, the 2nd of the 3 anticipated acts came on stage to loud cheers of 'Hoobastank! Hoobastank! Hoobastank!'. Doug Robb, the lead singer mentioned, "Wow, I've never seen so many people in a pool!" I also managed to spot a cheeky poster from one of the female fans which read, 'Can I buy you another drink, Dan?', referring to lead guitarist, Dan Estrin. They rocked the crowd and had us eating out of their hands when they finally performed their biggest hit, 'The Reason'. Man, we were singing like a choir out there!



If that performance was crazy, then the next act totally set the stage on fire! All American Rejects kicked off their set with 'Dirty Little Secret' and they really worked up the crowd throughout their entire performance. It was one hit after another and I just couldn't stop jumping and screaming like an 18-year-old. No, I'm not ashamed to admit I'm in the 'uncle' age group but at the same time, I'm not ashamed to behave like a 'kid' either. Haha!

Their performance was the best of the night and this is where I thought the organisers made a big mistake. A huge percent of the crowd started leaving after AAR ended their energy-sapping performance. I mean, who could blame them? How many of us have even heard of Kasabian? I only know one song - L.S.F., and that's from playing FIFA 2004. True to expectations, the remaining crowd were largely quiet and unmoved throughout the performance. When the band finally played L.S.F., there was suddenly a lot of jumping and singing. Now we know how many people actually play FIFA 2004. Haha!

It was a shame the concert ended in such anti-climactic fashion but I had my fun anyway. Rocking with all the young people out there was such a high. Now, I'll have to get back to being 26 :p

*Photos courtesy of mtv.asia.com and Kin Hoe.