VIMA 2010: Notes from the Front Table, at Mist Club

Part 1

Rachel Chan recounts the events that make the VIMA a night to remember, from her nicotine soaked notes penned at the front table, in a certain club in Bangsar.

Note: Full winners list here.

The theme of the VIMA 2010, Indiecent, was translated by many to mean “Black and White with disco lame”. Although the VIMA banners portrayed a sultry lady’s bare back with the VIMA letters emblazoned on it – intending, perhaps, to sell indie music as something “sexy”. Generally, bands arrived more stylishly dressed than the previous year. It was a miracle how low cut tops could stand the cold.

Movemint kicked off with beatboxing. Kraft, MC Vandal, and Young Stunna gave a very energetic start, mingling as well with the crowd, making it interactive. It was truly indie, all impromptu without the help of instruments. This eliminated your typical soundchecks by rock bands, providing a much needed warm up to the crowd, some fo which might have received a full blast of cold air-conditioned mist.

Kraft beckoned someone to “get the fuck of the stage” – letting it all out to shock the crowd. There was a mini sketch with Poseidon Connection – a mock hip hop versus rock battle. Insults, mostly containing a certain four letter word were “exchanged”. Both were dressed to “kill” – each other preferably, and Mike Tyson had never bitten harder than the words of the duo. We saw even MC Vandal sneak in a shot with his camera.

The intro of the MCs next, was seamless, allowing the rapper and his rocker fiend to take their fight off the stage.

Siva, Voize Managing Editor, threw a “Hummer” into some lady’s drink. She did not look too pleased, but the crowd was hungry for some action and that they got. We got a video by the Magnificent Seven which looked a lot like OAG, circa 2002.

Benchmarx, teachers by day, brought a durian to stage but managed not to stink too badly. Played songs like Malaysian cowboys on patriotic crack. Much like schoolboys on too much sugar. Certainly a skill much needed to keep up with the boys’ stamina when at their day jobs. Winners of Most Exhilarating Live Act, they smashed their guitar. “Like a battleground, the stage”, quipped MC C Loco.

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Part 2

Brunei’s Adi Rani and Juju then serenaded the crowd, with Juju’s smooth vocals soaring over Adi’s tenor voice. Juju luxuriated us with her deep rich voice not unlike black R&B artistes, in a medley including that oft-sang number ‘Apologise’.

Then came the time for the realisation of serious things, with VR1’s Jeff Siah coming on stage to talk about peace. Not astray from music, Siah then freestyled, admitting to advanced age but certainly not deteriorating skills. “One Love” signs were flashed in place of flashlights.

An Honest Mistake, who bagged Best College Act performed much to the excitement of supporters. While still having a long way to go to become truly polished, the promising college seniors follow easily in the footsteps of their predecessors Benchmarx, above noted for their amazing burst of durian powered energy. The honest musicians made the stage theirs.

AXN then showed us they can dance with a repertoire of dancers from its ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ show, kicking off with a belly dance routine from a silkily clad member. Next was Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, heralding in Season 6 of their hit reality series. Much more ballroom inspired moves followed – filling up the belly of the hall.

Andrew LD, the Penang pop star, was in a boxing mood, with his theme song “Crushing Rock” being selected as VIMA theme song this year. He also wrote the comic anthem “I Want to Box My Friend”.

The Hall of Fame showcase lined up a few targets for the music scene’s adoration. They were: Dato’ Sri Shazalli Ramly, Celcom CEO; Jasmine Low of the indie youth scene Doppelganger; Issa Rodriguez who is the National Director of Global Battle of the Bands; Clair Rozells who is an accomplished singer and a champion of the local music scene in Malaysia; as well as Junk Magazine representative Sarah Chan.

Part 3

Prema Yin, sporting lovely new pink accented bob cut, wowed the crowd with her massively energetic and super polished performance of ‘Eyo Eyo’. Winner of Best Pop Song, this rocker chick delivered something that can only be honed by years and years of perfecting her performance. There was even some slithering on the floor, making it the most hardcore rock performance (the other one was a rock vs hip hop duel) of the night.

Karacoma, with their flashy guitars, and folkish barefooted frontwoman, then took the stage, providing a more gritty complement to the night. With its hard rock/metal (?) ‘gorengs’, being barefooted was probably a good idea as the lead singer bounded up and down the stage, much to the amusement of Bruneian fans. And the fans were a truly supportive bunch, rooting for their nominees throughout the night.  Singapore? Ah, maybe next year…”We might open VIMA next year to Singapore,” says Siva in his speech, after throwing in a Hot Wheels equivalent of a Hummer (the lady whose drink it fell in certainly looked Indiecent…)

We stayed till the last performance, of course, as at Voize its not really a working day tomorrow (since the boss threw a Hummer – hah!) and witnessed the one performance many rock/electronic aficionados had been waiting for – NAO. Now, we had NAO and they certainly gave us the adrenaline shot! Wordless, but stoic with their guitars, NAO summed up everything the awards were  – less words, more indie action!

Photo credits: Rachel Chan