What do you get when 2 bands played side by side for 1.5 hours?
aWeSoMe Music
What do you feel when Good Shepherd band and Unabashed Ardour take on stage?
Rocktified
‘Rocktified’ was the theme, and on the 6th of May 2005, in the Perousia hall of Glad Tidings Church, PJ, a crowd of about 80- 100 people gathered together at 8.30PM, for a solid performance by 2 very special bands, Unabashed Ardour and Good Shepherd Band. This is a project done by the students of the International College of Music (ICOM)
The night started at 2030 hours, with Brandon - the emcee for the night - welcoming all the people who attended. The hall is big, with a capacity for about 500 people (if seated to the max), equipped with fantastic lighting and sound. There were several booths outside the hall, selling things ranges from devotional bookmarks to glow-in-the-dark crosses to twisted wired frames, beautifully and skillfully done by the people of Beautiful Gate Foundation. People were seen entering the hall as early as 8PM, with me and my friend, who arrived much earlier, talking over some issues. A small reunion were seen with me and the Good Shepherd church’s youth, when all of us were sited outside the hall, waiting for the event to start
At sharp 8.30PM, we were ushered in the hall, and I took my place in the second row from the front. Brandon as the emcee, welcome us and the night began. Unabashed Ardour was the first team to perform, led by Jason Ding, together with Andrew Tan, who was one of the Malaysian Idol Season 1 top 5 finalists. They performed 4 songs, which is their own original composition that leads to claps and cheers from the floor. One brother said : “ That’s what I call original music.” Yea, all had fun listening to the music and song, with the last song being one of the band’s favorite and apparently, it is the crowd’s favorite too. It’s named “Whisper in the storm”. According to Jason, the song was composed and taken based on the psalms of David. The song had an implicit meaning to it.
After about 30-35 minutes, Brandon took on stage again, and this time it was freebies time. YEA!!! Nothing pleases Malaysian more then freebies. Up for grabs includes a Rocktified T-shirt and some key chains. The stuffs were snapped up almost instantly, and the emcee introduced the various stalls outside the hall and soon, Good Shepherd Band were called on stage.
Leading on vocals for Good Shepherd Band were Samuel, Samson and Shama (The S3). Great singers they are, and the songs they sung really portrayed their powerful vocals and sound. The band played several songs, in no particular orders ‘Jump to the jam’, ‘History maker’, ‘The great adventure’ and ‘Jesus Freak’ were some of the famous songs that were performed. The group, backed by Sanjay and Andrew on guitars, together with Ashwin on drums, delivered a powerful performance that rock the night. The music wave was great enough to start a tsunami, and as some of the comments I heard, ~Electrifying~
In between the songs, Samson tried to break the ice among the crowd by playing a game. Dubbed the “Two-Fifty” game, and as quoted by Samson “Just for tonight. The guys will cost Fifty cents, and the girls will cost Two dollars”. For example when he said three fifty, 1 girl and 3 guys will stand together to make up that amount (any other combinations are also accepted) but then he wants a group to be formed at least by one guy and one girl. So when the next round he said seventy cents, all of us were at a lost. Some of us were contemplating whether to chopped the girls hand or legs to make up the remaining 20 cents *evil laughter?* Just joking by the way =P It can’t be serious anyway J)
During the last song of the band performance, the audiences were invited to dance and to do head bang in front of the stage. It was done to the song ‘Jesus Freak’ by DC Talk. The S3 plus Brandon, together with the musician thought that the night wouldn’t end without some excitement and fun, and indeed, about half of the crowd went upfront to dance and to enjoy what seemed to be a ‘Rocktifying’ song. People were seen to be enjoying themselves to the upbeat of the drum, the electrifying sound of the guitars, and the explosive sound of the vocals.
At the end of the show, which lasted for an hour and a half, everyone was satisfied. From the little children who came with their parents, to the band members who performed; the volunteers for the night to the booth vendors, all of us were satisfied to be able to pull through without any major hiccups. Words of compliment and laughter were heard among the crowd, and truly this is a scenario of Christian music being brought to greater limits. People nowadays had been more open and expose towards Christian rock music, and the perception of Christian music being just hallelujah hymns were long gone. Music is a powerful tool for evangelism, and the organizers of the night learnt that. Rocktified 2005 certainly live up to its name, and that there will be more of this coming up, even though it is a class project.
A tribute to->
*Sheema for being the organizing crew. Thanks for the invitation, and it certainly had been an accomplishment. Great job well done.
*Unabashed Ardour and Good Shepherd Band, for the powerful and explosive performances on stage.
*Volunteers who helped out in every way. Without you people, the night would be in a mess
*All who attended the concert. The night was nothing without your support and participation. . .
