"One more dreamer on a runaway drive."

I was just watching TKWC’s new mv last night, and it made me think back to when I saw them here in July, how I was blown away by their gig, how I spoke to Alex after the show and how he replied my tweet later that night.

And this morning I woke up with the most amazing news that they’re playing the 2012 Countdown here in Singapore. 

So proud of how far they’ve come, counting down to the new year all the way here in Singapore! And it’s going to be amazing seeing them live again, playing to so so so many people here in Singapore this time. :) 

They inspired me a lot back when I saw them in July, and this is just gonna be a really appropriate and great way to kick off the new year. :)

Finally, a full SP concert here in Singapore.

I mean, I missed Singfest back in ‘08 (that was the year, I think.) and I practically missed their entire acoustic set earlier this year when I had the chance to go… But yeah, I saw them play 3 songs live this year and it was amazing. 3 songs. Now it’s gonna be a full, entire set hehe. :)

Blasting SP songs in my room now. They’re on shuffle, and with almost every song that comes on I swear, some memory comes into my mind.  I’ve been listening to them for a long time and they’re one of the bands I grew up listening to. They’ve practically been the soundtrack to my teenage years and I hold so many silly yet significant memories with this band. :)

I think it’s rather apt that they’re coming at the start of next year, heh. It’s time to let go of some of these memories, but I’ll always cherish them.

Anyway… this is going to be a really meaningful concert and of course a really fun one hehe. Priya and I are probably gonna make shirts again. And I can’t wait to go get my tickets soon. PSYCHHHHHED! :)

06 October 2011, All Time Low in Singapore

So many thoughts about last night, I’m not gonna bother writing in proper paragraphs and just put them in bullet points heh. But in chronological order, somewhat: 

• First live ATL show of mine. Getting to finally see a band you’ve been listening to for 4 years live, is definitely one of the best feelings in the world. Especially a band that you love so much and means so much to you, you have no idea. 
• Waited in line for about 3 hours, which wasn’t really that long. Thanks so much Priya and Rashidah for getting there so much earlier to queue! Had fun waiting with Priya, Rashidah, Mel and the rest in the queue haha. Also when I looked at the whole queue later on, I was completely dumbstruck because it was so long. I couldn’t believe there were so many people here in Singapore waiting and queuing to see ATL and I was so, so proud of the band again. 
• After we finally entered the venue, we waited for close to 3 hours in the pouring rain. Most insane experience ever. The rain was so heavy, and there was so much lightning. The Dirt Radicals only came on at 9 I think, when they were supposed to come on at 8, and everyone was so pissed off by then. Not to mention I was really tired and hungry, I started feeling sick halfway through ATL’s gig.
• Speaking of pissed off, the crowd really did piss me off. Asides from the annoying fangirls who were completely over-doing it and not only pissed off the band but scared them like hell, the crowd was completely insane and rude. Everyone got pushed forward and the barricades were completely knocked down the moment TDR came on stage, they had to stop playing and tell the crowd to calm down and not push. Someone could have gotten seriously hurt. And during TDR’s set they kept shouting for ATL to come on. Rian, Flyzik and the rest of the crew looked super pissed off when they saw that the crowd pushed over the barricade, and I was so bummed about Singapore leaving a bad impression on them. :( I think the night ended okay though in the end hehe.
• After ATL’s first song, Priya and I moved from the third row to way back because the people in front were too insane and we kept getting pushed real bad. So we didn’t get to see the ATL boys up close but still it was great. :) 
• The moment ATL’s show started, the moment they started playing Art Of The State from the speakers, I got chills. I love Art Of The State even though it wasn’t officially released on Dirty Work, the lyrics are so incredibly apt. 
• They played all of my favourites, I’m so happy with the setlist. :’) Jasey Rae! The first ATL song I ever listened to and it means so much to me. Coffeeshop Soundtrack was a huge surprise for me, I completely didn’t expect them to play it because it’s one of their old songs but it’s from the EP that I love the most.Six Feet Under The Stars! Probably the ATL song that I love the most. I mean c’mon, the lyrics are up on my bedroom wall haha. Not to mention songs like Guts, Time-Bomb, Weightless and finally Dear Maria. :) 
• Danced and jumped like crazy throughout (almost) the entire concert haha, I just had a really really good time. Srsly though my dancing is not a sight to see hahaha. The only time I dance like I do when I’m alone in my bedroom is when I’m in a crowd during a concert, heh. Especially during I Feel Like Dancin’. “I FEEL LIKE DANCIN’ TONIGHT, I’M GONNA PARTY LIKE IT’S MY CIVIL RIGHT~”
• I think anyone who saw me that night would have thought I was completely mad, especially after I cried so bad during Remembering Sunday and Therapy haha, it was pretty embarassing. Srsly though I expected myself to tear up during those two, but I didn’t expect myself to really cry. Those songs mean a lot, and hearing Alex’s pure singing with the acoustic guitar was just amazing. 
• So many things were running through my mind throughout the concert. Hearing all those songs live just brought lots of thoughts and memories into my head. 4 years of listening to their music has really given a lot. It’s given me a whole lot of inspiration, hope, drive, pure happiness, and it’s given me some of the best friends I’ve ever had, honestly. And the best memories too. It’s crazy, really. 
• So awesome seeing them play. Alex’s singing was AMAZING, he has crazy vocals. Rian and Zack looked really into it. And Jack was just awesome because he kept running all over with his guitar doing crazy stuff, he’s just so fun to watch. 
• Yeah, crowd was a bit too insane and wild but the good thing was that everyone sang along to all the songs really loudly and I was quite surprised haha. Singing was louddd and it felt great singing along with everyone else. The band got so, so, so much love from the crowd and I think they were amazed that the crowd knew all the songs and all the words. They said it was one of the best shows they’ve ever played, we killed it and did an amazing job, and they said they’d come back next year. :’) So glad that we left an impression on them, and I truly think they’re rather impressed by Singapore haha, people, culture, and all. 
• Feels like I’ve left out some stuff that I wanted to say. Oh well. Truly amazing night, despite the rain and all. A bit bummed that I didn’t meet them properly, didn’t get photos or autographs, didn’t even take photos during the concert and all I have left as a reminder is the ticket, but I don’t regret anything and I am completely satisfied and happy hehe. Still feels surreal. Definitely one of my best nights ever. 

Mayday Parade in Singapore yesterday night was amazing.

The entire experience still feels so surreal right now, ahh the usual post-gig feelings haha. 

But seriously, their gig’s one of the best shows I’ve been to for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, the people there. I guess because, obviously, Mayday Parade isn’t mainstream (or maybe a little now) so the people who were at the gig were a little different from the people at the more mainstream gigs I usually go to. And, I’m thinking of a better way to phrase this, but lemme just say for now that there was such a strong sense of all of us fans there being part of this whole music lovin’ community. :) Okay, I know everyone pretty much gets this same feeling for every gig you go to, but it was different for this one, I can’t exactly tell you why, but it was a much stronger sense. Plus I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this feeling because it is incredible and never fails to amaze me, haha. :)

Hours before the gig, there was already a pretty long queue, and so many people had band tees on or Mayday Parade tees that they made on their own. A couple of random people who walked by me told me they liked my ATL Dirty Work tee haha, or asked me where I bought it. And while waiting in the venue, they played a couple of ATL songs over the speakers. When Weightless first came on, everyone cheered like mad and started singing along instantaneously hahaha. :) (All Time Low NEEDS to come to SG!)

Being in that crowd, sometimes you get mad because people are pushing you. You get mad because people are moshing and you’re nearly being crushed to death. But in the end, everyone just has an incredible time and it’s the best feeling in the world dancing and singing your heart out to songs that you’ve been waiting for forever to hear live, with a whole entire room of strangers, whom in that instant, aren’t really strangers at all.

The crowd yesterday night was probably the best crowd, among all the gigs I’ve gone to so far. We sang along SO LOUDLY to every single song, danced to every single song no matter how tired we were, and shouted so loudly for an encore until they came out to do one last song. :) 

And I’m so proud of that because I honestly believe that Mayday Parade meant it when they said they didn’t expect such an enthusiastic crowd from Singapore, because neither did I, hehe. Never thought there’d be that many people in SG who liked Mayday, and I never thought they’d sing along to every word so loudly. I’m proud of us fans, and proud of Mayday at the same time, for having reached out to people all the way across the globe with their music. :) Can’t imagine what it feels like for them, coming to such a foreign land halfway across the world, playing live to a crowd there for the first time, not knowing how many people will turn up, or how people will react. But the crowd gave it their all, and they gave it their all too. The show was so darn good. Besides the fact that they didn’t play a few of my favourites (how could they not play Miserable At Best?!?!?), it was a great, great, great, great, show. :) Music was great, and they had so much energy. I’ve been listening to them for close to 4 years now and it felt so good to finally hear them live. Especially Kids In Love, it’s one of my favourite songs ever and every single time I listen to it I imagine what it’s like to hear it live haha. Also, Terrible Things. One of the best songs they’ve ever written, and I swear it’ll make you tear up. 

Anyway, they are such nice people too. :) We hung around after the gig and they came out to sign autographs after awhile. I got both of my albums signed, hehe. THEY WERE SO INCREDIBLY NICE, I CANNOT STOP SAYING HOW NICE THEY ARE, SRSLY. :) I said thank you to every single one of them, and they all said thank you back for coming out to the show and gave really genuine smiles, haha. I was asking Jake what time they were flying off, and he replied 4am. Priya said something like, wow that’s only in a few hours and Jake was like, I know right haha. I told him to enjoy their time in Asia and he said thank you and smiled back hehe. They have such exciting lives flying all over the world, playing shows in so many countries, but ain’t easy for them at all flying like that. 

Oh and Priya and I had the best conversation ever with Jeremy haha!! Not the exact words, but it went something like this —

Jeremy [looking at my All Time Low shirt]: Is All Time Low gonna be coming here too?
Me: No, unfortunately not.. You guys should come back with them!
Jeremy: Maybe we will!
Me: That would be like a dream tour for us.
Priya: Yeah that would our dream tour!
Jeremy: Then maybe we’ll make your dream come true. :)

You can imagine how much we were freaking out after that conversation hahahaha, as if meeting them and getting their autographs weren’t enough. I swear the day ATL comes to SG Priya and I are gonna go totally mad. 

So yeah, now I have both of my Mayday Parade albums autographed, on top of having an amazing time last night. :) And now I can’t get their songs out of my head haha. Watched a couple of videos from last night on YouTube and I miss ‘em, like I’m having the usual ‘post-concert blues’ as Priya said, but then again I feel so happy for having watched them live. :) 

Can’t wait for them to be back in Singapore like they promised, hehe. :) 

“In this moment, we’re connected
If we fall, we fall together
…
Get up, get up, make my heart beat quicker
Get up, get up, b-b-b-beating to the rhythm“ 

\m/ 

Let me just say first that the past two days have been amazing. :) 

And I was halfway through this blog post when Priya and I made a last-minute decision to rush down to catch TKWC’s last gig in SG, so I’m just gonna try and continue where I left off, though I can barely think straight right now because I still can’t get over how amazing tonight was hahaha. 

So, on Thursday I went to catch Simple Plan at Clarke Quay with Priya, Melissa, her sister and her cousin. I can’t believe I finally saw SP live for the first time, and it was so incredibly crazy because I’ve been listening to them for years and their music holds so, so, so much memories. :) It’s just amazing getting to watch a band that’s brought you through so much with their music live finally, I don’t know how to put it in words. They only played 3 songs (Shut Up, I’d Do Anything and Can’t Keep My Hands Off You) because it was an impromptu gig, but it was still amazing and I had such an awesome time singing along to every word and jumping and screaming hahah. :) The crowd was pretty good and SP sounded really really good live.

And yesterday I went to their private acoustic showcase with Ryan, Melissa, her sister and her cousin again haha. SP came on late and I was so bummed because I had to leave halfway through to go watch The Lion King. :( :( So I watched them play two songs and then I had to leave, and I missed out on a few more songs (INCLUDING JET LAG, I WAS SO TORN UP ABOUT IT :( ) and an autograph session. :( But anyway The Lion King was really mind-blowing and I’m pretty sure SP’s gonna come back soon for a full concert haha.

And finally, today, Priya and I went to These Kids Wear Crowns’ last gig in Singapore. They played before and together with Simple Plan on Thursday and we fell so much in love with them during that really short gig, we decided to go catch them today hahaha, even though we had no idea who they were at all before Thursday. :) They were incredible because half to three quarters of the crowd on Thursday probably had no idea who they were too at that point of time, but they managed to get most of the crowd so hyped up and screaming and dancing along to their songs.

It was pretty insane, it was a last-minute decision to go see them again today so I was rushing down to Clarke Quay to meet Priya and we were just trying to find the bar they were playing at really quickly. In the end, the gig was so, so, good. :) It was a really intimate one because they weren’t that many people there, and we were really close to the band. They played about 6 songs (?) and lemme just say, the energy that they have is insane. I have no idea how they do it, but from start to finish, their energy level was way high up and it never once dipped. It really is crazy because with that kinda energy they managed to get the crowd really really hyped up and everyone was just having a really really good time together with the band. Their songs sound amazing live, they remind me of FTSK because they have a really happy sound hahaha. I didn’t know most of the words because I’ve never even listened to their songs before Thursday, but I had a really insane time just jumping and screaming and dancing till my feet hurt hahah. :) With their energy, and the way they connect with the audience, it’s just mind-blowing and you just completely lose yourself, forget everything else, and live in the moment. I know, that’s what all concerts are like, but it’s different at a TKWC gig, they just give so much more than typical bands, you wouldn’t know until you see them live because I can’t describe it. Like I said, they’re energy level just never drops haha, and seeing them having such a fun time on stage, you do too. 

It’s weird, I’ve never heard their songs before and Thursday was the first time I’ve ever seen them or heard them, but they’ve had a huge impact on me. It’s just the way they perform, I’ve never seen a band like them live. And I love their songs, but to be honest, I don’t like their studio tracks that much. They sound so much better, and so incredibly good playing live. Aargh, I’m gonna blame my vocab and language here, because I don’t know how to explain it but they are really good live, just take my word for it. :) Their energy is insane, you can really see how much fun they’re having and their passion for what they’re doing. I used to wanna be like them - grow up, form a band, make music, play shows. At some point, I forgot about that or kinda pushed it down, because I lost faith and lost hope that I could do it. But y’know, seeing TKWC performed live honestly changed that. This is sounds really cheesy, but they made me wanna dream again. They made me wanna play again. They made me wanna go for it again. They made me wanna be like them, play shows, get people on their feet, get people to live in the moment, get people to go crazy, get people to forget everything else and just be happy and have an incredible time. I lost that feeling for a long time, gave up on that for a long time, but they changed that. :) 

And I felt like I really needed to let them know that hahah, so after the gig I hung back waiting for everyone to clear (I think Alex probably noticed and thought it was weird hahaha), and then as Alex was getting ushered out by the event people because they had to leave, I called out to him and he was so darn nice to stop to talk to me for a bit. I was so embarassed hahah, but I went like hey, I just wanted to let you know that you guys made me wanna play music again. And he went, “Aww thank you, lemme give you a sweaty hug” HAHA, and after a hug he said “keep it up alright”. :) I didn’t know if he knew at that point that I really meant what I said and I wasn’t try’na suck up to him or whatever hahaha, so I tweeted him when I got home and he actually replied saying: “Thank you so much. That is awesome and I hope you continue to do what makes you feel happy :D ” I completely didn’t expect him to reply and I was so so so darn happy hahaha. :) 

I remember Martin Johnson saying, that everyone at a concert’s just part of this huge music community, and them as they band, they’re just lucky to be part of the community that’s up on stage. I don’t know if I’ll be lucky enough, I don’t know if I have what it takes, but somehow, someday, in whatever way possible, even if it’s in the smallest way ever, it’s gonna happen. So right now, it’s not all completely back yet hahah, but yeah I’ve got a bit of that hope and faith and determination back in me. :) And so thank you so much TKWC! 

“Never gonna give it up, never gonna give it up; because we can, because we can.” - We All Fall Down, These Kids Wear Crowns