Of the WoodStock
8th July,2004
Darren,Ahmad,Rachel and I met up at the studio again for our usual practise on Thursday afternoon.It was raining yet again,and we ran through the rain.We arrived pretty late,and apparently our room was occupied by someone else.Anyway,we waited for half an hour or so and went into another studio.We started practising,and it sounded great.Haha.I thought it was at least,and time flew as we strummed and sang away.

One hour was up,and we were forced to leave the room.We packed up the guitars,hung up the others,zipped up our bags and left the place.Rachel offered us to use her house as the studio,and we agreed to head there right away.Well,Rachel's house was no different from an ordinary studio anyway.She had the guitars,the pedals,the bass,the amps,the drums,everything.So we carried everything down to the living room,plucked in the necessary plugs and wires and started playing at her house.Her house is really cool,in the sense that its really peaceful.The best thing of all is the fact that it is next to SRJC.How cool is that?Her house is beautiful,with a jacuzzi/fish pond in the yard,and a fountain at the corner of the porch.It looked more like a holiday resort than a house to me.LiuYin and WanJun were there,since they were waiting for their tuition to start.We played,and it sounded good despite the lack of microphones.Rachel suggested Song 2,and i was reluctant to do it because of the "Screaming" element of the song.Oh well,i tried and Ahmad thought it was fine.The good thing about that song is that you dont really need to hit any notes or know any lyrics.Just,scream.And so i did,and screamed my lungs out.Got to know Rachel's brother,Rafael a lot better.He's a fellow Marist,and got along fine with everyone.Most brothers would hide in their bedrooms and lock everything.Anyway,Darren told me about how he was not confident of playing Love Song for No One.Alright,so i gave him the lyrics and offered to sing back up.He agreed,and tried to memorize it at home and in school.The day ended with Ahmad and I walking along the familiar streets of our 4.8km run during SRJC days.Anyway,i took a cab home after that.Was dead tired.

9th July,2004
The Day of the WoodStock
School ended at 1210,and i went home to catch some rest.I didnt sleep well yesterday,and this morning i had an awful pain through my head.Anyway,the day dragged on and it ended soon enough.We chose to wear white shirt and pants,and i chose the shirt i wore for Synergy.Thats the only white shirt i have.Others are blue,grey etc.Anyway,i got ready by 330,and practised the song once over.Still werent confident with McFly's song.It has a part in the song with a crazy note.I couldnt reach it,and was worried that i might go out of tune on stage.Anyway,i got to school and met up with Ahmad,who was at that time just release from school.We went to the band room and practised a little bit.Darren and Rachel came soon after,and we practised a little more.I wanted Darren to sing the bridge,but he too couldnt reach the key.So i suggested that we might as well lower that key altogether.And so we did,and it didnt turn out too bad.Even Rafael came,and he was great fun.Haha.Anyway,the people started coming only at 530pm to 6.For some reason not a lot of people were there initially.Anyway,the first band started playing without me even noticing it.It was WeiJie's band,and they had lots of songs on their list.That included English,Japanese and Chinese rock songs.Oh well,there was some problem with the damn microphones,and the vocal amps were bad.Nothing could be heard from them,though they couldve sang it a lot better in my opinion.They were decent enough to listen,and the crowd gathered as they continued playing.My mom came,and so did Krishna.Haha.That was awesome.Lots of friends came to support i found myself running through the crowd thanking people and catching up with others.Anyway,the first band took a while,and it went on to the second band.

I'll like to call them the "J1 Band".The malay guy from the band is from J1,and he brought his friends from other schools to join.Well,they took a damn long time to set up the system since they wanted the guitars and the bass to be extra loud.Anyway,so it took them sometime and they started playing.The bunch of soccer guys went to the front of the stage and started banging each other around.It was really lame,but hell it was fun to watch.Technically,the J1 Band was amazing.Their guitar skills were awesome,and their music was mostly based on heavy metal rock.However,the vocals were so weak that nobody heard anything.You basically see about 1/4 of the people in the Atrium standing up cheering while the other 3/4 kept their butts on the floor.Perhaps if their guitars were softer and their vocals louder,they might have done better.However,after i spoke to people from other bands,we all agreed that they made the mood of the concert plunge to the pits.We werent even sure if they were singing or not really.I saw their mouths moving,and then thats it.The crowds began to talk to each other,and were restless.

Our turn came,and we went up on stage all prepared.Our friends gathered in front of the stage,and we plugged in the guitars while i adjusted the microphone stand.I was nervous of course,but i was sure it was going to be fun.We practised for merely two times in 4 days,and we only decided to form this band on Monday.Amazing,isnt it?Anyway,so Ahmad introduced our band to the crowd,and they were mostly confused by the name anyway(Its called Locomotohomomono).He introduced the first song,and we started playing "Drive" by Incubus.It went on fine,and i quickly got used to the microphone.It was amazing to see how the crowd sang to our song as well.The people who were sitting at the back join the crowd in front,and finally the mood was back to the top.(No thanks to the J1 Bands)Darren's solo was perfect,and it nailed that performance.I introduced the second song next."The next song should be familiar to all of you.Its called Five Colours in her Hair by McFly." i said,and it was followed by a roar of screams and stuff.I gave the countdown,and Ahmad did his solo.It was awesome,and the song started out perfectly.As i went on,the bridge kept appearing in my mind,and i was scared that i might screw it up.Anyway,we got to that part and my voice sang to a lower key.Darren did my backup,and it turned out fine.Thankfully,my voice held and it was further saved by Ahmad's second solo in the song.I was really high on stage and started jumping around.I was at my peak when i yelled,"ONE TWO THREE FOUR!" then started jumping around as well.Haha.That was perfect,really.The next two songs were "Love Song For No one" and "My Stupid Mouth" by John Mayer.We set the microphones up,and started playing.Technical problems started to arise as i started.First,i forgot my capo.But thats fine,because Ahmad forgot his too.Second,the amp connected to my guitar was really soft and i couldnt hear my playing.There was some problem with my microphones as well.The problem is,i am the better singer between me and Darren,and i know the lyrics really well.He doesnt,and he had the good microphone.In the end,he forgot the lyrics and went out of tune.That was bad,really bad.Forget about it,and lets move on.Technical problems continued,as Ahmad tried to lean forward to the mike for "My Stupid Mouth".His cable was too short,and it was pulled itself out everything Ahmad steps forward.My guitar was once again too soft,and it turned out to be pretty bad.The crowd started to sway more slowly at that song.Rachel never heard the song before,so she didnt have any idea when to stop or start.Anyway,she did her best,and it was more decent than before.Just as i thought the performance tanked,our hopes rose high when Ahmad introduced the next song."I hope you guys know this song,because its very popular." He played the intro to the song,and the crowd immediately brightened up.I then introduced the song."This is Song 2 by Blur!"i yelled,and after dropping the E strong to D,we started playing.The last song,and THE song to get the mood up and going again.I gave my all,and so did the rest of the band.I screamed,and everytime i screamed,"WOOHOO!!" the crowed followed.It was amazing,and we were really high.Haha.The crowd was pushing each other around and jumping everywhere.It was madness.I really wanted to throw the microphone on the floor at the end,but decided not to.Im tight on money anyway."Yeah Yeah!Yeah Yeah!Yeah Yeah!Ohhhhhh YEAH!" and i ended it.Ahmad from behind came up and shouted,"Song Bo??".Haha.It was crazy,but i was happy that the crowd aided us in this.Thanks crowd!Thanks.

Honestly,i did not stay for Band number 4 to perform.They are actually Ex-NYJC teachers,and from their accents they sounded like they were from the US.They were adults,and from inside the band room i could tell that they were good.But,DUH.Of course they are.Anyway,Darren kept rolling on the floor and said that it was his fault yada yada.I mean,yeah it WAS indeed his fault that it didnt come out good.But i thought the technical problems were more irritating.And on the whole the performance was good,and at least we got the crowd standing up.It was US man.Cheer up dude.Dont get suicidal now.Anyway,when we went out the adult band already finished playing,and Russell's "Sofa King" band went up.

Russell had this ridiculous top hat on,and he was hilarious.His band had Richard inside,and two other malay guys.They were really good,but the vocals were really unclear as well.But the different thing about this one with the J1 Band,was that they were REALLY good.At least their tunes were much better.I joined Ahmad in the crowd and started hopping around everywhere.Even Rafael joined us and we started jumping to every chorus.Haha.Everyone were high,and we found ourselves drowning in the loud endless music.People staged dived,and though they didnt travel far,it was cool.Haha.Richard's voice was drowned by the guitars yet again,but since the crowd was high they didnt really care.Neither did we anyway.The weirdest thing was every time we start to jump,the bunch of girls behind will start slapping my back.And its not like it is the "Oh sorry.That was accidental" kind of slap.It was more like "HEY!" slap.And i didnt even know any of them.One of them crashed into me and Ahmad,then ran off laughing her head off.I think they were high.Too high.WAY too high.I was slapped more times after that,and kept turning back to the bunch of laughing girls.I thought i was blocking them by jumping,but why would they laugh if i was blocking them.Ok,people do weird things when they are high,so they are forgiven.Russell's band ended with "That Thing You Do".That rocked the school,and finally the school had LIFE.

We cleared up the place in no time,and Rachel accidentally left her adapter,distortion pedal and cable there.I brought it home afterwards anyway.There were a lot of congratulations and goodbyes afterwards,and i suddenly felt tired and exhausted.We carried the tables to the side of the Atrium,then the drums and amps back to the band room.Locked the doors,packed our bags,wiped our sweats and were ready to go home.

It was great,though it couldve been greater.But who cares,its over.Haha.

Special Thanks:
Ahmad---For being such a great friend,bandmate and guitarist.
Darren---For being a great friend,bandmate and guitarist.And ive only known you for 3 days!
Rachel---For being the BEST female drummer around.Thanks for your "Song 2" suggestion.It turned out great.And the pedals too!
Rafael---For the costume suggestions,and the supports.
Jamin---For being Rachel's mental support throughout the concert.And being the cameraman too.
LeeKai---For your excellent Bass playing and support.
Rachel's maid---For the sandwiches and drinks.
LiuYin and WanJun---For being the first audience of the performance,and sorry for not giving you guys a nap.
Rachel's Neighbours---For tolerating the noise.
Mom and Dad---For guidance and support.
Barnabas and Jonathan Leong---For advices on stage and playing.
Krishna---For travelling from home to my school to support.Thanks dude.
JiaYing---For advice and support.Oh yes,and the scream from the crowd.Awesome!
Debbie,XinYu,Liping and the girls from guitar club---For the endless supports.
LiangHong---For the stress relief.
Valerie---For the great support you had at the side.Thanks for singing along.
Samantha and Fabian---For taking time off debates and supporting us.Good luck tomorrow.
ChoonGuan---For you support and pictures!
WeiJie's Band---For being the main organisers of this concert
Sofa Kings---For the great ending to the great day.Cheers!
Crazy Malay guys---For dancing in front of the stage and going high.
Miss Michelle Tan---For helping out with the organising of the concert.And allowing us to use the band room for practises.
Mrs Ho---For,nothing really.You didnt even turn up.Everybody thanks you.
Uncle at the Studio---Thanks for allowing us to play an extra 5 minutes everytime.No charge!
Weird Slapping Girls---I dont know why,but you guys added fun to the day.Haha.

Thats about it i guess.Unless i can think of anyone else.Haha.For now,its rest.:)

And remember.WOOOOHOOOOO!!WHEN I PLAY HEAVY METAL WOOOOOHOOOO!!

Sorry,thats it.Night!

Song of the Moment---Song 2 by Blur