i don’t usually do a review of the gig @ sheffield on 無秩序の胃. however, this year’s gig was different as it was headlined by a real band. real as in a band who tours real hard, has a record and hoard of fans calling themselves raingers. first heard of these guys in the local media and finally listened to pagi yang gelap which was featured in a free CD by junk magazine.

these guys are real, earnest people from what i can gather from the short moment i spent with them, regardless what you may hear from some detractors (there usually are, aren’t there). AG’s from kedah and may appear aloof onstage but is really is a pleasant chap. am and his pengakap outfit was downright humble. dukegong was a chatty taiping lad who used to be a metalhead, inserting offbeat (often p ramlee-related) jokes at the end of most of his sentences. and noh is right funny. as in ha-ha funny.

their onstage personae is something else, though.

from the first instance, hujan performed with utmost intensity. even during their most sedate moments. they kicked off with an incendiary rendition of kuala lumpur. what i initially saw at the sound check was merely nothing (then again, it was to be expected). a new band they may be but they worked the crowd like seasoned pros. it was a good thing waq and i cleared the stage to hujan’s required stage setting as they were literally everywhere, onstage and in the air. they worked their way through their two-EP career – the stroke-esque gundah, the minor-arpeggiated ah moi cantik, the chilled out hiba and the katun jepun-like aku scandal. talking about katun jepun, i was truly ecstatic they played mospeada‘s lonely soldier boy, a staple of their shows. bila aku sudah tiada went down a storm, and their signature pagi yang gelap saw them striking poses during the penultimate chorus. empayar mu was mosh-a-rama with hujan and the audience feeding off each other’s energy, going absolutely mental. dropping his red hamer on the stage, noh et al. finished the set with ludah amerika (anyone know anyone who’s willing to sell a tee?) which ended with noh stage jumping onto the crowd.

best gig@sheffield ever? you bet it was.

broomhall centre, sheffield 05.04.08 set: see here.

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for more photos, click here, here, here and here.