Buttterfingers KEMBALI Pergi 2009 - Sesi Istana Budaya Episod Satu

I don't necessarily believe in making a list of things to do before you die. I don't believe that I really have that many goals in life. Or rather, I'm just too lazy to list them down. But well, I believe that if I do have a list-of-things-to-do-before-I-die, I would have crossed one off a week ago. The line would say:

WATCH BUTTERFINGERS PLAY LIVE AT LEAST ONCE.

Yes indeed I have managed to do that a week ago. I was lucky that I surfed my Myspace that day after how many months of abandonment. I did what I usually would do and suddenly I read the HEADLINES on the Bulletin reading "Butterfingers Last Show" posted by Encik Maher. I freaked when I read that Emmett (lead singer) was going to be flying off to Canada for work soon and that Encik Khairil Ridzwan (Loque- musician extraordinaire) will not be coming back from Boston anytime until next year. I snapped and vowed to not miss the show.

There was one glitch in my so called plan however. That is that the event was to be held at Istana Budaya on a Saturday/Sunday night. The fact that they chose Istana Budaya as the venue was such good news for me as Mama could not use her normal excuse that it was a dangerous place to be. One problem was that it being in Istana Budaya, it was not going to be a walk-in show like all the other gigs I have been to. Only I found out about that too late and I only had 2 days before the show plays. I freaked out as I read that the tickets were sold out. I prayed to God, I even Nazar-ed to make sure I got it. After so MANY MANY calls from so MANY MANY places, I finally called Istana Budaya one Friday morning (the day before) at 10am and they said that they have less than 50 tickets and the only way I could get it is to go to Istana Budaya and buy if straight off from their hands.

I freaked and immediately called a taxi to drive me all the way to Istana Budaya. Apparently the taxi took a wrong road and it lead us to a jam. It took us around 45 minutes to get to Istana Budaya and I was ready to shit my pants for knowing that this could be the reason I wasted a perfect Butterfingers show and rm21. When the uncle got to Istana Budaya, I practically skidded to the entrance. Thank God there were not so many people there. I got to the counter panting and heard the dude on the phone saying that they don't accept bookings anymore and that there are only 10 more tickets. My heart pumped and immediately got my tickets while the Abang Cashier looked like he was so sick of this whole Butterfingers gala. Not a fan. Obviously.

I walked out of the building smiling widely to myself under the hot 12noon sun. After that it just hit me that I was in the middle of Kuala Lumpur alone and no one knew about it. It could be potentially dangerous but at the same time I was excited that I was independent. Of course, I contemplated the fact that had the power to just go around Kuala Lumpur and walked for myself a bit, getting to see the place as I wish before I ship myself to Australia. But my sanity got the best of me and I decided to take the train straight back home. I sms-ed my uncle (PakSu) telling him that so called rebellious independent thing I was doing and he promised that mom and dad will not find out how I got those tickets as long as I go straight home and keep safe. I agreed.

So everything was all set and I was ready to watch one of the biggest show of my teenage life when two of my friends cancelled on me. Atikah couldn't go because her parents (like mine) didn't like the idea of her going out at night. While Diana wasn't able to go for the Sunday night session because she needed to go back to school by then. I tried to score Saturday night tickets but apparently every other sessions were sold out. Lucky the Sunday night session was what I wanted but my heart pounded again at the thought of asking mom if I could go ALONE. :S

After going through a list of potential people I could think of to go with me, I was suddenly reminded of this one Peter Pan concert my uncle took me to a few years ago. It was my first concert, it was at night, and it was in Kuala Lumpur but I got home safe, sweaty and happy. I immediately asked Pak Su if he was interested in joining me and well, technically chaperoning me. Although I was careful not to use that word. Instead, I asked if he would like to ROCK with me. He immediately agreed. My PAKSU is great greAT GREAT!!!

Later that day my cousin called me asking me if I had tickets because she wanted to go as well. Of course I agreed as I have always had her with me when I go to gigs (not that I've been to that many really). Everything was set and everything was going to turn out well.

- to be continued.....

Buttterfingers KEMBALI Pergi 2009 - Sesi Istana Budaya Episod Dua

Apparently, Sunday the 18th was a very packed day for me. The morning started with breakfast with the whole family. Thank you a million for Atok and Opah who managed to come down to Subang for my breakfast. Sayang seribu kali sayang. We spent about an hour together and it felt good as I got to have most of my family members there, gathering like we used to. It was good, it was important for me.

Later in the afternoon, dad brought me to Kuala Lumpur Convention Center for the University of Melbourne's pre-departure briefing. I was very excited to go to that event because I was able to meet people who will be venturing into the some-what same future as I will. But I will go into this in another post as this is dedicated to Butterfingers.

So I got back around 5.30pm and was anxious about what time Pak Su wanted to go simply because it was a free-seating show and I wanted to get the front seat. PakSu instead picked us up at my place around 7pm and I was really scared that it was too late. It didn't help that he stopped at a petrol station so that we would perform our Maghrib first. It was not that I didn't want to do my Maghrib, its just that I planned to do my Maghrib there and he totally made my plan go askew. But I was glad PakSu did what he did because when we reached there, people weren't even allowed to go in yet. We ended up in a long line but we weren't that far behind anyway which I was glad. During the wait, Raja Azraff called me asking me if I could get a last minute ticket for him, and when I did, he immediately got ready to come to Istana Budaya.

Another problem arise, on top of me having totally zero credit and totally zero cash, my uncle, who was in his rock concert outfit (a plain white top and torn jeans) were not allowed to come in as it was suppose to be a formal show and round necks were not allowed. Lucky I called Raja just in time before he arrived to bring an extra shirt for PakSu. So when the crowd were ushered in, my cousin and I quickly dashed in and my uncle waited outside for Raja Azraff.

The room was quite small and it was not at all what I expected. There were no seats at all and the so-called stage was floor level and designed in the middle of the round room. Everyone was standing and tall guys were already crowding the front. I pulled my cousin and pushed our way as front as we can only to stop at the back of a dude in a coat and 2 guys in Baju Melayu. When the tall handsome coat guy turned around, I was surprised to find out that it was actually my INTEC school mate, Qassim. Such a small world for him and I to end up at the same part of the room. He allowed us to go in front and I made friends with the two baju Melayu guys, Jubei and Aral.

My cousin was too short for the tall guys in front so she pushed her way in front except I couldn't use the too-short excuse as she did so I was stuck at the back. But it was alright as I was still able to see the band and I had a fun time with the three funny guys.

Apparently, there were so many rules in the room. We weren't allowed to push, mosh and jump to the rocking music instead we're just allowed to stand, sing along and enjoy. But the night was so much awesome. Kak Dahlia came out with Loque's sister starting the show with a few thanks before welcoming the band out. When Loque came out, I screamed at the top of my lungs. He was probably a meter and a half away from me and I was standing with a very good view of him. The best part was that everyone was singing along to all of their songs and it was awesome.

I'm glad they were able to play all the songs in their latest album KEMBALI and throw in some SELAMAT TINGGAL DUNIA tracks and I was also glad that all the songs they played were all the ones that I am familiar with. Ohh I had such a great time singing and screaming, cheering and rocking out with them. They were truly the bomb. Emmett had such great audience connection and he made sure he was being interactive. They also asked us to have one minute of silence for the people who are at war now. We sedekah-kan Al-Fatihah in the middle of the night.

My feet were starting to wobble for standing a good 3 hours during the whole night but it was worth it because they really played their hearts out and the audience really sang along and enjoyed the night. At one point, the band went in for a rest and Kak Dahlia and Loque's sister came out again to entertain the crowd for a while. Kak Dahlia went around the audience asking them what their favorite song from the latest album is. When she reached my area, she actually pushed aside the tall guys standing in front of me and holding the mic to my mouth expecting an answer from me. I immediately blurted out MATI HIDUP KEMBALI as my favorite song. Then Kak Dahlia said "Hah, itu lagu favorite saya jugak" and before she went off to the next person, she managed to say "Eyh, macam kenal je dia ni" and I practically gloated and jumped. See Kak Dahlia is Encik Loque's fiance who also happens to be my neighbor. We never spoke but I knew her VERY well. It was such a good moment for me.

The night got better after the show. Qassim, Aral, Jubei, Raja Azraff, my cousin and I were all gathered outside the hall waiting for the band to come out and do their signing. We were all joking, laughing and taking pictures when Encik Faza came to Raja. He was talking animatedly with Raja totally ignoring me. Raja even pointed out to him that I was the one who got him (Raja) the tickets but Faza nodded and ignored me once again. After he went off, my cousin pulled me over repeating to me how much she hated the guy and I, for once, didn't feel anything at all. Except probably hatred too. Oh whatever is all I could say to him now.

When the band came out everybody was crowding the table but I had a different plan. I went to the backstage door and called for Kak Dahlia. I knew I had to talk to her before lining up with the rest. I spoke to her and apparently, she didn't know me but she knew my sister, who was friends with her sister. I however didn't let that bother me and sembang sembang sekejap with her. I got a photo with her and when I told her I was going to go line up with the band, she told my cousin and I to wait and she will get the band to meet us later. OMG!!! PERSONAL MEETING MAN!!!! I WAS HEAD OVER HEELSSS.

So while we were waiting, Kak Dahlia went off to settle other things. Then my cousin and I were talking about what we would say to them when I saw Loque's mom standing alone at one corner. I told my cousin that this is the time to MOOCH a little so I went to strike up a conversation with his mom. Apparently, we got to know a few things about Loque and his life, and PERJUANGAN BUTTERFINGERS from his mom. And I was glad that we made friends with her.

When the band was going to go off, Kak Dahlia stopped them and pulled us to them. She actually ushered us specifically to the band and I immediately pushed my way to stand next to Loque. The rest of the band were crowding nearby and my cousin made her bid for the lead singer Emmett. It was so great. But our cameras started to malfunction during the photo op and I was so nervous. But they waited and were patient until they managed to get a proper photo of us. Before I went, I got Loque to autograph my copy of their album cover and I remembered saying "Make more MONOLOQUE songs" and before I ran off, he said "PASTI". I was smiling like a big sheep and went off to my waiting uncle. OHHHHHH It was such a grand night and it was a good day all around. Thank you so much to:

> My uncle for accompanying me
> My cousin for rocking out with me
> Qassim for making the day fun and funny
> Raja Azraff for the shirt he gave my uncle
> Aral for being friendly to me
> Jubei for the awesome (the only perfect picture) I have of the night
> Kak Dahlia for the photo op and the wonderful conversation
> Loque's mom for entertaining us during our wait and for telling us a little bit
more of the band
> Mama for letting me go
> Abang Cashier Istana Budaya for having those tickets for me
> Uncle Taxi busuk for driving me 45 minutes to Istana Budaya to get those tickets
> Diana and Atikah for even considering to come share this experience with me
> Encik Maher for telling me about the show and helping me with the tickets
> Hazri for trying to help me get tickets
> Ayah and Ibu for picking me up from the KTM that day
> All the ticket counters people who were selling Butterfingers tickets for taking
the time to tell me the tickets were SOLD OUT
> Abang ticketcharge.com for being nice and telling me I had a chance to get the
Sunday night tickets
> B U T T E R F I N G E R S for giving a great show.


Pictures below.

- Saya teramat sayang Encik Loque.

Buttterfingers KEMBALI Pergi 2009 - Sesi Istana Budaya Foto-foto Berharga

:- promotion Poster



:- Istana Budaya's entrance



:- Farisa Roslan K E M B A L I



:- Nur Amalia K E M B A L I



:- Jubei, Aral and Qassim muka blur



:- Mereka mengucap Selamat Tinggal



:- Stage set after the show



:- Ending the show = Raja Azraff, Abdul Qassim, Farisa Roslan = perfect picture



:- Kata Along dia nak posing dengan baju KEMBALI tu, tapi...



:- Mrs. Loque = Kak Dahlia and Farisa Roslan



:- Waktu bermakna bersama kumpulan BUTTERFINGERS dan beberapa mamat-mamat yang tidak dikenali



:- Tandatangan Encik Khairil Ridzwan = Encik Loque = MONOLOQUE


I'm throwing in a video for the occassion :) this is my favourite song of the album

K E M B A L I







- tak pernah daku rasa begini, seperti MATI HIDUP KEMBALI.