Project Amnesia’s gig, namely Black Parade, which took place on July 30 at HAUS KCH, had him wondering what he was doing at a place full of teenagers half his age. Our writer Ma Chee Seng has the story.
Bringing the roof down
On July 30, HAUS KCH hosted Project Amnesia’s gig, Black Parade.
Convincing myself that I’ve outgrown the emo culture, especially with skinny tight jeans, sided oily hair, band T’s, and, yes, your typical mascara on, made me cringed so hard I wanted to punch myself in the face.
Our local talent brought the roof down
BOY, I WAS SO WRONG. When We The Leaders took the stage, the floor in front of the stage was packed with people headbanging and moshing to their song, drawing in the entire sitting crowd.
Roses Are Black performed Letters To You by Finch and one of their songs Face The Truth, and it truly brought back nostalgic memories, and I found myself rewinding back to two decades ago, when the band Finch was blasting on everyone’s Nokia Express handphone. This is what really got me and my friend going.
Exhale My Ozone gave their usual energising performance after Roses Are Black, and they were so enthused by the audience and hyped that the energy on the dance floor was not waning. When they continued and brought The Kill by 30 seconds to Mars and a few hits, the gig-goers went absolutely bonkers and asked for more of their performance.
When DJ Vaux, also one of our local talents, spun tons of old emo songs and specifically A Boy Brushed Red Living by Underoath as the closing act, I lost my voice that night. He carefully built up the vibe and made sure that everyone was still jumping or banging to more emo or pop punk songs.
What’s my age again?
It goes to say, you are the age you act, that night I left that thought at home. And what Black Parade brought to the community was a plus, and the gig was a huge success, the energy was positive, and the people that went were a blessing.
When it comes to music, each and every one of us was a piece of the genre’s generation, this is what made me feel proud as a Sarawakian, the unity we had is something to consider and Project Amnesia organiser Brylerr Tipa Jawa succeeded in doing so.
He brought back the teen vibes of the early 2000s, when kids would gather together with their guitars and jam out to emo songs while debating whether Bert McCracken (from The Used) or Sonny John More (from From First to Last) had a better scream.
The main man was shocked
Brylerr was shocked when the crowds were fully on board with them with a milestone of 190 gig-goers, exceeding their previous one which only garnered 40.
“We didn’t expect the crowd to start singing along and once they did, we literally had goosebumps because we felt like we actually did something meaningful for the community.
“There’s not much to say other than the fact the event was a small yet huge success for us,” he told me excitedly.
Furthermore DJ Vaux said, “Music lovers in Kuching must have been spoilt for choice with all the shows going on at the same time, but I chose Black Parade because it was the genre that defined my formative years, way before I started DJing.
“Hearing and playing out songs that you last heard 15 or 16 years ago is a wild feeling, and singing those songs together with a room of people just takes it to a whole other level.”
HAUS KUCHING
HAUS KCH is a creative and community hub that offers in-house creative services for businesses, as well as art programmes, and food and beverage services for daily visitors.
Their efforts during the Seni Kita event held at Old Court House, which drew Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts, Datuk Snowdan Lawan, were proof that youth and talents have long needed a community centre run by youth themselves and letting creativity run wild and free.
The Black Parade gig, which took place a week after the aforementioned event, once again demonstrates the ingenuity, initiative, and camaraderie of our youth in the planning of events.
Kudos
Deep down I felt proud of what the generations after me were able to achieve, this is truly a feat that deserves millions of applause, Black Parade indeed brought the roof down.
And as Brylerr said, the event was aimed at bringing the crowd back to the glorious days of emo and pop punk genre, and to me, the gig not only tore down the age gap, race and religions stereotype and it actually broke down the thought of “I’m too old for this” mindset.
No doubt there were songs that could have made the list of what I should’ve mentioned but I’ll leave it to those who missed out to find out from Project Amnesia’s next announcement.
Back and neck pain, losing my voice and ended up with a sore throat … it was definitely worth it.
My hats are off for all the parties involved and KUDOS.
