16 Malaysia - Friends From Far Away Places - Pop Punk For The People @ Angkasa, Kuala Lumpur

Winningshot

If this was an advert for the Malaysian pop punk scene then it was Christmas all rolled into one with a John Lewis premier standard; polished, somewhat unpredictable and putting the message over strong. 

I arrived in time for the second half and caught the last two songs from PASCA SINI - the crowd were going wild with plenty of singalongs, circle pits and stagedives. Their last song was an abolsute banger, with a catchy chorus of "We will carry on". There was a big crowd of youths at the show, and they all went batshit crazy again when HACKTICK! played afterwards. They had a keyboard player too, and they played a great set of songs covering lots of different styles. The band were full of as much energy as the crowd, and it was a real treat to see them play in this environment - they kinda reminded me of China Shop Bull from Leeds with their eclectic style, but with more New Found Glory for the pure pop punk parts. I'd definitely like to see this band play again.  

One thing I love about the Angkasa venue is that they have real plants on the stage, and the sound system is of a good standard. Something else I noticed, this time about the crowd, is that the bulk of t-shirts being worn were mainly made up of Malaysian bands, which was good to see, people showing a sense of pride in their scene. Whilst much of the music tends to be borrwed and influenced from the Western bands that pioneered and dominated the genre, the identity of the scene is very much Malaysian. 

The band I was most looking forward to seeing was WINNINGSHOT from South Korea - a three piece that played a more old school pop punk sound - fast, melodic, and straight to the point. They were awesome, and reminded me of many a band from the Lookout / Asian Man Records era of pop punk - their chord progressions were amazing. They even dropped in a sweet sounding cover of 2002 by Anne-Marie. I hopefully will get the chance to see them again one day, and will definitely follow their journey on social media. 

The penultimate band I saw were SICK, who played a mix of Rage Against The Machine,  Limp Bizkit, and heavy hardcore extended bridges - it was nice to have a break from the pop punk. Unfortunately the crowd had filtered out as it was getting late, yet IMANS LEAGUE from Singapore finished the night off perfectly with their well crafted late 90s / early 2000s pop punk sound. With 6 albums down, they were polished, tight, and full of quality melodic riffs.  

Overall, it was a fantastic showcase for some of the Malaysian & Asian pop-punk bands at the top of the game, and I look forward to checking out some similar shows and some of the same bands, further down the line. A nice early Christmas present for Ont Road Fanzine.