Sundown Festival 2012

The Sundown Festival is an annual event that celebrates Asian music and culture, with the aims of not only showing the best and most vibrant of Asian entertainment but also to unite and bridge the cultural diversity of Asia. Each year a new Asian country will be added to the list of performers, creating a snowball effect to the festival in order to generate hype, anticipation and captivate audience.

The Festival will feature some of the most popular and up-and-coming musicians, on top of their cultural exports (such as food and other consumables) through fringe activities and stalls set up at the event grounds on the Festival day itself.

Sundown Festival started in 2009 with the theme Seoul’dOut!, when it focused on Korean music and culture and single-handedly caused an explosion of interest all things Korean (also known as the Hallyu wave) in Singapore.

In 2010, Japan was added to the performance line-up, giving rise to the popularity of J-rock and visual kei youth pop culture. Taiwan was added to the mix in 2011, prompting new Asian entertainers and industry players to make Singapore as its maiden stop of fame.

Today, Sundown Festival continues to play the role as the purveyor of all things Asian, turning the world’s spotlight to this part of the world and in its course hopes to unite culturally diversified Asia through music. The ultimate goal is to culminate all efforts to give rise to Sundown Festival World Tour of all 11 Asian countries, beginning in home soil Singapore.

With Sundown Festival 2012 pulling all the stops to bring in leading acts from China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the F1 Pit Building at Marina Promenade is proving to be the place to be, rain or shine, on 1st December.

Sundown Festival 2012 features buzzed-about newcomers and some of the region's hottest solo and group acts including Jeno Liu Li Yang from China; Raymond Lam from Hong Kong; BTOB from Korea; Anthony Neely from Taiwan and Alice Nine from Japan.

2012 marks the fourth anniversary for the homegrown Festival, which has emerged to become the definitive all-Asian music and cultural experience of the year. Sundown Festival 2012 is executive produced by Red Spade Entertainment, and is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and presenting co-sponsor SingTel, Asia’s leading communications group, for the second consecutive year. Global wireless innovation leader, BlackBerry, is this year’s newest sponsor to come onboard.

Asian Music for a Greater Asia

"It was necessary to continue this tradition every year; it is our promise to our fans and supporters. Anyone who is interested in Asian music and proud of the immense talents the region has to offer should take a look at what is going to go down at Sundown Festival this 1st December," said Samantha Chan, Director, Red Spade Entertainment.

"Sundown Festival has a legacy of highlighting the diversity of the Asian music culture. At the same time, with fans from all walks of life and nationalities banding together to show support for their favourite Asian acts, it illustrates the boundless power music has to unite people and unify differences," said Ellena Liu, Associate Director, Segment Marketing & Communications, Consumer Marketing, SingTel.

Artistes’ line-up overview

This year’s Festival is being headlined by visual kei group Alice Nine, whose most recent releases included self-titled album “9” and compilation of music videos entitled ‘Alice in Pictures III’. Riding on the recent surge in popularity and demand for their brand of glam-metal rock and “visual style” of music outside of Japan, Alice Nine’s highly-anticipated appearance at Sundown Festival 2012 promises to be an evening of head-bopping entertainment.

Fans of Korean pop won’t want to miss Born to Beat, or BTOB, a seven-man group recently unveiled by Cube Entertainment (the same artiste management that produces talents the likes of 4Minute and G.Na). This Korean band is already reining in fans for its fancy footwork and masked mystique.

To complement this amazing line-up of musical entertainment, Sundown Festival will also welcome the Singapore debut of Jeno Liu Liyang, a Guangzhou native whose first shot to fame came when she won Super Girls, a popular singing contest in China, in 2006.

With Liu’s soulful vocal, the charm of TVB series singer-actor, Raymond Lam and charismatic Taiwan Mandopop prince Anthony Neely all coming together on one stage, Sundown Festival is set to be a massive hit with those seeking quality Asian music and entertainment.

 “Made in Singapore, Entertaining The World”

“We are pleased to support local entertainment players such as Red Spade in the development of a strong pipeline of differentiated home-grown entertainment content. As the only annual music festival in South East Asia to unite Asian music and culture, we are confident that the Sundown Festival will contribute to our delivery of unique and original tourism experiences for both Singaporeans and international visitors, and set Singapore apart as a global city with an energetic and innovative entertainment scene,” added Lynette Pang, Executive Director for F1 & Sports and Arts & Entertainment, Singapore Tourism Board.

 “The amazing line-up of performances is yet further confirmation that Sundown Festival is ranked in the league of some of the region’s leading entertainers and event organizers. Put together by Asians for Asians, the Festival is giving consumers an understanding of the creative potential and musical possibilities as well as the impetus to purvey great Asian music worldwide,” said Keith Loke, Manager, Segment Marketing & Communications for Consumer Marketing, SingTel.

“Music is something many of our customers are passionate about and as presenting sponsor of Sundown Festival 2012, SingTel is leading the way in showing how music inspires and amalgamates people in unprecedented ways.”

"Welcoming SingTel and BlackBerry as presenting co-sponsors further proves this year will be the best festival we've seen yet," added Kelvin Goh, Director, Red Spade Entertainment.

For more information about the line-up, visit www.sundownfestival.sg

Voice Independent Music Awards (VIMA) 2013

THE Voice Independent Music Awards (VIMA) 2013 is now officially calling for submissions and the closing date is Nov 2 this year.

Considered the most important and anticipated indie music award in the region, the awards platform has grown from strength to strength and now recognizes independent and unsigned musicians from four countries, namely, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei.

“I can’t believe this is going to be the fourth time we are organising the awards but over the years, I can only sum up the experience as a journey we have walked hand-in-hand with musicians of all creed and genre. It’s been an overwhelming task to put together the whole process of the awards, yet surprisingly, we enjoy it because of how we connect with so many talented musicians,” said Siva Zaphod Chandra, founder of VIMA and chief operating officer of Bite Media, in a Press statement.

“This time round, the bar will definitely be set higher, with some truly exciting and creative musicians from Indonesia who will be invited to participate. To top that off, we are super excited to be working with Sony Music Entertainment Malaysia which have teamed up with us to sign a one-song deal for the Song Of The Year Category and also to work with us to come up with an 18-track compilation which will feature the best songs of VIMA 2013.

“On a personal level, I am really motivated to pull off another amazing awards show because of the special Hall Of Fame inductees we announced, for Paul Ponnudorai (posthumous) and Poetic Ammo. We are going to do our level best to have a special segment that will honour them.”

Meera Thuraivel, co-founder of VIMA and chief executive officer of Bite Media, said: “Social media is such a crucial element to how an independent musician reaches out to their base of fans, so this year we are making it a compulsory measure that all musicians participating must have a Facebook and Soundcloud account.

For musicians submitting music videos, we are encouraging everyone to submit their video links from either YouTube or Vimeo.

To make things even spicier, 10 per cent of the overall scores will be based on how well a band interacts and promotes themselves using social media.”

Independent musicians from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei are invited to submit their songs and music videos to vima2013@gmail.com.

All musicians are also encouraged to join the VIMA 2013 Facebook group to catch up on all updates, at http://www.facebook. com/ groups/436329473066182/.

The main awards event is scheduled to be held in February 2013.

To know more about the categories to submit and the rules and regulations, visit: http://bitemymusic.com/rules-vima-2013/.

Langkawi Live – One Earth Music Festival

Come November 2nd and 3rd, Langkawi will again host Langkawi Live – One Earth Music Festival. An innovative and exciting music festival featuring some of Malaysia’s and the region’s most prominent musicians, Langkawi Live 2012 will maximise the picturesque beachfront setting of the Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa which will again play host to this year’s event. The festival is timed to start each day at sunset on both evenings.

Malaysia’s foremost jazz pianist and music producer Michael Veerapen will lead the Michael Veerapen Project featuring Saxman Koh from Bangkok. Other artistes to appear include: Amir Yussof, Reza Salleh, Liyana Fizi, Poova, local islanders Panji Warisan and the surprise, Langkawi Love Band.

The first Langkawi Live was staged in 2011 and the organizers plan to make this an annual event on the picturesque tropical island of Langkawi. The main objective of the festival is to promote Langkawi internationally as an eco-friendly holiday destination and to encourage the local community to keep the island clean and green.

This year’s focus is the Rivers Project a joint effort between LADA and the National Hydraulic Research of Malaysia (NAHRM) to rehabilitate the rivers of Langkawi, and a video is being produced that will be launched at this year’s One Earth Music Festival.

While the music will remain the main attraction, the underlying message throughout the festival will be about preserving the island’s environment by recycling and conservation through adopting the principles of sustainable development.

There is a need to convince the local islanders that their survival and prosperity is dependent upon keeping the island clean and that the island’s development must be sustainable.

To this end, and in addition to the two-day music festival which will feature a variety of musical genres ranging from folk to soul, traditional Malay and jazz, concurrent  activities and programmes will be organized  throughout the festival including eco tours, a documentary on the Rivers Project  and other eco related activities.

With these clearly stated objectives for staging Langkawi Live the organizers hope that the tropical setting and the great music on the beach will remind visitors just how beautiful and precious  the island's environment is and of the need to protect it.

For more information and bookings, please go to the website at www.langkawi-live.com or contact our Hotline at: +60 16 6619-0032 or Catherine Xavier at mice@aosconventions.com

The World Animal Groove (WAG) Music Festival

image credit: Veronica Ng

The Sarawak Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) celebrated its 50th anniversary in style with a gala charity dinner on October 5th and a sold out free standing one-night music festival on Oct 6th. Both events were held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK). 

The festival is a celebration of music, creating awareness about the plight of animals and raising funds for the construction of a new shelter for SSPCA’s rescued, abandoned and unwanted animals.

WAG featured an evening of artistes, performers and stand-up comedians from Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Mexico and Spain, while the music genres ranged from pop to jazz, blues, rock and world music.

WAG marks World Animal Day, which falls on the 4th of October every year. World Animal Day was started in 1931 at a convention of ecologists in Florence as a way of highlighting the plight of endangered species. October the 4th was chosen as World Animal Day as it is the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

Since then, World Animal Day has become a day for remembering and paying tribute to all animals and the people who love and respect them. It is celebrated around the world in different ways in every country, regardless of nationality, religion, faith or political ideology.

Approximately a thousand revelers thronged the World Animal Groove Music Festival, which featured local crooner Hafiz AF7 and Stanley Meringgai from the sixth season of Akademi Fantasia.

Among those flown in for the concert were Victor Valdes and The Quartet from Australia, Inka Marka from South America and Natasha and the Mellowmotifs from Bangkok.

On the sidelines of the main concert were the WAG Bazaar and flea market, and Animal Blessing ceremony. The concert aimed to raise funds for SSCPA’s new and improved state-of-the art green shelter which is estimated to cost RM1.5million

Artistes, both international and local, sang, danced, and teased their hearts out, entertaining a crowd from all walks of life. Kudos to Artistic Directer Amir Yussof on a job well done.

SSPCA also held accompanying happenings the day prior to the festival - a Gala Dinner on Friday, a WAG Bazaar and Flea Market from noon the following day, as well as an Animal Blessing session later in the afternoon, which also took place at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching.

 

The night started with a touch of feel good jazz. Music fans were introduced to Natasha Patamapongs and her band Mellow Motif. The young, pretty and sassy songstress from Thailand warmed up the concert hall with her strong voice and cool taste in jazz, while at the same time reminding revelers why they were at WAG.

While it was their first time performing at WAG, it certainly was not their first visit to Malaysia as this reviewer remembers Mellow Motif showcasing their talents at the Miri International Jazz Festival 2010 (now renamed Borneo Jazz). They also return to Malaysia every now and then for gigs in Kuala Lumpur, particularly at No Black Tie.

Akademi Fantasia Season 6 contestant, Stanley stirred the crowd up with a couple of songs, including a lovely and heartfelt cover of Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up”. Kuching boy Stanley represented Sarawak in the popular local reality talent show back in 2008.

Sarawak is rightfully proud of Stanley as he recently won three silvers and two bronze awards in the World Championships of Performing Arts (an international competition with 54 countries worldwide taking part) in Hollywood, for five vocal categories.

Rip roaring laughter erupted soon after when Kuala Lumpur’s Bibi KPoh made her appearance on stage. Multi-talented Bibi is a comedienne, an emcee, dancer, actor, singer and a producer who manages her own group of performers.

She had everyone in stitches at her risqué jibes as she ‘tortured’ two male members of the audience, and mingled with the audience while singing and dancing. In fact, Bibi’s act was so enjoyable; the crowd roared for an encore, which of course Bibi coyly and sportingly complied with another dose of her brand of hilarity.

Following the madcap madness were the dashing Latinos Victor Valdes and The Quartet. Victor is a true blue Mexican musician and dancer whose specialty is playing the harp, and boy did he wow people with his incredible harp playing skills.

Not quite done yet, he went centre stage to show off his tap dancing skills. The crowed oohed and aahed  with each dazzling step. The award winning solo harpist is also a professional guitar player. From the conga, bongo, timbale, maracas, cajon, guiros, to almost every other percussion instrument, he is a truly gifted musician in the rhythms of Latin America.

Next up was another Kuching boy, Hafiz - winner of Akedemi Fantasia Season 7. His appearance definitely had the ladies and teenage girls affected, especially as he stepped off stage to greet the audience while belting out a string of soulful ballads.

Hafiz is already a household name and is no stranger to locals in Malaysia. At only 22 years of age, he has won not only hearts but music awards, proving his soulful vocal skills are no flash-in-the-pan and making Sarawak proud in the process.

The final act to rock Kuching that night were Inka Marka, Andes musicians based in Australia. If they sound familiar, they should be for they have performed at the Rainforest World Music Festival in 2000, 2002, and 2007. Even after so many appearances here, they still excited revelers with their music.

The band has expanded, adding members and is actually more animated on stage now, and they showcased what they were made of by multitasking with more than one musical instrument per person. The crowd danced along to their infectious melodies till the end.

As the festival drew to a close, all the performers went up the stage to thank everyone again for supporting such a worthwhile cause before saying goodbye with a rousing finale.

Veteran DJ the Projen closed the night, spinning his fabulous mixes.The organizers are already planning for next year, so watch this space for regular updates on the fastest growing festival in Kuching.

Victor Valdes and The Quartet

image credit: Veronica Ng

Frigglive.com has worked painstakingly hard to build a reputation for reviewing music festivals. Yes, its fun to run around attending all the music festivals in the region and enjoying new experiences and making new friends etc, but it is also hard work.

  

We religiously attend every rehearsal, every briefing, every press conference, every photo opportunity, every workshop, and we are famous for our behind the scenes “insider” articles recording the build-up of the festival from inception to ground zero to its full blown glory.

What’s the above introduction got to do with Victor Valdes? Well, in our experience, most musicians would like to do the least amount of work (read rehearsals, briefings, press conferences, photo opportunities, workshops etc) while enjoying the many perks that come with being a music superstar.

Not so Victor Valdes and The Quartet featuring Ivan Vivas, Luis Love and Alejandro Miranda. These guys were not only there for each and every sound check and rehearsal, they actually dressed up for the press conference and photo opportunity and workshop; they also performed for free in aid of the SSPCA’s animal shelter fund. These guys are the epitome of how far a band can go if they are professional, disciplined, committed and have a passion for their craft. They deserve a big round of applause for being a hard working yet humble and down to earth bunch of guys.

 

Victor Valdes has performed in over 25 countries in 4 continents, providing a unique journey into folk and contemporary music of Mexico. This is infectious music that reaches your soul and makes you smile, and Victor has brought his powerful and passionate voice and the infectious sound of the Mexican harp to royalty like Queen Elizabeth II, and the King and Queen of Spain, as well as to thousands of eager fans the world over. He is soulful, colorful, and energetic.

He was a member of the highly acclaimed multiple award winning Mexican Folk group of Veracruz Mexico, 'Tlen Huicani' for ten years - named best folk group in Mexico by the union of music and theatre critics. With this professional group, Victor gave many concerts and performances in respected halls and theatres, including 20 events at the Sydney Opera House.

Victor is also a specialist in guitars of Latin America and percussion including conga, bongo, timbales and the maracas. He also tap dances, and his voice is powerful and passionate. Well known for his wide repertoire, charisma and artistic versatility, Valdes continues to promote Latin American culture through music and dance in Australia and around world.

Victor Valdes is a professional musician, singer and dancer. As a solo harpist he has given concerts from San Diego to New York, from Paris, France to Caracas, Venezuela, in fact in over 25 countries across 4 continents . For three years in a row he won 1st place in the National Folklore Dance Competition in Mexico City. He taught dance at the Sydney Dance Company for 4 years.

The Real Mexican Mariachis is the only original, traditional and professional Mexican Mariachis group in Australia made, operated and composed of real Mexican born musicians.

As Director of the group, Victor has created a fabulous unique show filled with tradition, choreography, color and wonderful sounds. From the beautiful crisp sounds of the harp, to the explosive rhythm of the rumba, their spectacular presentations have a great variety of numbers.

Victor is a master of the Mexican Jarocho Harp, and has given countless workshops on this beautiful instrument.

Click here for the WAG review.