The dim lighting was better suited for a romantic dinner, but when the students of Rock City School of Music took centre stage the atmosphere was charged with applause. It wasn’t a huge crowd, just about 50 at the Triumphant Centre, and you can say it likened more to an intimate gathering of friends and family who had come to support and watch their children and siblings play.

We were invited to perform at this event, and I believe that every opportunity to play in front of an audience regardless the size is beneficial to the musical confidence of a person. This was evident even from the start when 13 year old Hakim banged out the solid drumbeats for Starlight. This was only his second time to be up on stage and everyone could tell, especially his mum, what a tremendous improvement there was in his playing from the last time round. Now the boy says he’s looking forward to playing the next show already.

Not to be outdone, Hakim’s older brother Afendi had his time to shine on his solo spot in Jude’s composition, Happy Birthday. Eyes closed and shredding with soul, he had the composure of a veteran, a quality he’d gradually developed with his many opportunities in front of the eyes of strangers. We saw mark advancement in Afendi’s playing since his stint in the Blazing Guitar Challenge, again proving the more you get up there to have your act scrutinized, the better you become.

Some thought that the song Happy Birthday was a hit out there in the market and were surprised that it was written by our student Jude. On drums he was backed by our “Abang” Razak, who is spirited with his zealous and healthy doze of eternal youth and rock & roll. Currently we are recording this masterpiece which will be featured in the Year of the Rat release.

Next up was Siew Yee, who was an unpolished diamond when she first started her vocal class. She had already impressed during her performance at the Merdeka concert this year, and she did again when members of the audience approached to give her flowers after her rendition of the Music and Lyrics theme, Way Back in to Love. Guitar and drums for this song was by Albert and Peter, two youths with many friends and fans in the Triumphant Centre. This was Albert’s first time and he was given a small solo spot to support the singers while Peter executed a highly technical maneuver with a 32 note fill. And though he was one bar early, he laughed it off and kept going with the crowd behind him. He has what it takes inside to be a very good drummer and I can see what terrific progress he has made from the early months of lessons, the difference mainly in his ability now to grasp the music and execute his chops with feel and emotion.

Then came Marwan, his first time in front of an audience. He played an original composition by his teacher Tony with a massive passage for his own improvisation in the middle. He did great, and he will only get better and better with each and every chance to practice and perform.

And now that we have heard the students it was time for the master to grace the stage. Playing the sublime Smashing Pumpkins hit 1979, Tony awed both audience and students, not with a gazillion notes cramped in to 16 bars like  low-cost flats in an overcrowded slump neighbourhood, but rather with space, tone and atmospheric delight showing that transcending musicianship need not only be about speed sweeps.

We have come to the finale, saving the riot for last. Marcellus, Andrew, Izzah and Azfar ripped the crowd apart. Azfar’s pounding drums, Izzah’s cool bass lines, shaking head to accompany the beat, Andrew’s wah-wah infused solo and the natural front-man Marcellus interacting both with the audience and his band mates with his infectious stage antics, garnered huge cheers to end the show with after the original punk-rock Girlfriends and the evergreen Sweet Child. Evidently the band was more comfortable on stage compared to their last (and first) outing in the Battlefest 2008 band competition. More shows will get them even more at ease, even as they rupture the rush of life performances and ride the wave of its natural high.

So congrats to everyone, to the students of Rock City School of Music as well as the other performers who took to stage before us. I exalt your enthusiasm and courage. Let us see more! And thank you to Triumphant Centre for providing us this opportunity to shine even as Christmas is just around the corner.

Merry Christmas!

Kit