MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY 4th AUGUST

Cyberjaya was the area again, but this time it was Multimedia University's turn; a quiet secluded spot in Cyberjaya, this campus was all decked up for Gegar U on that Saturday morn.

Aiman goes back to work

There wasn't a lot of buzz except for the Celcom and Power Root folks setting up their stalls.

Our crew left ICOM around 6am that morning in a van and reached around 6:45 to setup for the day. Pianoman arrived and Shir Li was onto her job (hyrdaulic operations).The crew on that day was a very efficient crew and they had the stage setup in less than half an hour.

Who can do it faster???






70 Kilos being lifted by the crew

... while the road is taped??? huh, road? tape ah?


Gloves and tape? something is fishy...aye!

The most worked of them all, the wear and tear taken by the gloves and tape, none can tell!

Since the setup routine is in their heads with cables being properly labelled and microphone designs fixed in their memory, their efficiency surely must be at a high and thus the ever-increasing speed of setup. There used to be a time when at least 2 to three hours was allocated only for setup. Gone are those days!

So, what's the plan boys?...hmm, Aiman to be carted down the slope...
look below

....there he goes.

This time around Shir Li was put in charge of the stage (a rehearsal for the finals in Penang), at first she seemed apprehensive, but when the walkie-talkie was handed to her, the responsibility started to kick in. There were almost 7 bands on the day, with a few impressive female vocal performers trying not to lose their intonation and did quite a good job, which got them a place in the finals. A few 'rocker' acts with clumsy pummelling of the drums brought about humor on a few faces. But unity is the name of the game and music flowed through the gates of consonance and also perfect dissonance!


Brief, brief, oh please be brief!


She did a fine job for the day, coordinating soundchecks with Nilesh and Nian Tze on the other end and trying not to lose her cool with the inevitable eventualities of running a stage.



...Madame Tussauds could do with this pose


Technical director hinting '...not enough lows, perhaps?'



Backstage activities...


...Lock...


...Roll...


and mackerel!


...reload please?

PM takes a shot too!


Project Rush in swing

An MMU band playing for unity


and voila, they did make it!

The event, being done, tear down was blooming in full swing and it took not more than 30 minutes. With racks, boxes stationed to a side, playful minds began to kick in and therefore the trolley was now made handy with Chief engineer Nian Tze and Stage manager Christina taking voluntary turns and a reluctant Shir Li who thought it was the most frightening thing. This was the crew's share of fun for the day.


...where to chief?

up next... Stage manager and Chief engineer have their laughs

The MMU crew strikes a weary smile

LIM KOK WING UNIVERSITY 1st AUGUST

ICOM-GEGAR U seized hold of Lim Kok Wing on the 1st of August. This university with its modern, palatial like setting is well known amongst Malaysians and the whole ICOM unit was eager to head to Lim Kok Wing and see how the bands would fair on the day. This also coincided with a field trip arranged for the Production students at ICOM to observe the processes involved in sound reinforcement and experience the whole event.

...helter-skelter- theme of setup

A total number of 12 students made it as early as 5:30 am to the ICOM campus in Lorong Setapak and headed into the bus, which took them for a 45minute ride to Cyberjaya. Sleepy eyes and lazy limbs was the order of the morn, but once they got there, the momentary excitement got the better of them until unloading was the directive.

...cables, cables, oh boy!


Snake being laid, while students observe Chief engineer setting-up

Stage manager Christina began directing the stage crew aka field trip students to setup the instruments, mic stands & microphones and lay the cables. A few were clueless as to to what to do, but careful duplication of what the other was doing with a bit of recollection of a cabling class, they managed to setup stage.

The stage- a dump


Dump being cleared

To many of the students, it was a rather innocent and blinding experience since it was their first time, but they made sure they didn't receive even an inch of the stage manager's fury (just to make it clear: if ever, any rank in production lose their temper- it's all in good spirit). The stage having been setup and sweat pouring down everyone's brows, the sound of 'makan, makan' must have brought a great relief.

The stage after its make-up was done

The crew had to wait for power since the tech folks at Lim Kok Wing clocked in at their usual time, therefore the crew headed to 'Makan Lah' to have their breakfast while a few were busy extending cables backstage to power-up speakers. Power tapped, line-check began and then a partial soundcheck carried out. Tuning of the monitors were done with Nilesh on stage and Nian Tze on the equalizer trying to find the offending frequency. All this done, the field trip students were hanging around trying not to yawn or fall asleep since they all woke up early that morn.

Unity in fashion...hmm, go, ga-ga!

A fashion show was on the day's menu, therefore the models sashayed down the stage for their mock rehearsal making sure not to step on any ladder's toes or cable's shoe and stage a mighty fall.


Project Rush spreading the message of unity



A Lim Kok Wing performance



...heavy metal thunder



Surely, the queen of the desert!

There was the usual number of bands on the list, a few not making it to the soundcheck, only to come back once the competition began and just plugged and played. The bands that played on the day were of a mixed variety; a instrumental saga that kept everybody on irehooks, a few bands that were average in their performance, a few hipsters (with hood and no bling, bling) literally rapping their way through and actually secured a place in the final. But after having conquered so many universities, the zeal and enthusiasm is present in every university, bands and musicians are eager to win that final grand prize, but on the other hand many bands have a long way to go in terms of delivering a professional musical package to the audience. The theme of unifying in music still persists on nevertheless.

Another Lim Kok Wing band in action


...judges wondering, reflecting, dreaming...oops


...come on boy, you gotta bend now!



...hmm, I like it, I like it!







The finalists with Puan Leela and the PM


The field trip student 'Firdee' (centre) also the star of the day posing with the crew


Project Rush too can strike a pose besides groove...yea Bong, hit that gong!


The field trip crew giving the Gegar-U

...when the day is done!

Another university done, the field trip team exhausted and eager to get back home, hopped onto the Bas Sekolah and waited until KLCC was in view and Jalan Pahang was nearing. The day was good in the end; some had a good time, some weary, others inquisitive, others quiet. One more down in the Gegar-U bucket!

BERJAYA TIMES SQUARE - 15th JULY

Another Sunday at a mall in Kuala Lumpur, Berjaya Times Square was the location this time around, right within the heart of the city attracting near, far and almost everybody eager to enter. The Gegar-U truck was placed right opposite the main entrance ensuring that everybody got a dose of the wonderful 'Warna, Warna' theme song along with the other Gegar-U activities. The day was cloudy and it eventually did rain heavy in the afternoon and it was a wet evening throughout. Project Rush served the crowd with delectable songs from their palette that always inched the crowd to murmur or utter the lyrics and if Mr.Embarrassment permitted, sing along.

Project Rush in action while the rain served a perfect backdrop




...while the mix played on, Nian Tze tried to get a deal on the Skoda


There were performances from the ICOM band, Astro artists, and Zailan Razak & Daniel. As usual, Zailan enthralled the audience and Daniel attracting the attention of the onlookers with his careful pounding of the congas. Zailan invited members from the audience to come and join them with their carving of rhythm; a few dared eventually and made it to the stage.



Father & son locking

The ICOM band with Thomas on vocals quizzed the crowd with a few questions that carried a prize of a CD with it and the crowd was eager as always to own another CD.




Nelson's 'Bass Riddle'



Technical director Nilesh: 'perhaps it's a good time for a class.'




The production crew as always tried to make the best of the day, this time though a new hobby was discovered- Uncle Sudoku!



Sudoku keeping their eyes glued



' Load 'em up pianoman, we gotta go home!'



Another mall, another delighted crew with their respective paraphernalia