Head-banging time with five granddads

 

As published in New Straits Times

 

Put five grandfathers in tight leather pants jamming a list of hits on electric guitars and banging percussions and you can imagine what hit Atlanta recently – Aerosmith’s O, Yeah! concert.

 

The wet evening, 13-degree temperature and horrendous traffic did not stop fans from flocking to the HiFi Amphitheater in the city. Like most rock concerts in the United States, the crowd was mainly Caucasians, aged between 15 and 45, with police ensuring tight security.

 

And like most rock concerts in the South, it attracted folks from the countryside who made their way into Atlanta by the droves, in pick-up trucks and Harley Davidsons adorned with Confederate flags and stickers.

 

An intimidating sight and definitely the kind of crowd your mother warns you about when you mention going to a rock concert!

 

Despite the bad weather, the show started on time. Dressed in his trademark loud and flashy garb, Kid Rock’s opening gig kicked off the evening with a bang. Fusing rap, rock and metal, the “bad boy” hyped up the crowd with a terrific head-banging performance covering hits like Cowboy and Bawitdaba.

 

Then it was Aerosmith’s turn. The five-piece band’s performance, complete with buxom dancers and fireworks, was a cross between a fantastic rock show and a trailer-park fair.

 

After a half-an-hour intermission, the silhouettes of Aerosmith could be seen behind a screen, rousing the crowd.

 

The band then launched into a medley of classics including Dream On and Living On The Edge.

 

The backdrop was a riot of colourful laser lights dancing around and forming the Aerosmith logo. But the most dramatic moment was when the band played the sexy number Pink as the lights in the amphitheatre turned pink.

 

Aerosmith also played Lay It Down and Girls Of Summer, which are featured in the band’s most recent album, a two-disc collection titled O, Yeah! – Ultimate Aerosmith Hits.

 

Lead guitarist Joe Perry, who was recovering from a knee operation, didn’t disappoint and showed off his nimble-fingered solos to perfection. His smooth, skilled intro to Walk This Way and Dream On had the crowd begging for more.

 

The fans were ecstatic when the band took their performance to a small stage structured at the back of the amphitheatre, offering lawn-dwellers a front-row feel. Heavy pushing and shoving took place, but in the end everyone found a spot comfortable enough to resume their head banging.

 

The band eventually headed back to the main stage accompanied by an entourage of buff bodyguards warding off the screaming fans. For the remaining hour, the band kept the momentum with popular tunes such as the saccharine sweet rock-ballad I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing (from the motion picture Armageddon), the infectious Jaded and the Grammy-winning classic, Jamie’s Got A Gun.

 

The concert ended four hours later, with the fans all still charged up.

Rockin’ with soulful Keys

 

As published in New Straits Times              

 

Folks in Atlanta in the United States were still high from Mary J Blige’s concert even when Alicia Keys made her stop at the music hub a week later.

 

But the highly anticipated show on July 23 was below par due to the unexciting stage backdrop and faintly audible sound glitches.

 

Thank goodness for Keys’ breathy-yet-powerful vocals which diverted attention from the audio hiccup.

 

Currently on her MTV2 2002 Tour, the concert was her second in Atlanta this year. Keys was in the city earlier in the year promoting her debut album, Songs In A Minor, that has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

 

Both concerts were held at the wine-and-dine Chastain Park Amphitheater.

 

Fans were delighted to have R&B idol Donell Jones do a surprise opening act. The singer rendered songs from his latest album Life Goes On, as well as some of his previous hits such as Knocks Me Off My Feet and U Know What’s Up.

 

By 9pm, Jones had prepared the audience for the R&B princess herself.

 

Dolled up in her signature hairstyle, the five-time Grammy award winner kicked off her concert with Rock Wit U, an upbeat tune from her album. The song is one of the longest in her album, but the pop-tropical intro gave her ample time to walk across the stage to greet her fans, show off her beaded cornrows and trendy peasant top, and finally settle down at her electric piano.

 

The crowd went wild when Keys hit a funk version of How Come You Don’t Call Me. The video for the song is currently popular on music channels across the US.

 

A phone booth was stationed on stage where Keys made a call to a make-believe ex-boyfriend and hung up cold-bloodedly as soon as he said “Hello”. The gimmick immediately won cheers from the women in the audience.

 

During intermission, the DJ challenged the rest of the music crew to a song-and-dance fight, claiming that he could back Keys single-handedly throughout the remainder of the show.

 

So, for a good 20 minutes, the audience was entertained to a display of skills on the turntable and strong vocals by the backup singers.

 

Keys, whose audience comprised young and middle-aged fans of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds, soon took over the stage for a solo slow jam on her grand piano.

 

The 21-year-old New Yorker performed a medley of songs including Troubles, Goodbye and Butterflyz.

 

This was perhaps the best part of the evening for the older fans who just sat back and enjoyed their wine to the sounds of soulful vocals and the tinkling of the piano.

 

The musicians joined Keys – who was laidback enough a superstar to be wearing the same outfit throughout the show – on stage again for a Latin twist of Never Felt This Way. Four dancers soon joined in for Jane Doe, Girlfriend and the hit song, A Woman’s Worth, was another favourite amongst the women in the house.

 

The concert ended with Keys’ award-winning and self-produced number, Fallin’, that got everyone on their feet – fists clenched, eyes closed and singing with passion to that last song, many probably forgot about the technical blunder at the start of the show.

 

All in all, Keys gave her Atlanta fans an outstanding show with a nice mix of catchy tunes.

 

Nevertheless, the stage managers and sound engineers could have done better to help put together a concert truly representative of a Grammy-award winner.

 

Keys’ MTV2 2002 Tour ends on Sept 2 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

 

All hail the ‘Drama’ Queen

 

As published in New Straits Times             

 

Hip-hop soul queen Mary J. Blige may have left her personal tussles behind, as celebrated in her latest double-platinum No More Drama album, but her concert in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States on July 16 was filled with “drama”.

 

Held at Chastain Park Amphitheater in the city’s swankiest neighbourhood, the concert saw fans, dressed to the nines, setting up small tables with candles and vases, champagne bottles and picnic baskets.

 

Some women came as Blige-wannabes, wearing Mary J-style hats, big loop earrings, extravagant chain belts and designer shades. Adding to the occasion were men in smart pantsuits and a dash of jewellery.

 

Sitting amongst the Gucci-class in the US$51 (RM190) ticket zone were Atlanta’s American football stars and hip-hop celebrities New Edition and Jermaine Dupree. But the audience was largely middle-class African- Americans of all ages just craving for a taste of hip-hop soul.

 

The only thing that made the concert resemble one back home in Kuala Lumpur was the ridiculous traffic jam.

 

The concert began at 7.30pm with a surprise appearance by hot southern R&B newcomer Tweet, who charged up the crowd with her hit numbers Call Me and Oops (Oh My). By the time Blige took to the stage, the heat was on and the crowd was ready to groove.

 

Fans were in rapture when Blige took to the stage rapping to Love, the first track on her No More Drama album. She then took the crowd on a musical flashback of her 10-year singing career. Chants of “Go Mary! Go Mary!” filled the air when she hit old-school clubbing classics Reminisce and Real Love. She had four dancers on stage and would often dance with them in sync.

 

The slower songs were echoed mostly by the women, some of whom appeared as though singing to ghosts of past boyfriends as they sang along with the Bronx-bred diva about beaters, cheaters and runaway fathers in The Love I Never Had, I’m Going Down and Not Gon’ Cry, from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack.

 

Blige was in her element. The combination of her energetic showmanship and strong vocals was enough to give the audience an undescribable high.

 

The singer’s “gospelicious” vocals along with the resonance of “Sing it, Girl!” from the audience at times made the concert seem like a Sunday morning church service. A truly divine experience.

 

A two-time Grammy Award nominee, 31-year-old Blige ended her concert with a blast. She performed No More Drama and her latest single Rainy Dayz, featuring rapper Ja Rule on a video screen. Rainy Dayz is currently on America’s Top 10 chart and the performance drove the crowd absolutely wild. The show was sealed with Atlanta’s clubbers’ favourite, Family Affair.

 

With “no hate-ration in the dance-arie” (to borrow a line from Family Affair), Blige’s concert was a hollering success.

 

Ty Randolph, a fan from Atlanta, called it “Ghetto fabulous” and Berry Turner of Orlando described it as “Off da chain!”.

 

Blige is currently on a US tour to promote her plus-platinum album. The No More Drama tour will end on Aug 15 at New York City’s Apollo Theater.

 

Whew, when they have bo …

 

As published in New Straits Times

 

Co-written by Adam Ismail

 

The bell rings. It signals the end of Pendidikan Jasmani. Thirsty and tired after a game of rounders, you and your classmates drag your feet back to the classroom.

 

As you’re flat out from that strenuous game, you quench your thirst in between taking big gulps of air. Then, the class monitor, aka Aromatic Adrian, who sits right smack in the middle, rushes to get into his uniform.

 

Everyone suddenly holds his breath in anticipation. He pulls up his totally drenched, round-neck collar T-shirt over his head. Then … “Fooooooh! Smells like teen spirit.”

 

Hands up if you’ve had similar experiences. And, please … hands down to the culprits! Hello? Hands down before you kill us with your pong!

 

Didn’t you hear us? Hmmmph … that’s the problem.

 

Those with strong body odour usually don’t know they stink.

 

Apart from being able to cause a major migraine that could last for hours, the piercing smell could also stick onto your clothes. And it could stay there long after the perpetrator has left the room.

 

So how does one tell the person he’s suffocating you to death? Yeah, people say, “sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind.”

 

But how do you tell your girlfriend that she smells worse than a dead rat without hurting her feelings? How do you make her realise that people are not smiling at her because she’s so popular, but because they’re desperately holding their breath for dear life?

 

Haslina Hamidi tells us how she managed: “I had this colleague in university. We weren’t really close but she’d always volunteer herself whenever we had group projects. I didn’t mind this but she always had a strong BO (body odour).

 

“It was torturous enough in the air-conditioned lecture theatres where she would sit some distance away from us (actually, many of us tried to sit far away from her). But it was much worse when we had to work side by side during the afternoons.

 

“Her BO was so bad that you’d just die if she entered the lift with her. The lift would be reeking of her smell after she had left. It was the same in toilets.

 

“The last straw was when one Saturday, she offered to hold a file for me. She promptly stuck it under her armpit. And  she was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt!

 

“That was when I decided to tell her about her BO and how she affected those around her. I got the courage only after another week of suffering. I took her aside and told her gently.

 

“I said, `Please don’t misunderstand me. And please don’t get embarrassed. This is for your own good. Do you realise you have a strong body scent … I used to have it too. Not anymore. I use XXX brand and it’s really great …”

 

“Thankfully, she took it well. Of course, there was no immediate change. But the smell subsided after a week or two. Now, you don’t even notice it when she walks into class.”

 

Rozie Imran, 21, also remembers a friend who carried the pong with her wherever she went. After some time, when she and her other classmates couldn’t hack it any longer, they decided to take a soft approach to the problem.

 

“This girl was the outdoors type. And whenever she came in after a while in the  sun, she really stank.

 

“It really affected us. We couldn’t even concentrate on our studies.

 

“We were always exchanging knowing glances when she came in. But she never got the drift.

 

“We decided enough was enough. But none of us dared to tell her in her face for fear she’d feel insulted.

 

“So on her birthday, we bought a small gift basket with two deodorants – spray and roll-on. We put it right on top of the pile of other goodies.

 

“I think she must have got the hint finally because, after that, she was smell-free!”

 

Sometimes though, you may just have to bear the smell, like in the case of Anissa Aziz and her friends, who went to watch a movie.

 

“We had heard so much about Moulin Rouge and were eagerly looking forward to the movie. But our enthusiasm was doused from the minute we entered the cinema.

 

“We had seats worse than the first row – we were right behind someone, whose body odour filled every inch of the small cineplex. What’s more, the guy had his arm over his girlfriend’s shoulder!” said Anissa, 18.

 

“We couldn’t concentrate on the movie mostly because our minds were clouded by the odour. But we were also trying to figure out how his girlfriend could survive with that awful smell.”

 

According to dermatologist Dr Steven Chow, “the BO problem is a medical one.” Thus, it’s likely to be treatable. But before one can find a cure for the problem, one must first identify its cause.

 

Contrary to popular belief, Chow saidthings like spicy food and garlic do not contribute to body odour.

 

One may have bad body whiff due to a disturbed physiological state. But this usually happens to someone who’s really ill, such as suffering from liver failure. So, if you’re alive and kicking, you don’t have to worry about this. Bad body odour may also occur due to chronic infections on your skin. So, if you’ve got it, treat it, because it can grow into something that doesn’t only look disgusting but smells as bad, too.

 

The most common type of BO cases is due to perspiration. When you perspire, bacteria on your skin will break down urea from your sweat an that’s when you start to stink.

 

This is why “chubby” people should try trimming down or really take good care of their hygiene because sweat may accumulate in the folds of their body and cause bad body odour to occur.

 

However, not all is lost.

 

“I swear I’ve tried the strongest brands of deodorants this country has to offer. I’ve even tried sprays and roll-ons together. I’ve experimented on both the dry and wet types, but I give myself two hours before smelling like wet T-shirt in a plastic bag again,” said Kat Fernandez, 17.

 

Indeed, sufferers must be informed that deodorants do not solve the BO problem.

 

Toiletries can only be a short-term measure in masking body odour but doesn’t get to the root of the problem – they don’t kill the bacteria that causes your body odour.

 

In fact, in some cases, toiletries make it worse when chemicals in them and the human body are mixed. It could make one’s body smell like the city dump.

 

So to solve the problem, Dr Chow advises those with the problem to use cleansing products with lower pH levels to prevent bacteria from breeding on their skin.

 

But before one can take steps to becoming BO-free, one must first acknowledge that one stinks. On one hand, some may have the decency of self-realisation but others are either in denial or just waiting to be told.

 

“You have to tell them, especially if they’re your friends,” says Mahadi Razman, 16. “It’s bound to hurt somewhat but consider yourself honest enough to help him in dealing with the problem.”

 

Charles Devan, 18, from Klang says: “Your friend, the one with the BO problem, may be a little on the bengap (blur) side so you have to scheme your approach so that the message gets across. But of course, you must approach the issue with some sensitivity.”

 

Now that you are enlightened about the causes and solutions, for heaven’s sake do something about it. It’s an absolute turn-off!

 

Love needs no pedigree

 

As published in New Straits Times

 

When they’re small, furry and cuddly, we love them. But when they’re grown up and not as playful as they used to be, we don’t want them anymore. Sadly, that’s the unfortunate fate many of our pets suffer – neglect.

 

We are seeing more homeless animals on our streets. This increasing number of stray animals is due to our irresponsibility as pet owners, and also our society’s lack of compassion for animals.

 

However, some pet owners who can’t manage anymore will give their pets up to animal centres and pounds. Perhaps, these pet owners would feel less guilty sending their pets to animal shelters because they believe that the animals will be fed and cared for until someone comes to adopt them.

 

Sadly, this is not always the case.

 

According to Jeanette Low from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Selangor, about 1,000 mixed-breed cats and dogs are brought into SPCA every month.

 

However, the average adoption rate is only between 200 and 300 animals. When centres like SPCA are overpopulated, the only way to keep things in order is to put some of the animals to sleep.

 

Most of the animals flooding SPCA are dogs, but that doesn’t mean there are less homeless cats out there. Unlike dogs, homeless cats are left to wander and risk ending up maimed or dead from accidents.

 

Taking note of this problem is the Body Shop, a cosmetic company against animal testing. They have been supporting Animal Rights for more than 25 years. The company believes that society must take an active role in protecting animals from harm, abuse and exploitation be it in the lab, farm or even at home.

 

In conjunction with World Animal Day on Oct 4, The Body Shop teamed up with Selangor’s SPCA and launched their “Love Needs No Pedigree” campaign to educate the public on what they can do to prevent animal cruelty.

 

For four weeks, from Sept 17 to Oct 14, the campaign highlights the plight of homeless animals and the urgent need for more responsible ownership in Malaysia. The campaign urges those who are ready and seeking a pet to consider adopting from an animal shelter because adopting saves lives.

 

During this campaign, Malaysians can take a proactive step in helping to spread the word by sending a campaign postcard to a friend or relative, purchasing a car sticker or picking up a set of leaflets.

 

These items are available at The Body Shop outlets nationwide. The postcards are free, whilst the car stickers are going at RM3 a piece to raise funds for the SPCA. The leaflets give us information on pet neutering and how it can help reduce the number of stray animals in our neighbourhood. For example, the leaflets tell us that a cat owner may have chosen not to neuter his/her cat without realizing the long term effects. Starting from two cats, one may end up with as many as 20,000 kittens in a matter of seven years. In addition, the leaflets also include the Islamic standpoint in aimal neutering. Pet owners and potential pet owners should get hold of these leaflets for more information.

 

“Love Needs No Pedigree” is the second collaboration between SPCA Selangor and The Body Shop since 1996 when they campaigned against animal testing in cosmetics and skincare products. This time around, they hope to put a stop to cruelty towards domestic animals and to prompt Malaysians to search their conscience and take a step towards compassion.

 

So, let us do our bit for our animals and make this campaign work.