After a 5 year hiatus of photography blogging, I’m finally back!
Within my 5-year absence, I have been to gigs here and there with my small but mighty Sony RX100 mark 1, but I never really had the chance to publish those shots ever since I shifted my focus on my band Mi Ultimo. Furthermore, it’s easier to post them on other social media platforms. But since I got the steam to get this page going, I will be adding them up in my future posts.
It was 3 months before the show when Extreme’s Official Band Page announced that they are enlisting Singapore as part of Extreme Pornograffitti World Tour. The show was made possible by Live! Empire delivering funk rock nostalgia to the fans inside the Coliseum Hard Rock Hotel Singapore at the Resorts World Sentosa, the night of June 5, 2014.
It was almost two years ago when Franco last visited Singapore for a gig and it was way different back then. The frontman had all the stage by himself armed with only his Harana acoustic, a smaller version than the usual. On March 9, 2014, Franco brought his whole cavalry to the St. James Power Station delivering rock goods to the pinoy fans in Singapore. The show was made possible by Marketing Mix Cottage, iConnectSG, SG Goons Tattoo, in support of Requiem Rising SG. Our photo group MASP was part of the media coverage which gave me an all access pass to all the corners of the venue. Our newly set-up musicians’ group Aftershock also took part in the event with some of our boys UlingGang and Four Days Ahead opening up for Franco.
Before Franco stepped up the stage last March 9, 2014 at the St. James Power Station, the crowd got their inital dose of adrenaline rush by some of the rising pinoy bands in Singapore. Jam Review, Morning in June, HoA, UlingGang, and Four Days Ahead were the bands that took the honour of sharing the platform with one of the most popular post-grunge band in the Philippines.
Singapore Rock Festival kicked off last 05 March 2014. It was a two day event that featured Black Veil Brides, Five Finger Death Punch, Rob Zombie, and Korn on the first day, then followed by Alter Bridge and Alice in Chains on the second day. Unfortunately, I was only able to grab some time to see the first day and it was just right to keep my eardrums ringing for 2 days as I was nailed beside the PA the whole time. Knowing how rowdy the crowd can be, I didn’t want to take the risk of bringing a DSLR so I grabbed my trusty compact Sony RX100 with me instead.
Each one of us has a list of things that we need to do, see, or hear while we spend our average life on this planet. Personally, having missed Metallica 20 years ago back home, watching the guys, who has influenced almost all of the current metal scene, live on stage was one of my bucket list. There have been rumors that they are possibly passing by the region during their slate at the Soundwave Festival, but nothing has been confirmed yet. After a few rounds of maybe’s & maybe not’s, the Singapore show was officially announced. Minutes after, I was initially struck with disbelief, reloading their webpage over & over, validating whether they have posted some anomaly by mistake. After staring at my phone for a couple of minutes, I soon realized that I was not dreaming & what I was staring at was blatantly real. It was about time that I gathered all my senses, relaxed, & silently screamed HELLYEAH!! Read the rest of this entry »
The Nikon D700 has been with me for almost 3 years and has been very efficient in delivering the right goods in concert photography. It may sound too good to be true but it has never been that perfect for me. There were times where I have opted to leave the gear at home due to a tight baggage space and having a thought of hauling a gear heavier than what you are supposed to be bringing. I have been keeping an eye on the recent developments of ‘pocketable’ cameras & they have been evolving so quickly that I haven’t got the urge to dissect them one by one. I was only looking at a few traits such as good high ISO performance, a size that can fit into your pocket, & the option to control in full Manual. I have narrowed my options along the price range of the Nikon’s micro four thirds & the Fuji X20 but somehow, the Sony RX100 has caught my attention having a 1.0 type CMOS sensor similar to that of the Nikon’s J1/V1. As I went further & seeing the jpegs of the RX100, I was blown away with the camera’s capabilities. Unlike the micro four thirds, this tiny beast’s lens will retract into its body when turned off making it ‘pocketable’ with a variable zoom lens. Read the rest of this entry »
Queso was used to be called Cheese the last time I saw them live at our school grounds more than a decade ago. I always took safe precautions whenever these guys hit the stage after almost getting pinned down in a riot which ensued during their performance at the UP fair way back during the late 90’s. From contagious grooves coupled with visceral riffs, the approach of Queso’s music to the audience delivers a backbone that can send someone drifting in frenzy. Queso never takes any performance calmly, and whenever they strike, they hit hard right through your senses. Read the rest of this entry »
I had the opportunity to experience getting up-close with the Greyhoundz‘ gig way back when the band was starting to hit the scene during the late 90’s. They were playing regularly at our school and, yes, even at our dormitory, tearing stages & transforming kids into frantic cannibals. Back during the time when OPM rock was a genre defined by alternative & hard rock, it was culturally stunning when the Houndz ripped the scene with down-tuned riffs & hard-hitting growls into a rock society who had just awoken from a grunge facelift . The fresh approach was easily embraced by young metal heads yearning for more aggression in their record collection. The impact eventually trickled down to the fashion scene which had the teens back then hunt for oversized jeans to complement half of their exposed underpants. Oh yes, I was a victim as well. Read the rest of this entry »
After a 3-month stint from blogging, spending solitude with my first-born & cogitating whether I would be picking –up the camera again, I finally got hold of my fervour in shooting gigs when news arrived that two of the most ground-breaking bands from the Philippines are coming over to Singapore. It was during their recent acoustika series that Pinoytuner & Requiem Rising confirmed that Greyhoundz & the recently reunited Queso (formerly known as Cheese) are heading their way here on 28th of April 2013. Our group MASP was given the honours of covering their stay so we were given an all access pass, quite a blessing if you have been rubbing elbows with the right people. Read the rest of this entry »
IAN SOLIVA 