Homegrown Space

Breaking News!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009, Kuala Lumpur - There have been reports of Michael Jackson sightings lately.Michael has been seen moonwalking and dancing around in joy.Witnesses say that it happened right after the rocking Homegrown Tribute to Michael Jackson at Wisma Bentley Music’s Auditorium last week.

This is what you would expect to see on the news if you would have been there last Friday.I tell you it was off the charts.Even us, the Homegrown team was blown away by the turn out and energetic performances by our superbly talented local acts.

It was an exhilarating two-and-a-half hours from start to end.We had the privilege of having Qi(of Destinasi Bajet,8tv) and Sarah Lian as our hosts.They brought chemistry to a whole new level.Qi looked sharp and Sarah was ever so beautiful in her own little MJ get up.

We kicked of the show with a one of a kind percussion rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Shake Your Body” and “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” by the Aseana Percussion Unit.Their performance left many from the audiences tapping their feet to cool beats and wonderful music coming from this amazing band.

One of my personal favorites that night was Transient Vortex’s rendition of “Rock With You”.I enjoyed it from the start to the end.I am very sure that I wasn’t the only one head banging and moving to the heart pounding beats and piercing sound effects from the duo.It was definitely one of the best remixes to a Michael Jackson number.

We also had up and coming homegrown hip hop sensation Jin Hackman from the Rogue Squadron,with his version of “Pretty Young Thing”.He definitely put in his own ‘FLAVA’ into the song and I am 100% sure it is the first of its kind.

While the rest performed songs from Michael Jackson, Happy Nightmare treated the crowd to a funk rendition of the famous Jackson 5 number “ABC” bringing many of the “oldies” in the audience back to the time when Michael was just a little kid singing along with his brothers..Happy Nightmare first performed at the Homegrown Space and our decision to put them on for the tribute was definitely a right one.Kudos to Happy Nightmare for a job well done.

There was one performer that gave the audience a jaw dropping performance.If you closed your eyes, you would have thought that Michael Jackson was there in person singing his famous tunes “Man In The Mirror” and “You Are Not Alone”.That man is Ferhad.With his pants folded up showing his white socks like the legend himself Ferhad sang the audience to a standing ovation.For me to describe his performance wouldn’t do justice so stay tuned for the video and you will understand what I am talking about.

After Ferhad’s breathtaking performance we took a break from all the music with a dance by an MJ impersonator.Malaysia’s very own Michael Jackson, MJ Nada,wowed the audience with his moves from moonwalking to the crotch grabbing and at the same time he gave us all a glimpse of what it would have been like if MJ himself was on the stage at that time.And the crowd thought so too because at the end of the night, everyone was busy taking pictures with MJ outside the auditorium.

After MJ Nada took the audience back down memory lane with Michael Jackson’s infamous dance moves, we moved to the rock part of the night.Kicking it off was The Otherside Orchestra with their electro, indie rock version of the famous hit “Thriller”.It was nice to see a young Malaysian band perform such a hit with their own interpretation of it.

Next up we had the spunky pop star Mellisa Indot.Wearing a t-shirt that said MI loves MJ and with a gigantic white glove,she gave us Alien Ant Farms version of “Smooth Criminal” while being backed up by one of Malaysia’s finest rock outfit, Deja Voodoo Spells.Deja Voodoo Spells then took the stage giving us a hard rock, metal rendition of “Billie Jean”.We’ve seen so many versions of this,but this had Deja Voodoo Spells written all over it.With riffs, solos and drum beats only this trio can conjure up, their performance is definitely one we will remember for a long time to come.

Now the next performance I can guarantee you have never seen before.I am very sure no one here has ever heard “They Don’t Care About Us” in reggae.Well that is exactly what local reggae act Pure Vibracion did and my goodness they got it so right.I went home with the tune stuck in my head.Definitely one of the best performances of the night hands down with the crowd singing along to the chorus at the end of their performance.

The hit “Beat It” has always been a favorite with many and on that night it became my number one favorite MJ hit after an amazingly energetic performance by Love Me Butch.Trust me, this was one performance you didn’t want to miss.Many would agree with me that their performance would have made MJ do a moonwalk in his grave.Doing the number in a heavy,hardcore,metal style, Love Me Butch definitely secured their spot as one of the best local rock acts.People were off their chairs cheering and screaming along with vocalist Syarul Reza’s guttural screams of “Beat It! Beat It!” It was a wild moment and people were waving the devils’ horns all across the auditorium. Like I said, you had to be there to see it.

To end the night we remembered Michael Jackson’s brother Jermain Jackson and how he presented “Smile” at the memorial service for Michael Jackson.So saving the best for last, we had CEO of 8TV Mr.Ahmad Izham Omar on keyboards accompanied by the beautiful Liyana, an upcoming indie jazz singer mesmerizing us with their rendition of the song.Izham is an amazing musician and the stunning Liyana was the icing on the cake.With pictures of MJ smiling in various stages of his life projected on the screen, it was a nostalgic end to the evening.

The night ended on a high with big smiles on both the audience and the faces of the Homegrown crew.What a night!It was definitely a success and it could not have been done without everyone’s support especially the audience who were so patient and accommodating while each band took turns to set up on stage. Qi and Sarah also shone in their ability to keep the audience entertained with their obvious chemistry and adlibbing genius. 10 limited edition concert T-shirts were given out that night to lucky winners of a spontaneous quiz show and one that I will remember is this guy Ivan, who did this crazy MJ dance on stage just to win a t-shirt, what a sport!
From the performances to the support shown and the dedication into making this event a successful one,there is no doubt that we can see Michael Jackson still lives inside each and everyone of us.

Please stay tuned for a short recap of the performances that will be up on the site by this week as well as more photographs of the concert.We will inform you on the details of when it comes out on tv.

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