Disko Papan 3 @ Cloth & Clef

By Ben Liew  •  in Reports
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While the rest of KL was soaking up the sun (and drizzle) at Urbanscapes, the misfits and die-hard indie fans were rocking it big time at Disko Papan 3 at Cloth & Clef. It’s one thing to organise an event on the same day as something as big as Urbanscapes, but to make it an all-day music festival that starts at 1pm and ends (supposedly) at 3am is madness. Add to that the 18 plus bands that were scheduled to play and you’ve got yourself a mini alternative music festival that could rival any corporate-sponsored outdoor event.

It was certainly a blast from the past for JUICE as we haven’t seen so much indie kinship since the heydays of Paul’s Place. Apart from an oddly placed vodka salesgirl at the door, there was no sign of corporate support – no telco banners or trendy junkfood posters – which was good because, as any sane indie kid would tell you, we can do it ourselves.

Disko Papan 3 might not have had a giant marketplace selling flashy apparels but it did have a table outside pushing most of the bands’ merchandise. Beer was also cheap with Tiger going for 10 bucks a bottle.

The bands themselves were already reason enough to clear all plans for the day. From local punk pioneers Carburetor Dung to Singaporean psych funk delight Stoned Revivals to college geek rockers Marionexxes, the show was a non-stop aural overload. There was even a Ramones cover band cheekily called The Ranomes.

Our favourite boozed up folker Azmyl Yunor gave an excellent performance with his backing band, the Sigarettes, and included his usual rolling-on-the-floor as part of the act. 2 more bands that caught our attention were Mom’s On Strike (local) and Pop Whizzee (Singapore). Coincidentally, both bands were led by girls but that’s where the similarities end. Mom’s On Strike were crass and dirty, a prime example of how a riot grrrl band should sound like (more over Karen O!), while Pop Whizzee reminded us of the girlie ska pop punk of Save Ferris. Big contrast but loads of energy from both bands.

While the screaming and stage diving was happening downstairs at the Pecah Reban stage, things were chilled upstairs at the Teh Gayong Lepak stage where gig goers got to cool off to the acoustic tunes of Lisa Foo and Slowjaxx, Yunos Erksan and Silwayd.

Esam Salleh aka Souljaxx, who is also in Stoned Revivals, did a great job in selecting the line-up. And Cloth & Clef owner Ethaya Kumarasamy managed to keep the lid sealed when things got a bit too hot to handle, as they usual do at underground gigs where egos can sometimes inflate with the economy.

So who you calling an underdog, dawg?

Disko Papan 3 celebrated the gift of independent music on Saturday 27 June 2009 at Cloth & Clef.

The line-up in no particular order:

Carburetor Dung (old skool punk)
Stoned Revivals (psychedelic)
Force Vomit (surf punk)
Destroy All Monsters (death disco)
Moods (indie/lounge/jazz)
Pop Whizzee (ska/punk)
The Zozi (indie/satire rock)
Cesspit (ska/pop punk)
The Pinholes (rock n roll)
The Bois (Oi/ S.H.A.R.P)
The Ranomes (KL’s Ramones lovechild)
ETC ( rock n roll)
My Writes (indie/pop)
Man Under Zero Effort (progressive/jazz/rock)
Tenderfist ( pop/crunk/ghettotech)
Mom’s On Strike (progressive/rock)
Azmyl Yunor & The Sigarettes (rock n roll)