What Went Down: Ecoba pres. Big Fest @ Ecoba

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  in Reports
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Altruism and art don’t always meld together, but Ecoba’s Big Fest was exactly that, a music festival in support of a worthy cause – AIDS awareness and prevention. Aimed to entertain, spread awareness, and raise fund for Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF), the Big Fest invited some of the best indie acts around along with DJs you might have heard spinning at your favourite clubs. Live acts include Kyoto Protocol, Rollin’ Sixers, Ben’s Bitches, 3, Tashya’s Ink, Ain Zulkifly, Naked Breed, Russell Curtis, and Narmi; as well as DJ sets from Bryan Burger, Faith, RaySoo, Bernie, Kamil, SoundKod, and Nesh.

Taking up about a quarter of PJ Trade Centre’s botany space, the fest was something like Urbanscape on a smaller scale. It had all the quintessential features of a Klang Valley hipster fest; pop up boutiques, food stalls, beer, and a mixture of DJs and live acts. Naturally the event had an entrance fee, which, along with the money spent on the coupons sold, would go to fund MAF. Aside from that, there was also an intermittent auction held in between band performances to raise money for the same organisation.

While we weren’t particularly observant of what was happening with the DJ sets in the restaurant, we enjoyed the live performances by the bands. To name a few that we caught; Tashya’s Ink provided the crowd with late ‘80s hair rock like that era never dissipated into pop culture oblivion. Lost Positive Tone-era band Naked Breed showed us that they still got it after all these years. Kyoto Protocol remained as the most consistent newer local act. And Ben’s Bitches ended the night by showing the relatively tame crowd what punk rock is all about with their inflammatory lyrics and small group of fans who were skanking and moshing in front of the stage.

Host Kim tested our patience with her exasperatingly energetic MCing and forced innuendos, so forced we believed she tried to spank an unwilling patron. But kudos to her for managing to sell an umbrella! To the poor guy who was duped into buying that; don’t feel too bad, find solace in knowing that you spent your cash on the umbrella for a good cause. And that is exactly what Ecoba’s Big Fest was about, guilt-free partying with a good cause.

In the end the accumulative amount of RM13k++ collected from proceeds and sales from the event were given to Malaysian AIDS Foundation. A worthy amount for a worthy cause.

Ecoba pres. Big Fest was held at Ecoba Bar & Restaurant on 17 December 2011. Find more pictures of the event here.