Stingray - Live On Stage!

There are times when a night turns out, unexpectedly. Last night was one of those nights.

I was at The Room (not it's real name)in KL, my regular night hang-out nowadays. Acat, Jamil and Eva, were with me, too - on my persuasion that The Room had one of the best live bands in KL. It was a 3-piece band with a lead vocalist with vocals that could whip former Malaysian Idol or Akademi Fantasia contestants, maybe even winners.

As I was sipping my Coke, Azman (the guitarist in the band) walked up to me and said, "Hey, thanks again for coming tonight, man! I saw that you were listening to our music intently - you looked like a pretty good listener. Do you play a musical instrument?"

"Nope. But I do sing", I replied. What I meant to say was that I'm a regular at Star KTV, Bangsar. (which later, I found out, he assumed differently - he thought I had performed with a live band, before!)

"Like what songs?", he asked.

"Well, I don't remember the lyrics to most songs. But setakat Man Bai's "Kau Ilhamku" tu boleh la", I half-joked.

"Okay! Later I call you up on stage - you sing at the open mike session", Azman said.

I laughed, because I thought he was joking.

Oh boy, was I wrong.


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The "open mike" session is a session at The Room, where its patrons get to perform on stage with the live band. And usually, the people who go up stage, are quite good.

As I as chating to Eva and the first singer for the open mike had finished his rendition, I heard my name being called by PJ, the lead vocalist of the band.

Alamak! Azman was not joking! Mati la aku!

My friends were shocked. I was hoping to let it pass - if I kept quiet, maybe they'd move on to another name.

They didn't. I am so dead and buried, I thought.

Reluctantly, I forced myself to get on stage, smiled at Azman and PJ and waited for Azman to give me the guitar cue. There was none - the band was going to play "Kau Ilhamku" using keyboard, which sounded slightly different.

I panicked. I couldn't get the keys right and my first few notes of "Kau Ilhamku" came out off tune. Dammit! This had to happen on the night when The Room was full of people-lah.

I had imagined that I'd never get anyone to talk to me again, after this session was over. They'd probably think this "mamat bodoh perasan boleh menyanyi" is on stage with a live band, wasting everyone's time.

I closed my eyes and listened intently and waited for my voice to "lock in" with the keyboard key, on the song. By about the third line of the song, it "clicked" and everything sounded in my head, like it was supposed to be.

Did I tell you that I was shaking like a leaf, too? Yes, I was!

But from the third line onwards, I was in control of the song. And it felt good, having a great live band, back me up - this is certainly far better, than the karaoke room!

And after a while, the crowd was singing along! And I had June Baharuddin, the owner of Galeri Tangsi, giving me moral support from the floor. That was very thoughtful and really helped me overcome the initial jitters. (June insisted later that I sounded a lot like Man Bai, the original singer of the song!). And truth be told, there was a point where I came to enjoy being on stage - it felt good.

I belted the song out to the best of my ability - and once I was done, there was a fairly strong of applause, from the audience in The Room. Half-shaking still, I handed the microphone over back to PJ, who smiled said "I never knew you could sing". I jokingly replied, "that makes 2 of us!". ;)

I got down from the stage, amidst the surprised stares that came from some parts of the audience (especially, from some of the girls, thankfully). Acat, Jamil and Eva were very encouraging - "you were good, bro'!", they said.

Later, as the 2nd session ended, Azman walked up to me and said "Was that your first session with a live band? You were trembling!". I replied, "Well, yes, in a public place. Have only jammed before once or twice, in private settings".

And he said, "You started out pretty shaky, but after that you were good. Good voice and good voice control. I'll call you up to the stage again, one of these days."

And this time, I didn't make the same mistake of thinking that he was joking. I said in a serious tone, "No, bro'! - that was the first and the last" and I laughed.

Later on in the night, PJ and the keyboardist (I can't remember his name, it sounded like Amran) were also saying nice things to me, about my singing. They were surprised that it was my first time, with a live band, too. Maybe they were just being nice. It doesn't matter - even if they were half-sincere and if I at least, did not make a total fool of myself - I would have been happy with that. :)

But yes, it was a memorable night at The Room. One that I would cherish forever.

Damn! Now I wish I had photos! :)