GAJA Opening Launch at Butter Factory – 15 Dec 2011
And yes, I know that this event is almost a year ago, but these are just
random after thoughts that I probably would want to reminiscent few years down
the road.
Honestly, clubbing is not my kind of thing. If ever I were
to step into one, it’s either because of events or camps. As a result, I have
ZERO experience in clubbing and have no idea how the night goes about.
Me heading over to GAJA’s opening night was a last minute
decision too. I half-ditched the idea when the MRT sort of died when I was
about to head to a client’s place at Yishun to deliver some documents after
work. I’m serious when I say I was almost suffocated amidst the crowd at City
Hall MRT since there was no way we could move and there was no way we could
retreat. Plus we were sort of stranded there for 30mins with no clear
instruction on what had happened and what we should do. It was only after that
suffocating 30min did an announcement came saying something along the lines of “The
train will be delayed for at least one and a half hour, please proceed out of
the station and seek alternative routes.” This situation left me with no choice
but to cab. And you’ve idea how long the cab queue was.
Things changed with a call from Lydia at around 10pm and out
I flew to Butter Factory to see BeatBurger for the second time. The first time
was this awkward interview session the day before the opening launch. It was
awkward because they boys were just so shy. Totally didn’t expect this kind of
situation since they are all dancers and performance directors! However, I love
their random outbursts of English phrases, as it sort of eased the atmosphere.
The translator was immensely lousy though. She misinterpreted my questions
resulting in the boys’ answers having no relation to what I wanted to know and
find out. Plus she will summarize everything in just one or two lines even if
Jaewon or Gregory spoke a lot. It even came to a point that Jaewon understood
my English better than her Korean. Yes, this was how fail the translator was.
The Launch Party effectively started at 12am with BeatBurger
opening to a dance remix of Suju’s Sorry Sorry, Mr Simple, Bonamana and
SHINee’s Lucifer. The whole event launched with a bang as Jaewon and Gregory
made a lasting impression to whoever was there with their impressive dance
moves. It was indeed interesting to see the men behind these choreographies that
K-Pop fans are so familiar with and these two execute them with perfection.
Got to meet DJ Masa thanks to Lyd and Maurice and had a
rather informal chat session with him. He’s a really nice guy just that I
probably will miss his gig again due to commitments elsewhere. This is like the
second time I’m missing him so I really hope he’ll be back soon so that I’ll
get to witness his DJ-ing capabilities cause Lyd did mention that he improved
so much since the last event he had in Singapore. Glad I got to meet the man
despite not being able to attend his event that Saturday.
Anyway, back to BeatBurger! I think that they are awesome
mood-makers because they got the crowd dancing and swaying to the music the
moment the Launch Party started. However, I was pretty disappointed with the lack
of Korean music that night. I mean GAJA is meant to attract K-Pop fans who like
clubbing to Korean music, with the playing of new releases and top charters.
But that wasn’t happening that night. The music played were English songs I’ve
never heard before other than a few Korean songs being randomly inserted. As a
result, I ended up engaging in my all-time favourite hobby – people watching.
It’s really interesting noticing how people interact amidst
a club setting – the body language, the words used and the way people dress to
impress. The whole experience is kind of new thus makes it more interesting as
I take in new sights and new sounds. All in all, it is a setting that is not to
my liking. I would like to try heading to a pub next time though, where I can
just sit, relax and enjoy good music. ^^
Random tidbits I’ll never forget – Schizo whipping out his
electric guitar, Gregory pouring drinks for the crowd and Jaewon singing to an
English song!
Didn’t manage to do what I set out to accomplish that night
and have no idea how authentic BeatBurger’s gig is to the clubbing scene in
Korea, but nonetheless, it was an eye-opener and indeed a night worth to
remember. ^^
And yes, BeatBurger did return to Singapore for another event with GAJA
and their first ever dance workshop exclusively for Singapore few months back
in June so I guess I wouldn't be too surprised should they ever come again this
year for GAJA's first anniversary or something!
_germx
BEATBURGER! ^^
20120930.1523h
Labels: BeatBurger, events, Looking Back
