California 37 Live in Kuala Lumpur
Date: June 16, 2012
Venue: KL Live, Kuala Lumpur
By Shawal Ras
Follow @shawalras
Californian chart-staples Train were in town last week for a concert, and promised one mega-swell time to the masses of throaty, karaoke sing-along starved fans. We sent one writer - who has never been to a concert in his entire life - and asked him to jot down his experience. He went. He shouted. He came back sweaty and smiling. Onwards:
Old men in ties and carefully-pleated work shirts. Girls in skirts that were shorter than my boxer shorts. Even one in a baju kurung. And a seven-year-old sitting behind me who could already sing all the words to 'Marry Me'.
I’ve never been to a live concert in my life. No joke. I do have 50GB of songs in my hard drive, but bands have only ever sung to me through a pair of speakers and fake Petaling Street CDs. This, we would agree, was momentous. A true mixture of feelings were present as the lights suddenly dimmed: Happy. Anxious. Scared. A little hungry.
“Heeeey hey! Heeey heeey heey!” sang lead singer Patrik Monahan when the white spotlight was thrusted onto him.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” screamed the crowd. What is this unity of wordless sounds? Soon, I learnt it was a signal to the band that, hey dude, we know the song "Hey, Soul Sister".
“Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains…”. My gut tells me I should join the crowd, but I actually didn’t remember the lyrics. Would people know? Would they stare? Would the seven-year-old behind beat me with her Train poster? First lesson: no one can hear you in a concert. Sing loud, proud, with no regards for accuracy.
“I knew I wouldn’t forget you du du du wadiblahdiblah."
Train’s songs somehow evoked our teenage love stories, or as what we say in Malay, cinta monyet (monkey love). Those memories kept on walking through my head when Train sang the song that would jumpstart their worldwide success, “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)”. Suddenly, I was 12, and I was giving my first kiss in the school hallway. Lesson: concerts and nostalgia go hand in hand.
The light dimmed again when Patrick turned off his mic. All it took was the first line “Forever can never be long enough for me, to feel like I've had long enough with you..”, and everyone went into their comfort zone. A couple who was standing behind me suddenly wrapped their arms around each other, with kisses aplenty and scant regard for hygiene. Admittedly: 'Marry Me' probably created the most romantic setting I’ve ever encountered in my life. Everywhere, love was all around. Standing next to my friend, I held her hand just to indulge myself. Thankfully, she didn’t slap me back. Lesson: never come to a Train concert alone.
Another favourite moment during the concert was when Train decided to give away a signed guitar to a lucky girl. Damn, I’m a green-eyed monster. Leaving KL Live, I took out my iPod, and scrolled to California 37. The songs sounded the same. But it felt like I was listening to them for the first time.
[This article originally published on June 20, 2012, in Esquire Malaysia]
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