Baybeats Day 2

Cashew Chemists rocking it out.

Merrily watched the youngsters mosh-danced in sync (and safely) to 'Embrace Them Ghosts'. Metal, rock, punk, loud. Surprisingly fun and rather tight. Good drummer. Completely forgot that there was the NDP rehearsal going on. I probably ignored it till people turned and looked skywards. OH. Chinooks. Oh. GIANT SINGAPORE FLAG! We were already standing. That assuaged any possible guilt. Then the navy boats zoomed out. Doh. I was an unwitting spectator to our nation's annual display of military prowess. We do like our country. We just don't quite agree fully with this format for the annual rah-rah of like/love.

There would be the gun salute. Is it 21 shots that would be fired? As the band began the next song, I heard 3 shots. After that, I heard no more shots. The bass beats and heavy riffs completely drowned out the shots. The music didn't exactly drown out the fighter jets overhead. Oddly, the boom of the jets was kinda complementing the music.

Then, there were the fireworks. It provided the backdrop to the no-more-heavy-metal-but-now-groovy-rock-and-roll set by 'Cashew Chemists'. What a nice view really. I thought the music was almost rocking in rhythm to the colorful sparks in the night sky. A full 15-minute display. Okaaaay. Not impressed. So are they going to release these fireworks weekly from 23 June all the way to National Day on 9 August? Seriously?

I was trying to squeeze a space out to watch 'Monster Cat' indoors. Tough lah. So many humans. No standing room even. Retreated to the back where there were seats behind a pillar that gave no view of anything, but a chance to listen to a wondrous CD-perfect live set. Oh well. That would do. The air-conditioning provided a much-needed respite from the brutal humidity outdoors. The collective body odor was not pleasant. I contemplated fainting. But that would be too dramatic. Bottles of iced water worked. Any wisp of sea breeze wafting by the bayfront was much appreciated.

While South Korean ska band 'Copy Machine' were pretty tight and provided dance-friendly numbers to the mad crowds, my vote for the best band of the night went to 'The Great Spy Experiment'. My goodness. Blown away. It's so obvious that they've been playing many live shows. Fabulous sound and chemistry on stage.