A Day In The Life Of An Oblivious Ape.: Never before.

This has got to be a new personal record: 15 hours spent of out the house; seeing, hearing, feeling, breathing nothing else but percussion.

Straight up.

So Bloco practice was at 9am this time round, over at oh-so-near Kranji Camp. Didn't expect the weather be so fucking burning like it did, but hey, all in the pursuit of the passion, right?

Right.

We also had to leave early to get ready for Upbeats' gig at Marina Barrage as part of the opening acts for the Singapore Arts Festival. Yes, it's here already. I'm surprised at how much hype (or lack thereof) it got this year. Strange.

So anyway, we were supremely tight in our set. Mistakes were definitely made, but we made an awesome job of covering them up, I think. Kudos to the crowd for being pretty sporting as well. Pictures will be up soon, I hope. We were definitely a sight to behold. Heh.

Afterward, we heard that our Bloco buddies, Voodoo, were gonna busk afterwards at 8 or so. So off we went to Clarke Quay to get our voodoo on. Turns out they were only starting at 9. Well, no harm done.

It was suffice to say that I was FUCKING IMPRESSED. Yes, Voodoo Drums is the shiz, ladies and gentlemen. Bass-driven rhythms were accompanied with various melodies colourised by the triple-team of snare players, while talented frontmen took to the stage with accents on the djembe, xequere, and bells, as well as the huge oil drum that added a really rockin' industrial feel to their songs.

Two things they definitely have going for them - without a shadow of a doubt - are their showmanship, and their harmony. Crowd involvement was excellent, especially when the crowd itself responded. That issue can be a bitch with a lot of percussion groups. Vocalisations were added at appropriate points, even though sometimes they strained a lot to make themselves heard above the thumping beats. Every instrument was definitely in sync with one another, and even though there were occasional slip-ups, they were forgivable. I mean, the surdo players were working EXTREMELY hard for the money. I think they deserve some credit for that, don't you? Bass, I take my hat off to you, good sirs.

A delicious melding of familiar Asian tunes with contemporary and industrial sounds, Voodoo Drums will definitely leave you spellbound and wanting more. Cheers, dudes.