Qi:nobe, the Celestial Band

In the recently concluded “Superband” competition held on 5 Aug 06, saccharine sweet church going guys, Milubing won and was touted as Singapore’s first “Celestial Band”. Big title. No malice intended, I felt the rap rock group, Qi:nobe was the BAND to beat throughout the entire competition.

Perhaps, I am taking sides because I grew up listening to a wide staple of rock and metal diet. Van Halen, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Marc Bolan, AC/DC, Poison, Cinderalla, Ratt, Kiss, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Steve Vai, Aerosmith, Yes, James Taylor, Wu Bai, David Bowie, Prince, Supertramp, Pink Floyd….. and of course, the Rolling Stones.

Hey, this band could really work the crowd to....erh... orgasmic highs, every performance they held was done with a likeness to a flamethrower. I thought the audiences connected through the loud and raw sound and the element of danger and seemingly streak of violence within the group. Who can forget their repertoire of painted faces, head banging and crowd surfing. As a rap rock band, they do look the part. Their angst, street wear, painted faces and war attitudes seemed culminated from mean street. The total anti-establishment look.

As observed throughout the competition, they grew and the band’s playing improved and tightened. Samuel (lead vocals) was great in both rapping and singing. Moo-Z developed a signature growl, I thought it was quite a la James Hetfield growl. Yanto’s bass and Jeffrey’s guitarwork were great sounding and… ambitious. DJ N’dy was a master with the turntables and Azizul, the hard hitting drummer. Bringing me to Tommyland everytime.

Initially, they were quite the judges’ favourite. They heaped praises upon praises with wonderful critiques after each of their performances. However, during the later stages of the competition…. they became the “scorn” of the judges. Their comments turn on them. Scores plummeted…and soon they were booted out of the competition via lack of phone and SMS votes.

I guess many would be infatuated with the look of Qi:nobe. Decked out in their painted faces, Chinese wayang costume, gas mask, etc. The combination of their look and music, probably fired the imagination of many.

I am not too familiar with our local music scene. However, I etched them high in the echelons of local music pantheon. Given time, their amalgam of street beats, hip hop and metal riffs may surge past the likes of Opposition Party, Zircon Lounge, Lizard’s Convention, Sweet Charity, Gingerbread, Tokyo Square amongst others in time to come. Sorry to compare with this bands of the past.... also different genre of music. To side track a bit, everytime I hear Max Surin croons, "wo ai ni, i love u,......" Just give me the creeps, man.

Do hope this band, with their depth and width of potential, could become a cultural phenomenon in Singapore. Can we have some sort of Lollapalooza or Ozzfest to kickstart such bands and also to the birth of more of such high powered bands, please?

May their potent mix of anthemic rap and fist pounding rock come to the fore…. and me, hoping Qi:nobe would gain a cult following and foothold in the local music scene.