Record label celebrates 16 years in the business, with an all-day rock spectacular featuring its stable of artists.
The label, which is known for its stable of rock musicians and grooming of up-and-coming Thai rock stars, celebrated its 16 years in the business with a 40,000-strong crowd right next to the Muang Thong Thani lake. With 14 bands on the line-up, including some of the most popular and biggest rock bands in the country, such as Bodyslam, Big Ass, Paradox and Cocktail, the show was guaranteed to entertain.
You have to hand it to the die-hard fans who spent all day under the blistering Sun and, in fact, showed up before sunset to get the best spots and catch every bit of the show. G16 officially started at 3pm with two of Genie Records’ newly signed bands. So, kudos to those rock devotees that turned up to show support, sitting on cement floors, with no trees offering shade. It was the kind of heat where walking around for more than five minutes could induce the kind of dehydration that required medical care.
G16 chose to forgo the usual format of having one band do their set after another and instead favoured a four-sectioned show. The tactic worked in presenting a well-rounded and balanced show, where, in general, the most popular bands were afforded the same as the lesser-known ones.
G16 went off seamlessly, and there was no interval between bands and no waiting time for set up. The first of G16’s four sections was kind of like an introductory phase where each band came on and played one song. The second phase saw the bands come back on to play two or three more songs, along with guests/label mates. Then came the acoustic session, followed by full-length performances from the label’s two biggest bands, Bodyslam and Big Ass, as well as the mandatory fireworks to close off the night.
Exact details of particular band collaborations got a bit lost due to the overwhelmingly fast-paced movement. Some bands barely spoke between songs, while some couldn’t seem to stop, which dragged the whole thing out unnecessarily and threw it off schedule.
It was good to see The Yers, who have just joined the label, playing in front of large crowds they quite rightly deserve to. Bands like Bodyslam, Big Ass and Paradox are always sure bets to bring entertainment and they did not disappoint. Paradox’s bassist, Song, once again outdid himself in finding the most over-the-top costume to wow the audience.
I was personally most impressed with Retrospect, Sweet Mullet and Kala. Retrospect gave a solid performance of hard hitting rock, while the ever consummate professional Sweet Mullet brought humour to their set, along with their painted faces. Retrospect and Sweet Mullet’s duo jamming session was inspiring and unforced. Kala, who hasn’t really been all that active of late, appeared comfortable in front of the younger generation of fans, and having been away from the spotlight certainly didn’t seem to derail them in terms of their quality of performance.
The acoustic session dragged on a bit too long, but it also served in giving the crowd a much-needed breather. That all changed when Paradox came back on stage, with a high energy set culminating in a smart mash-up of Thai Tanawut’s classic Chai Leoy (The Right One) and Bodyslam’s Ya Pid (Poison) to close the night.
All in all, the Genie Fest finished on a high note and hopefully we will see more exciting projects and artists from Genie Records in the near future.
