NYE @Timbre

Get ready to be a part of the most rocking New Years Eve party in Singapore :) "The UnXpected" & Timmy will be performing @ Timbre from 9pm until 3am. Click here for more details.

Another Rocking Week With The UnXpected

It all began on thursday during lunch at a malay food joint near Avago Yishun Plant.

HL : Zaile, Do you have any plans for today evening?
Zaile : No.
HL : Let's check out Peninsula Plaza then Wala
RJ : Yay! We will show you the best band in town - 'The UnXpected'. You know - they play Dream Theater & Rush. And ofcourse my all time favorites The Beatles :)
Zaile : Allrite! Wala it is then...

HL & RJ accompany Zaile to Peninsula Plaza.

Zaile : Alamak! This is musician's paradise.
HL : Yay! This is heaven.

Zaile quickly picks one small lead guitar for his son from Davis Guitar Shop who refused to give any discount. Never mind. The price was quite reasonable.

HL, Zaile & RJ reach Wala right on time to grab the most wanted table :) Victor plays acoustic before The UnXpected start their gig @9:45pm.

Victor: Thanks for the cheeky smile :) You know - just now during the break bartenders were telling - Look at them sitting in the first row with a guitar. They look quite powerful with the guitar, isn't it?
RJ : Mine is a kid guitar. cannot be powerful
Victor : Allrite guitar god! Wait Shirlyn suan you

As usual, it was an amazing gig by The UnXpected packed with varities of songs - from babies-making-ones to not-so-babies-making-ones. Zaile was a full time musician (lead guitarist) until he got married and started doing what he does today. Apparently, Rene has played with Zaile's band members in Penang. Brandon also knows Zaile's drummer which reinforces - it's a small world :) Zaile was quite impressed with the band and will hopefully plan to have future project meetings in Singapore rather than asking RJ to come to Penang :)

Vineet, another friend of RJ finally decides to visit Singapore. After a hectic day, Vineet & RJ manage to reach Wala on saturday night just in time to grab a not-so-far-from-the-most-wanted table.

Brandon : Where is HL?
RJ : Umm, I think he is meeting a few friends for dinner

RJ sends SMS to HL to check what time is he reaching wala

HL replies : I'm still with the girls. C u later @ wala's

As expected, HL couldn't turn up and was missed. 2nd set by The UnXpected on saturday was probably one of the most enjoyable and rocking sets so far. In addition to The UnXpected playing expectedly great, the crowd was very responsive too. A few songs that were played in 2nd set - The Beatles Medley (From Me To You, Ticket To Ride, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Help!), Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love, Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water, Queen - Under Pressure. Vineet very well understood what RJ had been trying to explain for long, after watching The UnXpected live.

Sunday evening at around 2pm RJ calls HL.

RJ : So... What's the plan?
HL : But you saw them yesterday only.
RJ : As if we ever counted :) And Vineet is also going back tonight so it will be good if he can see them again. So?
HL : Suuuuure! ha ha

We don't get to see Joan (Violin, Keyboard) & Colin (Bass Guitar) in Wala so it's always good to visit Muddy Murphy's on Sunday evenings at 4:30pm. Danny (from the ublues group) also jams here often with The UnXpected. I will let pictures do the talking now.

Lunchbox: A Jazz Pop Crossover with Shirlyn featuring The UnXpected

Shirlyn featuring The UnXpected
Singapore
28 Nov 06, Tue, 12.45pm, Esplanade Concert Hall
After the success of her Late Night concert and opening act performance for Jason Mraz at Esplanade, Shirlyn Tan returns with The UnXpected for a performance of songs that fuse jazz and pop from artists from the 1980's such as Swing Out Sister and Basia. Joan Chew on piano, Colin Teo on bass, Rene Hombre on lead guitar and Brandon Khoo on percussion, Shirlyn Tan & The UnXpected promise a great afternoon of music.(30mins, no intermission)

The UnXpected Videozzz!

UHLI is thrilled to release some more UnXpected Videozzz!

1. A modified version of "Money for Nothing" which came into existence one fine evening in Wala when RL was singing the song along with the UnXpected, knowingly or unknowingly as - "I want my M P Three" :) He was spotted by the sharp drummer - Brandon who improvised the song further. The most recent version of this song includes some, or all of the following:
   I want my M P Three
   I want my PAP
   I want my SDP
   I want my MTP
   I want my ATP
   I want my CTP
   I want to watch TV...
   
   


2. Metallica - Enter Sandman
   
   


3. Miserlou (Pulp fiction soundtrack)
   
   

Enjoy!! :))

A Night of Salsa and The-UnXpected!

Last saturday night was the night of our salsa graduation cum Halloween party @ Xenbar and the night of The UnXpected @ Wala Wala.

Pics for now... Words later...

The more I see the less I know for sure

John Lennon's 66th birthday was extra special to me for various reasons:

• I celebrated it in Wala Wala Singapore on 7th Oct 2006 (Saturday night) with "The UnXpected". It surely couldn't have been any better. "The UnXpected" performed Beatles Medley. Find below the video captured in Wala, that will always remind me of the big nite:

The UnXpected played many other rocking numbers that nite like:

• Metallica - Enter Sandman


• Dire Straits - Money For Nothing


• U2 - Vertigo


• Black Sabbath - War Pigs


• The Doors - Roadhouse Blues

I will upload some of those videozzz very soon.

• A & D gifted me following and kept me busy all night on 9th Oct. Thanks guyz! You are the best:

I couldn't sleep before I finished reading "Lennon Legend". It's an amazing and must have collection for all John Lennon fans. I used to think that I know quite a lot about John Lennon & The Beatles but have realized lately that "The more I see the less I know for sure"... :)

Come Together

The UnXpected played this song yesterday evening in Wala. This is another amazing song from the album "Abbey Road" - My favourite Beatles album.


Little bit about this song from Wikipedia:

Origin

The song's history began with Lennon writing a song for Timothy Leary's failed gubernatorial campaign in California against Ronald Reagan, one which promptly ended when Leary was arrested for possession of marijuana. It was transformed by Lennon into a track with digs at McCartney and Harrison interspersed alongside tales of his Bagism movement with wife Yoko Ono. It was the subject of a lawsuit brought against Lennon by Chuck Berry's music publisher, Morris Levy, due to the fact that one line in "Come Together" closely resembled a line of Berry's You Can't Catch Me: (i.e. The Beatles' "Here come ol' flattop, he come groovin' up slowly" vs. Berry's "Here come up flattop, he was groovin' up with me"). After settling out of court, Lennon promised to record other songs owned by Levy, all of which were released on Lennon's 1975 album Rock 'n' Roll. Perhaps the song refers to the late eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. Lines such as "hair down to his knees" and "shoot coca-cola" parallel the billionaire's behavior at the time this song was written. The line "Got to be good lookin cause he's so hard to see" could refer to the billionaire's reclusivity. Another, possibly apocryphal story is that John Lennon grew frustrated at the tendency of music critics to read heavily into and interpret his lyrics, and wrote nonsensical lyrics simply to spite them.

Lennon played rhythm guitar in addition to singing the vocal. Each exclamation of 'shoot' one hears during the opening bass line is actually 'shoot me', although 'shoot' is immediately followed by a handclap which drowns out the word 'me'. McCartney played bass and the electric piano (estimated as "southern" by John), Harrison lead guitar, and Ringo Starr drums and maracas. It was produced by George Martin and recorded at the end of July 1969 at Abbey Road Studios.

Rocking Saturday Evening With The UnXpected, As Expected

If you are a rocker in Singapore, there is no better place than "Wala Wala" to be in on saturday evenings! The UnXpected performs there from 9:30PM until 1:30-2:00AM. Let me give you the ingredients of last saturday evening (23rd Sep 2006) and it will prolly explain why I say – “there is no better place than Wala Wala...”

• Window (Original Song)


• Walk Away (Original Song)


• Radiohead - High & Dry


• Oasis - Wonderwall


• Coldplay – Yellow


• Pearl Jam - Black


• Skid Row - I remember you


• Dire Straits - "I Want My MP Three" oh..i meant "Money For Nothing" :)


• U2 - Vertigo


• Black Sabbath - War Pigs


• Metallica - Enter Sandman


• Beatles Medley
  
  
  
  • From Me To You
  
  
  • Ticket To Ride
  
  
  • I Wanna Hold Your Hand
  
  
  • Help!
  
  
  • Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
  
  
  
  


• John Lennon/The Beatles - Don't Let Me Down


• Queen - Don't Stop Me Now


• Queen - Under Pressure


• The Doors - Roadhouse Blues

I must say you have to see them perform once to feel the magic. Once again, The UnXpected is:

Shirlyn - Lead Vocals & Rhythm
Rene - Lead Guitar
Brandon - Drums
Asri / Colin - Bass Guitar
Joan – Keyboard & Violin (Catch her in Balaclava & Muddy Murphy’s)

“Wala Wala” also offers Non-Smoking Chicken-Wings-Smelling Cozy Ambience (As Shirlyn describes it), friendly staff & 1-for-1 drinks all night. So guyz if you were not aware about "The UnXpected" and Wala Wala earlier, it's never too late. Mark your calendars now for tomorrow evening in Wala. A few conditions –

• Vote for your Favourite Singapore Band first. Email your votes to vote@power98.com.sg with your name, IC and contact number. Make sure you vote for "Shirlyn and The UnXpected".


• “Don’t grab my table in Wala – The one right next to the stage” :)
  

Across The Universe!

Somebody requested this song yesterday night at Wala Wala. I was a bit surprised as I always thought people don't follow "The Beatles" here in Singapore. Good for me :) Looks like Beatlesmania is starting to grow.

All credit goes to Shirlyn and the UnXpected! You guyz have given "The Beatles" numbers a different meaning. Shirlyn's amazing vocals & stunning stage presence does full justice to the gr88 John Lennon. Rene, Brandon, Asri, Joan & Colin are awesome in their respective departments too.
Rene - Lead Guitar
Brandon - Drums
Asri / Colin - Bass Guitar
Joan - Keyboard

I have seen the UnXpected performing following Beatles numbers so far:
1. Help!
2. Oh! Darling
3. Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
4. Across The Universe
5. From Me To You
6. I Wanna Hold Your Hand
7. Ticket To Ride
8. We Can Work It Out

Desperately waiting for this John Lennon number:
- Don't Let Me Down

and many more...

So guyz, if you happen to be in Singapore, you know where to catch the UnXpected. Check out their Calendar

Coming back to "Across the universe" (I will write more about the UnXpected later), here are a few details about the song (Courtsey Wikipedia):

________________________________________________________________

"Across the Universe" is a song by The Beatles that first appeared as a charity single release in December 1969, and later, in modified form, became a standout track on their May 1970 album, Let It Be. The song features John Lennon singing lead, who was also the primary composer (though, as with all Beatles songs written by either composer, the song is formally credited to Lennon-McCartney). It is widely considered to be one of Lennon's most heartfelt and beautiful pieces, yet it had one of the most convoluted production and release histories of any Beatles' song.

Composition

In 1967, John's relationship with his wife, Cynthia Powell was falling apart. One night, the phrase "words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup" popped into his mind. Intrigued, he rushed to grab a paper and pencil. He began to write the rest of the lyrics, and when he was done, he went to bed and forgot about them.

In the morning, John found the paper on which he had written the lyrics and brought them down to his piano, where he began to play chords, and find pitches to match the words. The flavor of the song was heavily influenced by Lennon's and The Beatles' short-lived interest in Transcendental Meditation in late 1967 - early 1968, when the song was composed. Based on this he added the mantra (Jai Guru Deva Om) to the piece, which served as a link between the bridge and verse.

The structure of the lyrics is straightforward: three repetitions of a unit consisting of a verse, the line "Jai Guru Deva Om", and the line "Nothing's gonna change my world" repeated four times. The lyrics are highly image-based, with abstract concepts reified with phrases like thoughts "meandering", words "slithering", and undying love "shining". The title phrase "across the universe" appears at intervals to finish lines.

Lyrics

Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

Images of broken light which
dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a
restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as
they make their way across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of life
are ringing through my open ears
exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which
shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world
Jai guru deva
Jai guru deva
________________________________________________________________

Beatles are undoubtedly the BEST...