Hello all. I hope you are well.

Today I got myself the Jonas Brothers‘ album. I believe it is the latest one, titled A Little Bit Longer.
I have to say, they are a good band. Many misjudge them as being a boyband, mostly because 99% of their fans are made up of underaged girls. But to me, I don’t classify music like that. As far as i’m concerned, music is music. Besides, the Jonas Brothers’ play and write their own music. They don’t even do a dance routine during their live shows. So nope! They are definitely not a ‘boyband’ in my book.
Anyway! I find myself thoroughly enjoying this album. I’m on my second listen now, and honestly, i’m digging the tunes! Sure there are those 1 or 2 typical Disney songs - Video Girl - but majority of the album is pretty darn good!
So really, give this band a chance. They might surprise you. Who cares if people make fun of you for “listening to the Jonas Brothers”. Music is universal. It shouldn’t be classified that way and no one should be made fun of the music they’re into. I honestly recommend them.

Also! I’m reaaaally into this band called Sing It Loud from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
They’re a bunch of young guys (all of them are around 19-21!) making really good music! They just released their first full length album called Come Around on the 24th of September. You should all check it out. They have some cameos in there! One being Justin Pierre from Motion City Soundtrack and another with Alex Gaskarth from All Time Low. One of my favourite songs by them is a song called Maybe I’m A Ghost which is not on this album. So seriously, check out all their songs if you can!

Here’s a link for you to listen to some of the songs: http://myspace.com/singitloud

ENJOY!

Exposing you’re my weakness,
I’ll take this day by day.

Lots has happened and more about to happen.

The fiasco surrounding the Avril Lavigne concert last month left an impression, notably. Whether you were a fan of the performer or otherwise, it appears that all future shows we may be treated to seems to be on the line even more so than it was in the past.

I guess it would be a long while yet before ‘we’ would even entertain the idea of having concerts/festivals in celebration or conjunction of our National Day ala SINGfest, let alone allow performers to stage a gig on the day itself like Panic At The Disco did in Jakarta on theirs (17th August).

Fans of Weezer & Paramore… hold on tight for a couple more months.

Also, according to our sources, a band from California and another from New York are supposedly touring these parts soon (the latter we’ve had the opportunity to contact and were told they intend to do so but there are no dates as of yet), if not by the end of this year then in early 2009. Both bands have 3 letter initials, the one from Cali has received airplay on both radio & tv (although less frequently now) but the latter hasn’t had much if any to date but that doesn’t mean you don’t know them. That much we can tell you for now until more information is being revealed to us at a later time.

Notice how we’ve been saying that we’ve been working on this and that but nothing ever really happens? Yeah. We apologize, but we really are slaving away trying to bring those ideas to life, it’s just taking more time than we had anticipated and we have other obligations to fulfill but they WILL make its way on to the site shortly.

Contest coming soon in a couple of weeks and there are other plans in the pipeline as well. Keep checking back for updates!

I know It has been a month since PATD concert but better late than never right??

I felt Pretty,Odd during Panic At The Disco’s concert on the 5^th of August. Why you may ask? It was not the band that made me feel that way, it was the fan girls. To be honest, when Panic At The Disco released their new album I was not into it, I thought ‘Nine in The Afternoon’ were too pop-ish for me. But after the concert they impressed me so much that I became a bigger fan of them.

I went to the concert without hearing their latest album, but after the concert I can feel that the band have grown up from their first album. The lyrics of their new album convey messages that are mature but yet the lyrics are witty at the same time. The new album has this organic vibe where you just want to kick your shoes off and relax while listening to the album.

The concert was short but they played 18 songs! The stage was set up with a bohemian/hippie vibe, it was very laid back. All four of them dressed like a 70’s hippie band, at one point I was expecting them to scream out ‘make love not war’. Jon Walker was barefoot on stage, Spencer Smith was rocking his head band (he impressed me so much with his drumming skills), Ryan Ross was wearing his hat and Brendon was wearing his million dollar smile (he is good live! His voice is amazing!).

Even though the set was laid back the crowd was very intense! The crowd were jumping up and down, the only time they were not jumping was during Brendon’s acoustic performance. The crowd made me feel like as if I was an old woman! Some of the crowd were shouting inappropriate things at Brendon and Ryan. It was Pretty,Odd.

I enjoyed the concert, the band were very interactive. They would talk in between songs and you can tell that they are friendly. Panic At The Disco is band that performs good live. I suggest that you try to catch them live if they are in your town in the near future.

This past week has been a really good one for me. Being able to watch some amaaazing bands at SINGfest and then catching Panic At The Disco live here.
I’ve to say though, that planning for SINGfest was no easy task! Haha!
It took us until the veeeeery last day before SINGfest to confirm everything! I even bought my ticket only on Friday, August 1st!
Everything was worth it though! The bands we got to see live was simply amazing.
I had been looking forward for Lostprophets, Simple Plan and Travis, and trust, I was not dissappointed one bit!

So here’s a brief rundown on SINGfest Day 1!
The day started off with Dearest, a Canadian band and they weren’t bad. They did some crazy climbing though! After their set was Crowned King, they were really really really good. I’ve seen them twice, both times at SINGfest and they really manage to catch the crowd’s attention. They’re a band that if you don’t know who they are, after seeing them, you just wanna go find out who they are. Next up was Melanie Subono, she was okay. :P  New Found Glory came up next! They gave a really fun performance! Sad to say i’m not the biggest fan of them, but they were REALLY fun! After them was Melee who’s set was WAYYY awesome! They even came up with the 2nd Singapore National Anthem! Haha! They seemed really excited to be performing in Singapore. The crowd was anticipating Lostprophets the whole day and finally when they came on stage, fans roared for them! They put on a really really great show and interacted with the crowd a lot. They are definitely a band I recommend everyone seeing live! Let’s just hope they’ll give us that chance! Next up was Simple Plan! :D  They were amazingggg (I know I overuse that word but I can’t think of other appropriate words to use!)!! Thanks to SJ, I had front row spot during their set. The last time I saw them was three years ago and to finally see them again THAT up-close was surreal! They’ve been my favourite band since I was 14 and being able to watch them perform again just made my whole year! :D  I had so much fun singing along to them and even got a memoribilia by Sebastien Lefebvre! They were just ..  fantastic. :)  Last up for Day 1 was Travis. Despite being dead tired and lacking in water, I truely enjoyed their set. They’re a really good band live! They put on a really awesome show! They were definitely worth the wait!

All in all, it was a really good day! Hanging out with friends, meeting new people, enjoying great music. It’s a pity Malaysia doesn’t have something like this yet. But it’s slowly changing - with Sunburst and all!

After such an amazing weekend, my week just got WAY better last night with Panic At The Disco’s show!
They really know how to rock a crowd! Pity it was a short set - only an hour despite playing 17 songs! But it was still well worth waiting in line for since 1pm! ;D
I can’t say the same for the crowd though. People need to learn to be more thoughtful here. =/
Aliya will write a review on this show, so wait for it!

So here I am, sore but content. Pictures and videos were taken and will be up soon!
It was overall just a really fun experience! I’d do it all again for sure!
Hopefully the next time, it’d all be in Malaysia though.

x

We promised change and here it is! Hope you guys are digging the new layout.

To anyone who’s been listening to the radio of late… how long has FlyFM been playing FTSK? Having heard “She’s A Lady” for the first time  yesterday (amongst the predictable and highly overplayed playlist consisting of OneRepublic, Leona Lewis, Andra And The Backbone, etc), it came off as a real surpise but a good one nonetheless.

Interviews & street teams are being worked on as we speak, hopefully they will see the light of day over the next couple of weeks.

Just a heads up - Maya & myself will be at SINGfest on Saturday, so updates shall resume when we return. Feel free to e-mail us if there’s anything to report whilst we’re away and we will get back to you soon.

We went past the 500 visitor mark sometime yesterday. On behalf of everyone else at MTGH - thanks =o)

On the verge of sounding like a broken record player, do add us on Friendster and Facebook if you’ve got an account on both platforms. The links can be obtained from the sidebar of this blog under Official MTGH.com Links so do the deed and get everyone you know to follow suit & help spread the word.

At least 5 or more people find their way to MTGH via the concertsinmsia community on LiveJournal through the PATD tagged posts daily - apologies for not providing the information you were after on the concert tickets and its price(s). At this point we are just as clueless and frustrated as you are on the lack of info and publicity for the show but all of it is beyond our control. Rest assured however that once we know, you will too. Alternatively, if any of you are able to shed some light on the situation, contact us with the details! You will be fully credited, of course. [edit] Barely 12 hours later we find out that tickets for the show will be on sale soon. Info’s up on the main page, ya’ll.

On a personal note, I’ve been spending time working on another site with Octa from MCRmy South East Asia (get used to the name, I’ve a feeling you will be hearing it often cos she helps a ton with the info on the site). If you are a fan of Behind Crimson Eyes, Linkin Park, Lostprophets, Hoobastank, Fort Minor, My Chemical Romance as well as artwork by Gerard Way, Mike Shinoda and Jamie Oliver (no, not the chef), then hopefully you will enjoy what the site has to offer once it goes live. More info on when that will be in due time.

So, how many of you will be at the MAAs, Daughtry, Travis/Simple Plan, Jakarta Jam! (there will be a 30% discount if tickets are purchased on July 18th & 19th - limited to 200 tickets only @ Java Musikindo’s office for those interested), SINGfest, The Used, Death Cab For Cutie and/or Panic’s SEA shows?

Who are you looking forward most to seeing live and what bands/artists do you wish to see tour the region?

p/s: The blog’s layout looks fugly but I will get around to changing it sometime soon, hopefully.

We’ve been on the web for close to a month - time flies.

To date, all MTGH has ever relied on is WOM for the most part and just about everyone else found us through Google [and subsequently the concertsinmsia LiveJournal community] whilst searching for the KL Panic show info. Yes, we know =P Either way, we are extremely grateful you’ve decided to give our site a chance and would like to thank to every person who’s ever given us a mention to their peers - it means a lot to us.

We’re working very hard on some aspects of the site and are trying to make this experience the best we possibly can whilst involving all you other music lovers out there so bear with us as it may take awhile. Without giving too much away, hopefully it would mean increased participation on your part with MTGH. If I’m being too cryptic and vague, I apologize but stick around and you will find out in due time.

As always, contact us if you have any news/stories/photos to share, bands you’d like to promote or simply provide feedback and concrit. After all, this isn’t a one way operation.

Also, if you’re on MySpace, don’t forget to add us [www.myspace.com/mtghdotcom] as we post bulletins periodically about the latest site updates which may or may not make the news page of MTGH.com. The most recent bulletin covered the site’s new sub-sections, band of the month, new photos in the gallery (we’ve over 450 of them now so be sure to check that out), interviews, tour dates and contests/street teams - a lot is in the works for the site which should see the light of day soon.

Don’t forget to take part in the poll, read all about it on the main page.

More to come in the following weeks, so stay tuned.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
narrow stairs

As I am writing this post Death Cab For Cutie’s latest album Narrow Stairs are playing in the background. Ben Gibbard’s honest and pleading voice begins to tell me stories of how he will posses my heart, about his pity and fears, and why the ice is getting thinner and the tale of grapevine fires.

To be honest I have never been a Death Cab For Cutie fan not until one of my friends sent me their song last year ‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark’. The lyrics were beautiful, different and meaningful at the same time. 3 years have gone by since the release of ‘I Will Follow You Into the Dark’ and Ben Gibbard still writes about those beautiful and familiar words.

The album opens with the song ‘Bixby Canyon Bridge’, is rife with references to Jack Kerouac’s writing. ‘Bixby Canyon Bridge’ was written during the artist’s trip to Big Sur. As you guys would probably know ‘I will posses your heart’ is the first single from Narrow Stairs and you guys would probably know that it is 8:35 seconds long! After 4:34 seconds of hearing just melodies and rhythms you will finally hear Ben Gibbard’s pleading voice. The album continues with songs such as ‘No Sunlight’, ‘Cath…’, ‘Talking Birds’, ‘You Can Do Better Than Me’ ‘Grapevine Fires’, ‘Your New Twin Sized Bed’ ‘Long Division’ and ‘Pity and Fear’. The album ends with haunting but beautiful ‘The Ice Is Getting Thinner’.

I personally love these two songs ‘Grapevine Fires’ and ‘The Ice Is Getting Thinner’, ‘Grapevine Fires’ appears to be centred around the wildfires that raged in California during the summer and fall of 2007. ‘The Ice Is Getting Thinner’ is the most ‘relatable’ song on the album for me, the song is about how people change and there is nothing you can do about it.

Narrow Stairs in my opinion is one of the many great albums this year… if not one of the best it is THE best album of the year. =D Narrow Stairs is an album where you can close your eyes and be in a different world.

Narrow Stairs was produced by Death Cab For Cutie’s guitarist Chris Walla and they will be releasing their second single ‘Cath…’ Soon! Narrow Stairs is out in stores now!

Track listing

1. “Bixby Canyon Bridge” (Gibbard) – 5:15
2. “I Will Possess Your Heart” (Gibbard, Harmer, McGerr, Walla) – 8:35
3. “No Sunlight” (Gibbard, Walla) – 2:40
4. “Cath…” (Gibbard) – 3:50
5. “Talking Bird” (Gibbard) – 3:23
6. “You Can Do Better Than Me” (Gibbard) – 1:59
7. “Grapevine Fires” (Gibbard, Harmer, McGerr) – 4:09
8. “Your New Twin Sized Bed” (Gibbard, Harmer) – 3:06
9. “Long Division” (Gibbard, Harmer, Walla) – 3:50
10. “Pity and Fear” (Gibbard) – 4:21
11. “The Ice Is Getting Thinner” (Gibbard, Walla) – 3:45

Hi guys.

So we’ve started our very own blog here at More Than Good Hooks. What for, you may ask, particularly when there is the option for us to have our own personal ones? Simple. We hope to make this more interactive and allow you to get to know the people behind MTGH a little better, to provide an insight into who we are and what exactly made us start this site in the first place.

Considering we are just starting out (approaching two weeks at the time this is being written), the need for a forum/message board is unwarranted and we figured that this would be a better alternative.

All entries will be written by any of the three of us and is indicated whom it belongs to under the subject title. We promise you will not be fed with the typical entries that dictate our days’ events along the lines of “Today I woke up at 8am and went to school.” Instead, we will use this as an outlet to communicate with all you music lovers, introduce bands/artists to you (and vice versa), post our thoughts on the music scene and document our trips to the various shows we attend amongst other things.

Speaking of gigs, we will be at SINGfest this August at Fort Canning Park so come say hi if you see us.

Massive thanks to everyone who’s visited the site thus far and for helping spread the word about MTGH - couldn’t have done it without you.

We’ll see you at a show!

-MTGH crew