The Maldives Festival
Music Under One Nation
"Music does bring people together.
It allows us to experience the same emotions.
No matter what language we speak, what colour we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same."
With an aim to promote harmony and international exchange through music, the 3rd edition of the Maldives "BreakOut" Festival (MBF) continues to draw from a wide spectrum of great musicians from established masters to young promising musicians, from classics to contemporaries, and exceptional performers from the East to the West. The Festival serves as an occasion to bring people together in unity and harmony through music.
True to the events commitments of nurturing new talent. This year's international performers featured Jar Music's UK, Malaysian and Breakout bands of 2010 and homegrown talent from the Maldives.
The Festival was scheduled to take place over 2 days at the open air Alimas Carnival site, but because of monsoon weather the organizers decided to hold the festival on one day, which in fact created a more vibrant atmosphere.
The gracious beauty of the tropical surroundings blended itself perfectly with the festival site and incredible stage, which was perched just above the ocean and in a location famous for dolphin sightseeing.
Steranko, who were supposed to headline (but for some reason unbeknown to this reviewer) opened the festival proceedings.
This didn't affect their performance, which later proved to be one of the best of the night. With their characteristic Punk antics and visual story telling they engaged with the audience and bought them willingly into their carefree make believe world.
Steranko were joined on stage by Fasy, one of Asia's highly rated guitarists, who mesmerized the crowd with some great solos.
The festival also gave the opportunity for local home grown talent to perform on this international stage and in the process be seen by the western media and music moguls. The VIP list included John Brice (Oasis), Antonio J (Affiliated A&R to RCA Records), Claire Mahoney (NME) Joe Ramirez (MTV), Paul Cassey (Helter Skelter) and sponsors Coca Cola, Sprite and a variety of TV stations from around Asia.
For the Maldivian bands this was a rare opportunity to showcase their music and in the process win the coveted title of Maldives BreakOut band 2010. This would give one band the chance to perform in London at one of JMG's high profile showcases, which in 2010 were responsible for launching numerous bands and delivering 2 recording contracts to major labels for 4 unsigned bands
The Maldivian bands that performed at the festival were mostly from metal derived genres and it was difficult to distinguish any great differences between them. This was a real shame because it didn't allow the international press to fully experience the diversity of the Maldives music scene. How many times can one enjoy a short intro followed by single note riff, entry of guitars and drums and the inevitable "aaaargh"? Overall, the Maldivian band's songs need to be refreshed and watered with new ideas to make them blossom and branch in new directions. Or, ultimately, they must change radically, to create new means of appeal in the UK or worldwide market.
The standout Maldivian performance on the day came from Tormenta whose sound was rich and heavy with a definite vintage feel of the UK Metal acts of the eighties and nineties.
When Tashya's Ink (Malaysian BreakOut Band 2010) walked on stage, the festival crowd had grown to around 7,000 and was really getting into the groove and enjoying the rare spectacle of international bands playing in their own back yard. Maybe even more if you take into consideration the dinners at the adjacent restaurants whose balcony's overlooked part of the festival site. Tashya's Ink took to the stage with both purpose and poise. You would have been forgiven for underestimating the powerful voice and stage presences of the diminutive Tashya (Lead singer). Thanks to the diverse influences of the members, the band cultivates a unique fusion of acoustic, pop, and funk that transcends genres and showcases a professional, refined talent. There's an intrinsically uplifting air to their songs and a surprisingly transient and positive stance on life rather than usual wallowing in melancholia of many acoustic styled acts. Performance-wise, stage presences and musicianship was engaging and drew the audience in. The highlight of the show was their opening track "Run" and "Got to Move On".
Currently the band is putting the final touches to their new album, which is scheduled to be released in the spring of 2011.
Next up were Endeavours who weren't feeling their best. This was because a bout of flu had struck the tropical Island of Club Faru a few days earlier, where the international bands (and invited guests) where staying. The flu bug would later be known as the "Scousflu" as its origins seemed to have come from Liverpool. The band began the set with "I Want It My Way" their first release from their debut album entitled "Twenty Eight". By their third song the band had fermented a tangible Asian following.
Endeavour's set was packed full of rock meets pop anthems capable of stadium grandeur, but it also had the odd moments of heartstring-pulling lyrics. One of these was during "Ladybird", which describes lead singer Joe's transition into a life with a new baby.
Another highlight was when they performed "Thomas" with the audience singing back the lyrics. Their set was a well constructed with plenty of rock, pop hits that will draw fans in from all different genres; alternative and mainstream.
All the songs of the international bands were heavily promoted through JMG's Asia network, which included 6 special BreakOut Fever programs aired at primetime on MNBC One, MTV and Villa TV. When "Thomas" was featured it received press acclaim and praise receiving in excess of 20K plays on the Maldives Breakout site within a week. Lecarla also received in excess of 15K plays for "Uncovered".
Lecarla was one act that many of the audience were looking forward to seeing. Maybe it was because their line-up included 3 females, or most probably, because they came highly recommended by Kerrang as one of the best young bands.
I already caught their set at another Jar Music Group's festival - Music For Life – back in August 2010, and was thrilled to see them again. Image amongst many of the new generation of rock bands seems to be an after thought as if it weren't important, and it was pleasantly refreshing to see a band step on stage with an intro and create suspense for the audience and an immediate visual impact that made you wanted to hang around and see what this was all about.
Lecarla played a mix of melodic metal with twists of different influences. To put their style into words is difficult, because they manage to cleverly elude any certain categorization. Technically high standing they combine heavy guitars with a lot of atmosphere and great melodies, but never drift off into the shallow predictability of many bands, but spice up the compositions with surprising harmonies and twists without damaging the flow of the songs.
Instrumentation was impeccable, with the intuitive and split-second drumming and chunky guitars driving each song forward in a well-rounded style that shifts effortlessly between thrashy grooves and more somber slower sections.
DILLIGAFF and UNCOVERED taken from their current album 'Silent City", were the anthemic songs that really burrowed themselves into your sub-conscious.
In the final analysis, The BreakOut festival prides itself on a diverse program of national and international established and unsigned Artists. Creating a platform for established bands, to increase their international fans, on one hand, and on the other, give up&coming bands a high profile stage to launch their careers and gain those contact necessary to achieve this.
I experienced a unique feast of music, culture and fraternity and can safely say that this project as successfully carved out an international corridor that connects music lovers and continents with each other.
Mr Tom Brail
Music Reviewer
Mojo Magazine
