The best thing about Search’s gig at Scala Kings Cross, London on 18 February was the fact that despite being at it for 30 years now, the band looked like they were having as much fun as the audience were. Every smile, every strum, every bash of the drum was in earnest, for the sake of rock and roll. The amount of energy radiating from the 50-year olds on stage was so infectious, you’d have to be dead not to join in the fun.
But the most lasting image that I have permanently emblazoned in my head in the aftermath of the Search gig at Scala Kings’ Cross last Thursday is not one of an ever-youthful Amy belting out hits that transported me back to the 1990s, or of the physical closeness of one of the biggest bands in Malaysian history to my little self. Instead, it is one of a group of akaks in their latest tudung Ikins embroidered with sequins, who were screaming in delight and waved their hands in the air as Amy said the magical words, “Apa khabar London?!”
Perhaps it was the low lighting, or the somewhat intimate setting, or the presence of idols that once adorned their teenage walls mere centimeters away that transformed these MDs, accountants, engineers and fellow expats into the girls they once were. Whatever it was, it felt pretty magical, and even before the first note was sung, I had a feeling I was in for something special.
The boys (pakciks?) are in town!
The status of Search in Malaysia’s music scene is one of unheralded greatness. Sharing the platform with no one other then their contemporaries and sometime collaborators Wings, everyone agreed that OrangKita’s coup of bringing the band to British (and Irish) shores was a brilliant one, to say the least. Despite having paid less for more internationally renowned acts, no one I knew grumbled about the £25 price tag on the tickets. Then again, for context, people paid twice that to watch Siti Nurhaliza at the Royal Albert Hall, and Search are in a totally different class.
It wasn’t my intention to be so close to the stage; but because we were quite early in arriving my two comrades naturally gravitated to the front, and I followed suit. The first opening act were Dub Apokalipto, hailing from Dublin. It helped that most of the members of the band were also part of OrangKita, hence their presence in London allowed them to serve a dual function. They were not just another Myspace band, having been finalists in an Ireland-wide band competition, but the array of songs they sang lacked an infectious hook that would stay with me for days afterwards.
Adik Noh PR kita
Hujan, who came to the UK two years ago, took to the stage next, playing hits from their two albums. I was a bit disappointed that they did not end with Kuala Lumpur - which always has a different vibe for me whenever I hear it played overseas. As usual the boys where their energetic selves, and while they were more familiar to the younger crowd among the audience, their performance managed to get even the older crowd singing along. It was a bit of a shame that members of the audience kept calling out for Search whilst Hujan were performing - Hujan quite rightly knew they were just the opening act that night and not the headliners as they two years ago, but despite that, they still managed to whet the appetites of fans who were slowly drifting into the hall.
As Hujan left the stage, the audience were not left waiting for too long before the stars of the night came on stage. Drummer Yazit came on first, followed by the string section of Din, brother Kid and Nasir. Driving the crowd into a frenzy, the audience’s chanting of ‘Search, Search’ very quickly turned into rapturous applause as the man himself, Amy, took to the stage and belted out Langit dan Bumi.
Quite focused with enjoying the moment more than thinking about writing about enjoying the moment, I did not remember the whole repertoir of songs that they sang that night. The ballads, of course, stood out clearly than the rest because these were the songs that propelled them to national fame. Having warmed up the crowd with a few fast numbers, Amy slowed it down and sang the first of five ballads that night: Rozana. First released in 1987 in conjunction with the movie Rozana Cinta 87, this song clearly got the arms up in the air and the akaks singing along in full force. For a moment, I suppose, the 40-somethings entered a time machine, allowing them to forget that they were mothers of four, five and six; and instead were still 20 with the world at their feet.
This was very quickly followed by Gadisku - a much loved early ballad that many a girl (and perhaps two or three in the audience too) wished Amy sang about them once upon a time, although he is now happily married for the fourth time with a new baby in tow. In between the songs, Amy happily bantered with the crowd, taking time to apologise for the band’s lateness at a meet-and-greet session the night before. Recognising a face in the crowd from his youth, he waved and said hello while relating to the rest of the audience the fact that this man, a regular at a club in the 80s which Amy also frequented, suddenly disappeared from the KL scene, only to pop up again in London of all places.
It was clear to see how Search stayed in the business for almost 30 years, when lesser bands - not in Malaysia, but worldwide - have upped and left. The line up in London is not that significantly different from their original line up (although Search purists would argue that the most original of lineups didn’t include Amy as the vocalist); although through the 30 years members and drifted away and found their way back. Amy himself took time away from the band to pursue a solo project, as did Nasir. Not unlike Bon Jovi, I thought to myself; and in context, a bunch of Malaysian expats bringing their biggest band to town isn’t unlike a bunch of American expats bringing Bon Jovi or Aerosmith to wherever they’re based, I suppose. Except that Bon Jovi charges tickets in hundreds of pounds.
Back to the music, though…
Fenomena, while being a relatively fast number, was as well received as the ballads, as was Pawana. But it was the ballad in between these numbers that got everyone singing along, and left some near me quite teary eyed. It wasn’t because many empathised with the protagonist’s dilemma of being in a ‘cinta dua dunia’, I think, despite the fact that being expatriates, this naturally lent them with the perfect situation. More so, I think, for many Isabella took them back to an earlier time and simpler moments, but more so for the 40 and 50 somethings now calling London home, in 1989 when the song first came out, they were still at home. The song allowed them to not just travel back in time, but across thousands of miles as well.
In itself, Isabella was a groundbreaking song in itself for many reasons in Malaysia. For starters, it was one seemed to resonate with everyone, and this was no mean feat if one remembers Search for who they were in the late 1980’s - rebels, rockers and signifying everything that was anti-establishment. The national television station, RTM, under the auspices of the late former Information Minister Mohamad Rahmat, banned on-air appearances of men with long hair, and this applied in particular to bands like Search and Wings, who very much emulated the big hair rock bands of the late 1980’s.
Despite this (or perhaps because of it), the popularity of their song Isabella flourished and topped the Juara Lagu competition that year - one of only a few bands that have won the competition in its 24 years which has traditionally preferred female balladeers. Also of significance is their music video ala MTV for the song which featured a young Julia Rais (not related to Rais Yatim of #yorais fame) as the young lady who became the object of the singer’s affection. This also propelled Julia into a short acting career that ended when she married Malaysian royalty.
The highlight of the night for me, though, was Amy’s impromptu rendition of ‘Tiada Lagi’, initially popularised by Indonesian singer Mayang Sari. His distinctive vocals lent a certain degree of heartwrenching angst that tug at the heartstrings of many a heartbroken Malaysian or two. What was more special was that it was not part of the band’s repertoir to feature songs made popular by members of the band on their solo sojourns; and to that end, the audience at Scala were treated to something quite special. (A video of the performance is available at my Facebook profile page, thanks to fellow ex-Lancasterian Rozie Idris who was also in the audience that night).
After almost two solid hours of rock and roll, the night came to an end and the boys (pakciks?) left the stage, but left their instruments behind - a clear sign of a possible encore. Maybe because it was a work night (I myself had a 9am lecture the next day) or maybe the crowd were not regular punters, but many thought that was really it and left! The remaining hundred or so, though, shouted loud enough for more that the band came back out and played one last song to end the night.
All in all, 2 hours and 15 minutes of solid Search action, plus about 30 minutes of Hujan. Not bad for twenty-five quid stage side seats. Bet you won’t get that close to the action for double the price at Istana Budaya 
