Tears For Fears, Hammersmith Apollo, 2 May 2005

So before I loved Bono, I loved Roland. I mean I thought the guy was a lyrical genius. So he and Curt decide to put aside their differences, record another album together and tour. They get paid shitloads and the fans are happy so everybody wins. Uncle Barry, Heng and Jess came along for the ride. Uncle Barry went missing hours before the concert but he turned up eventually, feeling his age. At least he wasn't wearing an ill-fitting "Songs from the Big Chair" t-shirt. Anyway no one knew or cared about the new songs but my God, the old songs were brilliant. Everybody, Mad World, Pale Shelter... Heng and I were screaming along. UB wanted to be swallowed by a hole but I think he enjoyed himself. One childhood dream fulfilled.

Alanis Morissette, Kuala Lumpur circa 1996

You may not believe this but I was an angry young female and Alanis was the voice for us irate femmes, oh yes. I'm shocked that she actually came to Malaysia but she was probably cashing in on her success at the time, and who can blame her because damn she was successful. She sang every song on "Jagged Little Pill" including the hidden track, "My house", and boy, was she mad onstage, running about like she had ADD. My 18 year old self left the concernt feeling even more empowered and despising men more than ever.

Pearl Jam, Singapore Indoor Arena, 3 March 1995

Set List: Release, Go, Last Exit, Spin The Black Circle, Tremor Christ, Corduroy, Not For You, Lukin, Even Flow, Dissident, Animal, Deep, Jeremy, Rearviewmirror, Immortality, Alive, Blood Encore 1: Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall)/(W.M.A.)/(Little Wing), Why Go, Porch Encore 2: Sonic Reducer

Aah the 90's. Grunge rock and plaid shirts. Man I miss those days. While everyone was into Nirvana, I don't think I was suicidal or depressed enough then to really get into them until Kurt blew his head off so I opted for the more user-friendly and mainstream Pearl Jam. Unsurprisingly, their Vitalogy tour never came to Malaysia. Shockingly, they did perform in stick in the mud Singapore. Go figure. So me, Heng and Ivan just had to go. Opening act Mudhoney were forgettable. PJ came on stage and gave a hauntingly breathtaking performance of "Release". They did not disappoint and I was a happy camper when they played "Alive" (my fave song at the time) . Vedder smashed his mike stand into the stage at one point but we were all old enough to know that it was most likely pre-planned and not some random rebellious Who style act. Heng will never be forgiven for dragging me and Ivan out 2 or 3 songs before the concert ended because he did not want to get lost in a strange country! Of all places to get stabbed, Singapore would be very low on the list. And he didn't give me money to buy a t-shirt. NOTWITHSTANDING that, it was a rocking concert.

Color Me Badd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia circa 1992

Yes I have no shame in admitting that I loved CMB and I fancied the pants off the curly-haired bloke, Sam Waters. We were 14 and the NKOTB craze had died down. NKOTB never came to Malaysia but CMB for some reason did. Me, Angie, Jacelyn, Tina and Simon were there! Like the spotty-teenaged kids we were, we pushed our way to the front and sang our hearts out to "I Wanna Sex You Up" etc. One of them threw his dirty towel into the crowd and all of us had to fight these two other girls for it - we ended up compromising and tearing it up so everyone would have a piece. I still have mine. Then they threw roses into the crowd and Simon caught one but I forced him to give his to me which he reluctantly did. In those days he was keen to expel any suggestion that he was gay. A good night was had by one and all and if they re-formed, I'll still push my way to the front row.

Paula Abdul, Kuala Lumpur circa 1991

Yes it was a bit naff but this was the first concert I ever want to so for nostalgic reasons, I still rate it. We didn't get that many good international artists coming to Malaysia so we made do with who we could get. And Paula was all the rage then. This was during her Spellbound tour and me, Wen and Joanne went. I recall Paula lip-synching to a lot of the songs but we didn't care. At the time, we were just ecstatic to be there.