The Showdown
On day one of the live show, Margosa, Kokkamango and Alien Lipstick Fire took the stage, with each band performing one cover song and two original songs to capture the audience’s votes.
At YSDAF, we’re always looking for budding local talents and for ways to support them, as they explore and grow in their musical journey.
This year, we took it up a notch with Battle of the Bands, a contest opened to all musicians and bands in Malaysia, regardless of their age and music styles.
During the first two stages of this contest (online submission and voting), we received a diverse range of submissions, from rock and electro-pop to funk and fusion. After just one week of the voting stage, fans began pouring into our website with their selections for their favourite bands.
Together with our judges’ deliberations, the public’s vote determined who the eight finalists would be, seven of which would battle it out in front of a live audience at Live Fact in Kota Damansara.
INTRODUCING
THE TOP 8 FINALISTS
More importantly, they had to win the hearts of the judges, who were Mak Wai Hoo (Founder of Soundscape Records), Ian Chow (Festival Director of YSDAF), Evangeline Lim (Festival Director of YSDAF), and a very special guest: Fuad Alhabshi, the frontman of Malaysian band Kyoto Protocol.
On day two, we kept the momentum going with Pasca Sini, Segi, The Zee Ng Project, and Cyanus. The bands gave their all, delivering a fun and electrifying night for the fans in attendance and the fans who tuned in via Facebook Live. The crowds loved the performances, the energy, and the guitar shredding – but there could only be one winner.
The Winning Band
Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for with bated breath arrived. The winning band was announced, and a RM2,000 cheque was presented to… Cyanus!
Formed by music students from UCSI, Cyanus’ band members are: Cornie on vocals, Elroy on drums, Lee On on guitar, Anthony on bass, Justin on the keyboard, and Kenny on the saxophone.
They told us that they only very recently formed the band for the sole purpose of joining Battle of the Bands! Their music explores the world of progressive rock, and their soulful repertoire and snazzy jazz melodies wowed the judges and audiences alike.
With that, we’d like to give a huge shout-out to all of the bands who made it to the live shows, and for giving it your all. We’re also very excited to have Cyanus on board, and we highly recommend you watch them live at the #YSDAF2018 finale weekend this 18 & 19 August!
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