Valhalla's New Home in KL
31, Tengkat Tong Shin

    October 2004

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October 2004 Welcome to Valhalla Season II - open mic sessions and gigs at a very handsome venue in downtown KL. LA BODEGA KUALA LUMPUR in Tengkat Tong Shin, just behind Jalan Alor, every 2nd & 4th  Sunday. Chill out, taste some tapas, enjoy some vino and catch some of KL's indie talents in one of the coziest lounges in town. Your hosts, as usual - DJ Beryl & Jaz.  Book a slot Coming up in November! Valhalla presents the LA BODEGA BAND JAM 14 & 28 NOV from 8pm Loads of bands in one hot and happening venue. Watch this space!	Sun 31 Oct features guest artiste Jerome Kugan 10pm Mark Augustine 11pm & open mic artistes La Bodega Kuala Lumpur 31 Tengkat Tong Shin Featured artiste 10pm Open Mic 9-10pm, 11pm-12am
Previously... Featuring just a night of chillin - Valhalla'ween 24 Oct 2004 La Bodega Kuala Lumpur  Ever wanted to learn how to carve out a pumpkin head for Halloween? Just like in the movies. Screech and wail and make some noise. This night's just for chillin... Featuring A Mantle The Sea 10 Oct 2004 La Bodega Kuala Lumpur  Great guys! Great band! Who would have ever thought it was their first time performing as a band?! A Mantle The Sea played to an intimate audience despite our equipment botch. Sorry guys! But kudos to you for keeping the spirit alive! Featuring Nell & Hannah 26 Sep Aug 2004 La Bodega Kuala Lumpur  Acoustic duo, Nell and Hannah played some originals and their own funky version of George Michael's Freedom. That had me humming the tune for the rest of the night. When Michelle Lee took stage, she shushed the crowd with songs of pain. 19 year old keyboardist, Amir was nervous but it didn't show when he started playing. His versatility tested during the open mic session when two singers requested for A Girl from Ipanema and The Greatest Love of All. Featuring Tempered Mental 12 Sep Aug 2004 La Bodega Kuala Lumpur  Featuring Tempered Mental, it turned out to be a night of the bandies when Naked Breed, Shelley Leong, Az, Ariff Akhir came along and shared their music at the open mic session. Rock on, peeps! We love all of your music! Ariff, ever thought of getting on with a band and making ska music? Heh:) Featuring Suwardy (A.D.) 22 Aug 2004 La Bodega Kuala Lumpur  A room full of open mic artistes! It was wonderful! The DEM duo returned with Adi (rhythm guitar) sporting a new wry look and Mils (vocals) with more Britpop. Along with DEM this time were three fellas who coined their band name on the spot. No wonder! Valhalla features 360o Head Rotation 8 Sep 2004 La Bodega Kuala Lumpur  Picture this. Rafil (vocals/rhythm) and Jack (lead guitar) of 360o Head Rotation, Rafil's wife, a young female technician friend and their gear, circling Jalan Alor in search of La Bodega. Like a scene from a music video? Between the covers and some original angstful numbers, the duo left an echo at Tengkat Tong Shin. The open mic session kicked off with DEM - Hermit Mils on vocals (that's my nickname for her since she's so quiet...til she sings!!) and ADI on guitar. I was soon tapping my feet to Year 2000 by PULP and couple of other Brit-pop songs. Then Jaz sneaked ADI into the ladies, and popped the question. 'Would u play for me? I'd like to do a number too - it's called Thunder, a song I wrote in 2002'. And so she did! And so did Beryl who sealed the night with a minus one rendition....ah...that's open mic, my friends. Will we see u at the next Valhalla? Valhalla features all-gal band, Ground Xero 25 Jul 2004 La Bodega Kuala Lumpur  Five piece gal-band, Ground Xero had more fun jammin' during sound check than at the actual performance, we think! Short set of 3 songs plus an encore left us wanting more. So we're inviting the band back again in a month. More more more! Open mic session kicked off with ex-lounge-jazz-&-blues-singer-turned-professional-9-to-5ver Suraya. From the low pitches of Sade to Whitney's high notes, this gal's voice is really somethin! Next up, a totally different genre with Blunt, Seven & OG KRISS of Mass Raw with their Malaysian Top 10 hit. And of course, another one of those teasers from winner of THR's Juara Lagu, Suwardy. Valhalla Season II begins! Presenting Chilla_z! 18 Jul 2004 La Bodega Kuala Lumpur  And Chilla_z was in da house performing together with bro, Silva and Indonesian vocalist friend, Putri. The open mic session saw Peter Hassan Brown doing a couple of acoustic guitar numbers from his album, Warm. Suwardy did some covers from Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. It's good to be back! Shanti Grrl Gigs 19 Feb Liquid Bar 7 Mar Jam Asia, Desa Sri Hartamas 13 & 14 Mar A Girl's Day Out with 3R, Hall 3, Mid Valley Exhibition Centre Valhalla teamed up with the gals from SpiderMonkey [Saz & Becky] to bring you Shanti Grrl Gigs in conjunction with International Women's Day. The gig featured female-fronted bands, acoustic solos, just chix who rock! Shanti Grrl bands were also featured in Galaxy Magazine (March). Thanks to the sexy people at Galaxy! More www.oocities.org/valhallakl/shanti.html   Thursday, 8 April Valhalla presents Acoustic April numbers Liquid Bar Central Market Annexe No Cover from 9pm A relaxed evening of music and acoustic solos. Thursday, 12 Feb Valhalla presents "A Tribute to NBT" Liquid Bar Central Market Annexe No Cover from 9pm If you miss NBT as much as we do, come along and share your sorrows. We've planned an acoustic evening with Ariff Akhir and friends + the usual Open Mic. Thursday, 22 Jan Liquid Bar Central Market Annexe No Cover from 10pm Chinese New Year with Saerze & Friends + Open Mic Monday, 19 Jan No Black Tie 27, Jalan Mesui (Off Jln Nagasari) RM10, 9pm-1am Saz Lo & Valhalla presents SHANTI GRRL GIG with five gals and their bands (Kohl, Lucy in the Loo, Soft Touch, Tempered Mental + Open Mic - Ariff Akhir & Reza) KL's indie gal bands @ Shanti Grrl Gig: kohl, tempered mental, zalila, lucy in the loo, markiza, saerze, shelley leong, jaz + ground xero... Frustrated with the lack of gigs for women in Malaysia, Saz decided to organize one!  Grrl was created when Charlie's Place approached Saz to play a nice, quiet, acoustic gig on their lawn!   Little by little, Saz started to rope in the speakers, the mixing board, jacked up the amps, miked up the drum kit and invited 12 bands and solo artists fronted by women, to play! The turn out was surprising to everyone involved, that Charlie's Place asked Saz to bring back Grrl II the following year.  Featured acts included O-Drive, Preagnant Unit, Intoxicated, Shortie Starr, Band Aid, Karen Nunis Blackstone, Sharon Paul, Klux Klux Advernture and Saz, to name a few. To keep it fresh, Grrl III was revamped into an acoustic, intimate styled setting at No Black Tie, featuring Shelly Leong, Mei-Shern, Mia Palencia and Saz in 2003. This year, to keep it on edge, Grrl has fused together with Valhalla to create the Shanti Grrl Gig which pushes the musical stylings of home-grown female talent and provides a platform for chicks to rock out on! Gigs held at Paul's Place and No Black Tie will give you a taste of what we hope will lead to something bigger! Saturday, 17 Jan Paul's Place 105M, Jln SS21/1a, Damansara Utama (above Much More Pub, few doors fr. Telekom Shop) RM8, 9pm-12am Saz Lo & Valhalla presents SHANTI GRRL GIG with six gals & their bands (Jaz, Lucy in the Loo, Zalila, Soft Touch, Shelley Leong, Ground Xero, + Open Mic find, Sharmin C.) Thursday, 15 Jan Liquid Bar Central Market Annexe No Cover from 10pm Featuring Ariff Akhir, Peter Hassan Brown, Nan & Amit + Open Mic
In response to a kakiseni.com review on Paul's Place being a "dive", Jaz & Beryl say "We love dives! Paul, live it up. We love your plastic flowers too! Viva Paul's Place. And if you're nice, Jimmy might even share his amazing photos!"

ABOUT VALHALLA
::: Valhalla Open Mic is a music promo initiative. The idea began to brew over a couple of drinks between friends. In March, 2003, DJ Beryl and Jaz kick started the first Valhalla Open Mic at Liquid Bar, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The concept for Valhalla Open Mic has always been: a chill space, an intimate stage, a chance for musicians to log "life" performances. No airs, just a wide open stage encouraging new talents to step up and shine...or sometimes not. But it really doesn't matter. Whilst Paul's Place, Alexis Great Eastern Mall and several other cool venues provided musicians with their space, there's always room for Valhalla! Right, peeps? So Valhalla Season II returns in July 2004 in a new home - La Bodega Kuala Lumpur www.bodega.com.my. 

The name Valhalla is inspired from the Nordic term for Heaven. Some noted talents have graced the stage: Syko G (DJ), G-Man (Malaysia’s talented 12-string guitarist who's just launched his album), Rina Omar (ex-Intoxicated).

Besides Liquid Bar, we began venturing a little further and started organising Valhalla Gigs & Open Mic at other club/bars. We were giggin' at No Black Tie, Jam Rock Asia, Mid Valley Megamall and secured private gigs for some talents. We also teamed up with other organisers to bring you more gigs. Our most recent project, Shanti Grrl Gigs was organised together with Saz and Becky of Spider Monkey. 

Along the way, we've met musicians of all types of genres – rock, acoustic solos, alternative rock, pop, rap, opera. Even drag divas, stand-up comics and readers of their own literary works. Armed with about 50 talents, we started putting together mini gigs. If you like what we're doing, please send us a note or two. It's always encouraging to hear feedback good or bad. We're always happy to listen. Email: valhallakl@hotmail.com

Valhalla LIVES ON this July 2004!
Be sure not to miss Valhalla Open Mic @ La Bodega KL, a Space for Musicians, Music Lovers and their friends. top

EXPLORE, EXPERIENCE & EXPAND
::: Valhalla Open Mic is built on the theme “Explore, Experience and Expand” - a theme, which we feel embraces and encourages talents from all walks of life to share their passion for music live on stage! Whether an aspiring DJ, musician, comedian, singer, impersonator, dancer or martial art exponent, Valhalla Open Mic allows artistes to showcase their abilities in a relaxed atmosphere. Here's a platform for artistic expression.  top

VALHALLA UNPLUGGED
We've been preparing for the biggie. 'Valhalla Unplugged" is the Best of Open Mic Performances on CD - soon to be recorded. This is what it's all about, right, guys? Getting published. Email for more info. top