After last week’s preview of 24 Festive Drums, I was really looking forward to this show at the Stadium Perbandaran Pasir Gudang, and I was not disappointed. The stadium may have looked a bit tired, but the sound system and light show were top notch.
As with all such events, we had to get through the formalities first, and thankfully there was an MC for Chinese and English. Besides, once the performers started, the language was universal.
After Mr Tan Chai Puan had introduced the event, and we heard from Ms Liow Cai Tung, Chairman of Johor Women Development & Tourism Committee, on her plans for Johor Bahru World City 2020. Not entirely sure what those plans are though! The event then opened with the VIPs doing a bit of drumming themselves, encouraged by the MCs.
Then we were stunned by the skills of the young teams who were the finalists in the previous days competition. Their precision and imaginative performances were really on a professional level.
For the second half of the show, we were thrilled by performances from Hands Percussion (Malaysia), the Taiwan Drum Club, ZingO from Singapore, and the Orang Orang Drum Theatre and JB Drum (Malaysia). These are groups who perform worldwide so it was a privilege to have the opportunuity to see them here in Johor Bahru.
The next 24 Festive Drum festival in Johor Bahru will be in 2020, but in the meantime you can catch a show in Kuala Lumpur in December. There will be a 30th Anniversary Concert at the Istana Budaya, KL, on 8th Dec (Part 1, 8 pm) and on 9th Dec (Part 2, 3 pm). Tickets go on sale later in the year.
Click here to return to Travels in Malaysia 2018.
Click here to return to Helen Gray’s homepage.