Hey all! Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year from us at Doppelganger Open Mic. Thanks for supporting our gigs all these years. Well, for a start, I was at Bedroom Sessions the other night and bumped into Shelley and Az. A couple of messages away and Evelyn has agreed to have us once again. So am pleased to announce Doppelganger's First Gig for 2008. THE REUNION::: Shelley Leong Az Samad Kevin BrokenScar Hannah & Nell ++ Doppelganger Open Mic featuring buddies like Peter Hassan Brown Rashdan Harith Oh Chentaku and many more! Hosted by Jasmine Low it's on a thursday! 3 Jan, 2008 no black tie 17 jalan mesui, kuala lumpur RM15 cover come on over! look forward to seeing you all. flyer design: donna yii / studio agogo - a div of go international group sdn bhd

Come see Charlie Dark and a plethora of Malaysian and Singaporean poets at No Black Tie this Sunday, 9th December 2007.

The third and final day of the GBOB Challenge World Final 2007 was a success from beginning to end with 15 bands from 15 countries playing for the first prize of $100,000 and a world tour. It was a tough task for the panel of judges - Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols); Nick Tesco (The Members/Leningrad Cowboys); Mark Keds (Senseless Things) and Chuck Sabo (Natalie Imbruglia, XTC etc)- to pick a winner from a fantastic array of talent. In the end the first prize went to Boys In A Band (pictured) from the Faroe Islands. In second place were Jetstream from the USA with Moja from Japan in third place. The rest of the results were: 4th place: Atmasfera from Ukraine. 5th place: A Key Is A Key from Denmark. 6th place Cliff Clavin from Iceland. A big thanks goes out to all the bands who did so much to make the GBOB Challenge 2007 such a memorable event. Source: www.gbob.com Let's await news from Y2K on their return. Bet it was a greeeeat bonus

Another great evening on the second day of the GBOB Challenge three-day World Final saw the line-up for the Superfinal at the Electric Ballroom on December 6 completed. As the Australian band, thanks to an unexpected 24 hour stopover in Bangkok, were unable to play in yeasterday's opening day we added them to the second day line-up. As there were two more bands playing on the second day we therefore decided to put eight bands through to join the seven bands who went through from the first night. So, also through to the Superfinal, in no particular order are: Jetstream from the USA; Atmasfera from the Ukraine; Rearview from Germany; Urban Stone from Australia; Lyrical Assault from Canada; Boys in the Band from the Faroe Islands; ExNN from Moldova and A Key Is A Key from Denmark. They will join yesterday's seven bands in the Superfinal at the Electric Ballroom on December 6. Tickets on the door are £10 or £8 if you can pick up a flyer. Source: www.gbob.com

Reportage from London: The first evening of the three-day, two venue GBOB Challenge World Final, which took place at the Underworld in Camden was a fantastic success. All the 11 bands who played deserve credit for a very entertaining evening but in the end only seven bands could go through to the Superfinal at the Electric Ballroom on Thursday December 6. The bands that went through, in no particular order are: Cliff Clavin from Iceland; Moja from Japan; The Dirty Words from Wales; Gurzuf from Belarus; Most Wanted from Thailand; Y2K from Malaysia and Blaakyum from Lebanon. Australian band Urban Stone were also due to play on the first night but were switched to the second night after their flight to London was grounded for 24 hours in Bangkok. They will now join the line-up of the December 5 show at the Underworld which will see another seven bands go through to the Superfinal. Tickets for both remaining nights are available from ticketweb: www.ticketweb.co.uk Source: www.gbob.com &

Yes, peeps. And the winner is.....the masked men of Y2K! Closely followed by runner-ups and my new favourite band, Revenge ! The blurb on the official gbob website says this: Somewhere in Malaysia could be a band destined to win US$100,000, a world tour and a major chance at international success. World championship GBOB Challenge – the Global Battle of the Bands is the one true coveted award an aspiring musical group could hope for with the most attractive rewards in terms of artistic gratification, monetary prizes, global exposure and every band’s dream for a world tour (not to mention the appeal of a World Finals held in London). Malaysia participates in the world’s biggest live music competition for the first time and will compete amongst 38 countries, giving raw or established Malaysian musical talents the opportunity to springboard into the international music scene. Local band hopefuls of any musical genre and whether signed or unsigned by a recording label can now rise to the r

GBOB Heats 1 1st November, 2007 Club 18, Jalan Liku, Bangsar Finalists, congratulations you made it to the finals! See you on Saturday, 3 Nov 07 same place! *** Army of Three *** Estrella *** Y2K The other participating bands, I must say, splendid performances by everyone! Then again, I'm almost always nice ;) *** Beat the System *** The Federated *** The Rip Roaring Duo (that's Otam, guys!!) Come support these guys tomorrow for Heats 2 and the finals on Saturday.

It's the first Global Battle of the Bands, Malaysia. Organiser Pan Asia Concepts has appointed us (Go International Group and Doppelganger Open Mic) to assist in coordinating the two preliminaries and the Grand Finals on 1,2 & 3 November, 2007. Hosted by Club 18 at Jalan Liku in Bangsar (that's near Malay Mail's office), everything starts rockin from tomorrow onwards at 7pm. There's a cover RM25 if you'd like to come support the bands. 'Last year’s GBOB World Final winners Heavy Mojo have been signed to a major recording contract by SRC Universal Motown....' Check out www.gbob.com for more details. I hear there's a LOT LOT LOT of money to be shared amongst finalists. Plus winner gets a LOT OF CASH plus a trip to London to play for Malaysia in December. But it's not about the money, eh. Well, the motley crue from Doppelganger will be there. Open Mic Session on Saturday night if you're interested. Text Jaz if you wanna play.

WAYANG KATA 4: Getting it across! Date: October 24, 2007 Time: 8:30 pm (as usual) Venue: No Black Tie Tickets: RM 10 at door Proudly presented by British Council and Troubaganger , Wayang Kata IV will be hosted by the usual suspects, Jasmine Low of Doppelganger KL and Jerome Kugan of Troubadours KL. This installation will feature poets who have attended previous British Council workshops. Each will read two to three poems. The format this time is exciting and slightly different from the previous Wayang Katas where judges and the audience will cast their votes to select a handful of poets who will be sent to Singapore for a future show. Poet bios available here. KATA-KATA AKAN DITAYANGKAN DARIPADA: Shan Patricia Low Priya K Batsheba Zlikha Arsalan Liyana Yusof Divya K.M. Jiwa Followed by a special line-up of upcoming Malaysian writers (non-judged segment). ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::UPDATES::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Nov 5, 2007: Doppelganger

Doppelganger goes Chinese in September !! What is it? ... The Doppelganger 1st Chinese gig is coming soon! Hosted by Keith Chan . When? ... 8.30pm - midnightWednesday, 5 Septamber 2007. Where? ... No Black Tie ... 17, Jalan Mesui, Kuala Lumpur (off Jalan Nagasari, behind Istana Hotel) How much? ... RM20 include 1 beer / soft drink. Who's performing? ... Anna 启馨 + Jasemaine + iAN + Edilson + The Highlighters + plus spoken word in between . Photo Gallery

Doppelganger Merdeka Show Taking the indie journey What is it? Our annual Merdeka Show jointly hosted by Jasmine Low & Jerome Kugan. When? 8.30pm - midnight Wednesday , 15 August 2007 Where? No Black Tie 17, Jalan Mesui, Kuala Lumpur (off Jalan Nagasari, behind Istana Hotel) How much? RM20 come lah Can I play? Open mic at the end of the night if there's time Who's performing? deserters + oddstars + Yuri & Vostok-1 + Kadensa + open mic plus spoken word in between. Doppelganger is pleased to present Kadensa . I first saw them perform at the infamous Yayasan Selangor / Maybank square as Abonation. Then we met again (thanks to Elina, their manager) at Fete de la Musique. Specially installed for this 15 August show, Abonation's - Kadensa features Malaysian violinist, Zalie Redang for a touch of cool fusion nusantara jazz. A touch of cool to calm the hot bands lined up for the night. Kadensa includes Along (gendang sunda, djembe), Amie (rebana, tabla), Anoi (guitar), Z

Concert Alert! KL SING SONG 2007 12 Malaysian Singer Songwriters in Concert Presented by Troubadours Enterprise and KLPAC See details Featuring: Pete Teo Shanon Shah Mia Palencia Reza Salleh Melina William Azmyl Yunor Mei Chern Jerome Kugan Estrella Tan Sei Hon Michelle & Ling Meor emcee: Fahmi Fadzil Venue: KL Performing Arts Centre, Pentas 2 Date: 20 and 21 July 2006 Time: 8:30pm – 11pm Tickets: RM25 (Adults), RM20 (Students, Disabled) Tickets available at KLPAC (03 – 40479 000) and The Actors Studio, Bangsar Shopping Complex (03 – 2094 9400). Or email tickets@klpac.com. No advance bookings. Tickets also available directly through Troubadours Enterprise. Call Tan Sei Hon (012 – 285 0931) for more info.

Thanks to all who came despite the thunderstorm temptress teasing us. Just wanted to shout out a TQ to Rina and 8TV team for shouting out to the Doppelganger family on air. And on ya to Chak, Bala and Superbar for their upcoming album launch. Tell us where to buy it ok. Ain't distribution always such a drag? A huge thank you to Reza Salleh and band for turning up at the last moment in place of Ching & Hikaru (Ching - hope yr drummer's hands heal soon). And the usual shout out to everyone who played: Ariff Akhir, Azmyl Yunor, kisskissbangbang, Lightcraft, Oddstars, Otam, Soft Touch, Superbar, Tongkat, Zalila Lee and Jerral Khor , Yuri & de Vodstoks. Thanks!! We'll upload pictures soon as we get them sorted!

Alliance Francaise Kuala Lumpur 15, Lorong Gurney Tel: (03) 7727 0093 www.doppelgangerkl.blogspot.com DOPPELGANGER GOES FRENCH @ FETE DE LA MUSIQUE June 24, 5pm-7pm: Alliance Francaise is organising its yearly Fete de la Musique (Music Day), an extension of the celebrations in France every June 21. Gig organiser Doppelganger Open Mic Open Stage is pleased to celebrate diversity through music and the arts by putting together over 18 performers on three stages for over two hours. Fete de la Musique offers Yuri and the Vodstok, Soft Touch, Superbar, Lightcraft, Oddstars, kisskissbangbang, Tongkat, Hikaru featuring Ching of One-in-a-Million and Reza Salleh & the Fumakillas, singer songwriters: Zalila Lee and Jerral Khor, Azmyl Yunor, Ariff Akhir, Andrea Matthew plus readings by writers Roy a.k.a. Fairul Nizam and Tshiung Han See at the Gourmandine Café. So pack your baguette and frou frou and head over to Alliance Francaise this Sunday. Entrance is free. As appeared in The Star

Sunday, 24 June 2007 Doppelganger goes French @ Fete de la Musique A yearly event spearheaded by Alliance Francaise, Fete de la Musique (Music Day) is an extension of the celebrations in France every 21 June. Once again this year, Doppelganger Open Mic Open Stage is pleased to celebrate diversity through music and the arts by putting together over 18 performers on three stages over 2 hours on 24 June 2007. For a day only, Fete de la Musique offers three stages to bands - Yuri and the Vodstok, Soft Touch, Superbar, Lightcraft, Oddstars, kisskissbangbang, Tongkat, Hikaru feat. Ching of One-in-a-Million and Reza Salleh; singer songwriters - Zalila Lee and Jerral Khor, Azmyl Yunor, Ariff Akhir, Andrea Matthew plus readings by writers Roy aka Fairul Nizam and Tshiung Han See at the Gourmandine Café. Come join us! Life is sweet. So pack your bar-guette, Peugeot and foofoo or head over to AF this Sunday. The Line-up: (Garden Stage) 5pm........Oddstars 5.30pm.....Hikaru feat. Ching 6pm........

Theese are the pictures of our Doppelganger on 6 June 2007 at NBT Hosted by: Jasmine Low Roy Jasemaine Gan Michael Chen feat. Annrie YuRi & the Vodstok Paolo Delfino Ida Lisa Zalila Lee & Jerral Khor Otam And our open mic performers: Lipei Lyana Dizzy Adi

3 June 2007 Ochre as the Earth Make it a point this coming Sunday to check our Sharanya Manivannan's first solo performance titled Ochre as the Earth -- http://ochreastheearth.blogspot .com . More on the writer: http://sharanyamanivannan .blogspot.com 6 June 2007 Doppelganger @ NBT Doppelganger Open Mic . Open Stage presents a midweek acoustic affair featuring eight talented Malaysian singer songwriters on Wednesday, 6 June 2007 at one of the more acoustically sound venues - No Black Tie in Kuala Lumpur . Come meet their Doppelgangers. By day, he is the sound engineer, production assistant, the lecturer, the graphic designer while she is the magazine editor, the event organiser, the marketing consultant. By night, they are all united in sound. Since 2003, Doppelganger Open Mic.Open Stage events have showcased an eclectic range of performers from poets, dancers, stand-up comedians, singer songwriters to musicians. It’s an avenue for everyday people to perform, to lead a life dif

Zalila Lee & Jerral Khor Han Rahmat Haron & Melissa with Abroko in the background Piko & the Arowanas I'm such a non-blogger. Perhaps one day that will change. Haha! Anyway, here are some pictures from the No Black Tie evening which turned out a little long - guess there's not enough open mics around lah. My apologies to Nazri and to Yuri for not being able to have your slot to perform. Until next time. Btw, Fete de la Musique is ON again - mid June. Thanks to all those who performed! Piko & the Arowanas (didgeridoo & guitarist), Wei Yin who improves each time she reads - i just want to hear more!, Saradha who's penning a novel as we speak, Rahmat Haron, Melisa and Abroko for sharing thoughts from a journalist on tattoos and underground artistes, Han for reading a piece of Sharanya's - 'Even NBT Could Have Made Love to Han that night', Zalila Lee & Jerral Khor, Roy with his amazingly cool tuhantuhan twists, Khailee and in my opinion a poi

Poets and Musicians come together on this day - themed RED:UNITY. Open mic throughout the night. RM15 per entry. Further info: Jasmine Low, 017 623 0288 or email openmickl@gmail.com Book Your Table @ NBT: Call (603) 2142 3737 The organisers regret that Sharanya Manivannan, Jac and Mekarnya Satu Kematian won't be able to attend as advertised due to personal commitments.

How bizarre right? From open mics to space races. The Malaysian International Aerospace Adventure 2007 Tourist Attraction Preview Date: 21 & 22 April, 2007 (Sat & Sun) Venue: Boulevard Driveway, Berjaya Times Square Time: 10am-8pm Cost: FOC! Saturday, 21 April 10.30am: Flag Off - The Space Race 11.30pm & 2.00pm: Meet the semi-finalists of the Final 8 Ambassadors! 5.00pm: Official Opening Sunday, 22 April 2.00pm : The Space Race - Aptitude Challenge 4.45pm: Sharanya Manivannan and Fahmi Fadzil will be conducting a children's story telling workshop. Bring your kids! See you all there!

Heya peeps! It's a week away. Do help us blog this if you can. Be sure to come by the THE ENCOUNTER. The first encounter with the public where you can purchase Malaysia International Aerospace Adventure 2007 tickets to the main show which begins on 5 June 2007. What's the deal? It's an absolutely real shuttle that's comin over! So at our first Encounter , Doppelganger has invited 12 singer songwriters; Frequency Cannon, Shanon Shah, Azmyl Yunor, Soft Touch, Yuri & The Bodhi Tree, Ariff Akhir, Estrella, Ida Liza, PLUSH, Izzy & The Rojaks, GREENPAVER and Austin on the drums, flanking performances by Anuar Zain, Ching (one in a million), Ame & Gerard Singh. Open mic on Sunday evening. COSPLAY. Meet Darth Vader, Darth Maul and many more in a light-sabre twist. Lots more happening! Buy your early bird MIA2007 tickets (RM40 adults / RM25 children & students). With your ticket, you can enter the SMS Bidding Contest & play Wheel of Fortune! Meet the GEMP

Excerpt from British Council Malaysia website: This March we’re welcoming not one but two (!) poets to KL. First up, we have Jacob Sam-La Rose - poet, writer, playwright, performer and educator. Described as “the backbone of the London poetry scene", Jacob worked alongside Roger Robinson (here just last month and read at Night of the Living Text ) and Malika Booker (who was in Malaysia last November and performed at Wayang Kata II ), to help establish Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, an adult writing workshop and community. To find out more about Jacob, click here or visit www.jsamlarose.com . Don’t miss this opportunity to see Jacob while he’s in town from 7 to 11 March! WAYANG KATA III: AN EVENING OF SPOKEN WORD Wayang Kata returns with a fresh line up to include Jacob Sam-La Rose alongside several Malaysian writers and poets. Jointly presented with the Troubagangers (the joint collaboration of Tan Sei Hon, Azmyl Yunor and Jerome Kugan's Troubadours and Jasmine Low's Doppe

Heya! Yes it's been a little quiet lately. Well, the great news is, the next gig is a super duper one at Midvalley Hall 1, MVEC. The Buran Space Odyssey Road Show is made possible by the organisers of Malaysia International Aerospace Exhibition ( www.MIA2007.com ) - one of the top 5 events slated for Visit Malaysia Year. And guess what?! Since Go International Group is putting the show together, we've requested for an 'indie' stage. Here are the list of performers confirmed for the two day space-adventure-packed weekend! BURAN SPACE ODYSSEY THE ENCOUNTER 24 & 25 March 2007 Midvalley Hall 1, MVEC Free entry From 10am-9pm From 3-6pm Celebrity Guest Stars: Anuar Zain Ching (One-in-a-Million) , Ame (Bonfire) & Gerard Singh Exact time to be confirmed Indie Stars: *Azmyl Yunor & Shanon Shah *Frequency Cannon *Plush *Yuri & the Bodhi Tree *Soft Touch *Greenpaver *Izzy & the Rojaks *Estrella *Liza Zahran *Liza Zahran and more!

If thought is not linked to purpose, there is no accomplishment. Indie Scene Cafe is now CLOSED. Thank you for supporting the cafe. We'll miss you all! The camaderie from Security Guards to Jewellery Shop Attendants, Singing Waiters to the L'Opera Restaurant Maitre 'D called COWBOY, the singer songwriter who stumbled upon us on our first nite (Welcome to KL, Richie!). It was purely the vibe of the Indie Scene Cafe which we'll all miss most. Joe Kidd, can't wait to check out your store! ;) So that's how I'll start my new year. In fact, a couple of hundred of us started off our new year on the second floor of Piccolo Galleria, pearched above the sea of revellers - most of whom were hanging around bukit bintang to 'lepak' and 'feel' the vibrations. The indieGO gig started off later than expected - after most of us got fed by the lovely people at L'Opera with some yummo pasta. The bands then trudged upstairs and got ready to gig. Wow! Thanks