After the lockdown phase, XPDC went on a rampage in Tawau, Penang
Just MENTION the name of the group XPDC, almost all fans of rock music in the country know it and admit that it has been a long time since they have seen a glimpse of its four members performing on stage.
Not to mention since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, plus the era of ax rock glory that is slowing down to give way to other genres of music now, of course the vibrancy is not the same as in the 80s and 90s.
That is the nature and rule of the times that all artists must feel in the music industry all over the world including Malaysia.
But it doesn’t mean that the madness and obsession with rock music in the soul of its fans will be buried, even though the world is spinning so fast.
XPDC, which is synonymous with the heavy metal genre , for example, has not performed for a long time, but as soon as the restrictions on movement are lifted, an outpouring of offers to hold concerts is received.
Recently, XPDC and its fans in Tawau, Sabah seemed to ‘take revenge’ when more than 15,000 flooded Dataran Bandar Sri Indah in conjunction with the Merdeka Night Concert.
Either way, the last time XPDC went to Sabah was in 1991 and of course their die-hard fans are waiting for Mael and his friends to perform.
Although the average age of the members of XPDC has reached ‘five series’ except for Jeff, the bounce of the music beat and the agility they featured remained energetic and amazed the fans present.
It is true that there are still many people who follow the development of XPDC even if they are far from Kuala Lumpur.
A few days earlier XPDC was also involved with the 3 Generation Concert held at Zepp KL which combined XPDC, Spider and Noh Hujan on one stage.
After a great performance in Sabah, the same momentum was continued by XPDC when almost 13,000 attended the Batu Kawan Stadium, Penang last Sunday.
The two-hour performance of Mael, Zuar, Amy and Jeff clearly did not disappoint their fans.
Reaching the age of 53, the vocalist Mael when met by Astro AWANI recently, admitted that he is still not tired of continuing the struggle in the country’s music industry despite his uncertain health.
“With this kind of age factor, we can’t promise anything, but thank God, so far we can stay as usual. Hope there is nothing scary,” he said who was met at the recent 3 Generation Concert.
According to the XPDC Manager, Yazid, the offer received after the country entered the Endemic Transition Phase was unexpected.
“The offer from the organizers can be said to be double and in the current atmosphere it’s quite different because fans are starting to want to let go of the longing to see XPDC live in concert.
“When it was hit by COVID-19 it was too gloomy, but now most of the organizers we have never met come to offer concerts,” he explained.
Asked if XPDC has the desire to plan the production of a new album, Yazid explained that the possibility depends on the situation since at the moment it is too rare for a company to release an album for an artist.
Mael explained, XPDC does not refuse if there is a company or any party that wants to offer to make a new album.
But he said, the fit of the industry at the moment is more towards singles only and the average XPDC fan always wants and longs for the old songs that once captivated their hearts in the 90s.
“After all, it’s not the season to make an album right now and it’s more practical to just make a single.
“If you look at the response from the fans, they prefer the old XPDC top songs to perform at every concert held,” said Mael again.
source – Raja Hisyam Raja Zaid
