Was feeling exhausted that I felt reluctant to go for the finale of the event but knowing that it’s the FINALE, I had to go. And there wasn’t any regret to endure after all even though I had to endure a lengthly duration of having severe flu for few hours. Thank goodness that I got the sickness behind me for the last few acts of the event.

I reached just in time to catch up with the Heartbeats workshop, which showcased a collection of drums and percussions. Just a hint to share: whatever workshops that are held at Dewan Lagenda, they are guaranteed to blow you away. Speaking of the workshop, I’m impressed of the way Justin Lim of Aseana Percussion Unit brought up the crowds by playing some jungle bass trance with his djembe. A big grand of applause to him.

The next and last workshop was all about War Dances, which were conducted by the members of Black Umfolosi. And yes, it’s interactive that we all danced like warriors preparing for battle. It somehow has the similar dance rhythm with the haka dance. Just hope that I would be able to remember those steps for a long time.

It was 2 hours of free time that I had some nasi beriyani + beef + pineapple dish for dinner and spent the remaining time walking around the village. I wasn’t looking forward to spend on those merchandises again although I was quite tempted to buy the Aseana Percussion Unit t-shirt.

Anyway, I decided to find a place for myself to sit before the place gets crowded. Found an unoccupied stone that I could sit on as long as I can have a good view of the main stage + the big screen for the tree stage. Not long after that, I just found myself being flanked with sexy girls: back and front, left and right. What a stone of luck I was sitting on, don’t you think? Get to know one of them and found that all of them are working for HSBC and a couple of them are from Kota Kinabalu.

The opening act was done by Anak Adi’ Rurum, a bunch of young Kelabit girls dancing to the rhythm of sape. They did really good as a starter of the event by singing to one of the few tribal songs I know. Don’t forget that my mom’s an Iban. Quite impressed that Emma even switched from sape to acoustic guitar to make it sound unique. And yea, I just found out in the end that most of them are Aaron Paran’s cousins. The world’s so small, indeed.

Small acts on the tree stage by Hussein Arman and Hanitra Rasoanaivo of Tarika were followed up before Khac Chi took the main stage playing their various Vietnamese musical instruments. The lady even imitated a Rasa Sayang song with both her hands clapping near her opened mouth to create that famous local melody.

Inka Marka from South America played some ancient tribal music that sound almost like Red Indians’, with the exception that one of them was playing the ukulele. And they even played the famous Guantanamera.

Honestly, I’ve never heard of Aseana Percussion Unit before and nor did I know that they’re actually from KL. Seriously, those guys are the bomb. Just think of something like a funk + jungle bass music and that’s what their music’s all about. Another Rasa Sayang theme on the move again, this time I sang it out loud that even those English ladies were fascinated to hear that croaky voice.

And lastly, the final act of the event was done by Shannon and this is the band that I’d been looking forward to see them again. I clearly remembered their performance when they came here 2 years ago and emerged as the crowds’ favourite. This time, they came with different lineup: the drummer’s not the same, the acoustic & lead guitarists are not here, and a pregnant lady was included in to play the synthesizer. Their Irish music performance was once again, truly exceptional.

The real finale gathered around all the artists involved in this year’s festival to be on the main stage. Everything’s just phenomenal throughout the entire festival as it’s undoubtedly the best I’d been so far than those previous years.

Anyway, I’m proud to be one of the first few to announce that Rainforest World Music Festival 2008 will be held on the 11th - 13th of July, 2008. I’ll be in Perth by then but I had already ticked this event as a high priority and I’m definitely trying in any means as possible to come back just for that.

And for those of you who’ve ever been to the festival before, I strongly encourage you all to come for the event that I bet you’ll definitely enjoying some event of your life. Just ignore those copycat events like the ones they’re going to held in Penang, Johor, and KL in this same freaking month. Only Rainforest World Music Festival is a truly unique event, if not mistaken, in this whole wide world.

Slán agat!