With an impressive list of 70 over artistes scheduled to perform at three different stadiums over two days sounded convincing.

Being late for a press conference wasn't exactly my idea. But the infamous Kuala Lumpur jam and the sudden downpour dampened my hopes to be on time.

MCities Live is a huge place. Located on the third level of KL Plaza, it hosted a restaurant, recording studio and even a dance club under one roof. Obviously, that is something not prevalent in Singapore.

Anyway, the press conference of Rentak Asia was held at the above-mentioned place. As usual, a media event is never on time, which we journalists have gotten used to. But sitting through a three hour press conference was something new. Almost all of the artistes that were supposed to perform attended the press conference and gave the journalists a rare chance to field questions to these superstars.

Among those present were the three guitars gurus, collectively known as G3 (Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani for those of you who are clueless), Big Country, Eric Sardinas, Derek Trucks, Hann (from Hong Kong), Singapore's very own papa rock, Ramli Sarip, Ferhad and some of the Malaysian bands.

Each artiste was given about fifteen minutes for the Q&A session with the press. Being very diplomatic, the artistes were honoured to be performing for Rentak Asia, which is held in conjunction with the Formula One Grand Prix held further in Sepang.

To make this 'report' more interesting, here are some fascinating facts gathered during the press conference. * There will be Rentak Asia everytime the Formula One Grand Prix comes to town. * The stage is the biggest stage for any performance in the Guinness World Book of Records. * Steve Vai was recently honoured with the doctorate from Berkeley College of Music. He wished to be “operating the crowd at the concert” when asked about his award. * Joe Satriani married a Singaporean lady. * Ferhad is the other Singaporean besides Ramli Sarip to grace the event. He is in fact, making a big name for himself there than in his own country. * Hann's members are individually more famous than the whole band itself. Hann is led by Paul Wong, an ex-Beyond member, Dino has released his own album in Italy (he's an Italian based in Hong Kong) their bassist is from LMF.