Our favourite rapper in the Singapura, Freaky Z, is releasing his first full-length album called "FYMPS". He says you can make out whatever you want with the abbreviation. One that he's come up with is: "Funny Young Musician Promoting Singapore"
Here are a few that Music Plague could think of:
- For Your Musical Pleasure, Suckers! - Feed Your Maid Please..err...Suckers! - Finish Your Medium Plate Sushi - Find Yourself Men Pals who're Straight - Finish the Year with Many Pills and Shots - F$#!-ing Your Mate Persistently while Snoring - Father Yearns Mother' Polite Sexiness - Fools Yield More Political Sins
Okay, I should stop before I get too carried away...or have I already?
C'mon, give me some more!
Anyway, come all ye Freaky Z fans and non-fans, the album launch will be a circus-riot fun, I'm sure. A pity I won't be in Singapore, would've jumped right in. It's Freaky Z yall! You need to warm up your stomach muscles because you're gonna be in stitches in the company of the singer/comedian.
So why don't yall dress bright and join in the fun!
Rumor has it, LAMC will consider bringing the band Arcade Fire down to Singapore (make the band make a pit stop on our sunny little music-hungry island on their way to Down Under) if they can generate interest here…that is, if they can get 2,000 names in a Facebook Group called “Arcade Fire In Singapore”, with everyone saying “hell yeah!”.
So what are you waiting for? I hear the echoes of “hell yeah!”s. If you’re on Facebook, join this group - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5415814980. And then keep on inviting more people you know to join it and ask them to invite more people to join and on and on and on and on like that. Currently the group has 1,067 members, halfway there, baby!
And hopefully, in the not so distant future, I get to announce an Arcade Fire concert in Singapore. HELL YEAH!
---
ETA: It's friday night and I checked my email and received an essay-like message from this facebook group whose admins are nudging (hard) against this movement of theirs being called "a rumour".
Let me throw a WISHBoNe (What It Should Have Been) to this post, so I can have a peaceful weekend...
I retract the sentence - "Rumour has it, LAMC will be bringing the band to Singapore if they can generate interest here", I'm replacing it with "Rumor has it that Arcade Fire could actually be coming to Singapore!"
And to clarify any misreadings, I am referring to the actual concert itself. I am not saying that the Facebook group's movement was spun out of mere rumours.
It is to my understanding that as long as there is no confirmation aka solid facts like the venue, date and time for a concert, the concert is still within "rumour" territory, no?
But one thing to get straight is that: the people who set up the group have had direct contact with LAMC (As I know now after their lengthy clarifications).
So let's break it down...
Fact:
LAMC did send out a poll on their mailing list to ask concert-goers which bands would they be interested to see here and Arcade Fire was one them. But LAMC needs to see how big an interest such a band can generate first of course, before actually bringing them in. Thus, the Facebook group was formed to gather all ye Arcade Fire fans to hollaback.
Rumor: LAMC will definitely bring the band in if they see 2,000 members join the Facebook group, "Arcade Fire In Singapore".
So the fact that this is being taken seriously by such a concert organizer is not very far from the fact that The Arcade Fire could actually be brought here (although that isn't a fact yet). It also highlights the fact that there IS considerable interest and demand for such indie groups here in Singapore.
So whether we term it "A Rumour" or "A Bratwurst Sausage", one thing's for sure: This is some serious shit, yall. There are some (now, many) people who are SERIOUS about bring The Arcade Fire to Singapore.
And if you are one who would pay to watch them when the band comes, join the group, if you're not, then spread the message to others you know who are actually fans.
But all that aside, so much passion these people have...keep it up! I salute people who actually get up and DO SOMETHING and despise smackmouths who can talk a novel but don't budge a finger.
So let's Bring Arcade Fire to Singapore and make love (safely), not war.
I got my hands on Muon's EP, "Love Drops" (the prelude to their full-length album "The New Mutants" due out later this year), and I sat down and slurped a listen.
It was as if my brain waves had turned into a tangible technicolor mirage and my mind got lost into a blurred ecstacy of daydream delusions and mindless meanderings. haha...sometimes I try too hard to describe pretentiously eh..
but seriously, this was some shoegaze dope.
Lotsa good stuff from home bands coming out during year's end, watch out for Muon's LP, B-Quartet's "Tomorrow Is Our Permanent Address" coming out in November, I Am David Sparkle releasing their second EP first in Malaysia during the Global Gathering performance in Malacca, the EP's out on 7th November in Singapore. Woopee.
Meantime, you can catch Muon live at the Esplanade @ Underneath A Blood Red Sky: "an event that will be featuring bands that fuse indie rock, lounge and electronica into atmospheric-laden musical pieces drenched in guitar feedback" <-- Okay this description didn't come from me okay.
To watch live bands gaze at their shoes, check this out:
Radiohead released their new album online and you're free to decide how much you wanna pay for the tracks.
Pitchfork talked to Jonny Greenwood and he explains the band's decision to let listeners decide.
Gothamist: Why give people the option to pay whatever they want?
Greenwood: It's just interesting to make people pause for even a few seconds and think about what music is worth now. I thought it was an interesting thing to ask people to do and compare it to whatever else in their lives they value or don't value.
Well of course Kanye would triumph over fiddy cent. Pfffft...
I hate it when singers sing about how good their life is. Big money, lotsa booties, free flows and lotsa hos, glamorous schmamorous...it just makes me want to download their music for free...I mean after all, they ARE singing they don't need the money, they've plenty already.
So. Tell the RIAA how good life is and bring Napster back. teehee.
Altimet says..........download this free mixtape. Go 'head, I know you wanna...no one will arrest you for this one. Whet your appetites to Altimet's album "First Among Equals" with this criminal record.
And....guess which legendary international band is gonna release their album online soooooon? They're even gonna let you decide how much you want to pay for their music. For each track, you can choose to pay from $0 to $(any dollar). Yes You (who me? Yes YOU!) get to decide.
Oh yes here at Music Plague, we love music, but now we love the Internet even more!
Watch this space for more news on that downloadable band.
6. The Shade of Poison Trees (if you're expecting a soul-baring song from the album) 7. Rush (it sounds like the relief of finally letting out a difficult secret) 8. Little bombs (sounds like "screaming infidelities" part 2)
New confessions for your dashboard, Chris Carrabba returns with "The Shade of Poison Trees", out in stores Oct 2nd.
It's kind of a "surprise attack" by Carrabba and gang, there weren't any news of any new album coming out until last month. It was written in just 10 days and recorded in 3 weeks with producer Don Gilmore, the same guy behind "dusk and summer". (So he's saying he wants to go back to being indie by being sneaky)...love it.
While the album cover looks like a dedication to snow white, it sounds like an acoustic mary poppins soundtrack - a little too cheery for the emo man/band. But the lyrics still remain true to its roots...I suppose.
I'll keep your secrets 'til the grave has swallowed me / And I will never tell a tortured soul there burning by my side / That I am a sinner / I am a savior / I am a lie
And suckers for acoustics, good news, the band's back to their old acoustic ways here. Yeeeehawww. Back to the whiney ways that we loved.
I wasn't there for the gig but I've got a first-hand account of the chaos that went down at the Far East Square Pavillion on September 8th, thanks to Mr Fauzi, a huge Funeral For A Friend fan. It was madness and goosebumps he said......
Funeral For A Friend Live in Singapore Glass Pavilion – Far East Square 8:00PM, 8th September 2007
by Fauzi
I’d been looking forward to this gig ever since it was first made known on the band’s MySpace account 3-4 mths ago, but I almost didn’t. $$$$. Lack of funds.
But I did go eventually. And even if my wallet was $75 lighter, it was worth it.
Arrived at the Glass Pavilion at around 8pm. Missed out on the opening bands Caracal, A Vacant Affair and Astro Ninja. Heard they started performing since 5pm. Ah well, there’s always next time to watch those bands.
Daniel Ong and some other dude warmed things up with a contest,” Air Guitar Competition”, I think. 2 dudes were competing against each other, ripping it up on stage when the music played and doing their best “rocking with an air guitar” impersonations. In the end, the crowd pleaser won, by actually throwing himself into the crowd and bodysurfing for a while.
The crowd was getting impatient and chants of “Funeral, Funeral” were heard. FFAF probably heard the chants and came out on stage within minutes. FFAF were finally in Singapore!
They started off with Into Oblivion, their hit from the new album. The crowd went crazy and started moshing. They immediately went into All The Rage, from Hours, following that. It was rad and most in the crowd sang along. The whole set was a mix of the old and the new; however, the old songs got the fans singing along and moshing. If I remember correctly, they only played about 4-5 songs from Tales Don’t Tell Themselves and the rest were from their previous albums, which was a good thing in my opinion.
The crowd was lapping it up. I was singing along to all the songs I knew off Hours and Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation. Darran (vocalist) and Gareth (bassist) were orchestrating the crowd. Whatever they asked the crowd to do, the crowd followed like puppets. Midway through their set, they declared that the singing crowd was the loudest they’ve heard in all their gigs. I kinda doubt that statement as most bands would say that in all their gigs. But well, I give them the benefit of the doubt. The band as a whole were tight, their only booboo came during the intro of Bullet Theory, in which Ryan (drummer) came into the song too early in the intro. Darran and Gareth looked back at Ryan, looking puzzled, but they continued on, professionally. In fact, I don’t think many people noticed the booboo.
They were all over the stage, going from one end to the other. FFAF were playing all their well known hits among fans, for eg: History, Roses For The Dead, She Drove Me To Daytime Television. FFAF walked off the stage after playing The Sweetest Wave, another song off their new album. Of course, the crowd hadn’t got enough of them and kept on chanting ‘Funeral, Funeral’. And soon enough, the band went back onstage for an encore. They played Streetcar to rapturous applause and singing. I had the goosebumps the moment they started the song. They finally closed everything fittingly with one of their best-loved songs, Escape Artists Never Die. The crowd went nuts and you could feel their energy around you. Darran threw himself into the crowd towards the end of the song, which was great to see. That was it, one and a half hours of great music and showmanship. It was surreal. I still couldn’t believe I had just watched FFAF. I hadn’t expected them to come down to Singapore ever.
Towards the end of their set, Darran declared that they would definitely be coming back to Singapore; he promised. I’m definitely there when they come down again. You have to be there too.
3. Late Night Request (a very hot slow-burner) 4. Class A love affair (a long-time favourite with fans alike)
The much anticipated debut album from the local rock outfit, The Great Spy Experiment is finally here.
Personally for me, the songs sing themselves like sepia-toned photographs that give me the warm and fuzzies of a familiar yet out of this world kind of nostalgia. Can't seem to put a finger to it, except I enjoyed this in its entirety while driving from one end of singapore to the other as the usual steaming summer scenery danced me a diorama, reassuring me that singapore is not that bad a place la.
Now most GSE fans have already gotten their sneak preview from the band's live gigs, from times before talk of an album even came about. So finally having the band packed into a well-produced digital donut to bring home and play at command, could only bring out alot of three cheers.
And much kudos too for the well-produced album, savvy sleeve design, catchy hooks, melodic riffs and all the recipe needed for a suave debut.
Sure the band's got its fair share of detractors, in this ever-expanding critical world of musical categorization, some complain they're just another radio-friendly rockstars.
But I guess it beats being lost in the definitions of math rock, twee pop, slowcore, space rock and whatnots (the band simply consider themselves powerpop/indie/rock)
In a world where people, plants and animals truly appreciate music as it is, I'd dare say The Great Spy Experiment is one damn fine band, who play tight live sets. On top of representing the country in the SXSW festival, and bringing music borne from this little red dot to music appreciators a thousand miles from here, here's hoping they'll take the local music scene one standing-broad-jump-step further.
Electrico put local music on the radio, can Great Spy bring it to...Ohio?
And to quote dave tan of electrico, "hopefully in future, the public won't think that local musicians are just some uneducated bums hitting the drums.."
Music Plague catches up with the spies as we talk about the subliminals behind their songs, siti, world domination and...hmmm...marriage?
MP interviews The Great Spy Experiment
MP: What's the story behind the phrase "The Flower Show Riots"?
Saiful: "Flower Show Riots" is the title of one of the songs on the album. Set in the brilliant horticultural spectacle that is the Chelsea Flower Show, where the rich and the poor share the same time and space and yet remain distinctly separate in every way, the song speaks the universal language of a widening social and income divide. It's just one of the many social issues that I feel strongly about.
MP: Which track in the album is the most special to you guys?
Saiful: For me, it's a toss-up between "Late Night Request" and "A Kind of Love" simply because they're based on very personal experiences. Fandy: Late Night Request. Cos I hardly get to play the bossa beat.And I just love to play that beat. So Late Night Request for me. Don't you think the bossa beat and rhythm is just sexy???!?! Magdelene: 'The Great Decay'. It was one of our producers, the late Wayne 'Thunder' Seah's favourite song. I can still remember vividly him saying that he had the song stuck in his head for days and that he was constantly playing that song when we were in the recording studio with him. Another reason is that Khai created a music video with photos and video footage of our SXSW experience with this song.Whenever I listen to 'The Great Decay', I think of our US road trips and Wayne 'Thunder'.
MP: What or who was the inspiration behind the song "Siti in the City" and who's "Miss Kensington"?
Saiful: "Siti in the City" paints the portrait of the stereotypical Malay teenage mother, totally unprepared for the responsibilities of adulthood, let alone, raising a child. It's something that is painfully prevalent in our society at the moment and it's something that, again, I happen to feel strongly about. "Miss Kensington" talks about the typical male love-lust confusion, and how some guys would say just about anything to get in a girl's knickers.
MP: What would you say to detractors who say that GSE is merely a singaporean imitation of "The Killers" or "Franz Ferdinand"?
Saiful: I think if they listened to the album as a whole, they'd realise that these bands are just a couple of our many varied influences. Funnily enough, when we went to the States, no one mentioned those bands and were comparing us instead to a whole bunch of other bands, some we've never even heard of. The fact is every band sounds like some other band. But we're no tribute band, that's for sure. Fandy: I dunno what I'd say. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion I guess. Maybe I'll say thanks, dance and walk off.
MP: You guys have played gigs before the album dropped and already whetted the appetites of fans looking forward to your album, how important was doing gigs for the sake of the coming album's success?
Saiful: Reording an album takes a lot of time, effort and money."Flower Show Riots" took all of ten months and close to $50,000 to make. Gigs allowed us to reach out to people, to let them know what we're about even before they could buy our records. In 2006 alone, we played almost 50 gigs. No one would have heard of us if we hadn't played all those gigs. Fandy: It's extremely important. Why? I'll tell you why. Because you need to create a presence for yourselves. You need to reach out to anew audience every once in a while, make friends with new people and create a buzz.
MP: How well do you think "The Flower Show Riots" will be received here among the general public?
Fandy: I can't answer that but I will tell you this. We've put a lot into the album. Really a lot. In fact, it was our all. So, to the public, I say this, the album is the result of years of hard work,blood, sweat and tears. I hope you can hear that in our music and appreciate it as much as we appreciate your views, criticisms, support and love. Magdelene: I agree. And all that, I believe, is evident in each of the 11 tracks on the album.
MP: Any intentions to widen the exposure of the band beyond these shores, seeing as you've already performed in the US for the SXSW Festival?
Saiful: Most definitely. We're looking at overseas distribution and perhaps doing some tours abroad. Fandy: Uh huh. Agreed. We've got world-domination plans in our gig bags.
MP: If you could collaborate with any artiste, who would it be? and why?
Saiful: Jimmy Ye! Hahaha.. Local musicians. Or Timbaland. Fandy: JT. I wanna rap.
MP: What's next for GSE?
Saiful: The same old - gigs, gigs and more gigs. Fandy: Marriage plus more gigs.
I heard it was a riot at the Far East Square Pavilion when Funeral For A Friend rocked the stage.
Frontman, Matt was actually unwell when I had the chance to meet the band the day before the gig. Nice, articulate chaps, FFAF - an interviewer's dream. Matt and Gareth are not related but I'm sure you'd know that already.
Some peek-tures of the gig if you missed it. (not that this will completely replace the experience of being there itself...but here at Music Plague, your wish is our dish.)
I heard the crowd didn't really warm up to songs from their latest album....but were singing along to the rest of the set. It's either you can't please everyone or you can't have everything that will please. Let's yam seng to these nice emo (or however they want to be categorized) rockers...
The 2007 Video Music Awards was hyped to be Britney's Comeback....it tanked into a "Britney, go home". Kanye as usual has to up the antics of not winning by being noisy over not having rights over the main stage, Justin Timberlake (my boy!) dominates (duh), MJ lives on, Tommy Lee and Kidrock fight. over a pair of silicones? and that irritating Rihanna song has brainwashed you over.
Supposedly, this was the best performance of the night... in a world where musical performance quality has evolutionized into mainly dancing theatrics.....
Getting props from Justin Timberlake himself, who claimed watching Chris Brown hippety-hopping on the stage made him feel old. He gets props from me for all that dancing but I will always have a problem with artistes who lip syncs. Milli Vanilli was not cool. C'mon man, if 'N Sync could do it, why can't you?!
And then the weight of heavy expectations was trampling heavy on what looked like a half-hearted "looking lost on stage" performance by Britney (yes we think we know her so well, we're always on a first-name basis with the singer).....Let's just accept the fact that her glory days are over, let's leave the poor girl alone for a long sabbatical, god knows she needs it - 'specially after THIS performance.
Poor thing.
Check out 50 Cent's "wtf?" reaction at 2:56. HAHA. Says it all.
But of course, Britney's biggest mistake of leaving behind Justin, current IT boy will probably hurt more than her performance that night. Kanye, can you beat this?
Although one thing, it's cool if you're in the audience and you get to go "YEAH" but when you're watching at home, it's just "shut up already."
The sugar in "sweet sorrow" is when they come back again after parting from here.
Linkin Park, who rocked The Padang when they brought their rock-godliness 3 years ago (whoa, felt like yesterday) will be amping up The Indoor Stadium on November 13th.
Woopee! Mike must lurrrrrve Singapore. It's his 3rd time here.
I partied on the first day of this year's WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) at the greens of Fort Canning that has lately been hosting a nice slew of music acts - the park has been 'bursting with fruit flavor' you could say... We fleeted from Iran to South Africa to Brazil to Scotland to Niger and finally the UK. Too bad festival highlight Sheila Chandra from India couldn't make it at the last minute due to "some problems with her throat", but the show had to go on...and on and on it did...
Here're the acts that we caught:
Ensemble Shanbehzadeh (Iran)
This father-son team was a crowd pleaser. They kicked off the party and worked up the growing crowd soon enough. With the father on the pipes and the son on the percussions, they exuded the kind of intimate chemistry of traditional music borne out of freestyling in the comforts of their own house. Thankfully for WOMAD, people in Singapore got a taste of Iranian family "jamming" - quite magical.
Mahotella Queens (South Africa)
These ladies set the energy and decibels for the evening on the main stage. They were such a delight to watch! Imagine your grandmother in traditional garb singing her lungs out to some traditional African jazz/gospel/rhythm & blues and showing off some synchronized energetic dance moves to boot. These ladies have been around since the 60s and their comfort zone is the stage as they flirted with the band members and the audience. Their performance inspired all the old folks chilling on their mats in the grass to get up and shake their young-at-heart booties. Delightfully leaves a smile on your face.
Shooglenifty (Scotland)
Watching them required a flat dry land where you could do the Irish-style riverdance tap moves - some good ol' banjo and violins to perk up your night. Some echoes of gruff drunken Scottish-accented merry men line-dancing in their kilts would've immediately transported you to a music festival right in the heart of Edinburgh.
With traditional African nomadic instruments marrying the electric guitar, they brought the desert blues into a modern tropical city park. I wished there was sand underneath us instead of damp grass, and I wish there was lush persian carpet laying out some hookahs and mint tea - it would've completed the Etran Finatawa experience.
Asian Dub Foundation (UK)
The highlight of the evening, or the entire WOMAD, some might say, they didn't disappoint. The sita-tabla ragga-jungle madness closed the night getting everyone in a frenzy of musical ecstacy. They dropped some new materials too from a recent "best of" compilation that had some new bonus tracks. Some music that changed the world to cap off a night of music from all over the world...
It was a blast, although my only complaint was there was so much to see and do and so little time! Besides the 4 or 5 different stages that had performances simultaneously going on, there were also dance, guitar, drumming workshops in between, plus some international cuisine to sample...tooo much! Which just means...I've gotta continue completing the experience next year. See yall then!
B-quartet put up one of this year's Baybeats highlights early this month and there's more where that came from. Coming up with a new album in November called "tomorrow is our permanent address", they've released some sample tracks to whet our appetites. I invite you drool on...
Hola! The foreign invasion never stops, gear yourself up for September, whether you want some Welsh post-hardcore rock or American radio-friendly rock...get (your savings) ready for Funeral For A Friend and Daughtry.
Funeral For a Friend live @ the Glass Pavilion, Far East Square 8th September 2007 Ticket details here.
Daughtry Showcase on 20th September, details to be announced....
And for the folk rockers, you wouldn't believe who's coming to town early next year! Suzanne Vega yall! Yes! *punch fist in the air* Delightful indeed, my music calendar is finally becoming more colourful, there's definitely something to look forward to next year even though I haven't even bought the calendar to mark a cross to it yet but I like the fact that I can't even keep up with this. More!
Spend the night with electronic music with this 14-hour non-stop event at Home Club this Saturday. Indulge and educate yourself with a feast of music showcases and sessions for audience.
I was in the thick of the 2-day music festival last week on our national day and boy did I have the time of my life...My only gripe is that I wish it would've had a better name than Singfest (someone thought I'd gone down to a sing-along singapore songs festival).
I'll just list down the top 5 acts over the 2 days that are worth mentioning in order of merit (according to me anyway)
1. Sugar Ray
Ok this comes abit from a biased point of view. I've been a Mark Mcgrath fan since Secondary School and have been amazed at how amazingly he has aged - like wine.
As he belted out songs that bring back so much nostalgia, singing along to them brought me back to my secondary school days, memorizing lines from "Every morning" to "Someday" and the inevitable "Fly". Plus the fact that Mark didn't look like he aged one bit made it all the more nostalgic as if I'd went back in time to ten years ago. Felt like time stopped when he stood right about 2 metres in front of me in all his tatoo-ed sweaty glory. *groupie giggles*
On top of belting out our favourite Sugar Ray stuffs, Mark was going crazzzzzyy that night and the audience lapped it all up. His lame and goofy dancing, his cheesy lip sync-ing to Guns n Roses and many other Mark Mcgrath antics that make the girls scream louder and the guys go "hell yeahh!", and he kept making sure we knew how much fun he was having...So did we Mark, so did we...
2. Cyndi Lauper
I could almost put Cyndi and Sugar Ray tied at the number 1 place but like I said Sugar Ray is a personally biased favourite of mine. Plus she kinda disappointed me by not singing "Time after Time" and disappointed Ted (a huge Cyndi fan) abit by not singing "Money Changes Everything".
However, she more than made up for it, she was in a league of her own. Making a grand entrance with a black long wig and a huge dame of a hat that would put Rihanna's Umbrella song to shame. And the energy kicked in from the first milisecond the music started and soon enough, she ripped off the hat and the wig, much to the crowd's delight. Then the party started. Now I didn't grow up with Cyndi's songs but I do know some of her signature tunes, "True Colors" was echo-ed along with the audience, "I drove all night" was delivered with such panache, you could actually entertain the thought she was singing just for you.
At one time, Cyndi left the stage, went to the barricades and jumped up and down like a pre-pubescent teen with a lucky fan and then she walked to the middle of the field before making her way back to stage. As Teddy said, "Cyndi does what she wants, when she wants!" And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, she kicked it up a notch when Shaggy joined her onstage to accompany her on two songs, "Girls just wanna have fun" being one of them. Shaggy went crazy with her wig and hat and everyone on stage and off it, had fun...
She was an entertainer in between songs too. Asking the soundman to turn up her guitar 3-4 db, straight up, then cheekily asked "how much does it cost?" with her adorable (for lack of a better word) tweety bird voice. She even managed to crack a joke about her hair asking the audience "Do you know what color my hair is?" ...."It's called 'absence'" as she pointed to her short cropped blonde locks. LOL.
What can I say, for someone who made the anthem "Girls just wanna have fun" popular, she lived up to her own lyrics. Damn!
3) The Noisettes
I haven't been exposed to The Noisettes before but hell, they f*cking rocked the stage!
I love performers who go ape shit crazy on stage, uninhibited and exhibitionists, they are after all being paid to entertain to some critical and watchful eyes..
Lead singer of The Noisettes, Shingai Shoniwa put up a no holds barred performance. Another thing about watching an uninhibited perfomer is that their ease of making the stage comfortably and fully theirs, makes them so easy on the eyes.
Shingai pranced, hid behind the DJ console, climbed up the side railings, climbed up the drums and jumped off it, jumped down to the audience at the end of their set, did some farewell cartwheels, flirted with the audience ("can you stop looking so gorgeous for just 5 minutes?!) on top of rockin out some awesome rock and roll. The kind of raw rock and roll you don't know how to categorize except that it's definitely under "Awesome Shit".
4) Mxpx
I've never been a huge fan of punkrock music but now I see the appeal. Punkrock is best served Live. The kids went crazy, the crowd surfing was rampant, the moshing went full steam (but not as raucous as when Avenged Sevenfold took the stage, during which the metal group was asked by security to stop in the middle of their first song to tell the audience to move back since front row kids were being squashed and the barricade broke and all. hoho)
Highlights include "Responsibility" and the cover of The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I go".
Narny and I worked up a sweat doing the punkrock thing that you do when you watch a punkrock band live. And guess what, Narny spotted a yellow Mxpx pick on the ground which fell after ..Mike and Tom were exchanging guitars in mid air. If there's one band that knows how to do punkrock, it's Mxpx, they've been around for yearsss and their set was nothing less than...Awesome!!!
5) The Stranglers
Oldies but goodies, they rocked song after song after song non-stop, no bullshit bantering, just letting the music speak for themselves. R-e-s-p-e-c-t.
Other honorable mentions:
The Pet Shop Boys
Definitely the most colorful (and gay-est) of all. Back-up singers and dancers donned colourful costume after costume ranging from tight gold cowboy outfits, rainbow-coloured jerseys, torso-baring army uniforms and other quirky outfits with neon-lighted backdrop that also beamed some random videos on a big screen
I don't know if it's because it's electronic music or Neil Tennant but he seemed very distant and impersonal in his delivery, straight posture and penguin suits and hat, his eyes read "don't touch me love, I just got these dry-cleaned" - friendly but unapproachable.
But when they closed with "Go West", it's all goooood.
Singfest 2007
Day 1 line-up
Sasha Bach Band Shaggy The Stranglers Cyndi Lauper Sugar Ray The Pet Shop Boys
Day 2line-up
One Buck Short The Great Spy Experiment Crowned King Cobra Starship The Academy Is... Gym Class Heroes Avenged Sevenfold Mxpx Hinder
If you're a true blue music fan, I'm sure you had a hella lotta fun at Singfest too. Here's hoping for more to come next year. Hopefully they've got bigger or more niche names that're willing to stop by Singapore on their way to the Summer Sonic Fest in Japan.
More rock concerts please!
Photo Credits:
Day 1 acts photographed by Narny (except for Pet Shop Boys and The Stranglers by Azira).
These ladies set the energy and decibels for the evening on the main stage. They were such a delight to watch! Imagine your grandmother in traditional garb singing her lungs out to some traditional African jazz/gospel/rhythm & blues and showing off some synchronized energetic dance moves to boot. These ladies have been around since the 60s and their comfort zone is the stage as they flirted with the band members and the audience. Their performance inspired all the old folks chilling on their mats in the grass to get up and shake their young-at-heart booties. Delightfully leaves a smile on your face.
With traditional African nomadic instruments marrying the electric guitar, they brought the desert blues into a modern tropical city park. I wished there was sand underneath us instead of damp grass, and I wish there was lush persian carpet laying out some hookahs and mint tea - it would've completed the Etran Finatawa experience. 
The highlight of the evening, or the entire WOMAD, some might say, they didn't disappoint. The sita-tabla ragga-jungle madness closed the night getting everyone in a frenzy of musical ecstacy. They dropped some new materials too from a recent "best of" compilation that had some new bonus tracks. Some music that changed the world to cap off a night of music from all over the world... 
Ok this comes abit from a biased point of view. I've been a Mark Mcgrath fan since Secondary School and have been amazed at how amazingly he has aged - like wine.
I could almost put Cyndi and Sugar Ray tied at the number 1 place but like I said Sugar Ray is a personally biased favourite of mine. Plus she kinda disappointed me by not singing "Time after Time" and disappointed Ted (a huge Cyndi fan) abit by not singing "Money Changes Everything".
I haven't been exposed to The Noisettes before but hell, they f*cking rocked the stage!
I've never been a huge fan of punkrock music but now I see the appeal. Punkrock is best served Live. The kids went crazy, the crowd surfing was rampant, the moshing went full steam (but not as raucous as when Avenged Sevenfold took the stage, during which the metal group was asked by security to stop in the middle of their first song to tell the audience to move back since front row kids were being squashed and the barricade broke and all. hoho)
Oldies but goodies, they rocked song after song after song non-stop, no bullshit bantering, just letting the music speak for themselves. R-e-s-p-e-c-t.
