Coldplay parachutes their way into the hearts of Singapore

Coldplay live in Singapore Indoor Stadium, 23 March 2009: A Review

Music critics, fans, groupies and radio announcers have always made claim that the Bono-led U2 is the biggest band in the world. Tonight, 23 March 2009, Coldplay made it known to Singapore that that is indeed false. Chris Martin is a fucking wizard. If magic truly did exist, he’d be holding the wand.

I walked into the stadium at 8:15pm and was greeted instantly by the melodic guitars of Mercury Rev. As I stepped into the stands trying to find my seat, Jonathan Donahue’s soaring vocals sent shivers down my spine. When they played my ultimate favourite Rev song – The Dark is Rising, I felt something move in me. After a short 5 song set, they humbly made way for Coldplay to begin. I felt their timing was just perfect, ending their set with only 5 songs – being very careful not to outdo Coldplay. The crowd were assholes though, especially the row of people seated in front of me. They chattered constantly oblivious to the fact that Mercury Rev is perhaps the greatest Art Rock band to ever grace the airwaves.

Lights dimmed, curtains slowly raised and out walked Chris Martin, Johnny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion each carrying firecrackers in their hands. They took place on their respective instruments and started the night with Life in Technicolor before bursting into Violet Hill. The seated crowd rose to their feet and as Clocks followed after, the 12,000 strong crowd were in awe. Yellow came soon after and gigantic yellow balls were let loose to the crowd as everyone sang along to the immortal lyrics of the song.

Chris Martin was without a doubt the star of the show. He ran tirelessly from left, to center, to right, back to left, straight to right – across the entire stage. Teasing, acknowledging, addressing the crowd – making the girls squeal and the boys dumbfounded. You can tell he is an experienced performer, and extremely confident of his talent. He knows with humility that he is the darling of the crowd and uses that knowledge to give Singapore a good time.

You have to thank the Coldplay roadies too for tirelessly working throughout the 2 hour show to give us a seamless performance. In between songs, they moved the piano all over the place to create a sense of dynamism with the audience. Martin showed us how riveting a performance can be with just a solo instrument when he ran to the far end of the stage, solemnly singing The Hardest Part accompanied only with a piano

To everyone’s delight, the entire band moved to the other corner of the stage leaving their electric equipments behind. Will Champion swapped his drum kit for an acoustic guitar and accompanied Martin on vocals and the harmonica to re-create an acoustic rendition of Speed of Sound. Martin surprisingly has a sense of humour. Now, we all know how dry English humour can be but Martin came up with a delightful tale of how he lost a game of monopoly forcing him to take on the abuse-prone role of lead singer. He proclaimed further that Will Champion was a way better vocalist and Coldplay would have been bigger if he had lost the game. With that being said, Champion took the mic and sang I am a Believer – the song that The Monkees will always be remembered for.

They pranced back onto the main stage and performed Lovers in Japan – complete with projector visuals of Haiku, Sakura, Kanji and everything Japanese you can think off. Confetti fell from the heavens and I closed my eyes and savoured the moment. As they went into the dressing room, the 12,000 strong crowd went wo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, singing the tune to the controversial Viva la Vida to coax the band to come out for the encore.

Sure enough, Martin appeared first and sat gracefully on the piano to sing us the majestic Scientist. The band joined in the 2nd verse and they closed an explosive night with Life in Technicolor 2, completing the most beautiful Monday night of 2009.

I’m not an easy man to please. But tonight, Coldplay did no wrong. They were perfect and I mean it in the most dazzling sense of the word. It was hands down the best concert I’ve ever been to. And i promise you, that is no exaggeration.

Coldplay might not be my most favourite band in the world, but when it comes to live performance, they’re king of the hill.

Best 400 bucks I’ve spent all year.

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Complete Play list:-

1. Life in Technicolor
2. Violet Hill
3. Clocks
4. In My Place
5. Yellow
6. Glass of Water
7. Cemetries in London
8. 42
9. Fix You
10. Strawberry Swing
11. God Put a Smile Upon Your Face/Talk
12. The Hardest Part/Postcard from Far Away
13. Viva La Vida
14. Lost
15. Speed of Sound
16. I am a Believer (Monkees Cover)
17. Politik
18. Lovers in Japan
19. Death and All of His Friends
Encore:
20. The Scientist
21. Life in Technicolor II

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//Images courtesy of Celeste from smalltimetraveller.wordpress.com//

Finding a gem among the saturated cluster of Malaysian radios

I don’t listen to radio. I honestly can’t stand the propoganda that goes on in the FM world especially the AMP radio networks. The repetitive  hip-hop thrash and lousy below the belt humor the announcers have gets to me every time. But over the past week or so, I’ve had to rely on radio for some fresh music because I’ve run out of CDs to listen to and I’ve been too lazy to burn anything new. If anyone here wants to make me a mix, I’d happily oblige.

Anyway, for the past 3 days or so I’ve been listening to BFM. You know,  the Business radio station that I’m sure you’ve seen the frequency being plastered on the back of KL cabs. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the music they play. In the 2 days that I’ve tuned in, I have already been graced with some interesting music choices.

Let’s see.  John Lennon, The Beatles, The Wallflowers, some old school Phil Collins, Lynard Skynard and a whole shit of other great music that I don’t know. Now that’s always a good thing. Most of the songs they play remind me of waking up in suburban American to a brand new hopeful day. It’s sorta uplifting.

So right now, I’ve got 2 radio stations programmed to memory. BFM and Traxx FM. Now Traxx ain’t consistent but their breakfast show spawns some pretty interesting tunes too.I especially like their link up with Radio Australia that happens 8.45am Thursdays.

Anyway for those out there with a more adventurous sense of music, I implore you to listen to BFM. Now I know the contents can be rather heavy – what with business news, economic updates and stuff but it’s nice to listen to something deep for a change. There ain’t no fugitive to catch here just honest-to-goodness music. Traxx is nice too on occasions and I find it rather refreshing supporting a government based radio network.

Here’s the frequency.

BFM = 89.9 FM
Traxx = 100.1 or 90.3 FM

Jason Mraz Live in KL: A Review

I hate concerts at Stadium Negara. The sound system is crap. When Muse came down and played there, I could barely hear Matt Bellamy’s voice on top of the instrumentation (which is one of the 7 deadly sins, btw) but I thought that could have been a sound check issue. But today, I realized it’s really the venue. I was seating at the stands (168 tickets) and there were no speakers on top of me. Sound had to travel from the speakers at the front which pretty much sucks for me. Mogwai had the best audio arrangement I’ve seen so far. Anyway down to business.

Hats off to Mraz. He was in excellent form and does his best to deliver the a great show. As a performer he was engaging. He addressed and acknowledged the crowd with lots of call and respond sessions,  and even got everyone moving to some geeky dance moves which I thought was rather cheeky. As a musician, he was in fine form. His song improvisations were immense and the inclusion of a brass band certainly helped funk up the rhythm. His folly unfortunately, comes from his lack of strength as a songwriter. More about that later.

Mraz started off strong – video taping the crowd with his  camcorder and subsequently launched into Make It Mine, the perfect song to introduce us to his band. The first thing that caught my attention was the Malaysian football jersey that his 3 piece brass band wore. For a brief moment I thought he was actually using local musicians but after closer inspection, nah.

He seamlessly moved into his 2nd track – the ever popular single The Remedy. This was where he got me to sit up and pay attention.  From the gleeful scat-singing chorus, he called out to the crowd – asking for us to join in by singing Oasis’s Wonderwall as he masterfully merged the rhythm of The Remedy with Wonderwall’s riveting melody. Now, Wonderwall has to be one of my most revered songs thanks to Ryan Adams and that, definitely got me to start giving this guy some serious attention.

He launched into You and I Both next – perhaps one of my most favorite ballad from Mraz. His voice was strong and steady throughout but I can’t shake the feeling that he is too safe as a a vocalist to really capture the magic of a stadium arena.

As he got into the half way mark of his set, he seemed to have lost the crowd. People were shifting in their seats or standing idly on their spots. He was playing some of his lesser known songs (non radio songs la) and I could sense it in the air that the crowd were losing attention. Mraz, reading the situation correctly, made the popular decision to play I’m Yours and that got the whole stadium roaring with approval. It really annoys the shit outta me that people really only know whats being played on radio. Gives way too much power to the mass media but yesterday night, I was guilty of that same crime too.

My favorite moment of the night was when he performed his tender ballad – A Beautiful Mess. As his carefree vocals soar over the gently plucked guitar, I thought to myself this has to be one of the finest songs any musician has ever written. The set went on for another 15 minutes or so before Mraz bowed to the crowd and disappeared for a shirt change and of course, for the encore.

“Jason!” “Jason!” “Jason!” chant the crowd and sure enough, our hero returned with an “I Love KL” tee. Haha so typical but it was cute though. So up on stage we have 3 guys in a Malaysian football jersey and our main man in an “I Love KL” tee. One can’t help but smile.

He started off the encore with Lucky. Joining him on stage is Taiwanese based Malaysian singer Penny Tai who to my horror, botched the entire song. It’s not that she has a bad voice or anything but there was simply no chemistry between Jason and Penny. Her singing made Colbie’s voice sound like an angel in contrast.

After Lucky, he dropped his guitar and began to take polaroid shots of his band members and tossed the photos into the crowd. I thought that was a very meaningful gesture. There’s something outrageously romantic about merging the art of music and photography into a single, beautiful night.

Remember how I mentioned that Mraz’s downfall is his lack of solid songwriting? That becomes most evident as he tries to bring the night to a close. Death Cab has Transatlanticsm. Damien has Cold Water / I Remember. Coldplay has Fix You. Sigur Ros has too many to mention.

My point is, Mraz does not have a strong song to end the night. He doesn’t have an epic song that could finish the night with a bang leaving his audience starstrucked. He could probably use The Remedy as a closure but he didn’t which made the night’s epilogue steam rolling at it’s best, a simmer. I couldn’t really feel much chemistry between him and his band though so the best moments of the night was when he was playing solo – just him and his acoustic guitar.

Mraz was in top form last night. If he wasn’t a musician, I think he would fit perfectly into the role of stand-up comedian. It was a very decent concert for me. The songwriting could have been stronger but I knew that even before buying my ticket so I really can’t complaint.

Would I watch him again if he comes back in the future? Not likely unless his 4th studio album blows the cat out of the cradle. But it was a good night nonetheless and I’m glad i was amongst one of the 5000 strong crowd.

And damn, did he look good in that top hat!

Rachel Yamagata: Live in Singapore, April 15 2009

My good man, Mojo has been influential in keeping me up to date with concerts happening around my side of the world. I don’t have Facebook – it’s sort of a personal vendetta in my battle against the shallow world, so my concert updates don’t come to me unless someone is kind enough to tell me about it. Fine, fine chastise me if you must but this is a personal belief which due to my good nature, I won’t bestow upon you.

Okay I’m rambling. Anyway so Mojo just told me Rachel Yamagata is coming to Singapore. She plays at Esplande 15th April so boys and girls, get your party hats ready. For further details, click here.

Oh and I hear that Mercury Rev is opening for Coldplay! Hah that’s really killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

Thanks  Mojo for the brilliant tip. Here’s my personal tribute to you.

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————-Mojo————–
<Bows> <Bows> <Bows>
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Remembering Damien Rice

Do you remember your Damien Rice moments?

I remember when I was first introduced to him: it was way past curfew and I was sitting in a boy’s car listening to him raving about a singer/songwriter from Ireland the way I have never seen him rave about anything in his life before – in fact, I have never seen any music fan rave about a music idol like this before.

I remember how devastated I was when I had to miss his gig: it was February 2006 and I had just moved myself to Australia to study, and I had been informed that on March 30, 2006, he was going to perform in Singapore. Fuck! I was this close to hopping a plane to Singapore for one night just to see him.

And I remember – oh yes, I remember it well – how thrilled I was when I do not have to miss his gig: it was December 2006 and God decided to award me for my patience and swerved Damien Rice to my Australian way. I returned back to Brisbane for my second year and on the same day I touched down, that night I was seeing him live.

I remember waking up at 8 in the morning just so I could go into the city in a bad weather just to grab my copy of 9 the moment JB Hi-fi opened. I remember smiling at the seams of my face when I found out Live from the Union Chapel was re-released again.

Alas, two years down the road, I could barely remember how it was at his concert. Much has changed too. Lisa left to go solo. Vyvienne took a hiatus and went solo. Damien went on a road trip in Barcelona and wrote a bunch of songs again. And I have listened to so many more brilliant musicians and seen so many more unforgettable live concerts to have easily pushed his Tivoli gig at the back of my head.

I do not remember much, but standing feet away from Vyvienne Long and her cello, with the speaker just right beside my ear exploding Damien’s anger for I Remember. But all I know is this: I would go see him again. Whether he was with his band in a rundown venue in the middle of Brisbane’s own Chinatown, or by himself with only the tattered clothes off his back in a more upscale venue in the fine city Singapore. I would go see him again.

In the meantime, all I have is a recording of his 2006 concert at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. So, for all those that is trying so hard not to forget your Damien Rice concert a long while back, or even for those who have not seen him live and are itching to see what the fuss is about.

Here he is: the dandy little dreamer, the doctored misdemeanour, the didactic destiny schemer – ladies and gentlemen – Damien Rice.

Courtesy of Jon Koch, you can download the concert HERE.