Over here at Musings Towers, we like to embrace a broad church. On our first day back from holiday last week, we went to the Slash concert at Fort Canning Park with around 7,000 other like minded souls. From the teenagers at the front (including our two) to the older crowd from the Guns 'N' Roses days at a safer distance, there were no complaints as I am sure this was one of the best rock concerts Singapore has ever seen. The energy generated from the stage was remarkable and the guest singer, Myles Kennedy, proved himself to be one of the great rock frontmen with an energetic performance and a soulful voice not unlike David Coverdale's in Deep Purple's heyday in the early 70's. Our kids thought it was "awesome" whilst even I was moved to utter the word "epic." It will stay in the memory for a long time.
In stark contrast, almost a week later, was a hastily arranged visit to see Belle & Sebastian at the Esplanade Concert Hall, a great venue near the Singapore waterfront. For the uninitiated, Belle & Sebastian are a 7 piece Scottish "indie" band formed in Glasgow in 1996 with a cult following all over the world. With a sound described as wistful by some and twee by others, their appeal is indeed diverse. A recently announced concert in Mexico, for example, has sold out and the Singapore concert was attended by a wide cross section of the population. Of the two ladies sitting beside me, one was from Japan and the other from California. They, like most of the people around us, seemed to know the words of most of the songs performed. Augmented by a local string quartet, this was an exceptional concert complete with audience participation on a few songs and some good natured if poorly executed dancing on stage!
There is plenty of YouTube footage on both concerts but it is of the poorly shot, shaky hand variety. For a better idea of the quality of these acts, try these....
