SO this is later than your usual late post, mostly because I’m staving off a serious migraine, which I must say really bugs me no end. The migraine. Not the staving off. At any rate, this year, I was fortunate enough to watch the F1 race for the first time, thanks to some lucky breaks. And I must say, I was mightily impressed. It just looks so good. Yes, it’s all got to do with the fact that it’s a night race. I saw the GP2 earlier in the day, and I was like, meh.
See?
Continue reading ‘The late late post: Rock around the track’
I HAVE to admit that I was a little excited about watching Charlie Lim’s concert last night. Actually, I was a little nervous, feeling jittery for some reason, such that I had to calm myself down before the show with a cool can of Nescafe.
I was also feeling a little apprehensive. See, when I first heard Charlie Lim’s music on his EP, I immediately labelled his music as “cerebral music”.
Let me explain: In my there are two main types of music: “visceral” or “heart music” and “cerebral or head music”. Heart music is the kind of music that just grabs you immediately and gets you movin’ to the groovin’, hearts a-thumpin’, turn off your mind and float downstream music. It’s love at first listen. Like Buddy Holly’s Words Of Love, The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows, U2′s Until The End Of The World, R.E.M.’s Crush With Eyeliner, David Bowie’s Ashes To Ashes, Queen’s A Kind Of Magic, Led Zep’s Immigrant Song, Deee-Lite’s Groove Is In The Heart, Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling, etc…
Head music is music that you need to wrap your head around. Music that challenges you, like The Door’s Light My Fire, Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Lenny, Dire Straits’ Telegraph Road, Radiohead’s Paranoid Android, Muse’s Knights Of Cydonia, Queen’s A Kind Of Magic, and… anything by Keith Jarrett, Igor Stravinsky or Tuck And Patti. It’s not bad, it just takes engages a different set of senses. And for me, it can get a little tiring at times.
But if I could sum up Charlie Lim’s gig in one word, it’d be Sir Duke. Okay that’s two words. But for me Stevie Wonder’s hit is both head and heart music, and fully encapsulates Charlie’s live show. It not only immediately grabs you when it starts, but there’s also enough technicality to please any muso no end.
From the solo intro through to the crowd-pleasing Pedestal, with a great assortment thrown in-between, including There Is No Love, Flashing Lights, Rust, Blah Blah Blues, Super Rich Kids and a couple of new songs too.
At any rate Charlie’s show ticked all the right boxes for me, although it took me while to get used to his vocal style, which for some reason, reminds me of Darius Rucker meets Jay Chou. But his band was spot on, and he was spot on. And even though the show was 90 minutes long (a third longer than most Late Night Series shows – wonder if the peeps at Espy were getting anxious?), it didn’t feel like that. In fact, you could say it was too short a show. But oh well…
Will put up pics once I get them…
SO I was supposed to start this segment like about a month ago, but you know how it is…
OK, maybe you don’t. But I do, and I can’t tell, it isn’t what you think it is like even if you didn’t think it was like this.
At any rate, here’s the new segment on Poparazzi where we take a look at – da-da-daaaa! – MUSIC DVDS!
And we’re kicking off the one DVD that was supposed to have been put out about a month ago, but didn’t. (Sorry) Anyway, here we go…
THE ERA 2010 WORLD TOUR – JAY CHOU
Last year, Jay Chou did an uprecedented three shows on the trot here in Singapore, with one of the fastest ticket sales ever. But if you missed that concert, here’s another chance to see the spectacle that was his Era World Tour.
The DVD ably captures the sights and sounds of the concert, which was a big production, and gives you everything including the support slot by The Drifters, appearances by Lara and Cindy Yen.
And say what you like about Chou, you cannot deny that his show is one elaborately cool production. But what’s interesting about this DVD is that it gives everything, warts and all (just check out the flub at the end of The How To Be A Rock Star Video). It makes it seem that much more – well, human – when compared to all other superstars who like to gloss over their mistakes in the DVD (just look at Beyonce’s or U2′s DVD).
The only thing that grates about this DVD is that the director, apparently wanting to show everything that happened, resorts to using an old cinematic trick so often used in the 1970s – the half-fade. This involves fading the first scene only halfway while introducing the second scene, so you get both onscreen at the same time. For the whole song. It distracts from the action of the concert. And yes, it’s also irritating to the eye.
Luckily, this stops after the first three songs, so you’re spared for the rest of the performance.
Also included in this DVD is a making of featurette, showing how Chou and his team put the show together. (Although we would have liked it if they included all the music videos taken from Era too.)
This DVD is a nice record of how a great concert can be stage, with the music and stage production and the performance of the artiste complementing each other perfectly. Particularly an artiste like Jay Chou. A must-have, even if you’re not a die-hard fan.
They may not be household names like Jeremy Monteiro, The Wonder Girls, Jay Chou or even U2, but the Johnny Rodgers Band – and no, it’s no nod to the “Jolly Roger” and they don’t play sea shanties… much – is a band that’s been hard at work bringing their brand of “Americana/pop” around the world.
Continue reading ‘The e-chat with Johnny Rodgers’
Yup. Chinese pop superstar Jay Chou has agreed to another night here in Singapore! The gig is on July 25, same time, same place (that’s 8pm at the Singapore Indoor Stadium).
This is an unprecedented move, but according to organisers Scorpio East Productions, it’s because many who have been unable to book tickets have written in requesting for more seats.
“With the addition of a third concert, Scorpio East Productions hopes to include as many people as possible into the much talked-about concert”, they said in a statement. They also hope to discourage the public from paying for inflated tickets from auction sites. Which is a good thing, because seriously, these touts are louts.
Tickets go on sale on May 5, 9am.
