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The People’s Party is a music festival originally from Hong Kong, this year bringing their lineup of international, regional and local artists to Taipei, Jakarta, and Singapore.

Their two-day Singapore stop kicked off at *SCAPE on Saturday 14 January, with headliners Metronomy (UK) and The Jezabels (Australia), and local and regional acts including Plainsunset, Monster Cat, and Tenderfist (Malaysia). When I first got there, at least half an hour later than the stipulated starting time, there were still only about two dozen people milling about the place. It looked to be a rather dismal audience for the first two performers, Monster Cat and Tenderfist.

Local band Monster Cat’s acoustic-led set was quite a delight, the instrumentation tight and the vocals spot on (both lead vocals and harmonies). Electric guitar effects made up for the lack of a synth/keyboard. Also the sound balance looked set to be at optimum enjoyment level for the rest of the evening – fantastic job, festival sound crew!

By the time Tenderfist took the stage, several more people had filled the ranks of the “early” crowd. Tenderfist, who hail from KL, were a two-man guitar-keyboard band for this event, with a drum machine backing track and loop pedal providing the necessary musical layers. They were engaging and proficient enough in their craft, though not particularly memorable.

Side note: During these first two acts there were a few moments where I wasn’t sure if they were soundchecking or not, because they were signaling to the sound crew about volume levels and whatnot. It was a bit distracting.

Kevin and I missed Plainsunset’s set as we popped over next door to Mandarin Orchard for an interview with The Naked and Famous (to be posted… later). We also didn’t stick around for K8OTIC and Poptart after coming back for The Jezabels’ set, only returning for Metronomy to end off the night.

The Jezabels… where to begin? They were, for lack of a more descriptive word, rather amazing. Despite not having a bassist, this didn’t take away from their overall sound as the keyboards more than made up for it. Their stage presence was like an artfully restrained explosion, with lead singer Hayley Mary appearing lost in the melodies and yet intentionally drawing the audience in at the same time, and with electric guitarist Sam Lockwood giving quite the energetic performance. The effect of the octave-apart blend of Mary’s and keyboardist Heather Shannon’s vocals was intensely atmospheric.

Also, the lighting for both The Jezabels and Metronomy’s sets was mouth-watering; impeccable coordination with the music there.

Metronomy’s brand of electronic pop appealed slightly less to me but that sentiment obviously wasn’t shared by everyone else present – the entire crowd was pulsating with energy at the exuberant and exciting musicality that defined the set. Bassist/vocalist Gbenga Adelekan was a real treat to watch as he worked the audience and delivered every line (both vocal and bass) with infectious conviction. I liked the way they mixed it up by having drummer Anna Prior sing lead vocals (while still drumming!) on one song, and the sax solos by Oscar Cash were an entertaining touch as well.

So The People’s Party headliners did not disappoint, and I’m looking forward to more years of this festival to come, hopefully! It was just a pity – unsurprising, but a pity nonetheless – that the local and regional acts faced such a disinterested turnout and reactions from their home base.

(Desiree Boey)
Picture of The Jezabels by Alvin Ho.
Thanks to the kind people at Untitled Asia (Dash, Tim & April) for making this review possible.

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