To be honest, prior to the announcement of the Mystery Jets performance in Singapore at the Hard Rock Cafe, I must confess that I’d never heard of them before! Which goes to show how incredibly massive the modern rock scene is nowadays. Then I was given to understand that this was actually the band’s SECOND show in Singapore, the band having played at Zouk previously.
By all accounts, the intimate environs of the Hard Rock Cafe provided rabid fans the perfect opportunity to get up close and personal with their idols. This is a positive development for the live music scene here as bands of the ‘size’ of Mystery Jets go on small venue tours in the region and Australia and thus providing diehard fans with a very cool live experience (imagine being able to watch say, Blur, like this!)
The performance itself I must say was mostly satisfactory but the 200-odd crowd lapped it all up in any case. I found that I was not quite as enamoured of the songs or the performance first time out but certainly the gig got better towards the end as the band finished off with “Radlands”, “Young Love”, “Flakes” and “Lost in Austin”. The inclusion of a pedal steel lifted the proceedings somewhat as the band seemed more convincing when channelling a country-folk-blues vibe.
The obligatory encore was duly dispensed with and it was obvious that both band and audience enjoyed the experience immensely. Sure, I have issues with the overall quality of music and performance on hand but there is no doubt that the band managed to stir up the emotions of its fans and with a unassuming stage presence to boot, it was hard not to be swept away by the occasion. Good fun, all round.
Thanks to Andrius Sim/Chugg Entertainment for making this review possible.
There is one typo:
“…to get up close and personel (personal) with their idols”