Music criticism can be a right old conumdrum sometimes, especially in the S-ROCK scene. As someone who is keenly aware on what goes on in the background of many gig organizations and also familiar with many of the parties who participate in such gigs, it isn’t easy to simply throw negative assessments into reviews based on assumptions and impressions. Then again, it does nobody any good to exagerrate events and performances just to paint a pretty picture. Thus, striking the balance is constantly on my mind when I write about the S-ROCK scene.
On Saturday (6 December), I hopped on the train at Bugis Station and made the “long” journey to Dover Station to arrive at the Singapore Polytechnic Convention Centre just before six. Got my reserved ticket from Colleen (yes, I certainly could have gotten a comp ticket from the organizers but decided to fork out my 12 bucks) and waited whilst the opening of the doors was delayed due to technical glitches.
Pause here. “Technical glitches” and “delay” tend to plague S-ROCK gigs due to a variety of reasons – teething pains of a fledging scene or symptoms of something more serious – I haven’t analysed yet. However, I understand that the organizers had only a week (!) to put the gig together (after having to postpone the earlier scheduled gig and that fact alone should put things into perspective.
On a practical note, the idea of eight bands in one event seems great on paper but… when you’re sitting in a fairly cold auditorium on an empty stomach… tends to get rather challenging after a while. Perhaps, less is more…
Anyways, I managed to catch the Fire Fight, Force Vomit, Jack and Rai, A Vacant Affair and Allura before I gave in to my body’s demands and left. Overall, I have to say that the bands really did their best to overcome certain sound issues – the guitar sound sucked, basically – and I will summarize what I thought of each performance accordingly…
The Fire Fight – it’s obvious that FF put considerable thought into their set. The songs – new and old – sequed into each other like a classical suite with Josh tying up the interludes with cryptic (for now) introductions. A great teaser for the upcoming debut album.
Force Vomit – Is Dino feeling his age? The lead Vomit passed a few remarks about how old audience members were in 1995 or 1998. Heh. Despite their status as a “veteran” band, Force Vomit rocked hard and fast with their garage-mat-rock hybrid. Record that third album, Dino!
Jack and Rai – Smart boys who keep things simple, 2 guitars and 2 vocals belting out a short set of by now familiar hit songs and a Coldplay hit that got a big reception (why must we reserve our biggest cheers for a non-Singaporean song – more of that in the Angels & Airwaves gig review). That said, it was satisfying to see how appreciated a tune like the Falala Song was… the power of radio, I guess.
A Vacant Affair – The boys got a spirited response from the crowd with the inevitable body surfing and timid moshing. Matt’s voice rang out clear through the turgid auditorium air like a hot knife through butter and held court with his movement and vocals. Melodic hardware is how I hear AvA and with their debut album being distributed by Universal, be sure you pick it up and catch AvA at the album launch at the Esplanade Recital Studio on 26 December.
Allura – The band waited patiently whilst video presentations of past (!) events were being shown and launched into a competent set let down by the poor guitar sound. Aaron looked particularly miffed at the lack of response his guitar was getting (especially, on Gamajazilion – my favorite track!). Despite all that, the band gave their all, Inch especially shining on the new song, Loose Change, showcasing how far she has grown in her vocal range.
As usual, a quick shout out to Poh Choo, Edward, Syed, Beni, Esmond, Jon Hems et al.
… and there’s more …
You spelt my name wrongly.Hahaha,its Poh Soo.:)