Love (Minimally) Amplified
Posted on: December 10, 2008
The 29th of November 2008 marked the first HIV/AIDS concert that was to be held in Singapore. Local acts such as Hady Mirza, Stephanie Sun, Hossan Leong, Dim Sum Dollies and Electrico (to name a few), graced the evening as well as to spread awareness.
I will not be attempting to review the entire concert (there really was not much to it), so I will merely be pointing out a couple of highlights.
Hossan Leong and The Dim Sum Dollies had definitely stole the show with captivating performances. (emphasize: me being biased. they were the reason why i was willing to attend the concert) It brought cheer to the dull, dull night…
Electrico were not too bad themselves. After all, they are an established local band. Making Love in a New Wave was probably the only song I could sing along to. I. Pity. Myself.
Stephanie Sun‘s hit songs were easily recognised, but truthfully speaking, I sat through her act like a cynic. Expressionless, blank. Furthermore, the organisers had left her, the best for last; only for a couple of people to get up, and walk off.
Ouch.
Sea Bed Sounds shocked me a little. One: they were the pre-show performers. Two: I was not expecting a pre-show performance. Three: the band had to make me guess who they were during their performance. Four: the band did not properly introduce themselves beforehand.
Five: I could have gone deaf in both ears, or lost myself in sushi (i was munching on dinner then) to have missed their introduction.
Allemay, Michaela and Vanessa were well, the most unexpected trio. What I had readied myself to be immersed in a jazz experience, turned out to an awkward covers-of-pop-songs segment. Truly, their attempt on Umbrella by Rihanna left me gaping.
Mainly because the back-up dancers were one: indecently dressed, two: they seriously used umbrellas for props.
Still… Traumatized…
Jack & Rai were up to expectations. Thankfully enough, I had checked them out on MySpace, and was able to identify one of their songs to be Fiona. (a song about, if you’ve guessed it, Fiona Xie!) Their Fa-la-la-la song had me in knots, considering how my brother was telling me that fa-la-la-la could be replaced with several suggestive terms.
My brother’s real wacky (if not, completely whacked out) when he wants to.
In between performances, an interpretative dance was thrown in. In sum, it was confusing. Beyond words.
Another surprise act was slotted in right after the dance that made my thoughts tangled 400 times over. This time, the choreographer of the dance emerged to sing what I could make out to be an original composition. My brother begged to differ.
Though truthfully, who am I to refute his claim? (i can be a musical bimbo. most of the time.)
Oh! Oh! Before I forget, The Strikeforce performed as well. Having heard similar percussion bands like Barracuda Batucada (from Ngee Ann Polytechnic) and Wicked Aura, The Strikeforce was a true letdown.
To say the least, it lacked impact. What saved them was their accompaniment to the instrumental version of Where Is The Love by The Black Eyed Peas.
However, what really stole the show, quite literally, was Hady Mirza. Frankly speaking, I have no qualms to him singing his hits from Singapore Idol. But…
The man went a little overboard with his extremely extended joke (which he failed, terribly, in) and its punchline.
Obviously, when you shout out a disclaimer to an audience that your joke has nothing to do with HIV/AIDS, one has to live up to it, right? But nooooo, he had to swat the evening with a giant mosquito swatter with what was a potential (if not, direct) insult to HIV/AIDS patients.
In the end, he tried redeeming himself at the finale with an apology.
Which brings me to this:
Dear organisers, was the concert truly a success?
Here’s me, hoping that a subsequent concert would not having to suffer in the first’s fate.
So, was the concert a good start? You’ll be the judge.
Ally 
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