Review of a Concert

I'm excited to write a review of this concert. Firstly, it was a first in Singapore and secondly, it was a first for me to have a concert experience in University Cultural Center (UCC).

If you could remember, we went to catch this inaugural anime and video games music concert on our date night last Friday. We went without expectation because seriously neither of us was a fan of any anime or video games.

The first impression given was actually very bad. The crowd, well perhaps it was us, was young and very much hardcore fans of cosplay. They came in groups, dressed to suit the occasion. We were the only few (less than 5 fingers) that turned up "prim and proper" which was unfortunately considered as "ill-dressed" for the occasion.

Secondly, the concert opened late. I thought I had gone for a banquet which was hardly surprising because nobody started dinner on time. 5 minutes passed 8pm and people was still strolling in. Being an Esplanade person, I couldn't tolerate such rubber-band timing.

Finally, the concert started and the musicians took centre stage. Oh well! I could see that they were all very nervous and at one point of time, I felt the lack of practice among themselves. Ending off the last note on an unequal timing. Rhythm, beat, expression, the soul of music were lacking seriously. The pianist sat uncomfortably, unsure of himself.

The host, seemed to be tongue-twisted with all the Japanese names of the music titles and the composers' names.

And then, towards the end of 1st half, suddenly the orchestra seemed to find themselves with Neon Genesis Evanglion. They played with confidence. They played in unison. They played in harmony. The pianist found his passion back on the keyboard. Twinkling away on the ivory keys with the soul of music. It was great! It was fanstatic! It's like "Welcome home!"

After intermission, the musicians made our money worth. At the closing of the concert, 4 to 5 encores brought more tunes to the exciting audience. It was truly a night with a good twist. Special guests were invited, including composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Ryuichi Sakamoto of the anime music and video games music.

The organizer had the music arranger for the concert, Nicole Brady, to play for a few pieces in which she composed.

While you may think this was a small scale concert, I think it had significant Singapore pride in it. The whole orchestra was made up of Singaporean musicians and a Singaporean conductor, played in Singapore for the 1st time for Singaporeans. While the nervousness casted shadow of doubts in the beginning, I admired them for their passion.

Because with passion, you can do what you like to the best.

Well Done!