Written by
WeiShi Lun
I must say straight off the bat that I'm terrified of crowds. Terrified.
I've done public speaking for audiences of up to 3000 before from the stage, but put me IN the crowd and I'm the little soda can getting kicked around the streets.
Needless to say, I wasn't particularly excited about being caught in the 3,500 crowd on Saturday at Fort Canning despite the thrill of seeing Foster The People live.
What made this gig different from all the others I've been to was the energy the audience emitted. There were lots of complaining about the heat but once people resigned themselves to the fact that Singapore wasn't going to lower it's temperature anytime that night, they started having fun and dancing along to the music played by the 2 highly energetic and vivacious DJs.
Helmey, Auditory Effect
That's when The Auditory Effect decided to take their place on stage. Frontman Helmey's vocals and the bands clean yet energized sound geared the crowd up with their songs '4:29', 'Sekrets' and 'Superstar'. I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed the opening act.
Jonathan Mark Garnell, Auditory Effect
Between Helmey's friendly banter with the crowd and the bands' rousing sound, The Auditory Effect was a great choice as an opening band for the show.
I started chatting with the girl above (pictured 'Mark Drumstick Please') during pre-show and she told me she had been queuing for 8hours just to make it to the front of the stage. I was just about to turn around fully to hear more of her story when drummer Mark Pontius stepped on stage, sending her and the rest of the crowd into an absolute frenzy.
Drummer Mark Pontius
Foster The People, Singapore, 2012
First thing I noticed was how the set was arranged differently, with the drum set beside and not behind the rest of the band. This gave everyone a chance to watch Pontius drum away animatedly alongside frontman Mark Foster and guitarist Cubbie Fink.
The band opened the show with my personal favorite song by them, 'Houdini'. Within seconds of Foster singing the first line, the entire crowd was jiving along to the music.
Electrified and all ready to go, Foster led the crowd through electrifying anthems 'Miss You', 'Life on a Nickel' and love song 'I Would Do Anything' (which I've found to contain very tweet-friendly lyrics, according to my fellow tweeters who were at the gig).
Songs from their album Torches were breezed through with dynamism that made me, a lone attendee, want to start dancing on the spot. Being a firm advocator of awkward dancing, Mark Foster's stage presence was entertaining and his rapport with Cubbie and Pontius was energizing to watch.
Mark Foster joins the crowd
Things toned down a notch when Mark Foster covered his favorite band Weezer's song 'Say it Ain't So' and unreleased track 'Ruby'. But things didn't stay mellow for too long.
Once everyone caught their breath and cooled off, 'Warrant' amped up the energy once again, catching the entire crowd with this non-single favorite.
And what's a concert by Foster the People without the song that launched them to fame, 'Pumped Up Kicks'? By this time I had slowly inched my way to the back of the crowd, being exhausted but hanging on the the much awaited song.
I must admit that a month before the concert, I was one of those kids that only knew the chorus to this addictive song. The hit single was remixed refreshingly well, getting the entire crowd up and dancing (including myself, as you can tell in the video at 3:50) with club mix and moments of dubstep that sent the crowd into a fever, ending the show with as big a bang as when they started.
Admittedly, I do wish the band had spent a bit more effort interacting with the crowd beyond a quick "do what you want and ignore haters" speech, the story on how Mark Foster's dream band Weezer had covered his song and a sweet moment of throwing out water bottles to the crowd to fight the heat.
But the band's lack of interactivity was justified as they must've been worn out from jet lag and the toil that touring takes.
Two days after the concert and after I've had some time to sail over the hype of the concert, I must say that I enjoyed the concert greatly.
Crowds, screaming youths and inebriated matures aside, The musicianship of these 3 young men and their band was sharp, clear and very enjoyably delivered.
I most certainly will be looking forward to seeing Foster the People again soon.
Credits
Agency: Chugg Entertainment, Samantha Shirra-Moore
Photo (Foster The People): Aloysius Lim
Photo (Auditory Effect): Rueven Tan
0 comments:
Post a Comment