I don't normally see so many live shows in such a short span of time (much less overseas), but coincidentally all the acts I want to see decided to make June their local stopover month -- and I couldn't let them get away without seeing them live at least once.
The first Saturday of June, I was in Singapore for the RADWIMPS concert, at TAB along Orchard Road.
I was introduced to RADWIMPS way back in my college years, when randomly surfing through fanmade music videos introduced me to 'Tremolo', and on the first listen I was hooked. Even though I went out and searched for more of their work and loved most of it, I kept on going back to 'Tremolo (トレモロ)'; it's been a regular on all my playlists. :P
"トレモロ" - the song that started it all :)
They aren't one of the most mainstream bands outside of Japan and it was so obscure to see them live, locally. The moment I heard that they would be performing in Singapore, I knew I had to haul my butt there or regret it for the rest of my life. :P
The concert was to be on a Saturday night, 7-July, at TAB along Orchard Road. I booked my tickets to fly in Saturday morning, I was bright an early at the Subang Skypark airport to catch my 9.00am flight.
I arrived at Singapore Changi Airport at 10.50am, and set forth from the airport to find my backpackers' hostel. I did the genius thing and walked 15-mins from Bugis MRT station, dragging my suitcase in the hot, humid weather across burning tarmac to the backpackers' hostel (ducking into every air-conditioned convenience store along the way, politely pretending to look at the drinks and walking out as soon as I cooled down) .... only to discover Little India MRT station was just a 1-minute walk away from the hostel. =_=;; I shall not trust Google Maps so blindly ever again.
After dropping off my suitcase, I had a few hours to kill before the concert was supposed to start at 7.30pm, and decided to set off on a little expedition to find the Little Prince Cafe I had read up about earlier. More on that visit here~! :)
I had a nap a quick shower to refresh myself before making my way to Orchard Road. True to my nature, I was slightly lost, but after asking around at Starbucks I arrived at the venue at 6.00pm, and already there was an intimidating line leading up to the TAB entrance. O_O;;
The line along the side of TAB building, leading to the venue. Very encouraging to see so many RADWIMPS fans!
For some reason, 2-3 curious passers-by approached me to ask what was the line for -- I felt extremely gratified to explain it was for the RADWIMPS concert (and for some reason people only approached me to ask; maybe because I was alone at the time~? OwO;;).
Ethel joined me in line at 6.30pm, and it was a relief she found me -- we both arrived in Singapore separately I didn't know if I had any chance of contacting her on my Singaporean number~ ^^;
Heading into the venue ...
By 7.30pm we were in the small, dark but thankfully air-conditioned space -- it was a lot smaller than I expected (even smaller than Malaysia's staple concert-space, KL Live!), but could comfortably hold the odd-100 of us, with space to spare for dancing, heh~
It was honestly one of the best, most intimate concert experiences I've ever had! :) Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed during the concert, so I can't post any photos from the performance itself -- but I've never been so close to the stage at a free-standing a rock concert before, and the crowd was extremely enthusiastic and polite and had the most encouraging, energetic vibe. It was just the band and the fans and the music, and somehow that was enough; you don't need big gimmicks or fireworks for an unforgettable concert atmosphere.
I loved how, in breaks between songs (and even mid-song!), Noda and the band kept on thanking the audience; they kept on telling us about how they loved the "atatakai/warm" reception they received. They tried their hand at speaking Mandarin and English, which were very impressive -- even though I swear the audience was about 50% Japanese or could understand Japanese, so it was hardly necessary, heh~ :P (Noda being fluent in English didn't decrease his adorableness when he spoke to the crowd~)
However, the highlight of the concert definitely came towards the end: The band stepped off the stage after their last song, and I was just a tiny bit sad that they didn't play my favourite, 'Tremolo'. It was understandable, though; 'Tremolo' is not one of their newest songs, and not as huge a hit as their more famous tracks, like "Iin desu ka".
Of course, the audience immediately called for an encore, and settled down into singing the chorus of "Moshi mo" over and over, until the band took to the stage again for their encore. You could tell they were genuinely touched by our enthusiasm and they thanked us for it; and launched into the first few chords of their first encore song ...
... which I immediately recognized as 'Tremolo'.
I had never been so excited for an encore in my life! It was my best concert experience, ever~! :D
Overall, the boys are amazing live -- even though they're seasoned performers and had been doing these live shows their whole careers, they honestly appreciated their fans and created such a warm, energetic atmosphere.
Another hilarious moment post-concert was a "poster-grabbing avalanche" that Ethel started outside the concert venue. There was a set of promo posters hanging outside, and fans that gathered there post-concert were eye-ing them nervously, wondering if we were allowed to take them home. With no hesitation, Ethel simply pulled a poster off the wall, prompting a stampede of fans to grab the remaining posters; I managed to snag one just in time before they were all gone in seconds.
Today's prize: Free RADWIMPS poster~!! <3 #getto
After a late fast-food dinner we parted ways - me back to Little India and Ethel back to Sentosa. And I settled down for a good night's sleep before my afternoon flight the next day.
The very next week I would be flying down to Singapore again for Taylor Swift's last stop on her RED Tour ... but more on that later! :)
The very next week I would be flying down to Singapore again for Taylor Swift's last stop on her RED Tour ... but more on that later! :)
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