Opening Bands: The Stigma

Hi.

I recently had the pleasure of covering a music event at Zouk featuring Wavves from California, Múm from Iceland, and Shelves from Singapore. I knew nothing about any of the bands, but the press conference was cosy and chill, and they were all incredibly likeable as real people and not just musicians.

Despite the substandard sound system, all three bands gave an incredibly enjoyable performance. I found myself dancing and singing along to songs I've never heard before from Shelves and Wavves, and keeping quiet and admiring the musical masterpiece that is Múm.

As a photographer for the event, I was positioned right in front of the stage, where a photographer's pit, would usually be. I noticed how the crowd would change for each band, and I was disappointed at the turnout for the opening band, Shelves. There were very little people down by the stage listening, even though the place was starting to get packed. Yet as soon as their set was over, people raced down to get the best spot to catch the next band from California. It's disheartening, considering Shelves is a pretty rad band.

There seems to be a stigma associated with opening bands, especially if they are local and not touring with the band, that they suck. That these opening bands are nothing but time fillers. I disagree. Opening bands are brilliant! I think it's really cool how I can always discover new music just by going to see another band. It's also a great way to hype up the audience, granted that the audience are willing to be hyped up, right before the featured band, thus, creating a greater and more memorable concert experience.

Though the local music scene is booming with talent right now, people still seem to think that the local bands opening for big international artistes are merely rookies looking for some exposure, and are not worth their time. I think that's ridiculous! Most local bands right now are crazy brilliant and they definitely deserve their time on the same stage as the "big boys".

I know that majority of concert goers would probably disagree with me regarding the whole idea about opening bands. Of course I would love to watch more of the band I actually paid to go watch, and there's always no guarantee that I'll like this new music they're throwing right at me, but I'll still stick with my point. Opening bands are brilliant.

I hope you'd all have amazing concert (and opening band) experiences.

Goodnight.

RWS Marine Life + Gardens By The Bay

Hi.

My grandma, aunt, and cousin came over to visit us in Singapore a month ago, and they decided to visit Resorts World Sentosa.

I honestly don't get why people would pay to visit aquariums. I just have completely no interest in fish. The place did look really pretty and amazing, but I just wouldn't /fish/ out money to spend an hour walking around claustrophia-inducing rooms.

My grandma, lover of anything remotely flora, wanted to go to Gardens By The Bay to do a little photoshoot. So we went over with my brother and my aunt and walked around and had a little picnic.

If Singapore's weather wasn't so erratic, and if Gardens By The Bay was much more accesible to me, I truly thing that I would spend at least two days a week just lying in the field, reading and relaxing.

I have as much interest in plants and flowers as I do in fish, which is very little, but if I were to pick between the two, I'd much rather spend an afternoon in Gardens By The Bay. It is open, airy, and has tonnes of great photo opps. 

I hope you're all enjoying bright and sunny days.

Goodnight.

Adventure Time!

Hi.

For Trudy's birthday, she has so kindly invited me and a number of our other friends at a chalet in East Coast Park for her 21st birthday!

Her birthday wasn't really Adventure Time themed, but I suggested to our friends that we dress up as her favourite things. So most of us dressed up as Adventure Time characters, while the guys failed dressing up completely, except for Bernard who normally dresses like that anyway.

After the kiddie party, we hid in the room and played drinking games until about 3am, after which the guys decided it would be a good idea to go cycling. They got two tandem bikes, and one of them kept breaking down. Fun stuff. At around 5am, we accompanied the guys to return them to the bike shop, only to find out that it was closed, so four of them biked down to McDonalds while Marcus drove the rest of us down. We had breakfast, and then watched the sunrise from the beach. The sky was really pretty, but I was too exhausted to fully appreciate it.

It was a pretty kickass hilarious time, followed by a tidal wave of exhaustion and sleep.

I hope you all have equally kickass birthdays!

Goodnight.

Universal Studios Singapore

Hi.

My favourite lady friends, Arlyn, Trudy, Lellel, and Grace, and I decided to go to Universal Studios Singapore to celebrate Grace's birthday!

It was my second time going to USS, but this was the first time I actually got to make full use of the expensive entrance ticket. My favourite part of it has got to be the Monster Rock! Musical, where we sat right in front and were probably the only people out of the whole audience to dance in our seats and sing along to the songs. The performance was phenomenal though, and we wanted to watch it multiple times, but didn't have the time.

We didn't really get to go on that many rides, as we totally skipped Madagascar, Far Far Away, and Jurrasic Park, because they were either kiddie rides or just plain boring. Most of our time was spent on Battlestar Galactica and Transformers: The Ride, both of which we got on multiple days and it was phenomenal! Transformers 4D effects was just phenomenal, as long as you don't sit at the last row of the vehicle. I was surprised at myself for thoroughly enjoying the Cylon side of the Battlestar Galactica ride. I actually enjoy the part where it spins 360 degress! So much fun!

After a tiring day in USS, we decided to have dinner at Brotzeit and ordered their massive Brotzeit platter which we could barely finish. We also went to get Grace a cake from Awfully Chocolate! Overall, it was a really good day, and I think our money was definitely well-spent. It was a great time chilling with these girls again, since we barely get to meet up with all five of us.

I hope you all get to have a wonderful time with your friends!

Goodnight.