Hurrairah | hurrairah@gmail.com
the ridge transmedia
A NUSSU Publication
The Exxon Mobil Campus Concert series for the upcoming semester was kick-started with the Wake Me Up Music Showcase this past Wednesday, 6th August 2008.
With four bands on the bill, a sizeable audience and the reverberating acoustics of the Central Forum NUS, the evening promised much and did not fail to deliver.
Giants Must Fall
Photo Credit:Emon Mitra
Giants Must Fall
Giants Must Fall, the youngest of all the bands performing on the night were the first ones to take the stage.
With a focus on melody and rhythm, Giants Must Fall proceeded to immediately win the crowd over and set the mood for the rest of the gig.
What particularly stood out from their performance was the interplay between their female vocalist Jean’s singing and Kelvin’s arpeggiated guitar parts. Standout tracks were “Whale Song” and the cover of Frou Frou’s “Let Go”.
On the whole Giants Must Fall played an impressive set but were a bit stiff. However what they lacked in showmanship was more than made up for by the impressive Rickenbacker the lead singer was strumming on.
Talking about their future plans, the band said We will be looking to release a full length album by the second quarter of ‘09.”
Fishtank
Photo Credit:Emon Mitra
Fishtank
Right after the intricate playing of Giants Must Fall, Fishtank (who coincidentally happened to be the oldest band) assaulted the audience with their mix of punk, funk, ska, psychedelic guitars and brutal riffs.
Playing songs off their recently released sophomore album Make Nice, Fishtank played a tight set channeling everyone from The Ramones, The Clash, The Police, Sex Pistols and many more.
The songs spoke of simple everyday situations delivered by the lead vocalist with the usual fervent punk ethos and dance moves Elvis would be proud of. On their last song Fishtank called on a fan to double up on vocals and closed their set in spectacular fashion.
Fishtank’s exuberance and vibe was summed up in the first words they uttered when I went down to interview them. Zaid (vocalist) to Anjas (bassist), “Hey, they’re here to interview us … from a porno! The Ridge!” *pelvic thrust*
Vertical Rush
Photo Credit:Emon Mitra
Vertical Rush
Vertical Rush is a band that ahs been around for quite some time.
The band put it in perspective themselves. “We are so old, that our fans now are playing in bands themselves, and are more popular than us!”
But the benefit of being around for so long is a musical adroitness that comes only with time.
Vertical rush, a six piece band with two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, a keyboard player and vocals created a wall of sound that filled the entire Central Forum.
With heavy guitar riffs being the focal point of most songs, Vertical Rush created dense layers of textured melody around them and managed to sound pop, indie, emo and rock all at the same time.
The best song of the setlist was “Running With You”, a song which the singer used to propose to his wife. Take it from him, “Singaporeans cannot say no in public.”
The Fire Fight
Photo Credit:Emon Mitra
The Fire Fight
The last band to perform was The Fire Fight. During souncheck, the vocalist sang a few lines of “Changes” by David Bowie which instantly caught the attention of the crowd.
After a dry run, the band launched into a rendition of their song “Candella”, a jangly tune with nice vocal refrains.
Their music was infectious and soon had many in the crowd tapping their feet to the beat. A unique quality of The Fire Fight, which set them apart from the rest of the bands on showcase was their use of keyboards and computers to provide ambient sounds and paint a different aural soundscape.
On talking to the band I found out that they were actually missing their lead guitarist who was down with fever so they played the gig with a more carefree attitude. “We were quite relaxed and chilled out today.”
With all of the bands having also played SingFest ’08 recently, it was quite an extraordinary concert since NUS students got to see half of the bill from the B Stage at Fort Canning for free.
Hot Talk!