Music Haven

Foo Fighters to rock The Padang in Singapore on 2 March 2012!

2012-01-13T19:01:00.000+08:00

It's finally confirmed - Foo Fighters will rock The Padang on 2nd March for an open-air, one night only concert! In fact, it will be their only show in Southeast Asia. Great choice, guys!

Free standing tickets are priced at S$138 (excluding S$3 SISTIC booking fee) and they're on sale at all SISTIC outlets NOW!

The concert has been rumoured for so long and it's great that it's confirmed and they're finally coming back. They were in Singapore for a double bill show with Sonic Youth back in 1996, before they really hit it big. So this is essentially their first "proper" concert in Singapore.

I'm especially excited about this concert because it's at not at the usual Singapore Indoor Stadium but The Padang, where 20,000 people are expected to turn up. Outside of the F1 gigs, there haven't been many concerts being staged at The Padang - the only one that comes to mind is Linkin Park's first concert here in 2004.

And it's a standing-only concert, so it's gonna be one huge moshpit with all the fans bobbing up and down. There better be a catwalk down the middle of the park, so that Dave Grohl can run up and down and interact with the folks at the back (not that I will be there...I will be right at the FRONT).

In today's Life! article, Nate Mendel commented that the show will be almost three hours long and they will play songs from all their albums, with an emphasis on the new record. I can't be happier to hear that. I love the Wasting Light album and I'm dying to hear the songs being performed live, especially Rope, Bridge Burning, White Limo, Arlandria, These Days, Walk and Dear Rosemary. They can perform the whole album for all I care.

I caught their last tour in Perth in April 2008 and it was a fucking awesome show. I have never been so high from a concert before. Foo Fighters will show Singaporeans what real rock & roll is. No one does it better at the moment. Not even U2. This is balls-out rock that will tear the house down.

The countdown to 2nd March begins...

2011 In Music

2011-12-23T15:39:00.001+08:00

TOP SONGS OF 2011

Adele - Someone Like You
Beyonce - Love On Top
Chris Brown - Yeah 3x
Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris - We Found Love
Katy Perry - Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
Foo Fighters - Rope
Adele - Rolling In The Deep
Lady Gaga - The Edge Of Glory
Bruno Mars - It Will Rain
Christina Perri - A Thousand Years
Katy Perry feat. Kanye West - E.T.
Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks
The Band Perry - If I Die Young
LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & Goon Rock - Party Rock Anthem
Alex Gaudino feat. Kelly Rowland - What A Feeling
Chris Medina - What Are Words
Jessie J feat. B.o.B - Price Tag
Selena Gomez & The Scene - Love You Like A Love Song
Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song
Britney Spears - Hold It Against Me
Foo Fighters - Walk
Coldplay - Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
J Lo feat. Lil Wayne - I'm Into You
Charice - Before It Explodes
Ed Sheeran - The A Team
Cobra Starship feat. Sabi - You Make Me Feel...
Enrique Iglesias feat. Ludacris & DJ Frank E - Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)
Britney Spears - Till The World Ends
The Wanted - Glad You Came
David Guetta feat. Usher - Without You

Another year has passed and undoubtedly, this year belonged to the ladies. A powerhouse of female artists released new albums and completely ruled the charts - Adele, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry (holdover from 2010's Teenage Dream). However, the biggest success story belongs to Adele.

To say that she dominated 2011 is an understatement - she obliterated the competition. Her sophomore album 21 was released in February and has sold 15 million copies worldwide to date, becoming the biggest-selling album in the world this year. In the US, the album has only slipped out of the Top 5 once since its release - it has spent 42 weeks to date in the Top 5. In the UK, the album topped the charts for 18 weeks (11 weeks consecutive) and with sales of 3.6 million, has become the biggest-selling album of the 21st century.

The two singles Rolling In The Deep and Someone Like You topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven and five weeks respectively, and of course in her domestic UK as well. The third single Set Fire To The Rain is currently climbing up the charts slowly but steadily, but has already hit #1 in Singapore. No news yet on whether there will be a music video for Fire (as Adele is currently still recovering from her recent throat surgery) but if there is one, it will definitely boost the chart performance of the song. Singapore radio has already gone with a fourth song - Rumor Has It.

Oh, and there's the matter of the Grammy Awards next February, where she has received six nominations, including the big ones for Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year (both for Rolling In The Deep). I think she's going to win at least five of them.

The scary thing is that there are still a lot more potential singles to be released from the album. Radio has already picked up Fire and Rumor Has It. But there's still Turning Tables, I'll Be Waiting and my personal favourite, Don't You Remember. And it wouldn't be too far-fetched an idea to release Take It All and One And Only as well.

Adele is truly a breath of fresh air in the current music landscape, an artist whose focus is on the music, the songs, the voice and the emotion. She connects with people emotionally and moves you. This is evident in her BRIT Awards and MTV VMA performances of Someone Like You - just a piano and a solo spotlight on her while she sang. No need for fancy costumes, choreography or pyrotechnics. Her voice is her weapon, and she used it well.

While she recovers from throat surgery, 2012 is shaping up to be another massive year as she returns to the live circuit, starting with a performance at the Grammy Awards, followed by a tour. Hopefully she'll get to come to Singapore. In the meantime, she has just released a concert album Live At The Royal Albert Hall, available on Blu Ray/DVD + CD. So this is the closest you can get to watching her live for now.

While Adele dominated the charts, the other female artists didn't slack either. Katy Perry continued milking her 2010 Teenage Dream album by releasing a further three more singles in her bid to overtake MJ's record of five #1 singles from a single album. She's currently tied with MJ with these five #1 singles - California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Firework, E.T. (assisted by a Kanye West remix) and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) (assisted by a remix featuring Missy Elliott).

The latest single The One That Got Away is currently at #5, and in an effort to push it to #1, the record label has discounted the digital single to 69 cents on iTunes, the only Top 75 single to be sold at this price. And in a similar strategy to Last Friday Night, she has also just released a new version of the song featuring B.o.B.

In the case of E.T., when it was released as a single it already featured Kanye West, whereas in the cases of Last Friday Night and The One That Got Away, the guest artist-assisted versions were only released long after the original version of the single was first released. So it seems like a desperate attempt. However, this is not considered cheating according to current Billboard rules. While I'm a fan of Katy and I think she deserves her five #1s, I would prefer that she didn't have to resort to such dubious methods to get her sixth #1.

Lady Gaga made a lot of waves this year with the release of her second studio album Born This Way. It was super hyped and it also received criticism for the way the full album was sold at just 99 cents on the Amazon store for the first two days. As a result of the special promotion, the album sold 1.108 million copies in its first week, becoming just the 17th album to sell more than 1 million copies in one week. Close to 40% of those sales (440,000) stemmed from the Amazon promotion.

Numerous singles were released from the album, and each accompanying music video became more and more far-fetched and self-indulgent. In my honest opinion, Lady Gaga is trying too hard. Some of those songs are good songs, like The Edge Of Glory and You And I, so there's no need to over-sex it up and create controversy for the sake of creating controversy. You can only shock an audience so many times. And there's really no need to have a complicated dance routine for every video or performance. The dance must complement the music and I think she fails to understand that.

Beyonce released her fourth album 4 and for the first time ever, it was met with underwhelming response, even though it debuted at #1. It was largely due to the first single Run The World (Girls), which failed to connect with audiences the way Single Ladies or Crazy In Love did. I admit I didn't like the song when it was first released, but listening again to it eight months later, I feel that the song was too ahead of its time back then, and should be reviewed in the context of the whole album.

4 is quite under-rated I feel, and I think it's because Beyonce was pushing the boundaries creatively and not trying to repeat what she had done before, that's why people weren't ready and didn't accept it at first. On closer inspection, the music on this album is more eclectic, with prominent marching snare drums and big horn sounds (Girls, Countdown, End Of Time). Beyonce's vocal delivery is also top notch, especially on Love On Top (how much higher can she go?), 1+1 (so much emotion) and I Care (mimicking the guitar solo). In fact, the weakest song might be the second single Best Thing I Never Had, which honestly irritates me for no rational reason.

Rihanna has been working hard ever since her first album Music Of The Sun was released in 2005. In seven years, she has released six albums - the same output as MJ's entire 23-year solo career (from 1979's Off The Wall to 2001's Invincible). She has notched up ten US #1 singles (two of those as featured artist on T.I.'s Live Your Life and Eminem's Love The Way You Lie), but amazingly, none of her albums have reached #1.

She has been very prolific and has never really gone away. While her stats are impressive, it worries me that she is a "singles artist" and that she won't leave much of a legacy ten years from now (her Album of the Year Grammy Award nomination for Loud got quite a few people scratching their heads). Rihanna maintains her relevance by working really fast and tapping into whatever is hot at the moment, but she runs the risk of becoming a fad. We Found Love is a great dance-pop song, and one of my favourites this year, but I'm not sure I will still like it ten years from now, when the musical landscape will have changed by then.

The only male artist to make an impression this year is Bruno Mars. Like Katy, his album doo-wops & hooligans was released last year but he continued to release singles and videos and keep himself busy with side projects like guesting on Lighters with Bad Meets Evil (Eminem's side project) and Young, Wild & Free with Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa (as part of his production team The Smeezingtons). He also contributed It Will Rain for the latest Twilight soundtrack, and released the superb video for The Lazy Song, one of my favourite videos this year. Singapore radio also picked up Count On Me, Talking To The Moon and Runaway Baby, even though they were not released officially as singles. Can't wait to hear his new album, hopefully out next year.

My favourite band Foo Fighters came back in a big way this year, with the release of Wasting Light, their best album since...Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. I say it with every album, but I'm constantly amazed at how they can top the previous album each time. Wasting Light is a solid rock album with great melodies and hooks, and it's thoroughly worthy of its Album of the Year Grammy nomination, and six nominations overall. I'm really hoping they will tour Southeast Asia next year, or I'll have to make a trip to Japan to watch them in March. Foo Fighters, please come to Singapore for a full-length concert!!!

As 2011 winds down, here's hoping 2012 will be a better year for music, with more real music as opposed to manufactured pop sh*t! Cheers!

Rarities #49: Radiohead - The King Of Limbs Newspaper Edition (2011)

2011-11-11T00:20:00.001+08:00

Radiohead released The King Of Limbs, their eighth studio album, in February this year. It is their second album since leaving EMI, and their first in four years since 2007's In Rainbows, which was also self-released and was controversial at the time for allowing fans to pay whatever amount they felt like for the digital album. This collector's Newspaper Edition was shipped to fans in May.

I have not opened the package yet, and probably will not do so for some time. But from what I know, it contains one CD, two clear vinyls, a newspaper and a sheet of 625 tiny pieces of artwork. Everything is packed within oxo-degradable plastic wrapping, or ODB plastic, which according to the remarks on the packaging, says that "this material will outlive the owner." Do we need another reminder that we will die and not be able to take these expensive collector's items with us?

Rarities #48: Nirvana - Nevermind 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set 4CD+DVD (2011)

2011-11-07T01:55:00.000+08:00

Nirvana's landmark Nevermind album was released on 24 September 1991 and it has become one of the most celebrated rock albums of all time, selling over 30 million copies worldwide and producing the anthem for disillusioned youth - Smells Like Teen Spirit. Many journalists have also written about how the album knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous album off from the #1 spot, signalling the transition from pop to grunge music.

Nevermind is one of my favourite albums ever, simply because of the simplicity of the songs. Each song is just straight to the point, tight, power-packed and compact. There are no frills, just good old drum, bass, guitar, vocal and harmonies. The music still packs a punch as as it did 20 years ago without sounding dated, because it doesn't have any keyboards. And the songs are so catchy you can sing along to the chorus and bang your head out.

It is hard to pick out a favourite from an entire album of killer tracks, but my mine is In Bloom. I think it's because the drum part is really interesting, with a good mix of quaver, triplet and semi-quaver beats. It's fun to play.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, the album was remastered and re-released recently as a 1CD set, 2CD set, 4LP vinyl set and 4CD+DVD Super Deluxe box set. This box set is limited to 40,000 sets worldwide only, making it a rarity and must-have item for all collectors.

The first CD is the original album remastered, together with nine B-sides. These were the original B-sides from the four singles that were released - Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, Lithium and In Bloom.

CD Two contains eight tracks from the Smart Studio Sessions (pre-Geffen demos), eight tracks from the Boombox Rehearsals (album demos) and another two from the BBC Sessions. 14 of these were previously unreleased.

CD Three contains the Devonshire Mixes, which is the entire album produced and mixed by Butch Vig, as opposed to the final released album that was produced by Butch and mixed by Andy Wallace. This mix of the album has never been released before.

The fourth CD is a live recording of the Paramount concert originally recorded on 31 October 1991, all 19 tracks including an early version of Rape Me. The DVD contains the same Paramount concert, plus the music videos of the four singles. This DVD, Live At The Paramount, is also available for sale separately on DVD and Blu Ray. This is the only known Nirvana concert shot to film, and to experience the 1080p high-definition picture and 5.1 surround sound, you'll need to get the Blu Ray version, which is not included here.

The material on CD Three and CD Four are exclusive to this Super Deluxe box set only. They're not available on the 2CD set or 4LP vinyl set, making this an extra treat for the fans.

The package also contains a 90-page special collector's hard cover book, containing lots of rarely and never-seen-before photos, documents and artifacts from the Nevermind era. There is also a giant, double-sided poster, one side being a Smash Hits magazine replica.

The 90-page hardbound book

The DVD

The four CDs

The giant poster

Smash Hits magazine replica on the other side of the poster

Rarities #47: Silverchair - Live From Faraway Stables (2CD+2DVD) (2003)

2011-09-11T17:29:00.002+08:00

Silverchair is one of Australia's most successful musical exports of all time. While I confess I've never really listened to them much, I do like one of their songs very much - The Greatest View. During my visit to Sydney last December, I came across this 2CD+2DVD box set and I thought it would be a good buy. It's still unsealed and I shall leave it so for the time being.

Live From Faraway Stables is an Australia-only release, and it is a live album recorded from their 19 April 2003 concert at Newcastle, New South Wales, which is their hometown. As per the concert, the album is divided into Acts 1 and 2, with the former showcasing quieter and more experimental material and the latter consisting of heavier rock songs.

Rarities #46: The Beatles Apple USB Flash Drive (2009)

2011-09-07T23:01:00.001+08:00

The Beatles Apple USB

Lift the apple stalk to reveal the USB stick within. Be careful though, the stalk is really quite fragile.

The precious apple is housed securely in a die-cut foam holder

The box exterior

The bottom of the box shows the contents within

This is what you see when you lift the box lid

On 9 September 2009 (09.09.09), The Beatles re-released their entire catalogue, which had been painstakingly remastered for the first time ever. Their 13 studio albums plus Past Masters I and II (which were combined as one album) were released as individual titles, as well as a series of box sets.

The Stereo Box Set is a 16-disc collection containing the remastered stereo versions of every album. The first four albums were released in stereo for the first time (they were originally recorded in mono). Each disc (except Past Masters) also includes a mini-documentary about the album in Quicktime format. There is a bonus DVD containing all the mini-documentaries compiled together.

The Beatles In Mono box set is a 13-disc collection containing the remastered mono versions of the 10 studio albums. Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road and Let It Be are not included in this set as no true mono mixes of these albums were issued. There is also a new two-disc Mono Masters album compiling mono mixes of singles, B-sides and EP tracks.

And finally, there is the Apple USB flash drive, which is limited to 30,000 units worldwide. It was released on 7 December 2009, and it marked the first time The Beatles catalogue was available in a digital format. That was before The Beatles finally made their catalogue available on iTunes on 16 November 2010.

The 16GB Apple USB contains everything that is included in the Stereo Box Set, and it goes one up by providing the music in two formats - 24 bit FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and 320 kbps mp3. This means that the music on the USB is superior and higher quality than what is found on the CDs, which is only 16 bit resolution. In other words, the USB Apple contains the highest possible sound quality of any Beatles release. It also contains all the mini-documentary films, original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes.

The Apple USB is a really cool package but it's one helluva expensive apple! But considering it's only limited to 30,000 units worldwide, unlike the Stereo and Mono box sets, which are not on a limited run, it's indeed quite rare and value for money. Just be careful when handling the apple stem though, as it's quite fragile and there have been reports of the stems being broken during shipping. There always got to be some bad apples in the bunch...

Rarities #45: Dave Matthews Band - Live At Wrigley Field Double Play Box Set (2011)

2011-06-17T01:19:00.005+08:00

Dave Matthews Band is one of the most consistent and successful live bands around. After touring non-stop for the past 20 years, they decided to take a hiatus in 2011 by not embarking on their usual summer tour jaunts around the US. Instead, they took the opportunity to organise their own music festival - the Dave Matthews Band Caravan.

They have so far announced four dates/venues: Bader Field, Atlantic City (24-26 June), Lakeside, Chicago (8-10 July), Governors Island, New York (26-28 August) and one of their favourite grounds, The Gorge, George (2-4 September).

The multi-day festival will see DMB headlining each night, with a host of great artists and bands playing throughout the day, such as The Flaming Lips, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Ben Folds, David Gray, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones and more.

It is a great idea to organise their own festival because these are the only live shows DMB will play this year, and the artist lineup they have secured demonstrates how much clout they have. It is definitely going to be a crowd puller as the hardcore fans will need to get their fix of DMB satisfied.

While they go on a break, the DMB factory keeps churning out live releases and the result is this live album, Live At Wrigley Field, recorded on 17th and 18th September last year. This special Double Play box set is limited edition and it contains the 4CD album of both nights. The regular 2CD edition contains only the full 18th September 2010 show.

The album is housed in a debossed box and it also contains a 24-page colour booklet and a silkscreened handbill. My handbill is numbered 1383/3000, so I assume there were only 3,000 sets manufactured. There is also "signature" on the bottom right corner of the handbill. I'm not sure whose signature that is, or if it is even a signature in the first place.

This Double Play box set is sold out, so I'm one of the 3,000 people in the world who has it. Hope to see DMB live in concert again...

Collectibles #35: Take That - Progress (Limited Edition) (2010)

2011-06-03T22:53:00.003+08:00

Progress is Take That's third album since their resurgence in 2006, and their first with Robbie since he left the band in 1995. From 1996 to about 2002, Robbie was practically the biggest male solo artist in the UK, releasing multi-platinum albums and hit singles back to back. Things took a nosedive after his Intensive Care album, which was followed by a string of lacklustre albums - Rudebox and Reality Killed The Video Star. After releasing his second greatest hits compilation last year, which featured the duet Shame with Gary Barlow, Robbie decided to rejoin Take That and rejuvenate his career.

The fans were clearly happy with the decision and propelled Progress to the top of the charts and becoming the second fastest-selling album of all time in the UK. Their sales dominance did not really cross over to radio, as only the first single The Flood made an impact on the airwaves. Follow up singles Kidz and Happy Now didn't get much airplay. However, the fans are clamouring to watch them live in concert, as their Progress Live tour sold out in record time, becoming the biggest tour in the UK.

On June 13th, they will be re-releasing the album as a 2CD set, titled Progressed, with eight new songs including Love Love, the theme song from the X-Men: First Class movie.

This Special Limited Edition of Progress I have contains the CD album and the DVD film Take That: Look Back, Don't Stare, a documentary detailing Robbie's return to the band and the recording of the album. They are housed in a nice box, but there aren't any additional bonus items in it.

Let's hope that Take That will come to Singapore one day. Would love to watch them in concert!

Rarities #44: Michael Jackson - Dangerous Longbox CD Album (1991)

2011-05-01T13:49:00.002+08:00

I got this Dangerous longbox album from a friend of mine who was clearing his house recently, and I love it! Longboxes used to be common in the 80s and early 90s but they got phased out in 1993 as they took up too much space and were deemed environmentally-unfriendly due to excessive material usage. I never got into buying CDs before 1993, so this is one of the few longboxes I possess, making it an extremely rare addition to my collection.

Rarities #43: Foo Fighters - Wasting Light Deluxe Pre-Order Package (2011)

2011-04-23T13:47:00.007+08:00

So happy to get my hands on this limited edition Foo Fighters Wasting Light Deluxe set! It's a pre-order item, limited to 500 sets only! It was selling for US$79.99, but with shipping, it cost me US$111.99, which works out to around SGD$140. Pretty pricey, but I couldn't care less.

Here are the contents:

- Wasting Light CD, with a piece of the original master tape

- Wasting Light 2xLP gatefold vinyl

- Wasting Light digital download

- Black 3-inch iron-on patch with Gold Circle FF embroidery

- Black Beer Coosie with Gold Circle FF embroidery

- Black terry wristband with Gold Circle FF embroidery

- Black "Gold Cover" T-shirt - black, 30singles cotton, slim-fit shirt with one-colour gold water-based print (I chose Small size)

- Acrylic 3-inch x 5-inch, crystal clear display case and stand with beveled edges, UV protection, and gold screws. Each case is laser engraved with the FF logo, "Foo Fighters Wasting Light" text, and is individually numbered. Limited to 500. (Mine is number 364)

- Limited edition, 15-inch x 15-inch, hand-numbered and signed by the band Lithograph of the Wasting Light cover. Limited to 500. (Mine is number 370)

Think I'm super lucky to have managed to order this, cos it wasn't very well publicised. It appeared at the bottom of their 15 March newsletter, and once I saw it, I immediately placed my order. Apparently it was sold out the same day, within hours. Phew!

This package was designed by design and development studio The Uprising, of which FF is long time client. The iron-on patch, beer coosie and wristband are alright, but I really love the individually-numbered acrylic stand and of course, the autographed lithograph. I couldn't figure out how to assemble the acrylic stand, but with the help of the FF message boards, I finally managed to put it together.

It's a great idea for FF to cut up the original master tapes and include a piece of it in the first shipment of the album. It's a nice little treat for those who buy the physical album. Granted, there's only so much tape and not every copy of the album will have it, but it's a nice idea and a real treat for those who get it.

The T-shirt is really nice, soft and fitting (though the sleeves are a little short), and I'm gonna wear it to the Back And Forth film preview party at Beer Market on 27 April, organised by Sony Music Singapore. Can't wait to watch the film!

Coming to the album itself, I really, really like it. Took me about seven spins to get into it, and I'm listening to it everyday since I downloaded the digital album. I'm very confident it will be nominated for Album of the Year at next year's Grammy Awards, alongside Adele's 21 (which has also been on repeat mode).

The first six songs are the bomb. The album starts off strongly with the fast rocking Bridge Burning, followed by the excellent first single Rope, with its addictive syncopated guitar riff and amazing drum and guitar solo mid song. Dear Rosemary has a catchy beat, a sing-along chorus and an instantly hummable guitar part. White Limo has Dave Grohl revisiting his screamo past, and the hilarious music video is a real treat, where the normally subdued Nate Mendel takes centrestage and shows off his funny side.

Track 5 is my favourite song on the album - Arlandria. It's an unlikely choice, but it's the song that sticks in my head the most. The chorus sounds like "I'm angrier", but I later realised it's "Arlandria". It's quite a simple song actually, but the chorus just stays in your head.

These Days is another likely candidate for a single. It's a mid-tempo, medium rock tune with a catchy chorus as well. And the lyrics are quite good: One of these days the clocks will stop and time don't mean a thing / One of these days the bombs will drop and silence everything.

The next two songs - Back & Forth and A Matter Of Time, sound a little similar. They're the "pop songs" on this record, and not that it's a bad thing. Miss The Misery is an ok song, notable for giving rise to the album title in its lyrics: Don't change your mind / Your wasting light / Getting this?

I Should Have Known is the song that naturally attracts attention, as it features ex-Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic on bass and accordion, making it a mini Nirvana reunion, with Nevermind producer Butch Vig twiddling the knobs on this album as well. The song starts off slowly before building up into one epic ending. It's not immediately captivating but repeated listenings will get you hooked.

The album closes perfectly with Walk, which is likely to be the next single, as it is highlighted on the album sticker. It's something that radio can put on high rotation - not too heavy while still sounding very characteristic of the Foos. The buildup to the end is fantastic and brings the whole album to a satisfying conclusion.

Critics have been heaping praise on the album, claiming it's their best since their first two albums. The Colour And The Shape will always be Number One in my books, and I think Wasting Light may have just nudged Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace into Number Three spot.

The Foos teased about a Singapore performance when they posted a message on their Facebook page on 20 April that read: "Hi Singapore, Thank you for making Wasting Light # 1! hope we see you soon at a rock show." That was enough to send me into delirium. Hope it's true, so I can catch them live again. Come on!

The package opened

All the goodies!

The autographed, individually-numbered lithograph

Please play at maximum volume!

The piece of the original master tape was inserted within the booklet

Iron-on patch

Wrist band

Beer cossie

The individually-numbered acrylic case

The perplexing stand which took a while to assemble

With the piece of master tape safely inserted and screwed tight between the plates

Here's the finished product

Collectibles #34: Panic! At The Disco - Vices & Virtues Box Set (2011)

2011-04-22T01:19:00.007+08:00

Vices & Virtues is Panic! At The Disco's third studio album, following A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005) and Pretty.Odd (2008). The band has undergone several transformations over the past few years, both virtually and physically.

For their second album, they famously dropped the "!" from their name and simply became Panic At The Disco. For this third album, they reinstated the "!" after two of the original members, Ryan Ross (guitar) and Jon Walker (bass) walked out of the band in 2009 to form their own group The Young Veins, which is currently on hiatus. P!ATD are now represented as a two-man-band, fronted by Brendon Urie (lead vocals, guitar, piano) and Spencer Smith (drums).

The box set for their Fever album was totally tricked out and I had high hopes for this new box set as well. But its contents are not as lavish and polished as the Fever one, which had a really nice red velvet interior and much more interesting items, like the phenakistoscope and fake newspaper.

This Vices box set feels lightweight and flimsy. Even the certificate of authenticity is printed on thin stock paper, making it feel like a flyer rather than a certificate. And there isn't a single interesting item at all, just the standard stuff - postcards, fold-out poster, lyric booklet and a round postcard with the clock face printed on. Heck, even making the hands of the clock movable will make it that little bit more fun.

The CD contains four bonus tracks and the bonus DVD contains four clips - the music video for first single The Ballad of Mona Lisa (which is a decent rock track, but not mind-blowing), the making of the Mona Lisa video and two documentaries titled In The Studio with "Nearly Witches" (about the recording of a children's choir for the track Nearly Witches) and Get Me Out Of My Mind (the making of the Vices & Virtues album).

This box set is limited to 6,000 worldwide and is available in limited quantities in Singapore. I think this is purely for the collectors only, nothing really to die for.

Front of the slipcase

Back of the slipcase

The box opened up, revealing the Vices and Virtues sides

The two sliding drawers

The two drawers fully extended and removed

The Vices side (the dark side)

The CD contains four bonus tracks

The rather flimsy certificate of authenticity

The "bad" Spencer and Brendon

The Virtues side (the good side)

The wholesome Spencer and Brendon

Bonus DVD not available anywhere else

Rarities #42: Michael Jackson Limited Edition iPad (2010)

2011-04-18T00:20:00.005+08:00

This limited edition, individually-numbered Michael Jackson iPad is one super Rarity for sure - only 150 sets produced in the world! I won it after taking part in a digital download contest. Mind you, the contest mechanic was: download the Michael album as many times as possible, and the top downloader wins. So I spent a few hundred of dollars downloading the album and gifting it to my friends, so technically, this iPad isn't free. But it is still worth it. :)

This iPad model is the lowest range in the iPad family - 16GB, Wi-fi only, no 3G. So it's a very basic model. But it's definitely one for keeps more than anything. It came pre-loaded with the Michael album in the iPod (not like I need it!), and also the Michael wallpaper.

Definitely one of my most treasured MJ memorabilia! And no, it's not for sale at any price. :) Enjoy the pics...

Collectibles #33: MUSE - The Resistance Deluxe Box Set (2009)

2011-02-27T14:52:00.004+08:00

MUSE won a Grammy Award this year for Best Rock Album for their 2009 release The Resistance, beating out veterans Neil Young, Jeff Beck, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Pearl Jam. They were also nominated for Best Rock song and Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals, both for the song Resistance.

While their previous album Black Holes And Revelations might be slightly superior, it is still a well-deserved award as The Resistance is their fifth studio album, having emerged on the music scene in 1999 with their debut album Showbiz. It took them 11 years to break into the American market and be recognised, but their time has finally come.

The Resistance is the band's biggest selling album, but at the same time, they've also scaled new heights in terms of touring. They kicked off The Resistance Tour at Finland on 22 October 2009, and they've so far played 129 dates, covering Europe, North America, Australia and Asia, including Singapore. This year, they will be supporting the U2360° Tour in South America in April. They've also played bigger venues this time, taking on stadiums for many of the shows.

MUSE have also won Best Live Act/Band at various award ceremonies (BRIT Awards, 2005 & 2007; Kerrang! Awards, 2002 & 2006; NME Awards, 2005, 2008 & 2009; Q Awards, 2004, 2006 & 2007), establishing themselves as one of the premier rock bands in the world today.

This Deluxe Box Set of The Resistance album comes in a nice hardcover box comprising the CD+DVD album, 180g double heavyweight vinyl, a limited edition 12" art print and a 2GB USB memory stick preloaded with the album in WAV, Apple Lossless and 320kbps mp3.

Collectibles #32: Dave Matthews Band - 2009 Europe Box Set (2009)

2011-02-27T13:57:00.012+08:00

This box set is an audio and visual record of DMB's trek across Europe in 2009. The 3CDs include the full concert recorded in Lucca, Italy on 5 July 2009, where they performed several new songs from the Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King album, as well as favourites. The DVD contains the full concert recorded at the O2 Academy in Brixton, London on 26 July 2009, as well as four bonus performances from the previous night.

It also comes with a 60-page book of photographs capturing the band behind-the-scenes and on stage, as they travelled and performed at 11 shows across Europe.

Conveniently, the box set comes in a sturdy cardboard sleeve with room to hold the Big Whiskey Super Deluxe Edition, so it's perfect as I slot both box sets in for protection. Nice package.

Foo Fighters New Single - Rope

2011-02-25T18:48:00.005+08:00

Foo Fighters have revealed the title and cover of their upcoming seventh studio album...and it's going to be called Wasting Light.

The Butch Vig-produced album will be released on 12 April and the first official single is Rope. Hear it below!

Super looking forward to this album!

Janet Jackson - Number Ones Up Close And Personal Tour - Singapore Concert Review & Photos

2011-02-08T21:38:00.020+08:00

Who: Janet Jackson

What: Number Ones Up Close And Personal Tour

When: 7 February 2011, Monday

Where: Singapore Indoor Stadium

I approached 7 February 2011 with great anticipation, and even took a day off from work so I could "prepare" myself fully for the show at night. In the day, I met up with a friend who happened to be in town for lunch, and carried my self-made Janet placard around town unashamedly. It attracted a lot of interest from passers-by of course, but I tried to be as un-self-conscious about it as possible.

At 6pm, I went to the Indoor Stadium and immediately tried to locate the merchandise booth. I knew there were tour T-shirts being sold at the Manila show, so I was really disappointed that they weren't available here.

I met up with my friends and we entered the venue. We didn't really need help from the ushers as we had tickets for the first row, and so we coolly walked towards the stage, attracting envious stares from people all around. It's the first time I've gotten first row tickets and it sure felt good!

After settling down in our seats, I surveyed the stadium and tried to gauge the crowd size. The organisers blocked off the Balcony seats and covered them with black cloth, and upgraded those who bought the Balcony seats to Gallery seats, so the entire stadium looked pretty packed. Which was a good move, or there would have been lots of gaps in the Gallery area. I reckon there were about 6,000 people last night. The full seating capacity (minus the area beside and behind the stage) is about 8,000, so I would say 6,000 is a pretty decent turnout.

Here's a 240-degree panoramic shot of the stadium:

The ticket indicated a showtime of 8pm, but it wasn't until 9pm before the lights were finally turned off, and the fans started screaming. The screen onstage showed the video of Janet's tour announcement, then it took a while before the band members and background singers came onstage to take their positions. They were dressed casually in plain white tees, in line with the stripped down concept of the show. The stage itself was quite bare bones, nothing fancy at all. Not that it mattered to me.

Next, a message of Janet's song dedication appeared on the screen:

Three weeks prior, she had announced that she would be dedicating Someone To Call My Lover to Singapore, but I didn't know that she meant it as a music video dedication. We would later learn that she was not going to perform Someone To Call My Lover at all, which was kinda weird and disappointing, cos I was quite looking forward to Janet singing it and telling us personally that this song was for us. But as some fans have pointed out, she never promised to perform the dedicated song live. All she said was that she would dedicate a song to each city she's visiting.

By the end of the night, we also realised that Janet wasn't going to perform all 35 of her Number One songs. And looking at the tour announcement video more carefully this time, she never promised to perform all 35 songs either. What she said was that she would "perform music exclusively from my Number Ones". I just assumed that she would be doing all 35 songs, like many other fans as well. Oh Janet, you're quite a sly fox! :)

Anyway...back to the concert, we were next treated to the video dedication - the Someone To Call My Lover music video on screen. It was the So So Def Remix version featuring Jermaine Dupri.

And finally, at 9:10pm, after a couple of false starts, the words "JANET" appeared on the screen in various colours as the band started playing. The audience got on their feet and cheered for Miss Jackson. And once the opening strains of The Pleasure Principle became recognisable, the spotlight came on and Janet was there in the middle of the stage riser! I don't remember some of the details as I was overwhelmed at finally seeing Janet in the flesh for the first time. All I remember was that I was screaming my lungs out, and holding up my placard, trying to catch Janet's attention.

She then sashayed down the stairs and was closer to me than ever. And when she strutted over to my side of the stage, she was barely 3 metres away from me and I almost hyperventilated! I think I'm exaggerating it a little here, but like I said, I was quite overwhelmed at that time so I'm a little groggy about the details. But yeah, finally, after 16 years of being a fan, I can now say that I have watched Miss Jackson live in concert, and she was only 3 metres away from me. :)

The dancers were togged in the same costumes as the Rock Witchu Tour, but thankfully Janet got an update. It was a super sexy, silver skin-tight suit that accentuated her every curve. I wonder how long she took to get into the costume. :) It's similar to the black suit she wore for the American Idol finale performance, with sheer netting running down both sides. She looked fine as hell, even more so up close. I loved her hair as well.

The show got off a raucous start with the 4-pow medley of The Pleasure Principle, Control, What Have You Done For Me Lately and Feedback. It was a great opening set of songs and the audience really went wild. I was trying to juggle between taking photos and watching the performance and taking it all in. If only I had more hands and eyes!

Being so up close, I could see Janet's every move and her all expressions. Her face was a study of concentration and intensity as she executed her moves flawlessly and effortlessly, while clad in high heels. Such a pro! Janet moved around the stage as if it was her bedroom and totally owned it. This is what I call stage presence, something a lot of younger artists lack. It's the ability to command the audience's attention at all times. In fact, my eyes were peeled on Janet for the entire concert and I barely noticed the other dancers and the overall choreography!

And being so close, I could also see the sweat being splattered around the stage, as if in slow motion, as Janet danced and flicked her hair. And of course, I had a good view of Janet's bosom too. The outfit ensured there was ample cleavage, and when she danced, I could see them jiggling. :) :)

The choreography for the first medley was kick-ass and Janet totally killed it. Up close, I could see all the accents - the hand movements and shoulder shrugs, synchronised with the music beats. And even the finger pointing, wrist angles and eyeball directions. The choreography is really complicated and precise, but she makes it look easy and natural. And she gives all out with every move, keeping it sharp and snappy.

Much like her brother Michael, Janet is great at forming shapes with her body, and the body-hugging suit allowed her to strike all the sexy poses easily. With this skill, it shows that you don't have to reveal a lot of skin to look sexy. Once again, something the younger artists should learn (ahem Gaga).

After the blistering 4-song opener, Janet asked us: "Do you want more?", to which we responded "Yes!". And then she asked again: "Do you want THIS?", with more than a hint of Nastiness in her voice. Love it!

You Want This was quite brief, followed quickly by Alright. I know some fans are sick of Alright and feel that it should be removed from the setlist. But it's a good upbeat song with some hot dance moves, and I quite enjoyed it. The energy never died down and the crowd cheered loudly when Miss You Much came on. I immediately held up my "Miss You Much" placard and Janet saw it. :) She didn't perform the chair routine at the end of the song, and didn't dance as much as I would have liked, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.

The music then segued into Nasty and I quickly flipped my placard to the "Nasty" side, trying to catch Janet's attention once more. Nasty is one of my favourite Janet songs, and I simply love the kiss-my-ass attitude of the song. And of course, the immortal line "It's Janet, Miss Jackson, if you're nasty!"

After the 8-song burst, it was time for Janet to catch a breather and she disappeared for a costume change. We were treated to a showreel of Janet's acting roles - as the young Penny in Good Times, the adolescent Charlene in Diff'rent Strokes, the aspiring singer Cleo in Fame, the youthful independent woman in Poetic Justice, the sweet Denise in Nutty Professor II, and finally the strong yet vulnerable Patricia in the two Why Did I Get Married? films. Which led on nicely to the ballad medley, starting with Nothing, the theme song for the Tyler Perry sequel.

Janet appeared in a beautiful lavender gown and super-high Louboutins, belting out Nothing,Come Back To Me, Let's Wait Awhile and finally Again. Not surprisingly, Again was one of the most well-received songs for the night, and the audience sang along with Janet for most of the song.

And then she began to walk over to my side of the stage once again. And she stopped and looked me in the eye and sang to me for a good 10 seconds!!! I almost melted, and didn't know how to react...so I formed the heart shape with my fingers, to tell Janet that I love her too. OMG, that really made my day and I can die happy now. Janet sang to me!!! :)

After finishing Again, it was time for another costume change. I took a seat, to relive the earlier moment of looking into Janet's eyes. It was so surreal...The video screen came on once again and this time, it was a slideshow of iconic Janet images throughout her career. I think there were many pictures from Janet's personal collection as there were several pictures that I had never seen before. So that was quite a treat for me. But for the other not so die-hard fans, it was quite a long break between the sets.

Next up, it was time to turn up the tempo once again, and we had the "Happy" medley - Doesn't Really Matter, Escapade, Love Will Never Do (Without You), When I Think Of You and All For You.

For this medley, Janet was dressed in a tomboy outfit, especially so because of her short crop. Her arms and thighs looked a little big here, but I don't care. She still looks good to me. :)

She disappeared for a short while before coming back again for That's The Way Love Goes. This is one of my favourite Janet songs too, and nobody does sensual better than Janet.

(This is my favourite picture of the night)

As Janet disappeared for costume change number four, the band carried on playing and gave us a rocking musical interlude, including two choruses of What About. That was a nice touch. And this led to a nice transition to the "Aggressive" medley - Black Cat, If, Scream and Rhythm Nation.

I was very much looking forward to If and I'm glad it didn't disappoint. Janet was spot on for the entire performance and it was sexy as hell. Especially the crotch grabs...

When Scream came on and Michael's image appeared on the screen, the audience went wild. Janet has never performed this song live except during the 2009 MTV VMAs MJ tribute, so this is something new. These are two of my favourite artists ever, so bless you Michael and Janet. I am so grateful to have been inspired by the both of you with your immense talent and genius. To witness it live has been an absolute honour.

Rhythm Nation was another highlight of the night. This was Janet at her best - the military style choreography executed to perfection, never missing a beat, all in synch as one, like the army of dancers in the background video. Top class.

After the high of Rhythm Nation, the concert "ended" and Janet retreated backstage while the audience cheered on and chanted for an encore. She obliged of course and reappeared in a resplendent white outfit. Very nice.

She egged the audience to shout "Make Me" before launching into the song. It was rather brief and it segued into Together Again, which caused the audience to go nuts. Janet had previously closed her Velvet Rope Tour and All For You Tour with this song, and she did so again with this tour, and it's not hard to see why.

Together Again was her last #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and it's one of her most upbeat and happy-sounding songs. Originally written to remember her friends whom she had lost to AIDS, the song has taken new meaning with Michael's death.

As the song entered its final stretch, the screen showed images of Michael and Janet when they were still kids. Janet looked up to the heavens and pointed, sending a prayer and thanks to her beloved brother. It was a poignant moment, but Janet kept her emotions in check and bravely soldiered on.

Everywhere I go, every smile I see

I know you are there, smiling back at me

Dancing in moonlight, I know you are free

Cos I can see your star, shining down on me

And with that, it was the end of a spectacular concert. Janet and her six dancers raised their arms in appreciation of the love they've received from the Singapore fans, while we thanked them for the show they put on.

By 10:45pm, Janet and company exited the stage for real. The lights came on and the audience slowly made their way out of the venue. I managed to get a VIP pass for a meet & greet, so together with about 50 others, I proceeded backstage and waited for our meeting with Janet.

After waiting for almost an hour, a member of Janet's entourage finally appeared and said: "If you want to meet Janet, you've got to come this way. And hurry, because she's leaving soon". He also said that Janet won't be doing any autographs, so I sadly put away my copy of the hardcover janet. album.

As we hurried down the corridor, and I was super anxious. What was I going to say to Janet? Will I be at a loss of words and just freeze upon seeing her?

As we gathered along the corridor outside her dressing room, we were told to enter in groups of 12, so me and my two other friends joined the first group. But because we were the last in the group to enter the room, the other nine fans had already hogged Janet and we didn't get to go close to her. And before we knew it, the manager was asking us to get in position for a group photograph, and snapped four shots of us.

I was standing furthest away from Janet, and I didn't even get to talk to her. And she didn't even see me. We were then told to leave the room for the next group to come in, so I didn't get to "meet" or "greet" Janet at all. I was quite disappointed as I left the room last night.

But thinking about it now, I don't feel as disappointed anymore because I've already had the time of my life at the concert, watching from the first row. And I'm just happy that the whole show was a success and the fans loved it. That's more important than shaking Janet's hand or having a one-on-one picture with her. As far as I'm concerned, she sang Again to ME and that's good enough.

Nevertheless, I shall try to get hold of the group picture and post it here once I have it. It has been an awesome experience and undoubtedly, this is NUMBER ONE on my list of favourite concerts of all time. And it will stay for the rest of my life. I'm sure of that.

It's Time! Janet Tonight!

2011-02-07T11:39:00.004+08:00

Tonight's the night...Janet will bring the house down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium! After 2 months of anticipation, the day is finally here. I've never felt compelled to be a groupie but this is the only exception. Last week, with the help of my dad (!), I made a Janet banner/placard specially for the concert.

Here's the front...it's supposed to say "Miss Janet", and also "Miss You Much".

And here's the back, showing each of the 35 Number One singles that she will be performing tonight:

So far, I've been fighting very hard not to check out the pics, videos and setlist from her Manila show, so that everything will be a surprise when I watch it later. I've only had a little peek at her costume and I must say she's smoking hot!

Tickets are still available and I think currently it's about 70% sold. So we'll expect a crowd of about 5,000 pax. Hopefully there'll be more people who buy last minute! In any case, it's meant to be an intimate occasion, so I'm fine with a 5K crowd. Hope they will shift the people to the front so that the venue doesn't look too empty.

Ok...almost time to get ready for JANET's party tonight! Will post pics and stuff soon!

5 More Days To Janet Jackson's Concert In Singapore!

2011-02-02T01:30:00.004+08:00

It's just 5 more days to Janet's concert in Singapore!!! OMG so freaking excited. Just saw her Facebook post that she has just arrived in Manila, ahead of opening night on Friday. So she'll spend at least 3 days in sunny Manila. Nice!

Anyway, I've been hard at work doing up my banner for Janet, and it's finally done, with a little help from my dad haha. Here's the front:

And here's the back:

It shows the 35 #1 singles from the Number Ones and Icon albums, which she will be performing. And yes, she has dedicated Someone To Call My Lover to Singapore. I was hoping for Love Will Never Do, but I like Someone To Call My Lover too, so it Doesn't Really Matter. Erm, that was unintentional...

Anyway, yes 5 more days...the anticipation is killing me. I would like everything to be a surprise when I watch the concert, but I don't know if I can resist checking out her costumes and setlist from the Manila show beforehand. Argh...

Whatever it is, I'm just happy that Janet is touring again, and she's visiting Singapore after 16 years. Hope this is the start of something good for her. Let's go!

Concerts Update (Jan - May 2011)

2011-01-24T16:54:00.003+08:00

Since my last update on 25 November, the number of gigs has swelled and there are a lot more exciting concerts lined up in the first few months of 2011! Of course, the one I'm most looking forward to is JANET's gig on 7 Feb. I've already got my tickets (darn good tix too) and I'm going to do a banner of sorts to hold up during the concert. Need some ideas for slogans...Miss You Much? Or I Get Lonely? Let me think about it.

Oh, Akon's concert on 8 Jan was cancelled at the last minute. Not really surprising because he has been here twice before, and I think Indoor Stadium is really too big for him. To me, he's a Club artist. The energy works better in a smaller venue for him. So too bad then.

Anyway, here's the most updated concert schedule for now. In addition, there are two more bands that have been confirmed but not announced yet, so I shall list them only when the information becomes publicly available.

29 January

St. Jerome's Laneway Festival

Lineup: !!!, Beach House, Deerhunter, Foals, Holy F***, Lady Hawke, The Temper Trap, Warpaint, Yeasayer

Fort Canning Park

$109.50

7 February

Janet Jackson
Number Ones Up Close And Personal World Tour 2011

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$88, $128, $168, $198, $248

9 February

Taylor Swift
Live In Singapore [SOLD OUT]

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$90, $105, $125, $150, $175

14 February

Eric Clapton
Live In Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$99, $199, $299, $399

15 February

Iron Maiden
The Final Frontier World Tour Singapore 2011

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$98, $128, $148, $178

16 February

Deftones
Diamond Eyes Tour Singapore 2011

Fort Canning Park

$88 (early bird, till 31 Dec), $98 (standard), $110 (showday)

16 February

Rachael Yamagata
Esplanade Recital Studio

$98

22 February

Faithless with special guests Friendly Fires
Live In Singapore

Fort Canning Park

$98 (early bird, till 30 Nov), $115 (standard), $140 (showday)

23 February

Eagles
Long Road Out Of Eden Live In Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$98, $168, $268, $368, $499

7 March

Santana
Guitar Heaven 2011

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$100, $150, $230, $300

7 March

Elvis Costello
A Solo Performance

Grand Theater At Marina Bay Sands

$90, $110, $140, $170, $210

9 March

Michael Bublé
Crazy Love Tour Live In Singapore [SOLD OUT]

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$98, $128, $188, $228, $288

11 & 12 March

Big Night Out 2011
Day 1: Stone Temple Pilots, I Am Giant
Day 2: Slash, Saxon, Twenty Two Hundred

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$98 (reserve seats), $128 (reserve seats), $148 (reserve seats), $148 (free standing), $168 (free standing)
Save 20% when simultaneously purchasing tickets for Day 1 & Day 2

24 March

MGMT and The Whitest Boy Alive

Suntec Hall 603

$138 (free standing)

1 April

Jimmy Eat World
Live In Singapore

The Coliseum, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa

$115 (early bird), $125 (standard), $140 (showday)

15 & 16 April

Timbre Rock & Roots 2011
Day 1: Bob Dylan, Toots & The Maytals, Michael Franti & Spearhead
Day 2: John Legend, Imogen Heap, Trombone Shorty

Marina Promenade (F1 tracks behind Singapore Flyer)

15 Apr: $120 (early bird, while stocks last), $140 (standard), $200 (Premium*)
16 Apr: $90 (early bird, while stocks last), $110 (standard), $160 (Premium*)
* Premium ticket includes a lawn chair which can be redeemed on site

11 May

Sara Bareilles
Esplanade Concert Hall

$68 - $148

Bon Jovi The Circle Tour - Live In Sydney 19 December 2010

2011-01-15T15:52:00.010+08:00

Who: Bon Jovi

What: The Circle Tour

When: 19 December 2010, Sunday

Where: Sydney Football Stadium

I've waited so long to watch Bon Jovi in concert, kicking myself for missing their These Days Tour in Singapore on 8 May 1995, the last time they visited our shores. Back then, I was just getting into English music and the Cross Road album was one of the first CDs I ever owned.

And so it happened that Bon Jovi were going on a massive tour in Australia last December. And since I was there for U2 already, it presented the perfect opportunity to catch them in concert too. Sydney was to be their last stop in Australia, and also for the year, having been on the road since 11 February last year, where they kicked off their tour in Honolulu. They were also to play three nights in Sydney, to 100,000 fans in all.

It was a wet evening, pouring heavily as we made our way to the Sydney Football Stadium. After alighting the bus, we followed the throng of people towards Gate K, huddled together under our umbrellas. We stopped by the merchandise booth, and saw that they were making big bucks out of selling disposable ponchos, which were going for A$5 I think.

We entered the stadium and were glad to find that our seats were sheltered from the rain. We were rather far from the stage, but we didn't expect much as we had only bought the cheapest seats (having already splurged quite a bit on the U2 ticket). After taking a few obligatory snapshots, I went to get some food and merchandise.

At 7:45pm , I was about to munch on my fries when the screen behind the stage started showing some images and the sound came on. I thought it was the opening act coming on, but after about one minute later, it revealed the silhouette of four guys, like The Circle album cover, and we realised it was Bon Jovi themselves! Didn't expect them to come on so early!

They kicked off the concert with Raise Your Hands, from their 1986 Slippery When Wet album. I wasn't familiar with the song, and it didn't matter. We got on our feet, and stayed there pretty much for the entire concert. Then it was time for one of their classic tunes, You Give Love A Bad Name. I remember my BMT sergeant loved this song, and while we were marching along, he would suddenly shout out "Shot through the heart and you're to blame", and we would have to reply in unison "You give love a bad name". Anyway, I digress...

It was super cool to sing along with 34,000 other people, together with the strains of Richie Sambora's signature guitar sounds and solos. Unlike the U2 concert, the sound system was superb and we could hear the band and Jon Bon Jovi's vocals clearly. It was like a dream come true, to finally witness Bon Jovi live.

They played songs from their extensive catalogue, ranging from their some of the earliest hits to their newest ones from the just-released Greatest Hits album - No Apologies and What Do You Got? As always, it was the classics that received the most rapturous response. The crowd went wild Richie played the opening notes of Blaze Of Glory, and Bad Medicine was pretty wild too. Their more recent hit It's My Life also got one of the best reactions and fists were seen pumping the air during the chorus.

One of the most poignant moments came when Jon appeared solo in the middle of the catwalk and sang a passionate version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, accompanied by keyboardist David Bryan and later by the rest of the band. Jon stood there alone in the rain, with a solo spotlight shining on him as he poured his heart out. That was one of my favourite moments from the concert.

The band later joined him on the catwalk and in the rain for an acoustic segment, before returning to the stage for the final songs of the evening. After a blistering version of Keep The Faith, the band retreated backstage for a short toilet break, as the rest if us chanted for more. They returned for the encore, performing Dry County, Wanted Dead Or Alive and Livin' On A Prayer, the song everyone wanted to hear. Once again, it was surreal listening to Livin' On A Prayer live, with Richie on the talk box. It was their signature anthem, and no doubt one of their best songs ever.

As they prepared to end the gig, the audience clamoured for more once again. And they relented, but Jon said that they had only seven more minutes before they really had to end the gig because of noise regulations, and they launched into These Days. Even though I love that song, it was a little of a letdown because it wasn't their biggest hit, and not everyone in the audience was familiar with it.

And I was really upset that they didn't play four of my favourite tunes - Always, In These Arms, Bed Of Roses and I'll Be There For You. Any one of these songs for encore would have been bliss for me. In the end, it wasn't to be. But I left the concert feeling very happy and fulfilled. It also gives me a reason to catch them another time, with the hope that they will perform those songs. They owe me!

They left the stage for good at 10:20pm, so it was a 2.5 hour concert. They gave their all that night, and I believe every night. And that's the reason why they're still at the top of their game after 27 years. Respect.

It was one of my best concerts ever, and I would really encourage everyone to go watch them if there's the chance. Rumour has it that they will be staging a concert in Singapore this year very soon. I know I'll be there again, this time in the Standing section! In the meantime, here are my pictures from the Sydney concert, enjoy...

A rainbow arches across the sky

The band come on at 7:45pm sharp

Raise your hands!

The moon appears briefly during a respite from the rain

Shelters had to be erected to shield the band from the rain

Hail Richie!

The jukebox segment

Jon gets all emotional during Hallelujah

Jon soaks up the atmosphere

Attempting to capture how heavy the rain was falling

Acoustic segment

It's Jon's signature pose!

34,000 fans can't be wrong

Wanted Dead Or Alive

Farewell Sydney!

These Days

U2 360° Tour Live In Sydney - 13 December 2010

2011-01-06T22:36:00.007+08:00

Who: U2

What U2360° Tour

When: 13 December 2010, Monday

Where: ANZ Stadium Sydney

The second concert I caught in Sydney was U2's massive 360° Tour at the 60,000 seat ANZ Stadium. This concert was the primary reason why my friends and I embarked on this Sydney trip, and it was an experience like no other.

Once you step into the stadium, you realise how enormous the whole concert is going to be. The Claw is right in front of us, and massive as it is, it looks kinda small cos it's so far away. I thought The Claw structure would be more metallic and silver, but it was light green and looked like some cheap plastic toy frame. That was before it came alive as the sky turned dark of course.

Jay-Z opened the show at about 6:15pm, when the stadium was only about one-third full. It was a Monday evening and most people were still making their way to the stadium after work. As good as Jay-Z was, we didn't really get into it as the sound on our side of the stadium was really bad. Jay-Z was muffled and we couldn't make out any of the song lyrics at all. It was rather bad.

However, our friends who were seated on the oppposite side of the stadium told us that the sound there was quite clear, just that it was a little loud. So it seems that we got the short end of the stick. Such a pity, because even for U2, the sound wasn't much better. And this was the most expensive concert among the three!

I was expecting a grand entrance by U2, but they simply strolled out from one of the entrances on the ground, with the stadium lights fully on. They were surrounded by security but walked in plain view of everyone. After walking about 60, they then hopped onto stage and started playing. Bono's mic seemed to be faulty while the rest of the band played. Only towards the end of the song was his mic replaced. Besides this initial technical guffaw, the rest of the night went smoothly.

As the night grew darker, The Claw demonstrated its full power and put on a dazzling light show. You needed a massive structure like this to match the grandiose of U2's anthems, which filled the huge stadium adequately. It would have been even more cool if The Claw was able to move or had more surprises in its body, like raise its mechanical arm or something. I was thinking along the lines of Transformers...

U2 played almost all of their hits, and the crowd lapped it all up. My favourite song of the evening was I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Jay-Z made a cameo appearance during Sunday Bloody Sunday as well. I thought it was strange that they decided to do Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me as one of the encore songs. It wasn't that big a hit for me, and certainly not one of their most classic songs. By the time U2 finished the last notes of Moment Of Surrender, it was about 10:15pm and all 60,000 of us started to make our way home.

All in all, it was definitely something to remember. A U2 concert is on a whole other level. Something like a National Day Parade kinda level. It's a spectacle. It's huge. And when Bono asks everyone to put up their mobile phones in the air, you don't see stars - you see a galaxy. It's that massive and magical. You got to give credit to them for being at the top of their game for so long, and still managing to pull in the crowds night after night. It's amazing. If only they'll come to Singapore one day.

Here are some of my best pics from the night, enjoy!

(There seems to be some problem uploading pics now. I'll try again another time and upload more pics)

The massive ANZ Stadium

(taken with my camera's panoramic mode)

Jay-Z opens the show

The concert is about to begin...

The CLAW!

Bono!

Bono picks a girl from the audience and she laps it up

Jay-Z returns for a guest spot

Bono needs a little elevation

A galaxy of stars

Top 30 Songs Of 2010

2011-01-04T17:02:00.000+08:00

Once again, this list is overdue, but here it is, my 30 favourite songs of the year past.

Firework – Katy Perry
Just The Way You Are – Bruno Mars
Empire State Of Mind – Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
Power – Kanye West
Teenage Dream – Katy Perry
California Gurls – Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
Hey, Soul Sister – Train
OMG – Usher feat. Will.i.am
Fuck You – Cee Lo Green
Love The Way You Lie – Eminem feat. Rihanna
Runaway – Kanye West
You Can Always Come Home – Jason Castro feat. Serena Ryder
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Glee Cast
Nothin’ On You – B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
Airplanes, Part II – B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams & Eminem
Billionaire – Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars
Doesn’t Mean Anything – Alicia Keys
Shame – Robbie Williams & Gary Barlow
Grenade – Bruno Mars
Waiting For The End – Linkin Park
Whataya Want From Me – Adam Lambert
That’s What I’m Here For – Jason Castro
Don’t Let Me Go – The Click Five
On Melancholy Hill – Gorillaz
Hold My Hand – Michael Jackson & Akon
Find Your Love – Drake
Tik Tok – Ke$ha
Na Na Na – My Chemical Romance
Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love) – Kylie Minogue

It's been quite a good year for pop, even though we had a rash of generic, similar-sounding dance-oriented tunes. But these songs managed to stand out from the crowd and rock my iPod (which sadly, died on me after just 2 years).

2010 was the year where Katy Perry averted the second album curse and came up with three of the biggest hits of the year. California Gurls is a perfect piece of pop - dropping at the start of summer, it was bubblegum pop at its sweetest and catchiest, and it featured an excellent rap cameo by fellow Californian Snoop Dogg. The title track Teenage Dream was a slow burner but grew to one of the most heavily played songs of the year, surprisingly becoming an even bigger crossover hit than California Gurls.

By the time Firework came around, Katy's ascension to pop superstardom was complete. It was her favourite song on the album and it was a good showcase of her vocal strength. The uplifting chorus, together with the year-end celebratory mood, made Firework my #1 song of the year. Deservedly, all three singles reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Katy the first female artist in 11 years to send three singles from one album to #1. Likewise in Singapore, all three songs made it to #1 too. An amazing feat.

The Teenage Dream album also earned an Album of the Year Grammy nomination. Quite remarkable, considering that none of the singles were nominated for Record or Song of the Year. Comparing Teenage Dream with her debut album One Of The Boys, I wouldn't exactly say that Teenage Dream is better, but I guess it has bigger singles. As a whole, I still like One Of The Boys better. I think it's because Teenage Dream doesn't really have any ballads, and the ballads in the first album were power.

If 2010 was the year where Katy established herself as a bonafide star, the breakout artist of the year was definitely Bruno Mars. He co-wrote and featured on two of the summer's biggest songs - Nothin' On You by B.o.B and Billionaire by Travie McCoy. Then he followed up with his debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans, which spawned the year's I'm Yours - Just The Way You Are. It went to #1 just about everywhere and won the hearts of all the ladies with its smart and oh-so-sweet lyrics. The follow-up single Grenade has also climbed to #1, and he also rewrote the record books, becoming the first male artist in 13 years to send his first two singles to #1.

Bruno has also been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, and if you look at the nominations carefully, only one nomination is for Just The Way You Are (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance). His album was released one week outside of the eligibility date, so it's not in the running in this year. His noms come from his vocal performances, songwriting and producing duties (with The Smeezingtons), proving that he is indeed a triple threat.

The album is choke-full of pop gems and we will see and hear a lot more of Bruno this year for sure. Already, his song Marry You has been covered by Glee in arguably the best episode of the season so far. Other tunes to watch out for the Jack Johnson-ish Count On Me and the soulful ballad Talking To The Moon.

The Jay-Z and Alicia Keys collaboration is one mega anthem that totally deserves its #3 spot on my list. It was released in late 2009 but it was so massive it carried over to 2010. It was the inspiration for Katy's California Gurls, and I think while Katy's effort ranks lower than Jay-Z's, both tunes stand among themselves and they're both great anthems - representing the East and West Coast.

Kanye also had a big year, returning with the critically-acclaimed fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The first single Power is exactly that - a powerful statement of intent, with its African chants and unabashed lyrics ("No one man should have all that power"). The one-and-a-half music video is also seriously good. Follow-up single Runaway is another smash. It doesn't sound like anything else on radio now, and that's its genius. Kanye managed to bounce back from the Taylor Swift saga and prove that his creativity is really on another level. A true groundbreaking artist, but he needs to keep his ego in check.

Lady Antebellum was a surprise hit. They're primarily a country artist and that means they should only do well in the US. But they proved that with a good song, it doesn't matter what genre it is. A good song is a good song. Pop radio in Singapore took a while to catch on, but they eventually did fall in love with Need You Now.

If Just The Way You Are was the ubiquitous hit for the second half of the year, the first half belonged to Train's Hey, Soul Sister. The intro guitar riffs sound a little like Jason Mraz's I'm Yours, and it proved to be a smart coincidence as everyone couldn't resist liking it. One of the most feel-good songs of the year, if a little overplayed.

OMG marked a return to form for Usher, after the disappointing performance of Here I Stand. Teaming up with super-producer Will.i.am, Usher came up with another #1 hit, taking his career tally to nine. I hated the song when it first came out, but like Black Eyed Peas' Boom Boom Pow, it grew on me steadily and proved once again Will.i.am's knack for crafting unconventional beats and hooks.

Cee Lo Green is also having a great year, with The Ladykiller album earning rave reviews everywhere. The lead single Fuck You is super catchy, witty and non-apologetic. As if bashing the guy is not enough, Cee Lo couldn't resist taking a dig at the girl too ("Fuck you, and fuck her too"). The song has been nominated for Record of the Year, and it will be fun to watch him perform this on Grammy night, even though he will probably sing the Clean version, Forget You.

The rest of the Top 30 are not really ranked in order. They're all great songs that have entertained me on most of my bus and train trips and also on the odd night where I can't fall asleep. Hope 2011 will be another great year for music!

Linkin Park Live In Sydney - 11 December 2010

2010-12-31T22:15:00.007+08:00

I just returned from my Sydney vacation about a week ago. It was a hell of a trip, catching three of the biggest rock bands live in concert in Sydney. I don't have much time to do a proper review now, so I shall just share with you my best pics from the concerts, taken with my brand new Fuji camera with 15x zoom!

Here's the first of the concerts...Linkin Park!

Who: Linkin Park

What: A Thousand Suns Tour

When: 11 December 2010, Saturday

Where: Acer Arena, Sydney

Janet Jackson's World Tour Will Now Kick Off In Singapore!

2010-12-28T20:09:00.004+08:00

I was making plans to go to Hong Kong to watch Janet's concert, but it has just been announced that she will be kicking off her Number Ones Up Close And Personal World Tour in Singapore on 7 February 2011 instead!

Read the announcement here.

Janet posted a message together with the announcement:

“I’ve seen the world, been to many places :). . . the one thing missing was you. We’ll be together in Singapore on February 7th and I can’t wait to sing, dance, and be up close and personal with all of you. Your votes are helping me decide where to bring this very intimate, very different show. It’s not about effects, it’s not an extravaganza, it’s not about being as big as in the past. This one is all about you and me. I love you Singapore. Let’s go!”

Tickets will go on sale on 7 January, so there will be just one month to sell tickets. A bit worrying, if you ask me, given the glut of concerts in the next three months. So far, only Taylor Swift's concert on 9 February has sold out. Even Michael Buble's concert on 9 March (whose last concerts in 2003 and 2005 sold out in a matter of days) is not sold out yet.

The announcement also stated that "this show is Janet more revealed, more intimate, and more personal than ever before. Don't look for special effects. Just look at Janet."

I certainly don't mind having Janet up close and personal with me, but I would still like an explosive show with all-out dance routines, sets, costumes, lights, explosions, kick-ass band and an up-tempo performance from Janet. Not a stripped-down one. I need her to DANCE her ass off!!!

According to an article from The New Paper last Friday, tickets will be priced from S$88 to S$248. It's quite a fair amount, but I hope fans won't be short-changed if she decides to do a really scaled-down production. I will be getting the top price ticket for sure. Hope there's a standing pit!

Ahhh, it's all getting too exciting. First stop of the tour. It's doubly exciting because we will be the first to see the new costumes, the stage setup, the setlist, and Janet's new look. And Singapore will be mentioned in news reports around the world. It's great! I pray that the concert will sell out and everything will go smoothly as planned, and that it is the start of many more awesome shows around the world.

As for the song that Janet will dedicate to each city, since we're the first stop, my choice is Love Will Never Do (Without You), cos it's my favourite Janet song. But Janet might have hinted in her message that the song she will dedicate to Singapore will be Runaway. Which makes sense actually, since it's the first stop of the tour, and she's actually running away from home to be with us here.

Oh man, I'm so excited now I'm thinking I will take leave on 7 February so I can be the first in line to enter the venue, and maybe follow Janet around town too. It will be a super long weekend as we're celebrating Chinese New Year from the previous Thursday (3 Feb), so I'll have plenty of time to follow Miss Jackson around (I prefer not to use the word 'stalk').

I've waited 15 years to watch Janet live and I can't believe it's going to happen in two months' time. And in Singapore too! This is going to be a very good year...

Janet Jackson Announces 2011 World Tour - Deciphering Janet's Message

2010-11-29T23:07:00.003+08:00

Janet Jackson has announced that she will be going on her largest ever world tour in 2011, to celebrate her 35 number ones. She promised that this tour will be different from her past tours, in that she will perform music exclusively from her Number Ones album, and she will perform in only 35 cities, determined by the fans.

Janet also added that whenever possible, she will perform in venues that will allow her to be up close and personal to the fans, in a much more intimate setting. She will also dedicate one song to each of the 35 cities. Besides, she will recognise 20 young people whose lives and work have enriched their communities in a major way.

So let me break down what she said and what she meant...

1) Largest ever world tour

Largest - in terms of attendance, gross, number of concerts or number of cities visited? This will be Janet's sixth tour, so it is useful to judge it against her past five tours.

Rhythm Nation World Tour (1990)

- Number of concerts: 117

- Number of cities visited: 67

- Number of countries visited: 8 (4 continents)

- Attendance: 2 million (estimated)

- Gross: $45 million

janet. World Tour (1993 - 1995)

- Number of concerts: 123

- Number of cities visited: 93

- Number of countries visited: 17 (4 continents)

- Attendance: 2.306 million (estimated)

- Gross: $60 million

The Velvet Rope World Tour (1998 - 1999)

- Number of concerts: 120

- Number of cities visited: 101

- Number of countries visited: 17 (5 continents)

- Attendance: 1.4 million (estimated)

- Gross: $70 million

All For You World Tour (2001 - 2002)*

- Number of concerts: 72

- Number of cities visited: 59

- Number of countries visited: 3 (2 continents)

- Attendance: 885,000 (estimated)

- Gross: $55 million

* The tour was cut short due to 9/11. All the 23 European dates were cancelled.

Rock Witchu Tour (2008)

- Number of concerts: 16

- Number of cities visited: 16

- Number of countries visited: 1 (North America only)

- Attendance: 130,000 (estimated)

- Gross: $13 million

The only way the upcoming tour can qualify to be her "largest ever world tour" is in the number of countries visited category. Janet will have to visit 18 countries or more, breaking the current record for the janet. and The Velvet Rope tours at 17 countries each.

What this implies is that it will be a more international tour, as opposed to having more domestic dates. I'm guessing she will only do a handful of major US cities like New York, LA, Chicago, Las Vegas and Washington, but maybe perform 2 nights at each city.

Indeed, if you look at the list of cities available for voting on janetjackson.com, you'll see that there are 52 cities listed, out of which 35 will eventually be chosen. And there are a large number of international cities, with not many US cities. And there are even first-timers like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei and Dubai - cities which have never hosted a Janet Jackson concert before. It's a smart move because the curiosity factor will help boost ticket sales. And also because these Asian cities have grown in affluence over the past decade.

However, the biggest surprise is that Australia and Japan are not included in the list. For Japan, maybe Janet is being cautious as the Japan leg of her Rock Witchu Tour was cancelled last time round due to the "subprime mortgage crisis". She might be playing it safe, but I do feel that she still has a substantial fanbase in Japan, as evidenced by her brother Michael's huge popularity there.

Australian fans must be feeling super depressed because the last time Janet visited their shores was in 1998 - 12 years ago. Their only hope is if Janet decides to pick Singapore, and they can fly over to watch her, with Singapore being their nearest option. Hopefully this will increase the chances of Singapore being picked!

Janet has also said that she's only visiting 35 cities this time, so it's unlikely she can break her attendance record, where she will have to stage an average of 3.5 shows per city. And she suggested she might perform at smaller venues, so there's no way the tour can be her highest grossing ever. Thus, she will have to perform in 18 countries or more in order to live up to the claim of the "largest ever world tour".

2) Setlist

To me, part of the fun of attending a concert is not knowing the setlist beforehand, so that I can be surprised and not expect anything. However, for the upcoming tour, Janet has said that she will be performing songs exclusively from her Number Ones album. So you won't get non-Number One singles like Throb, You or Rock With U.

But this also means that she will be performing songs that she has never performed at her concerts before - Scream (duet with MJ), What's It Gonna Be?! (with Busta Rhymes) and Diamonds (with Herb Albert), Make Me (new song from the Number Ones album) and Nothing (apparently her latest number one - the only chart it topped was the iTunes video chart, as part of her performance on the American Idol finale).

No word yet on whether she will be using the American tracklist or International tracklist of the Number Ones album. In the latter, Whoops Now replaced All Nite (Don't Stop). I love the choreography in All Nite, but I really like Whoops Now too. Erm, can we keep both and replace Diamonds instead? :)

The order of the songs, is of course, up in the air. I would love it if she opens with If, and ends with Together Again. And don't do medleys of the 80s songs!

3) Capacity / Venue

Saying that she would like to perform in intimate venues is a nicer way of saying that she would like to play safe and keep the venues small. She would rather sell out the shows and add more shows later on, than have a big venue that is only half-filled each night. The downside is that she will possibly have to perform more times at each city. But it might be good too because she will cut down on travelling time between cities and have more time to rest at each city.

Whatever it is, I hope the smaller venue does not equate to less elaborate production. I want the full works! Fireworks, pyrotechnics, giant LEDs, sets, everything! Don't shortchange me, Janet! :)

I also hope that she goes all out in her performance and doesn't go too all too "intimate" on me. I still want to see the dance routines and not just mostly stripped-down versions of songs. You can do an Unplugged Tour next, but not this time. I want my first Janet concert to be perfect!

After the 35 cities have been selected, the next step will be to announce the tour dates. There is no indication yet on when they might be, but I think it's gonna be sooner rather than later, to keep the momentum going. So it might come as early as February or March next year.

But seeing that all the other concerts in February and March have already been announced and gone on sale already, Janet better hurry up and get in the act too. Times are good, but there's only so many concerts one can afford to go to.

Of course, I hope Janet will come to Singapore, but if not, I'm hoping Hong Kong, Taipei or Shanghai get it. Surely one of these Asian cities will be picked. I don't believe Janet will be so cruel to leave out Asia altogether, especially since she's already omitted Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Alright, shall wait for more updates from Miss Jackson!

Concerts Galore!

2010-11-25T00:42:00.002+08:00

2011 is going to be a great year for live music as there will be tons of international artists dropping by our shores for concerts in the first three months of the year. Here's a snapshot of the upcoming shows lined up so far:

8 Jan

AKON Live In Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$88, $108, $128, $148, $158

29 Jan

St. Jerome's Laneway Festival

Lineup: !!!, Beach House, Deerhunter, Foals, Holy F***, Lady Hawke, The Temper Trap, Warpaint, Yeasayer

Fort Canning Park

$109.50

9 Feb

Taylor Swift Live In Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$90, $105, $125, $150, $175

14 Feb

Eric Clapton Live In Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$99, $199, $299, $399

15 Feb

Iron Maiden The Final Frontier World Tour Singapore 2011

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$98, $128, $148, $178

16 Feb

Deftones Diamond Eyes Tour Singapore 2011

Fort Canning Park

$88 (early bird, till 31 Dec), $98 (standard), $110 (showday)

22 Feb

Faithless with special guests Friendly Fires Live In Singapore

Fort Canning Park

$98 (early bird, till 30 Nov), $115 (standard), $140 (showday)

23 Feb

Eagles Long Road Out Of Eden Live In Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$98, $168, $268, $368, $499

9 Mar

Michael Buble Crazy Love Tour Live In Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium

$98, $128, $188, $228, $288

Taylor Swift's concert is almost sold out - only single seats left for the $175 category. Michael Buble's concert should also sell out very quickly. Eagles and Eric Clapton are two of the most credible artists but their tickets are rather pricey. Iron Maiden is another vintage act and this will be their first concert here, so they should expect a healthy turnout.

I think there will be more concerts to be announced soon, so the fight for concertgoers' dollars is going to be intense. Hope every artist will do well, but I'm currently most crazy about Michael Buble's show! Should be a very entertaining one.

What's Rocking My World Lately

2010-11-19T00:55:00.002+08:00

Apologies for the super long lag between posts. Here's just a quick shout out on the tunes that are rocking my world lately...

Cee Lo Green - Fuck You

Yet another cheeky song titled Fuck You (the last one was by Lily Allen last year), this song by Cee Lo Green reminds me a lot of Outkast's Hey Ya! Even the music video shares the same retro look and feel. The snappy lyrics and Cee Lo's vocal delivery make this a standout hit.

My Chemical Romance - Na Na Na

I was never a HUGE My Chemical Romance fan, but I think this song and their new album is about to make me a convert. Totally riotous, bold, fun and refreshing. The video is superb too. We need more ground-breakers like this.

Travie McCoy - Need You

If you thought Billionaire was a one-off hit, this follow-up single from Travie's solo album Lazarus will prove you wrong. I like the fact that he uses a real band and instruments, not like 99% of the generic, programmed stuff that's topping the charts all over right now. The video is a little weird though.

Katy Perry - Firework

I liked California Gurls and Teenage Dream, but now I like this the best among them all. Such a great chorus that lifts you up and makes you sing out loud. I like the strings part in the build up to the chorus. The opening line "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?" is quite hilarious, but somehow it works.

Bruno Mars - Grenade

Bruno Mars is surely the most outstanding new artist of the year. He has a tremendous voice, and is a true triple threat - singer, songwriter, producer. He has already scored hits guesting on Billionaire with Travie McCoy, Nothin' On You with B.o.B, and he also co-wrote and produced Cee Lo's Fuck You. This is one artist I'm very looking forward to watching perform live.

Josh Groban - Hidden Away

I think the reason why Josh Groban has been so successful is because he appeals to a wide demographic. He is young, good looking, has a good sense of humour, talented and most importantly, has a great voice that is powerful yet not too stuffy. This song takes a few listens to get to you, but I guarantee you'll love it after 5 spins. The intro reminds me a little of Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Robbie Williams & Gary Barlow - Shame

Robbie recently reunited with Take That, and this track is from Robbie's latest greatest hits album, not from the Take That album. It's a nice duet and I think their voices complement each other well. Love the melody and harmony vocals.

One more song that is high on my list is Keep Your Head Up by Michael Jackson, which is from the upcoming Michael album. But the song has not been officially released yet (it's been leaked), so I shall not post it here for now. But it's a really good song with meaningful lyrics and a great vocal performance by Michael. His voice was as pure as ever. So happy to hear that.

Alright, I shall attempt to post more before I embark on my Sydney trip in December to watch Linkin Park, U2 and Bon Jovi in concert. I'll post pics of these!

Collectibles #31: U2 - U2360° At The Rose Bowl Box Set (2010)

2010-10-12T22:19:00.024+08:00

This is the super deluxe box set edition of U2's latest live concert release U2360° At The Rose Bowl. The main content is the full-length concert filmed in Pasadena, California, during their North American leg of the tour in 2009. Here are the full contents of the box set:

- Disc 1 (DVD): U2360° At The Rose Bowl concert

- Disc 2 (DVD): Bonus material

- Disc 3 (Blu Ray): U2360° At The Rose Bowl concert + bonus material

- Exclusive 7" single of the previously-unreleased song Soon

- 32-page hardback book

- Limited edition, numbered, large drawing of final stage design

- 5 x photograph prints

- U2360° tour programme

- 3 x U2360° guitar picks

The first two legs of the tour in 2009 saw all 44 concerts sell out and grossing US$311 million in the process, becoming the highest grossing tour of the year. The third leg of the tour was supposed to resume in June this year, but due to a back injury suffered by Bono, the band were forced to postpone the entire North American leg till 2011. The European shows were unaffected and went ahead in August.

And after that, they will be heading to New Zealand and Australia in November and December, and I WILL BE WATCHING THEM IN SYDNEY ON 13 DECEMBER! Since U2 will never come to Singapore, the only way to watch them live is to fly overseas to catch them. And I believe there's not better tour to watch them than this 360° Tour. The Claw! Looks damn impressive from the pictures already, imagine watching it up close. And Jay-Z will be opening the shows as well, so it's like two top artists for the price of one, good value for money!

Just to sidetrack a little, I'll be watching Linkin Park and Bon Jovi in Sydney as well, since they're all touring Australia during the summer. Woo hoo! Three top rock bands on one trip, it doesn't get any better than this. :)

I haven't watched the U2360° Tour At The Rose Bowl concert yet, and I don't think I want to watch it till I've seen the real thing. I prefer to be surprised and be properly awed for the first time. It should be a spectacular show.

For now, enjoy the pictures of the box set...

Mariah Carey Live In Singapore @ F1

2010-10-03T22:56:00.005+08:00

Who: Mariah Carey

What: F1 SingTel Grand Prix 2010

When: 26 September 2010

Where: Padang, Singapore

Setlist

1. Obsessed

2. Emotions

3. Make It Happen

4. Dreamlover

(Intermission: Radikal Forze & DJ KoFlow DJ/B-Boy set)

5. It's Like That

6. One Sweet Day (with Trey Lorenz)

7. I'll Be There (with Trey Lorenz)

(Intermission: Trey Lorenz doing Rock With You; DJ KoFlow Michael Jackson set)

8. Touch My Body

9. Shake It Off

10. My All (segue to Spanish dance routine/intermission)

11. Always Be My Baby

12. We Belong Together

Encore

13. Hero

Mariah Carey zoomed into town recently for the third installment of the F1 race in Singapore, where she was the headlining act for the closing night.

She sauntered onto stage at 10:35pm and launched into Obsessed, the first single from her most recent studio album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel. She then turned back the clock and sang one of her earliest hits, Emotions, from 1991. For the first two songs, there were some technical problems, with the speakers cracking slightly, and the music overpowering Mariah's voice at times. However, she still managed to pull off those whistle notes towards the end of Emotions, albeit not as strongly as in 1991.

Between the two songs, she sounded breathless and panted heavily into the mic. Maybe she didn't expect the weather to be so hot, or perhaps the excess baggage she was carrying contributed to the breathlessness...

She then started to have some footwear problems and tried to take off her heels unsuccessfully, before finally deciding to go backstage, while asking the band to hit the next song. So the band played Make It Happen and the backup singers sang while Mariah was MIA for almost the whole song, before she emerged again at the end. That was when the incident happened.

As she returned to the stage, it turned out she didn't change her heels, but only changed her top to a white T-shirt that read "I Love You But". And as she strutted out while singing the ending portion of Make It Happen, Mariah tumbled. It was a bit hard to make out whether she really fell or whether she did it on purpose, because she didn't seem fazed by it at all. Maybe it's down to her professionalism that she made it seem natural and didn't make much of a deal about it, but she seemed like she was smiling as she was falling...

Watch the clip here:

But the most alarming thing was the way her dancers helped her up, like she was some helpless, wounded animal. My guess is that Mariah is really expecting a child, thus explaining her larger-than-life appearance and the need to be delicate with her. Hope she/the baby weren't hurt in the process.

After the incident, she brought back another "old school" hit in the form of Dreamlover, before disappearing backstage once more. DJ KoFlow and the B-Boy crew Radikal Forze were introduced, but their sudden appearance was a little puzzling and unexpected. They tried their best to entertain, but it was clear that they were not the ones the audience were there for, and the crowd started getting restless and booed. Poor fellas.

Mariah did finally emerge again after about 10 minutes, this time wearing a pink dress. Not exactly a very flattering look. After singing It's Like That, she took a rest on her diva couch, and backup singer/childhood friend Trey Lorenz joined her.

Mariah then explained that she hadn't performed the following song for years, but found out from the record label that it was a huge hit in Singapore, so she decided to sing it just for us. And so they sang One Sweet Day, with Trey standing in for Boyz II Men. It was just an abridged version though, as they later confessed that they hadn't rehearsed it beforehand.

For the next song, there was no standing in for anyone, as Mariah and Trey duetted on I'll Be There, their cover of the Jackson 5 #1 hit. Coincidentally, their version also reached #1 in 1992.

Mariah took yet another break and left the stage for Trey to sing Rock With You, which was dedicated to "the late, great Michael Jackson". DJ KoFlow came on once again and spinned a set of MJ songs.

It was another ten minutes before Mariah came back on to sing Touch My Body. After this, it was time to Shake It Off. She then sang My All, which had an extended outro, segueing into a Spanish dance routine featuring the two sexy ladies. Mariah of course, took the opportunity to slip backstage once more for another costume change, i.e. break.

When she returned, it was time for Always Be My Baby, which to me, was her best song of the evening. (I still prefer Mariah's original version compared to David Cook's reinvention by the way.) She then followed it with We Belong Together, her huge smash from 2005 and arguably one of her best songs ever. It was a good performance, and she bowed out after that.

The crowd chanted for an encore, and she obligingly returned (don't they all) for her signature tune Hero. She left the stage for good at about 10 minutes past midnight.

Closing Thoughts

This was my first Mariah concert, I missed her Rainbow Tour at the National Stadium in 2000. I wasn't that impressed by her singing that night because I know she was much better before. Her voice isn't as powerful as before, even though she could still reach most of the high notes. You could tell that her voice has aged (which is natural as people age), and it's of a slightly different tone and quality. I just wish I managed to catch her at her prime, which would have been around 1998.

That aside, Mariah has also become some sort of a loony character. Being a diva is one thing, but being a loony diva is a fatal combination. I shall not comment further about her appearance, but her onstage banter suggests she's not all right in her mind.

Choice quotes:

"They call me a diva, and yet I have to pour my own water."

"Ooh, a wine glass, lovely! If you didn't know, you might think that I'm drinking something else other than water. But it really is water, darling."

I hope that her (sub-par) performance this time was due to her being pregnant, and that she will regain some of her vocal prowess soon. She has built up an incredible career and catalogue of hits over the past 20 years and it will be a waste if it ends on a sad note.

Other News

In other news, Mariah will be releasing a new Christmas compilation titled Merry Christmas II You, a sequel to her best-selling 1994 Merry Christmas album. To drive the point home further, she even adopts the same pose and uses the same fonts for the new album!

And for the cover of the new single Oh Santa! (one of the four new songs penned by Mariah), she appears super slim. Either this picture was taken long ago, or the Photoshoppers have been working overtime...

One To Watch: Bruno Mars

2010-08-12T01:29:00.005+08:00

You've probably heard his voice on two of the summer's biggest and catchiest songs. He was a featured artist on B.o.B's #1 hit Nothin' On You, as well as on Travie McCoy's reggae-infused smash Billionaire. His name is Bruno Mars.

This is one guy to watch out for, as he is clearly highly talented. Besides lending his voice and making those two songs the hits they were, Bruno also co-penned Flo Rida's Right Round (another US #1 smash) and Wavin' Flag by K'naan, which was recently featured in the soundtrack for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

He is a triple threat - singer, songwriter, producer. And he has recently released his first 4-track digital EP It's Better If You Don't Understand. However, his proper debut single is a tune called Just The Way You Are. It is not found on the EP, so it's probably going to end up on his debut full-length album out later.

The song has a great melody, and the drum beat reminds me a little of Bryan Adams' Cloud Number 9. The lyrics are great, and I predict it will be one of the songs that will be played at weddings.

Here's a sample of the lyrics:

When I see your face

There's not a thing that I would change

Cause you're amazing

Just the way you are

And when you smile

The whole world stops and stares for a while

Cause girl you're amazing

Just the way you are

If the three songs we've heard so far are any gauge of what's to come, I dare say it will be a great debut album from this little guy who looks like the next Jason Mraz. Looking forward to hearing more tracks from the man from Mars.

In the meantime, here are the videos for Nothin' On You, Billionaire, Just The Way You Are and Cloud Number 9, thrown in for good measure.

SingFest 2010 Update

2010-07-20T16:19:00.002+08:00

With 14 days to go to SingFest 2010, the organisers have introduced 2-day and 3-day passes, finally! For the 2-day pass, you can choose any of the 2 nights, and that will cost you $255 (including SISTIC fees). The 3-day pass is priced at $357 (including SISTIC fees). You will be issued a set of tickets, one for each night.

Furthermore, to encourage bulk purchase, there is now a Group Booking of 4 tickets package priced at $511 (including SISTIC fees), valid for same night purchases only. However, all the above packages are not valid for the 10% OCBC credit/debit card discount.

With so many options now, consumers are pretty spoilt for choice. So let me break it down for you, if you're thinking of catching just one night. All prices quoted include the $3 SISTIC fee.

Standard 1-night ticket price is $178.

A) If you're planning to go alone, use an OCBC credit/debit card to enjoy 10% discount. Ticket price will be $160.50.

B) If you can find 3 other folks to go on the same night with you, go for the Group of 4 Booking. Ticket price will be $127.75.

C) If you and a friend each want to catch a different night, then go for the 2-day pass, as you can split the tickets. Ticket price per person will be $127.50.

D) If you and 2 other friends each want to each a different night, the 3-day pass will be great. Ticket price is $119.00.

Scenarios C and D are quite unlikely I guess, but those will be the cheapest options, if you're planning to catch only one night's performance.

The lineup is complete at last and here it is:

Tue 3 Aug 2010
Katy Perry
Tokio Hotel
Wonder Girls
Orianthi
The Like

Wed 4 Aug 2010
Kanye West
Kool & The Gang
Lupe Fiasco
Diane Birch
Jully Black

Thur 5 Aug 2010
The Smashing Pumpkins
Thirty Seconds To Mars
The Vines
Ian Brown
Hail The Villain

For me, the most attractive night is the first night, with Katy Perry headlining and also Orianthi and Tokio Hotel in action. The other acts I'm keen are The Smashing Pumpkins and Diane Birch. Kanye was here not too long ago, 29th October 2008, so there isn't a great urge to watch him again, even though he's good.

This year's SingFest is being held on weekdays for the first time. The first act will take the stage at 6pm, and with five acts per night, it is going to be a tight fit. Assuming the turnover for each set is 30 min, there should be two acts who will perform for 45 min each, two acts for 60 min each, and the headliner with 90 min. Something like this?

6:00 - 6:45pm Act 1 (45 min)

6:45 - 7:15pm Turnover

7:15- 8:00pm Act 2 (45 min)

8:00 - 8:30pm Turnover

8:30 - 9:30pm Act 3 (60 min)

9:30 - 10:00pm Turnover

10:00 - 11:00pm Act 4 (60 min)

11:00 - 11:30pm Turnover

11:30 - 1:00am Act 5 (90 min)

That means if you're a Katy Perry fan, you'll have to wait till 11:30pm before she hits the stage. And by the time you reach home and shower, you will get to bed at around 2am or later. And if you're watching the other 2 nights as well, good luck to you! And I haven't mentioned if you're catching the Slash concert on 2nd August, Monday as well...that will be 4 late nights in a row! Woo hoo...

Nevertheless, you have already gone through the World Cup and survived, so this should be nothing right? Plus you're watching the artists live in concert, and not on some TV screen, so this will definitely be better. So hurry up, get your 1/2/3 day passes. SingFest awaits!

Kylie Returns As The Powerful Aphrodite

2010-07-14T22:29:00.005+08:00

Kylie made a triumphant return to the music scene as her latest album Aphrodite stormed to the top of the UK charts. In fact, she makes history as she becomes the first solo artist in the UK to register #1 albums in four different decades - 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s.

The run started with her 1988 debut album Kylie and follow-up Enjoy Yourself in 1989, then her 1992 Greatest Hits album, 2001's Fever, and now Aphrodite, her 11th studio album.

While not many people can manage this feat, Kylie is unlikely to be the sole record holder for long as Madonna will also join the ranks if she releases a new #1 album this decade. In fact, Madonna has scored 11 UK #1 albums in the past 25 years, starting with 1984's Like A Virgin to her most recent Celebration compilation released in September last year. But well, Kylie will still be the first to achieve this feat. So well done, Kylie!

Kylie describes Aphrodite as a return and celebration of her dancefloor roots, and this is very true indeed. She roped in producer Stuart Price at the recommendation of Jake Shears (of the Scissor Sisters) and it was probably the best move she could have made. Stuart Price was the genius behind Madonna's Confessions On The Dance Floor album, which brought Madonna back to form after her disastrous American Life album, and the album was widely hailed as a modern classic dance record.

Stuart Price reproduces his magic touch on this album and the result is Kylie's most cohesive piece of work ever. It is non-stop dance, catchy pop music at its best. Its emphasis is on getting people onto the dance floor, having a good time and waving their hands up in the air.

The first single All The Lovers is a slow burner, kicking off the album with a seductive groove that draws you in deeper and deeper and sets you up nicely for the raucous party ahead. The second track, and also second single, Get Outta My Way is a great, straight out dance tune that is set to be a big hit on the airwaves and clubs.

Just when you think that things couldn't get any hotter, Kylie serves another knockout punch with Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love). It sounds like a continuation of Get Outta My Way, but even better. The chorus is just so infectious and you will put your hands up, no doubt about it.

Another highlight on the album is the title track. The opening of the song, with its marching band drum beats, sounds a little like Destiny Child's Lose My Breath. This is where Kylie asserts her authority as she sings "I'm fierce and I'm feeling mighty, don't you mess with me, you don't wanna fight with me". Clearly she's back with a vengeance and on top of her game.

My favourite track on the album has got to be Better Than Today. It's got a slightly different feel from the other tracks, a little laid back and more pop than dance. It could be because this song was conceived before the Aphrodite sessions. She had already performed it during her US tour last October. I think it will make a great fourth single. After the highs of the dance numbers, it will be nice to offer something different.

All in all, it's a great dance pop album. It's unmistakably Kylie, with a fresh spin for the new decade. Definitely more easy to enjoy than the previous X album. Hope Kylie can continue to keep it up, and perhaps even return to Singapore for another show! (Let's hope that tickets won't be too ex...not another $550 concert!)

If you're buying the album, the Experience Edition CD+DVD is the version you should get. It comes in a nice hardback book with 28 pages of gorgeous Kylie photos.

The DVD includes live footage from Kylie's 2009 tour of North America: White Diamond Theme, White Diamond, Confide In Me and I Believe In You. The ballad version of I Believe In You is a real treat, and it made me like the song even more. The DVD also houses the making of All The Lovers video shoot, behind the scenes of the Aphrodite photo shoot, and the Aphrodite photo gallery.

There is also a collectible sticker. On the reverse side, there is a special access code that allows you to complete the "experience" by going online for more goodies. Once you have logged in, you can view an exclusive 39 min 36 sec interview with Kylie and Stuart Price. It's a great piece, as they go about sharing the entire recording process and providing insights to the experience. The interview alone is worth forking out the additional moolah to get this Experience Edition.

And exclusively to Singapore only, every purchase of the album comes with a giant limited edition free poster. It's glossy and huge, and the colours are beautiful. The poster is available for a limited time only, so don't be late!

Corinne Bailey Rae - Live!

2010-07-05T23:13:00.003+08:00

Coming to our shores this month is an exceptionally talented lady who is perhaps one of the most underrated singer-songwriters to emerge this decade. She is none other than Corinne Bailey Rae.

Corinne burst onto the scene in early 2006 with her self-titled debut album, which entered the UK charts at #1, and she became only the fourth female British act to have her first album debut at #1.

The first single Like A Star became a hit in both the UK and the US, but it was the second single Put Your Records On that brought her to the mainstream. It was a bigger hit in the UK (#2) than Stateside (#64), but it earned Corinne two Grammy nominations in 2007 - Record of the Year and Song of the Year. She also received a nod for Best New Artist, but she went home empty handed.

Just as everything seemed to be going for her, the most unfortunate thing happened. Her husband of seven years Jason Rae was found dead in March 2008, and Corinne went into seclusion to grief privately.

However, she resurfaced in January this year with a new album, The Sea. Coming on the heels of the tragedy, The Sea is a deeply personal and introspective album. Corinne said that the songs on the album were written both before and after Jason's death. To her, there was no better way to get over it than to immerse herself in something that she loved. I guess music is the best therapy after all.

I'm sure it will be a great concert - not one of the fancy, gimmick-filled ones, but a soulful, tender and mellow one. And it will be held at the Esplanade Theatre, so it's the perfect venue to showcase Corinne's music. Looking forward to it!

Corinne Bailey Rae - Live!

Date: 28 July 2010

Time: 8pm

Venue: Esplanade Theatre

Prices: $148, $128, $108, $88, $68 [$88 and $68 sold out]

(excluding $3 SISTIC fee)

Chris Brown's Tribute To MJ At The BET Awards 2010

2010-07-02T00:11:00.005+08:00

The BET Awards took place last Sunday, two days after the 1-year anniversary of MJ's death, and naturally, the highlight of the show was Chris Brown's tribute to MJ.

While the performance itself was noteworthy, there has been quite a lot of discussion in the past few days about whether Chris was faking the tears, and whether he was using the occasion to his own advantage, to win back some sympathy after his incident with Rihanna last year.

Here's the full performance if you haven't seen it yet:

Well, to me, he seemed genuinely overwhelmed by emotion and broke down as a result. But it was more due to the message of the song, Man In The Mirror, ("take a look at yourself and make the change"), rather than an outpouring of grief for MJ's passing.

I don't think he intended to take advantage of the occasion for his own benefit, but it happened more as an act of repentance. I feel that he has learned his lesson and people should stop being so cynical about it. Just to be clear, I'm not a Chris Brown fan, but that's what I feel.

As for the performance itself, I must say it was quite good, even though he didn't execute it exactly 100% like MJ did. It was not a carbon copy of MJ's performance. Perhaps he didn't want to do it 100% like MJ, but wanted to inject some of his personal style to it, which is fine.

The opening segment of The Way You Make Me Feel with the silhouette behind the curtain/screen is a direct reference to MJ's 1988 performance at the Grammy Awards. Here's the clip:

That is one of my favourite MJ live performances ever. The movements were so sharp and he created such beautiful shapes with his body. And together with the music, everything was just perfect.

Chris Brown then went to do the Remember The Time dance segment, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Mainly because I love the routine, and also due to the fact that MJ had never performed it live before. Well, he was supposed to, during the 1993 Soul Train Awards, but he apparently sprained his ankle and ended up performing (lip-synching) it on a golden wheelchair.

Here's the 1993 Soul Train Awards performance:

Actually MJ did rehearse it for the Dangerous Tour, but disappointingly, it didn't make the final setlist. Here's a rare look at him rehearsing. This proves that he sang live, and sounded darn good too!

Next, the lights dimmed and Chris Brown disappeared to do a costume change while six backup dancers took centrestage for Smooth Criminal. It was the best moment of the entire tribute as I was pleasantly surprised to see the different parts of the costume light up, giving the routine a fresh spin. The lights accentuated the distinct hand and leg movements, and you can see exactly how intricate and beautiful the choreography is. (The dancers were not totally in sync though)

But I think they probably got the idea of lighting up the costume after watching the This Is It DVD, where MJ's designer Zaldy explains in one of the bonus features of the DVD that the costume for Billie Jean was supposed to light up as MJ danced. I can't find a clip on YouTube but it's on the DVD.

As for Chris Brown's take on Billie Jean, I know I'm hard to please, but it's not perfect. For example, when MJ thrusted his hips up and down, only his hips moved while the upper body remained mostly still. Whereas Chris Brown moved his entire upper body up and down together with his hips, so it looked like he was trying to sit down on an invisible chair and stand up again. Not as sleek.

Watch the 1:23 mark of this clip to see what I mean, and compare it against Chris Brown's take.

Having said so much, I must emphasise that I enjoyed the performance as a whole overall. There were surprises, there were routines that I liked and there was the excitement factor. I wouldn't be too hard on Chris Brown because really, there's only one Michael Jackson. R.I.P. Michael!

SingFest 2010 Update

2010-07-02T00:02:00.002+08:00

Here's a quick update on SingFest 2010 - the lineup for the second night (4th August) has been announced, according to the SISTIC website:

4th August

- Kanye West

- Diane Birch

- Jully Black and more

Ticket sales for 4th August have not started yet. Still no word on whether there will be multi-day passes available. Hope Midas can confirm soon so people can start buying tickets, rather than hold out in anticipation of a better deal.

I wonder who else will be added to the lineup?

SingFest 2010

2010-06-27T01:59:00.002+08:00

After one year's absence, SingFest is back again with a vengeance this year. Midas Promotions announced on Friday that the third edition of the popular music festival SingFest will be staged from 3rd to 5th August this year, once again at Fort Canning Park.

If you check your calendar, you will realise that the dates fall on weekdays (Tuesday to Thursday) instead of the more traditional weekend slot. This is because Fuji Rock and Summersonic (in Japan) are being held one week apart (Fuji Rock from 30th July to 1st August; Summersonic from 7th to 8th August), so by staging SingFest in mid-week, they can tap into artists from both festivals.

The full lineup for the three days have not been revealed yet, and artists are still being added at this point. Here's what we have so far:

3rd August (Tuesday)

- Katy Perry

- Wonder Girls

- Orianthi

4th August (Wednesday)

* Not announced yet, but there should be Kanye West and Diane Birch

5th August (Thursday)

- Smashing Pumpkins

- 30 Seconds To Mars

- Ian Brown

You should also know by now that Slash will also be performing at Fort Canning Park on 2nd August, so it's four straight days of music!

Tickets for SingFest are on sale at SISTIC already. Currently, there is only one price category - $175 for a one-day pass. OCBC Debit and Credit card holders will enjoy 10% discount.

No word yet on whether there will be multiple day passes available. But going by the past two SingFests, there should be multi-day passes offered. Whatever it is, Midas better finalise the details soon, as there are only 37 days left to sell tickets.

I foresee that people will hold off buying tickets until they know the full lineup, or at least the lineup for the second day. And if the second day is as good as the first and third day, they might want to buy a 3-day pass. So the price for the multi-day pass better be good too. But I think the 3-day pass will probably hover around the $450 mark. Which is still quite a hefty investment.

As for the calibre of the acts, I'm excited about Katy Perry, Orianthi, Smashing Pumpkins and Diane Birch. Too bad they're all on different days.

And for the additional acts yet be announced, looking at the lineup for Fuji Rock and Summersonic, my wishlist would be:

- Them Crooked Vultures

- Jay-Z

- Stevie Wonder

- Taylor Swift

Let's see what more tricks Midas has up its sleeve!

Collectibles #30: Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King Super Deluxe Box Set (2009)

2010-06-06T12:52:00.012+08:00

Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King is the seventh studio album by Dave Matthews Band, and their first since saxophonist LeRoi Moore died unexpectedly on 19th August 2008 following complications after an all-terrain vehicle accident.

LeRoi was one of the founding members of the band, and his passing was a real blow to all DMB fans like myself, because in DMB, every one of the members is integral to the essence and sound of the band, and he cannot simply be replaced. R.I.P. LeRoi.

But life still must go on, and DMB bravely carried on by roping in Jeff Coffin (not the most auspicious of names), from the group Bela Flack and the Flecktones. Jeff had already stood in for the tour dates that LeRoi missed, and went on to finish up the recordings that LeRoi didn't manage to complete. As such, Whiskey contains both LeRoi and Coffin's work.

The "GrooGrux" in the album title is a nickname of LeRoi's, and the album cover shows a sketch of LeRoi beaming, with a crown on to top of his head. As a further tribute to LeRoi, the album opens with the track Grux, which showcases his smooth and jazzy tenor sax improvisations amid Carter's rolling toms and Boyd's violin strings.

The track then segues into the funky Shake Me Like A Monkey, which features prominent horns courtesy of new unofficial member Rashawn Ross on trumpets. It's a big band number and a great showcase of Carter's drumming.

Other standout tracks on the album include the upbeat first single Funny The Way It Is, the tender ballad You And Me, the subtle Lying In The Hands Of God, and my personal favourite, the jam tune Why I Am.

The US version of the album (both the standard and deluxe CD/DVD) contains 13 tracks, while the European version (CD version only) contains two additional bonus tracks - Write A Song and Cornbread.

The Super Deluxe Box Set contains the US version CD/DVD album, but it comes with an additional CD titled Little Red Bird, an EP with four songs that were recorded during the sessions but not included on the final cut - #27, Beach Ball, Little Red Bird and Write A Song. Thus, Cornbread is only available on the European version of the album.

Cornbread and #27 were previously performed live on tour before the album sessions began, and they can be found on DMB's 2007 Live At Piedmont Park album.

This Super Deluxe Box Set comes in a beautiful big box, with the CDs and DVD housed in individual cardboard sleeves with their individual slots. There is a CD-sized booklet titled "Roi", containing 23 pages of pictures of LeRoi. Nice. There is also a 40-page photo book titled "Grux Pix" and a set of 14 drawings by Dave Matthews with song lyrics.

Whiskey was released on 2nd June 2009 and it became their fifth consecutive Billboard 200 chart topper. It was later nominated for two Grammy Awards - Best Rock Album and surprisingly, Album Of the Year. While DMB went home empty handed, I thought they deserved the nod thoroughly. Whiskey is my favourite studio album since 1998's Before These Crowded Streets.

DMB have announced recently that they will be taking a break from touring in 2011 and return in 2012. While I would love to catch them again in concert soon, I think they do deserve the break. They've been touring non-stop for the past 20 years, hitting the road every year without fail. I look forward to watching them live in 2012 again.

Rarities #41: Oasis - Definitely Maybe Singles Cigarette Box Set (1996)

2010-05-11T23:53:00.003+08:00

This Definitely Maybe singles box set is the companion to the Morning Glory one, as both were released in 1996. It contains five CDs - the singles for Live Forever, Shakermaker, Cigarettes & Alcohol and Supersonic, as well as an interview disc.

It took me very long to find this silver "cigarette" box, so I can put them both together side by side, and I was very happy to find a copy in Tokyo. Finally, the collection is complete!

Rarities #40: Panic! At The Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out Box Set (2006)

2010-04-13T17:00:00.005+08:00

A Fever You Can't Sweat Out is Panic! At The Disco's 2005 debut album. You might remember that they dropped the "!" for their second album Pretty.Odd, but recently, with the departure of two of the members Ryan Ross and Jon Walker, the band (with the two surviving members) reinstated the "!" back into their name.

You might also remember P!ATD as the band with a penchant for long song titles, just like fellow American pop/rock band Fall Out Boy. It is no coincidence as P!ATD were the first band to be signed on to Decaydance, the record label founded by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.

This collector's edition of A Fever That You Can't Sweat Out is a real treat, one of the few box sets that shows much care has gone into its creation. The outer box has an intentional weathered look, and the inside is lined with faux red velvet, with gold hotstamping and the message "Beware of imitations".

There's a ton of goodies inside the box, including a poster, a masquerade mask, a phenakistoscope, 12 picture cards (one for each song on the album), a mini tour programme, 4 black and white pictures of the band, a blank diary, a fake newspaper and a certificate of authenticity.

FYI, a phenakistoscope is an animation device with a spinning disc attached vertically on a handle. When you spin the disc and look through the moving slits at the disc's reflection in a mirror, you will see a rapid succession of images with the appearance of a motion picture. In this case, of a lady dancing.

Of course, there's also the CD album, but not only that, there's an additional DVD not available elsewhere, containing live performances, a documentary and interviews.

Only 25,000 sets were produced worldwide, and the certificate comes with a unique serial number. Definitely one for keeps!

Rarities #39: Bon Jovi - These Days Japan A4 Book 2CD Edition (1996)

2010-04-13T14:46:00.005+08:00

One of the gems I uncovered during my Japan trip, found this at a second hand store in Tokyo. This is a rare Japan only edition of Bon Jovi's 1995 studio album, These Days.

Released in 1996, it comes in an A4 size hard cover book, with 64 pages of rare photos, lyrics, essays, videography, discography for the band and solo projects, all in Japanese text. The These Days CD is the 14 track version.

Best of all, there's a bonus CD titled Karaoke Days, a 4-track minus one CD containing instrumental versions of These Days, Bed Of Roses, Someday I'll Be Saturday Night and In These Arms. It's not exactly "karaoke" as you can't change the key of the songs, but they're essentially instrumental tracks with the lead vocals removed. The backing vocals are still there.

Collectibles #29: Michael Jackson - This Is It Mobile & PC Edition (2009)

2010-04-13T13:29:00.004+08:00

On my recent trip to Japan, I bought this Michael Jackson This Is It Mobile & PC Edition, which contains the This Is It movie on two portable formats - microSD and USB. You can slot the microSD card into your mobile phone and watch it on the go, or you can plug the USB flash drive stick into your netbook and watch it at Starbucks or whatever.

You don't get the movie in high definition as it has been resized to fit the mobile and PC screen, so you're still better off with the DVD or Blu Ray version to experience it in its best quality. The USB version would be useful for netbooks that don't come with a CD/DVD drive. But ultimately, this product is strictly for fans and collectors only.

It also comes in separate microSD and USB versions, but it is more value for money to get the combined version as the microSD and USB versions retail at 4,500 yen and 6,500 yen respectively, while the combined version retails at 10,000 yen, all prices tax inclusive.

The product is housed in a LP sized jacket with the Japanese obi strip, and it also includes the 24-page booklet of photos and 4 postcards, just like the Blu Ray version. There's also a cardboard stand for you to display the product.

This product is only available in Japan. Kingston did release the This Is It movie on 2GB USB in the US, but this is the only official version that is available on microSD card. As I walked through the CD stores in Japan, big and small ones, it's obvious that Michael Jackson is huge there. So it's no wonder they have released such a collector's edition product for Japanese fans only.

New Janet Jackson song: Heartbeat Love featuring Pitbull

2010-02-20T16:33:00.003+08:00

Producer Rodney Jerkins, better known as Darkchild, has just released a hot new single by Janet Jackson featuring Pitbull, called Heartbeat Love. Listen to the song above!

When I previously heard the demo (working title Not My Love) featuring just the vocals of Pitbull and a stand-in female guide vocal, I wasn't that all impressed. But this final version of the song is damn hot and happening! Definitely one for the clubs.

I'm not sure if it's Janet Jackson featuring Pitbull or the other way round, as Pitbull opens the song and plays an equally-important role. I think out of respect, they're letting Janet have top billing. Whichever way, it doesn't matter, just as long as it's going to be on Janet's next album!

Janet also has another new song coming out soon. She recently recorded the track Nothing produced by ex-boyfriend Jermaine Dupri, and it will be the theme song for the upcoming Tyler Perry film Why Did I Get Married Too? Janet will be appearing in this sequel as well.

It's exciting because Janet didn't contribute any song to the first Why Did I Get Married? soundtrack, even though she had the lead role. And Janet's track record reveals that the songs she contributed for soundtracks/films have all been smashes:

1) The Best Things In Life Are Free (with Luther Vandross)

- For the Mo' Money soundtrack, 1992

- Billboard Hot 100: #10

2) Again

- Closing song in the film Poetic Justice, starring Janet in her film debut

- Third single from her janet. album, 1993

- Billboard Hot 100: #1 for 2 weeks

- Nominated for Best Original Song at the 66th Academy Awards, where she performed it live

3) Doesn't Really Matter

- Lead single from the soundtrack of Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, 2000

- Janet starred in this sequel alongside several Eddie Murphys

- Billboard Hot 100: #1 for 3 weeks

- It was her ninth #1 single and she became the first artist to score #1 singles in the 80's, 90's and 00's

4) Nothing

- Lead single from the soundtrack of Why Did I Get Married Too?, 2010

- Ten years later, and back on the soundtrack of a sequel, will Janet be the first artist to score #1 singles in the 80's, 90's, 00's AND 10's???

Nothing is likely to be a mid-tempo ballad, given the storyline of the film, so it's probably going to be more like an Again rather than a Doesn't Really Matter. Which doesn't bode well for its prospects to be the next #1 single for Janet.

Looking at the #1 singles on the Hot 100 for the past few years, the last ballad to scale the summit goes way back to May 2008 with Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love, which is not exactly a ballad in the strictest sense. Owl Cities reached #1 in November last year with Fireflies, but it's not exactly a ballad too.

Point is, the current trend for music is upbeat, dancey, electronic, and Lady Gaga-ish. So a traditional ballad will stand no chance in reaching #1 on the Hot 100. Heartbeat Love will stand a better chance than Nothing.

And also because Why Did I Get Married Too? is most likely not going to be as enormous a box office hit as Nutty Professor II. The first film grossed just US$55 million, compared to Nutty Professor II's US$166 million. I'll be happy if ANY Janet song reaches #1. Hope Heartbeat Love will be the one.

Pitbull scored a massive hit last year with I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho), which peaked at #2. And Rodney Jerkins has been working with some of the hottest artists for the past 12 years. His resume includes #1 hits with Brandy & Monica, Monica, J. Lo and Destiny's Child. He produced four tracks from Janet's last album Discipline, and was most recently responsible for the Lagy Gaga and Beyonce duet Telephone, on Gaga's The Fame Monster EP.

I'm hoping the old team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis will be involved in Janet's new album, but if Heartbeat Love is anything to go by, the new album will be hot, even without them. But I like the old school Janet too. Hope this will be the one to really bring her back.

We Are The World (25 For Haiti)

2010-02-15T23:47:00.007+08:00

On 12th February 2010, We Are The World 25 For Haiti was released. A short version of the music video debuted at the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, broadcast live around the world. Following the premiere, the song was available for download on iTunes, with the proceeds going to the newly-established, non-profit We Are The World Foundation.

The story behind this new version of the 1985 classic is well-known by now, but let me just briefly recap it. 25 years ago, activist Harry Belafonte and and fund-raiser Ken Kragen activated Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson to pen an all-star charity anthem to raise funds for impoverished Africa, specifically Ethiopia, after being inspired by UK's gathering of superstars, Band Aid, which recorded the charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?

They managed to assemble 43 of America's biggest stars at the time to record the song on 28th January 1985, right after the American Music Awards. The group was dubbed USA For Africa. The project was released as a single and album and sold over 20 million copies worldwide, reportedly raising US$63 million for Africa.

25 years later, the remake was initiated following the devastating magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck the Caribbean country Haiti on 12th January 2010. With casualties rising to 200,000, original collaborators Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones (who produced the original) decided it was the right moment to activate a new cast of artists to urgently raise funds for Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the Americas.

They roped in current in-form producer RedOne to produce the track, and had Haitian Wyclef Jean to front the project. Will.i.am wrote a rap segment to make the song more contemporary and relevant to Haiti. In all, more than 85 artists took part in the remake, double the original. Michael Jackson is the only one to be featured vocally in both versions (Lionel Richie did not sing in the remake).

Before going on any further, here are the videos for the original and remake:

USA For Africa - We Are The World

Artists For Haiti - We Are The World 25 For Haiti

Here's the list of artists who participated in the original:

Soloists (in order of appearance)

1. Lionel Richie

2. Stevie Wonder

3. Paul Simon

4. Kenny Rogers

5. James Ingram

6. Tina Turner

7. Billy Joel

8. Michael Jackson

9. Diana Ross

10. Dionne Warwick

11. Willie Nelson

12. Al Jarreau

13. Bruce Springsteen

14. Kenny Loggins

15. Steve Perry

16. Daryl Hall

17. Huey Lewis

18. Cyndi Lauper

19. Kim Carnes

20. Bob Dylan

21. Ray Charles

Chorus

22. Dan Aykroyd

23. Harry Belafonte

24. Lindsey Buckingham

25. Mario Cipollina

26. Johnny Colla

27. Sheila E.

28. Bob Geldof

29. Bill Gibson

30. Chris Hayes

31. Sean Hopper

32. Jackie Jackson

33. LaToya Jackson

34. Marlon Jackson

35. Randy Jackson

36. Tito Jackson

37. Waylon Jennings

38. Bette Midler

39. John Oates

40. Jeffrey Osborne

41. Anita Pointer

42. Ruth Pointer

43. Smokey Robinson

And here are the ones who took part in the remake:

Soloists (in order of appearance)

1. Justin Bieber

2. Jennifer Hudson

3. Nicole Scherzinger

4. Jennifer Nettles

5. Josh Groban

6. Tony Bennett

7. Mary J. Blige

8. Michael Jackson (from stock archives)

9. Janet Jackson

10. Barbra Streisand

11. Miley Cyrus

12. Enrique Iglesias

13. Jamie Foxx

14. Wyclef Jean

15. Adam Levine

16. P!nk

17. BeBe Winans

18. Usher

19. Celine Dion

20. Orianthi (on guitar)

21. Fergie

22. Nick Jonas

23. Toni Braxton

24. Mary Mary

25. Isaac Slade

26. Lil Wayne

27. Carlos Santana (on guitar)

28. Akon

29. T-Pain

30. LL Cool J

31. Will.i.am

32. Snoop Dogg

33. Busta Rhymes

34. Swizz Beatz

35. IYAZ

36. Kanye West

Chorus

37. Patti Austin

38. Bizzy Bone

39. Ethan Bortnick

40. Jeff Bridges

41. Zac Brown

42. Brandy

43. Kristian Bush

44. Natalie Cole

45. Harry Connick Jr.

46. Hayden Panettiere

47. Kid Cudi

48. Faith Evans

49. Melanie Fiona

50. Sean Garrett

51. Tyrese Gibson

52. Anthony Hamilton

53. Keri Hilson

54. Julianne Hough

55. India.Arie

56. Randy Jackson

57. Taj Jackson

58. Taryll Jackson

59. TJ Jackson

60. Al Jardine

61. Jimmy Jean-Louis

62. Ralph Johnson

63. Joe Jonas

64. Kevin Jonas

65. Gladys Knight

66. Benji Madden

67. Harlow Madden

68. Joel Maddern

69. Katherine McPhee

70. Jason Mraz

71. Mya

72. Freda Payne

73. A.R. Rahman

74. Nicole Richie

75. Raphael Saadiq

76. Trey Songz

77. Musiq Soulchild

78. Jordin Sparks

79. Robin Thicke

80. Rob Thomas

81. Vince Vaughn

82. Verdin White

83. Ann Wilson

84. Brian Wilson

85. Nancy Wilson

86. Nipsey Hussle

87. Fozworth Bentley

After listening to the remake for the first time, I thought it was better than expected. The arrangement was quite similar to the original, as RedOne himself said that he didn't want to mess around with it too much, besides updating the beats a little to make it more contemporary. And contrary to what most critics are saying, I quite like the rap segment in the final third of the song - I thought it melded well with the song and didn't sound out of place. I felt it did well as a remake of the iconic anthem.

However, if you really want to compare it with the original, there are more criticisms to be made for sure.

Firstly, do we really need 87 voices on the song? Yes, it's all for charity and lending a helping hand, but there also has to be a balance and compromise in terms of what works for the song. The strange thing is, even with half the number of people, the chorus on the original sounds bigger and fuller than on the remake. Maybe they're just better singers, can project their voices better, can sing in harmony better, or maybe it's just pure studio wizardry. But I definitely feel the chorus on the remake sounds a little weak and not in sync all the time. Not as rousing and heart-stirring.

Secondly, the voices on the original blended better as they went from one solo to another. There seemed to be more thought when selecting the artists and their lines, such that the transitions were smooth and there wasn't a "what was that?" moment. For example, in the remake, the Miley Cyrus-Enrique Iglesias transition just didn't work for me. And Tony Bennett seemed really out of place.

Thirdly, the individual singers on the original were stronger and sang with much more conviction. To be brutally honest, there are just too many mediocre singers on the remake. I'm referring to real singers, as in, people who can carry a tune, and not just entertainers, people who are so-called entertainers and happen/pretend to sing. For example, what's Justin Beiber doing here? (Answer: Randy Phillip is one of the executive producers for this project and he also manages Justin Beiber)

Fourthly, how many of the artists on the remake are going to be around and still kicking it 25 years from now? Whereas on the original, we've had a good number of legends and artists who are still highly respected today - Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, even Cyndi Lauper, to name a few. Fergie, Jamie Foxx, T-Pain, Adam Levine to be future legends? I don't think so.

I know one of the major grouses for the remake is the use of auto-tune. Well, I'm neutral to that. I don't like it personally, but it does appeal to a certain audience (the hip-hop community), and if it makes them donate to the cause, I'm fine with that. Because ultimately, that's the goal of this project, to reach out to people of all walks of life and get them to contribute to Haiti.

Then again, you might say, aren't you contradicting yourself? That's what having Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers is for - to reach out to the tween market and get them to contribute too? Yes, that's partly true, but I would have preferred having people in that demographic who can really sing, for example even Taylor Swift would have been a better choice. And artists who are destined to be future legends, like Beyonce, Alicia Keys, even Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake.

Criticisms aside, there are a few standout performances on the remake. I thought Celine Dion, P!nk, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige and Josh Groban did well. As did the rap segment performers, including Kanye West.

Integrating Michael Jackson to the remake is a nice touch, but Janet's "duet" with him was a huge letdown. Mainly because Janet was singing the same part as MJ, not a harmony, and MJ was mixed much louder than Janet. I couldn't even hear her! It would have been more meaningful had Janet sang the response to MJ's line, "When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all".

But my guess is that Janet's involvement came at the last minute, and they wouldn't have Usher give up his spot even for Janet, perhaps at Usher's insistence (since he's been so intent on being the next King Of Pop, overtly acting and mimicking MJ during his Memorial and Grammys tribute performances). Lionel Richie said that Katherine Jackson personally requested for Janet to be a part of it. It's a sweet idea, but poorly executed.

We Are The World 25 For Haiti (such a cubersome title) is not the only charity single to benefit Haiti. Simon Cowell has already put together and released an all-star cover of R.E.M.'s hit Everybody Hurts, and it duly debuted at #1 in the UK this week. It sold 453,000 copies and became the UK's fastest-selling charity single of this century.

WATW25 should also reach #1, like the original 25 years ago. But given that charity singles are a dime a dozen these days, it is unlikely the remake will earn as much love as the original. The original scooped up four Grammy Awards in 1986 including the two biggest awards - Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

You can call WATW25 whatever you want - a lazy, unoriginal, uninspired rehash of a classic anthem, or a fresh, updated, contemporary take of MJ and Lionel Richie's beloved tune - but let's not detract from its most important mission, which is to raise funds to rebuild Haiti. It's no classic for sure, but it should do what it's supposed to do.

For more information about the project, visit www.world25.org

MUSE - Live In Singapore Concert Review

2010-02-06T18:08:00.007+08:00

Who: MUSE

What: Big Night Out! Singapore 2010

When: 3rd February 2010, 7pm

Where: Singapore Indoor Stadium

SETLIST

1. Uprising

2. Supermassive Black Hole

3. Map Of The Problematique

4. Resistance

5. Hysteria

6. Stockholm Syndrome

7. Nishe

8. United States Of Eurasia

9. Sunburn

10. Drum & Bass Jam

11. Undisclosed Desires

12. MK Ultra

13. Starlight

14. Time Is Running Out

15. Unnatural Selection

ENCORE

16. Exogenesis: Symphony: Part 1 (Overture)

17. Plug In Baby

18. Knights Of Cydonia

MUSE returned to Singapore for the second time on Wednesday, this time as the headlining act of the second installment of Big Night Out!, organised by LAMC Productions. Last year's edition featured The Ting Tings and Prodigy, but they were held on separate nights, both at Fort Canning Park. This year saw American bands Saosin and Rise Against taking the stage first, but it was clear everyone was there for MUSE.

Saosin started performing at about 7:15pm, which was very early for a weekday gig. Unfortunately for them, there weren't many people in the audience yet and it was especially glaring because Pen A was almost totally deserted. Pen A was the standing area right in front of the stage, and also the most expensive category.

I had some friends who were in the queue to get into Pen A but they couldn't manage to get in somehow. Seemed like there was a hold up from the Indoor Stadium staff, or they weren't allowed in. My friends only got into the stadium after Saosin finished their set. It was really weird because they paid the most money yet they were the last to enter, and missed one band's performance as a result. And it looked really bad for Saosin. Still not sure what the reason was.

And then Rise Against performed and finally MUSE were up next. By this time, the crowd had become very restless and perhaps hungry too. At 10pm sharp, the lights dimmed and the LCD screens came on. As the silhouettes of Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard appeared onstage, the roar of 11,000 fans went into overdrive.

They launched into Uprising, the lead single from their latest album The Resistance. The three LCD screens behind them displayed the graphics and lyrics to the song, while the two screens by the side blew up the three rock gods in action. It was a fantastic opening song, rousing the crowd nicely and inviting them to join in the uprising, with fist pumps in the air and shouts of "Come on!".

They then launched into another favourite, Supermassive Black Hole, and the crowd went delirious. They were bopping up and down and totally enjoying the experience. This was followed by Map Of The Problematique, another song from their previous album Black Holes And Revelations.

All in all, the setlist favoured their latest album, as they performed seven songs from it, while some personal favourites of mine like Invincible and Take A Bow were omitted. Still, they managed to satisfy most of their fans as they didn't neglect old crowd-pleasers like Plug In Baby, Hysteria, Knights Of Cydonia and of course Starlight.

While I still like the Black Holes album more than The Resistance, I must say that hearing the new songs live makes me appreciate them more. And I was quite surprised they performed Exogenesis. I thought it would be impossible to perform without a string section on tour, but never underestimate MUSE.

In fact, they often sounded bigger than they really were. Besides the three of them, they had a backing keyboard/guitarist on stage, and it is hard to believe the four of them could create such a wall of sound. They must have pre-programmed some stuff. But the musicianship of the individual members were astonishing.

Matt is truly a wonderful guitarist and it was evident during the occasions he had solos. It would have been great to see him do the Invincible solo. And he plays the piano well too. Pity he didn't do the Chopin outro on United States Of Eurasia.

Chris' bass is crazy. His basslines on songs like Hysteria are out of this world, and he's really tight. And Dom is a wonder to watch, mainly because he's so skinny and yet he can play so hard and be so precise. He's funny too.

I am hesitant to compare MUSE's gig to Green Day's because they're quite different in nature. I enjoyed both tremendously, but I think Green Day scored higher in terms of overall enjoyment and feelingness of "high". It's because Green Day were much more interactive, gimmicky and their songs were just so fun to sing, shout and jump along to. Whereas MUSE are definitely more talented musicians and their focus is on the music (awesome music). Nonetheless, both were great gigs.

2010 is off to a great start and I think the rest of the acts have a tough time trying to follow. The Killers might have added to a trio of great gigs in the first two months of the year, but unfortunately they had to pull out due to "unforeseen circumstances involving a serious illness of a close family member". I had my tickets for the show and like thousands of others who were anticipating the sold-out gig, I was a tad disappointed that they pulled out two days before the show. Still waiting for my refund.

Anyway, there are many gigs lined up - Kris Allen on 10th Feb, Paramore on 7th March, Kings Of Convenience on 18th & 19th March, Placebo on 18th March, the whole slew of Mosaic Music Festival performers, The Fray on 27th March and possibly more to come. Sounds exciting.

For now, here are my pictures of MUSE from the concert...

52nd Grammy Awards

2010-01-31T00:42:00.002+08:00

It's time for the Grammy Awards again! The 52nd edition will take place on Monday morning, Singapore time. This year, Beyonce leads with 10 nominations, followed closely by Taylor Swift with 8, and the Black Eyed Peas, Maxwell and Kanye West with 6 each.

The overall feeling is that 2009 was the year of the female, with a trio of ladies hogging the limelight and earning the accolades. I'm talking about Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga of course. Due to a quirk in the nomination process, Lady Gaga wasn't eligible for Best New Artist award, otherwise she would have gotten 6 nominations.

The trio are all nominated for the three top categories - Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. And that's where the stiffest competition is taking place. Let's look at the nominees in these three categories.

Album Of The Year

1. Beyonce - I Am...Sasha Fierce

2. The Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D.

3. Lady Gaga - The Fame

4. Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey And the GrooGrux King

5. Taylor Swift - Fearless

Record Of The Year

1. Beyonce - Halo

2. The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

3. Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody

4. Lady Gaga - Poker Face

5. Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me

Song Of The Year

1. Lady Gaga - Poker Face

2. Maxwell - Pretty Wings

3. Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

4. Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody

5. Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me

I gotta feeling the Grammy folks are going to split the awards and give them one each. And it's going to be Taylor Swift for Album, Gaga for Record and Beyonce for Song. Sorry BEP! As much as I love I Gotta Feeling, you have no chance against these (single) ladies.

I think if Single Ladies was nominated for Record Of The Year, Beyonce might have stood a good chance to clinch it from Gaga. And I thought it should be the other way round - Single Ladies for Record Of The Year and Halo for Song Of The Year, which after all, is a song writer's award, and Halo is a beautifully-written song, co-penned by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic.

Awards aside, I'm quite looking forward to the show, as there will be a Michael Jackson tribute (again)! Celine Dion, Usher, Smokey Robinson, Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood will be singing, together with the voice of MJ, along to Earth Song. Not sure how it works yet, but they will be accompanied by the full Earth Song clip in the background.

This clip was specially shot for MJ's This Is It London concerts, that sadly the world never got to see. However, we already saw quite a big chunk of it during the This Is It movie already, so I'm not sure how much different or special it will be. But the interesting thing is, it will be broadcast in 3-D in the US, the first time a major awards show broadcasts in 3-D. Trust MJ to continue to set milestones even in death.

Since last Sunday, Target stores in the US have been giving out free Grammy 3-D glasses, so viewers can put them on during this special segment to watch the clip in 3-D form. Super cool. Too bad we don't get these free 3-D glasses here. However, our viewing experience will not be affected even if we don't have the glasses.

The other exciting thing is that MJ's two eldest children, Prince and Paris, will be accepting the posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for their father, but this will take place on Saturday, not on the main show. It will be aired on Sunday's telecast.

It will be interesting to see them on stage and accepting the honour for their dad. On one hand, I'm a little worried that they're being put in the spotlight again, at such a young age. And on the other hand, I think it's great that they can see first hand the appreciation the world has for their dad, to experience the legacy. They should be making a statement of some sort. Hope they do well.

Music's biggest night is just slightly more than a day away. Hope it's an exciting show this year!

Green Day - Live In Singapore Concert Review

2010-01-16T01:15:00.012+08:00

Who: Green Day

What: 21st Century Breakdown Tour

When: 14th January 2010, 8pm / 23rd October 2009, 6:30pm

Where: Singapore Indoor Stadium / The O2 Arena, London

SINGAPORE Setlist (courtesy of setlist.fm)

1. Song Of The Century (Intro)

2. 21st Century Breakdown

3. Know Your Enemy

4. East Jesus Nowhere

5. Holiday

6. The Static Age

7. Give Me Novocaine

8. Are We The Waiting

9. St. Jimmy

10. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

11. Burnout

12. Hitchin' A Ride

13. Welcome To Paradise

14. When I Come Around

15. Iron Man/Paranoid/Highway To Hell (covers)

16. Brain Stew

17. Jaded

18. Longview

19. Basket Case

20. She

21. King For A Day/Shout/Love Me Tender/Satisfaction/Hey Jude

22. 21 Guns

23. Minority

Encore

24. American Idiot

25. Jesus Of Suburbia

(Billie Joe Armstrong solo on acoustic guitar)

26. Last Night On Earth

27. Wake Me Up When September Ends

28. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)

LONDON setlist

1. Song Of The Century (Intro)

2. 21st Century Breakdown

3. Know Your Enemy

4. East Jesus Nowhere

5. Holiday

6. The Static Age

7. Before The Lobotomy

8. Are We The Waiting

9. St. Jimmy

10. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

11. 2000 Light Years Away/Maria

12. Hitchin' A Ride

13. Welcome To Paradise

14. When I Come Around

15. Iron Man/Crazy Train

16. Brain Stew

17. Jaded

18. Longview

19. Basket Case

20. She

21. King For A Day/Shout/I Fought The Law/Teenage Kicks/Break On Through (To The Other Side)/I'll Be There/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

22. 21 Guns

23. Minority

Encore

24. American Idiot

25. Jesus Of Suburbia

(Billie Joe Armstrong solo on acoustic guitar)

26. Last Night On Earth

27. Wake Me Up When September Ends

28. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)

21 years after releasing their debut EP, Green Day finally made it to Singapore, performing to a capacity crowd of 10,500 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Thursday night. It would have been perfect if the concert was held on Friday instead, as the party would have lasted all night long and continued in the pubs, with people recounting their favourite moments from the concert.

I had the good fortune of watching the band twice in the space of 3 months, first in London then again on home soil. And I must say the second time was even better!

The concert started punctually at 8pm, with opening act Prima Donna taking the stage in front of an enthusiastic and appreciative audience, even though they were clearly rooting for Green Day.

At about 8:50pm, a pink bunny sauntered up on stage, clutching 2 bottles of beer and appearing "intoxicated". He/It jiggled to the music and also ran down the aisle at the floor, giving high fives to the mostly young fans who were at the front of the barricade.

And by 9pm, the opening strains of Song Of The Century streamed through the PA, the lights went out and the audience went wild. One by one, the band members ran up on stage and took up their instruments before launching into 21st Century Breakdown.

It proved to be too much for the barricades on the left side of the stage as part of it literally suffered a breakdown and buckled under pressure. Seeing this, Billie Joe immediately stopped the music halfway before the incident turned into something nasty and people got hurt. He told the audience that he wanted us to enjoy the concert, but to also do it safely. The security got it fixed within three minutes and the music resumed.

And the band played on for a solid 2 hours before taking a short break after Minority. As the audience chanted for an encore, they got more than what they asked for and were treated to another five songs, extending the set to 11:30pm.

As a testament to the band's longevity, they were able to perform 15 songs from their last two albums (21st Century Breakdown and American Idiot), enough to be a concert in its own right, AND play another 13 songs from the earlier albums.

As a result, you had two groups of audiences that night - the younger, teenagers who started out with American Idiot, and the older fans who liked Green Day since the beginning of their career. The band recognised this and structured their setlist to cater to both groups of fans. They started with 10 songs from the two most recent albums before going to the older stuff midway, and ending with the new stuff again.

However, there was never a dull moment as the showmanship of frontman Billie Joe took the spotlight, left, right and centre. At 37 years old, he was still a bundle of energy, running up and down the stage, jumping all over, shooting Super Soakers, toilet roll and T-shirt cannons into the audience, who were only too happy to lap it up. He also pulled up several members from the audience to share the microphone with him, and persuaded them to stage dive to the mosh pit in front. Hell, he even mooned the audience at the end of Jaded!

I was especially proud of the green-haired mohawk guy who got up and sang Longview entirely. He knew all the words, was in tune and never missed a cue. He had pretty good showmanship too. Finally, someone to do Singapore proud! Compare this to the London show, where Billie Joe actually asked the fan to get off because he didn't know the words to the song, and had to find another fan to replace him. You rock, green-haired Mohawk guy!

It's hard to pick a favourite moment from the concert because there were so many. I particularly enjoyed When I Come Around and Basket Case because they were the songs that got me into Green Day in the first place. Jesus Of Suburbia was pretty damn solid too. And of course, when the whole stadium sang along to Wake Me Up When September Ends and Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), you couldn't help but feel super high too.

The Singapore show is now one of my top 3 favourite concerts of all time, right behind Foo Fighters in Perth 2008 and The Cranberries/No Doubt in Singapore 2002. I enjoyed the Singapore concert much more than the London one, and I think it's because I was in the standing pit in Singapore, with my equally Green Day-crazy friend, while I was in the seated section in London and the people around me were not as crazy or jumpy.

However, the London show was much more impressive in terms of backdrop and pyrotechnics. They brought all the bells and whistles to London, with several large LED displays that could put up all sorts of cool graphics and backdrops. They also had real fire pyrotechnics on stage, so during songs like Know Your Enemy, they really brought the song to another level. But in terms of atmosphere or residue feeling of "high-ness", Singapore's show was way better. Like I said, Singapore rocks!

Here are some pics I took from the Singapore concert. Contrast the backdrop against the London pics!

And here are some pics from the London concert, some of them courtesy of my dear friend Jasper, who had a much better camera than me!

The O2 Arena, formerly the Millennium Dome

It was especially poignant for me knowing MJ would have performed there had he not died

"Drunk" bunny goes on stage

Before The Lobotomy...wish they had performed this in Singapore too

Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Those are real fireballs!

The saxophonist wore a red MJ Thriller jacket and glittery Billie Jean socks.

He later weaved the Billie Jean chorus into his sax solo

21 Guns...the visuals from the music video were projected on the screen, very cool

Green Day rocks! Can't wait for the next album and tour!

Year In Review: Top Songs, Albums & Concerts Of 2009

2010-01-01T00:19:00.005+08:00

It's time for my annual list of songs and albums that rocked my iPod this year! But before that, let's take a quick look at the year in music. In short, the three words that can be used to sum up this year are: "dance", "feel-good" and "female".

This year saw the rise of female electro dance pop, with the emergence of Lady Gaga, La Roux, Pixie Lott, Little Boots and other female powerhouses like Katy Perry, Lily Allen, Leona Lewis, Britney and Beyonce continuing to dominate the airwaves.

Even the non-solo females got in the act - Black Eyed Peas produced an album of dancefloor fillers, and David Guetta assembled an all-star cast to round up his most mainstream party album. Legends like Madonna and Janet also adopted a more contemporary sound - straight out dance tunes with catchy melodies.

While dance flourished, rock took a step back from the limelight. U2's No Line On The Horizon came and quickly disappeared with barely a whimper (even though it has been chosen as Rolling Stone magazine's album and single of the year). Green Day's magnificent follow-up to American Idiot was also critically-lauded but quickly forgotten.

While it's true Lady Gaga is just about everyone's artist of the year, it's somewhat surprising none of her songs made it to my list. I've watched her in concert and her performance on the VMAs, and my conclusion is: she's trying too hard. Gotta learn from Maddy, it's an acquired skill to be "edgy" and "controversial" without appearing to do so.

I've always liked Kanye West, but what he did on the VMAs was just not classy. While it's true Beyonce probably has one of the best videos ever, it's still not gentlemanly to take the moment away from Miss Fearless, which she thoroughly deserved. The VMAs were never about the best videos anyway, it's a popularity contest (just think of how TLC's Waterfalls beat MJ/Janet'sScream for Best Video in 1995).

Speaking of the VMAs, this year's edition is probably the best in about 8 years. Of course, a large part of it was because of MJ's passing, which resulted in the world premiere of the This Is Ittrailer, the Queen of Pop paying tribute to the King of Pop with a lengthy but moving speech, an excellent dance tribute (the only blemish was the dancer who couldn't go all the way down to 45 degrees for the Smooth Criminal lean), and most of all, little sister Janet ruling the stage with a fierce and angry performance of Scream. She even got to dance "with" Michael as he was digitally erased from the video. This has got to be the best MJ performance ever, and ironically, it does not feature him in it. And Beyonce put on a helluva performance too.

2009 will forever be remembered as the year that MJ died. But as the outpouring of love that followed showed, the man might have left us physically, but his legacy and music lives forever. I feel happy that he is getting the recognition he deserves now, and more people are exposed to his genius rather than his eccentricities. In a way, I feel vindicated too, that my friends finally understand my obsession over him. And I'm happy to say I've been a fan for 15 years now.

So This Is It, the final curtain call. Here's my list of favourite songs and albums of 2009.

TOP 25 SONGS OF 2009

1. I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas

2. When Love Takes Over - David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland

3. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce

4. Thinking Of You - Katy Perry

5. Shattered - O.A.R.

6. Fuck You - Lily Allen

7. I Will Be - Leona Lewis

8. ¡Viva La Gloria! - Green Day

9. Lost - Katy Perry

10. The Climb - Miley Cyrus

11. Halo - Beyonce

12. Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas

13. Rock That Body - Black Eyed Peas

14. Sexy Bitch - David Guetta featuring Akon

15. Haven't Met You Yet - Michael Buble

16. Already Gone - Kelly Clarkson

17. You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

18. Elephants - Rachael Yamagata

19. Chasing Pirates - Norah Jones

20. Second Chance - Shinedown

21. Brick By Boring Brick - Paramore

22. Celebration - Madonna

23. Why I Am - Dave Matthews Band

24. Million Dollar Bill - Whitney Houston

25. Make Me - Janet Jackson

Honourable Mention

This Is It - Michael Jackson

TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2009

1. 21st Century Breakdown - Green Day

2. One Love - David Guetta

3. It's Not Me, It's You - Lily Allen

4. The Resistance - Muse

5. I Am...Sasha Fierce - Beyonce

Honourable Mentions

Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King - Dave Matthews Band

Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart - Rachael Yamagata

(500) Days Of Summer - OST

TOP 5 CONCERTS OF 2009

1. Coldplay - Singapore Indoor Stadium

2. Green Day - O2 Arena, London

3. Jason Mraz - Singapore Indoor Stadium

4. Rachael Yamagata - Esplanade Concert Hall

5. Craig David - ZIRCA

Other concerts I caught this year

- Kaiser Chiefs

- Nine Inch Nails

- Oasis

- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

- Michael Learns To Rock

- Guy Manoukian

- Earth, Wind & Fire

- Linkin Park (Macau)

- Lady Gaga (Macau)

Rarities #38: Madonna - Celebration Pop Up Promo Box (2009)

2009-11-15T22:15:00.003+08:00

If you didn't know by now, Madonna has released her third greatest hits album, and it is her last album under Warner. She will be moving on to Live Nation next.

Celebration follows The Immaculate Collection (1990) and GHV2 (2001). There's a 1CD version and a 2 CD version. The 2CD versions contains 36 songs, with 2 new songs - the title track and Revolver featuring Lil' Wayne. It is the first time all of Madonna's greatest hits are compiled in one album, so it's been billed as the Ultimate Collection. Rightly so.

Also, there's the DVD album to accompany the CD release. The 2DVD album is titled Celebration: The Video Collection, and it has 47 videos, including the latest one for Celebration, but it's the Benny Benassi Remix of the song. It's pretty cool.

The most glaring omission on the DVD is American Life. The video caused quite a stir when it was originally released because of its anti-war message, just as the US was about to go to war with Iraq. It was shown on a few channels for just one day before Madonna yanked it and replaced it with a tamer version, where she is filmed in front of a backdrop of different flags of the world. However, not even the revised version made it to this DVD.

Needless to say, both the CD and DVD albums are essential to any music collection, and what's more the tracks on the CD have been digitally remastered, so they sound better than ever. I didn't really like Celebration the first time I heard it, but it sure grew on me. The spoken segment in the middle is classic Madonna ("I don't recognise you with your clothes on"). The Benny Benassi Remix is darn good too.

The pop up box is a promo item and it's super rare. It houses the 2CDs and 2DVDs in a pizza box with a magnetic clasp. The pop up images represent the different iconic looks Madonna had adopted over the years. She's not the Queen Of Pop for nothing.

Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits or Best Of?

2009-11-08T19:51:00.003+08:00

I think I've finally found out what's the difference between a "greatest hits" and "best of" album. For the former, a song would have to be a "hit" in order to substantiate its inclusion, and that is usually determined by chart action - whether it was #1 or Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 or Modern Rock or whatever chart.

On the other hand, the songs on a "best of" album might not technically have been "hits" in the chart performance sense, or they might not even have been released as singles due to a myriad of reasons (e.g. no budget to shoot an accompanying video, record label decision etc), but they are generally considered the artist's best work - by the fans/critics/the artists themselves.

More often than not, the best songs do get released as singles, and if they're that good, they usually become hits. So there's usually not much difference between calling an album a "greatest hits" or "best of" album. But sometimes, there's a disconnect.

I thought I'd use Foo Fighters' latest Greatest Hits album as an example of this observation, but upon closer inspection, I realised that it's not a very good example.

The tracklist contains 16 songs, 13 old songs plus two new songs (Wheels and Word Forward) and one acoustic version of Everlong (finally!). Back in August, I came up with my wishlist of the tracklist, where I chose 14 old songs to accompany the two new tracks. The three songs that didn't make it are I'll Stick Around, Walking After You and Let It Die. I personally feel that those three songs are among their best work and it's a real pity they aren't included.

Looking at the chart performance of the selected 13 songs, they do qualify as "hits", since they all hit Top 10. The only exception is Skin And Bones, which was probably chosen because they wanted each album to be represented. I used the Billboard Modern Rock Chart as a barometer of chart performance.

1. All My Life (#1, 10 weeks)

2. Best Of You (#1, 7 weeks)

3. Everlong (#3)

4. The Pretender (#1, 18 weeks)

5. My Hero (#6)

6. Learn To Fly (#1, 1 week)

7. Times Like These (#5)

8. Monkey Wrench (#9)

9. Big Me (#3)

10. Breakout (#8)

11. Long Road To Ruin (#1, 7 weeks)

12. This Is A Call (#2)

13. Skin And Bones (did not chart)

The "hits" that did not make it are:

- I'll Stick Around (#8)

- DOA (#1, 6 weeks)

- No Way Back (#2)

- Let It Die (#1, 1 week)

So it seems not all the hits were given fair treatment and not all of them made it. Thus, my theory of the difference between a "greatest hits" and "best of" album doesn't stand. Well...

But the deluxe edition of the album comes with a bonus DVD that includes 17 music videos (including the new Wheels video), four live performances and a bonus music video for No Way Back. So in a way, they're trying to compensate for the exclusion of those tracks by putting the video in. But there's still no Let It Die though.

To celebrate the release of Greatest Hits, here's all the CD albums, singles DVDs and vinyls I own. Many of the singles were purchased overseas, especially the earlier singles. I haven't got the Greatest Hits album yet (gasp!), but I will get it soon.

Janet Is Back...For Real

2009-11-07T23:29:00.003+08:00

Janet Jackson is on the verge of yet another "comeback". Ever since the Superbowl incident, every project she has been involved with has been labelled as a "comeback" - the 20 Y.O. and Discipline albums, and the ill-fated Rock Witchu Tour. Now, I hope it's for real.

The truth is, she has never been away. In between those two albums, she also found time to act in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, which earned her considerable praise. Discipline became her sixth number one album and she pleased her fans by fulfilling her promise of a tour, albeit a short one.

Now, on the back of what was supposed to have been a great "comeback" by brother Michael himself, Janet finds herself carrying on the torch of the family. As the world has seen from the This Is It movie, it would have been a remarkable comeback for Michael, so let's hope Janet's "comeback" will be equally impressive.

It began with Janet's tribute to MJ during the VMAs. The performance was an important one. It was the first time she ever performed Scream "live" with MJ, and she reminded everyone that she looked as good as ever and she could tear down the stage just like MJ did. That nobody does VMA performances like the Jacksons do.

That same night, her newly-revamped website offered free streaming of a new track, Make Me. At that time, it wasn't known whether it would be the lead single from a new album. But it was later revealed that it will be included in her upcoming greatest hits album.

The song is produced by Rodney Jerkins, who was the chief producer on MJ's Invincible album. Jerkins had previously worked with Janet on four tracks from Discipline, and I thought they were among the best tunes from the album. Jerkins also recently revealed to MTV that he's working on Janet's new album, due to be released next year.

Perhaps due to MJ's passing and Jerkins' involvment, Make Me has more than a touch of MJ in it. The chorus references MJ's Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, with the line "Don't stop it baby, don't stop 'til you get it up". (I'm sure you know what the "it" means when she says "get it up". It's sooo Janet.)

The music also features a lot of percussion like in MJ's original. Janet and brother Randy played percussion on the demo for MJ's song. You can hear the demo on the 2001 reissue of Off The Wall.

Make Me also has Janet doing a lot of vocal hiccups and panting breaths, just like how MJ used to do all the time. It's a fitting tribute to her brother, and I really hope it does well.

Billboard has just reviewed the single, calling it "her most appealing and high-energy track since the 2001 All For You...", and it "isn't just Jackson's best dance song in years - it's a hit that would make her brother proud". I totally agree. It's been a long time since we had such strong vocals from Janet.

A fan from JanetXone has pointed out that Make Me samples an old song by Fonzi Thornton called I Work For A Livin'. Janet has always sampled other people's songs and while some would say it's lazy, I think it's even harder to live up to expectations when you're using something that has been done before, especially if it's famous. How do you put a new spin on it to make it even better than the original?

You can listen to the 2 songs here:

Janet was also working on the sequel to Why Did I Get Married? and she was halfway through filming when the news of MJ's passing broke. She flew back to LA to be with the family but returned to the set to continue filming so as not to hold up production.

The sequel is called Why Did I Get Married Too? and it will open in the US on April 2nd next year. Lionsgate just released the teaser trailer and Janet looks pretty intense in it.

The original film wasn't released in Singapore but I managed to get the DVD from overseas. It was quite enjoyable and I thought Janet did a good job. I doubt they will release the sequel here too. We shall see.

It will be a busy end of year for Janet, as she goes into promotion mode to support the release of Number Ones. She has a few high-profile events booked and her diary looks like this:

17 Nov: Release of Number Ones in the US

18 Nov: ABC prime-time interview with Janet at her Malibu home

22 Nov: Rumoured performance at the American Music Awards

6 Dec: Rumoured performance on X-Factor semi-finals, where she will be a mentor as well

6 Dec: Performance at the Jingle Bell Ball in London

The ABC interview is her first since MJ's passing and it will be the first time she has allowed cameras into her Malibu home. Needless to say, it will be a huge event because she is the most credible Jackson left and people will be interested to hear what she says. Nobody really gives a hoot about what LaToya, Jermaine or worse still, Joe, says.

I'm sure Janet is doing this for the right reasons and she's not exploiting the memory of her brother. Of course, the interview is timed with the release of the album, but I'm confident Janet will not say anything just to sensationalise the media. I hope it will be an intimate interview and reveal a different side of Janet that most people don't get to see.

Coming back to Number Ones, it is her second greatest hits album, 14 years since Design Of A Decade. Internationally, the album will be called Janet Jackson: The Best. Doesn't make much difference to me.

It will be a 2CD set with 34 songs including Make Me, the only new song. The songs here have all supposedly made it to number one somewhere around the world, hence the title. Unlike DOAD, they're arranged in chronological order.

While DOAD contained primarily songs from the A&M years (with the exception of 2 songs from the janet. album) and 2 new songs (Runaway and Twenty Foreplay), Number Ones contains Janet's A&M, Virgin and Island Def Jam years, but not containing any cuts from her two pre-Control albums.

All of the songs from DOAD are here, except Twenty Foreplay, which wasn't a major hit anyway. But there's more here on Number Ones. It also includes a few collaborations that were not included on Janet's albums.

Diamonds is a song by Herp Albert featuring vocals by Janet and Lisa Keith, and it is taken from Herp's 1987 Keep Your Eye On Me album. The Cool Summer Mix Edit of this song was included in the bonus disc of the limited edition version of DOAD, but otherwise, it has never appeared on a Janet album before.

What's It Gonna Be?! is a 1999 single by Busta Rhymes featuring Janet. It had an expensive music video directed by Hype Williams (who later shot Janet's equally expensive Call On Me video). It hit #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and Hot Rap Tracks charts, and was nominated for four MTV VMAs.

Then there's Scream, her only duet with MJ, taken from the HIStory album. The video remains one of my favourite of all time, and I'm so glad that the song is on this album.

It's a pretty comprehensive package choke full of hits with no filler, and it's a testament to Janet's legacy as a hitmaker throughout the past 2 decades. It would have been perfect if there was a deluxe version of the album with the 2CDs plus a DVD of all the music videos. Nevertheless, it's still a fantastic collection.

Here's the tracklist in full:

Disc 1

1. What Have You Done For Me Lately

2. Nasty

3. When I Think Of You

4. Control

5. Let's Wait A While

6. The Pleasure Principle

7. Diamonds [with Herp Albert]

8. Miss You Much

9. Rhythm Nation

10. Escapade

11. Alright

12. Come Back To Me

13. Black Cat

14. Love Will Never Do (Without You)

15. The Best Things In Life Are Free [with Luther Vandross]

16. That's The Way Love Goes

Disc 2

1. If

2. Again

3. Because Of Love

4. Any Time, Any Place

5. Scream [with Michael Jackson]

6. Runaway

7. Got 'Til It's Gone [featuring Q-Tip]

8. Together Again

9. I Get Lonely

10. Go Deep

11. What's It Gonna Be?! [with Busta Rhymes]

12. Doesn't Really Matter

13. All For You

14. Someone To Call My Lover

15. All Nite (Don't Stop)

16. Call On Me

17. Feedback

18. Make Me