Date: 28 February 2012
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium
OH MY GOD!
IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO TYPE THIS POST ALL IN CAPS BECAUSE I’M STILL SO EXCITED ABOUT IT, I CAN FEEL MY HEART BEATING REALLY REALLY FAST.
Anyway, I heard about this concert over a month ago and was almost jumping at the Sistic counter. a1? In Singapore? OMG! Blue? In Singapore? OMG! 98 Degrees? OMG! And I proceeded to get tickets and it was only on the night itself that I saw how near I was to the stage! BEST SEATS EVER. BEST NIGHT EVER.
Plus, this tour was like a three day event in Singapore.
DAY 1: MEET AND GREET AT KATONG 112
I bet Katong 112 had one of its largest turnouts that evening. Quite a large crowd gathered to see the guys, who had just flew over from Indonesia, for a quick meet and greet session. Only 50 people got the autographed poster. Oh, how I envy the unemployed population. But it was really good enough to see the guys in the flesh, I mean, it’s the nearest I’ve been and I’m like screaming in the mall! It’s like I’m back at age 13, with so much energy and excitement for everything.
The guys of a1 came out at around 8PM. First out, CHRISTIAN! Then BEN! Then MARK! OMG, they still look so youthful! To think I was thinking of saving all my screaming for concert night; the moment they came out, that thought was gone. Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees came out next and more screaming ensued. Later, Blue came out – DUNCAN! ANTONY! LEE! SIMON! OMG, they’re all so buffed in real life, it’s so unreal but you know it’s real!
One thing I liked about social media is Twitter. The guys were all crazy tweeting and when faced with fans like us, they snap pictures of us, of course. It’s always been us who’ve been crazily snapping, now it’s their turn. And when they tweet, as a fan, you retweet. Ahh, the circle of (digital) life.
And the crowd went crazy when Ben teased with “Like A Rose” and Blue did “All Rise” acapella-style. It ended really soon but at least we all had the concert to look forward to. Just when you thought the night was over, you see a white van and start screaming/snapping/waving at the same time.
DAY 2: CONCERT DAY
FINALLY! AT LONG LAST!
The most awesome concert prep ever.
Reached about an hour earlier hoping to catch the white van but we heard the guys having their soundcheck. Nearly died outside when I heard a1 singing bits of “Everytime”, “Living the Dream” and “One More Try”.
CHRISTIAN on “One Last Try”!
I was really, really near the stage!
It was really sad that there weren’t any concert merchandise – no t-shirts, CDs, posters or badges. I don’t usually buy badges, but if that was the only thing on sale, I would definitely get it.
The concert started slightly past 8.30PM and it’s Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees! He opened with “Because of You”. He really went all over the place, jumped over barricades and onto the boom boxes. He even engaged the crowd to cheer for a1 and Blue, which was really nice! Then just as he started to sing “I Do (Cherish You)”, the music went off and he tried to salvage the situation by singing acapella – which was really nice, by the way – and also serenade a girl at the same time. But the music was really bad, and even he had to stop. He promised he would be back and we were all left in the dark after boo-ing at the stadium.
Even though he’s performing without the other three members of 98 Degrees, it was a really brave effort on his part cos I would think that he would feel much more at ease performing as a full group. But nonetheless, he really did a great job and the sound system had to pick on him. Tsk!
//sidenote 1: To the Singapore Indoor Stadium – I think you really crammed too many concerts in the month of February. One weekend of Super Junior, then Mayday and Evanescence the night before? No wonder the sound system was overworked.
And finally, just past 9PM, my all-time favourite boyband came out – a1!
BEN ADAMS! CHRISTIAN INGEBRIGTSEN! MARK READ!
And Christian was standing at my side! OMG! OMG! OMG!
They kicked things off with “Same Old Brand New You” and it’s all really rocked up now that they’ve got a band and more guitars. Ben’s voice is still as angelic as ever, Christian was one of the guitarists and Mark was on keyboards. Then, they did the medley of their hits – my favourite part of their set – (“One More Try”, “Living the Dream, “No More”, “Heaven By Your Side”, “Walking In The Rain”, “One Last Song”). Screamed/sang along when they did “One More Try”/”Living the Dream” back to back!
or here (clearer movements!)
I liked it when they said they stopped dancing and proceeded with the cutest moves ever in “Ready or Not” – everyone was doing the same moves! ABSOLUTE LOVES! And I was really happy when they did “Be The First To Believe” with “Summertime” from their first album – those songs cheer me up everytime!
They covered “Poker Face” and “I Gotta Feeling”, the former was surprisingly fun and upbeat, considering how many covers there are online. Songs from their latest album like “Waiting for Daylight” and “In Love and I Hate It” were performed before they rounded it up with a perfect “Like A Rose” – OMG BEN’S VOICE IS AMAZING!
You treat me like a rose
You give me room to grow
You shone the light of love on me
And gave me air so I can breathe
You open doors that close
In a world where anything goes
You give me strength so I stand tall
Within this bed of Earth
Just like a rose
I’m sooooo glad that a1 got to do a full set among these three artists and I really hope they come back for their own concert soon!
Jeff Timmons returned and performed his solo hits where he went round the stadium and drove security crazy. There was this moment when he was just inches from my face – AHHHH!! His eyes are soooo beautiful!
When he sang “Invisible Man” – OMG you can hear the entire crowd singing along and I really love this aspect of concerts, where everyone is just singing the same words.
I wish you’d look at me that way
Your beautiful eyes looking deep into mine
Telling me more than any words could say
But you don’t even know I’m alive
Baby to you, all I am is the invisible man
Too bad his setlist was marred by the technical glitch, which really dampened moods, and he performed less songs than expected. At least there’s still videos from the Manila and Indonesia concerts.
The final act of the night was Blue!
DUNCAN JAMES! SIMON WEBBE! LEE RYAN! ANTONY COSTA!
or here (Duncan and Lee in your face!)
They appeared in suits and everyone was just swooning! And their dance moves were so smooth and sleek! And Lee turned out to be quite the joker, commenting in between songs! He’s so cute! Duncan’s so hot and his voice is so sexy!
And I can’t breathe easy
I can’t sleep at night
Until you’re by my side
No I can’t breathe easy
I can’t dream yet another dream without you lying next to me
There’s no way
LOVED IT when they did an acapella version of “Best In Me”, one of my all-time favourites ever. I gotta say, Lee, left a deep impression on me and my eardrums especially when they were doing songs from their later albums, like “Breathe Easy” because Lee can really stretch his vocals and his voice is still ringing pleasantly in my mind. That song is now on heavy rotation. And you gotta love what Simon and Antony did at the end of the song.
or here (clearer sound but LQ)
But Blue really brought up the stakes because they even had time for a costume change, which helped with their dancier tracks. All the muscles start to look more prominent and Lee, stop showing everyone your V-line!
The whole thing ended after two hours and to me, it’s the best indoor concert experience ever!
DAY 3: CD SIGNING AT HMV 313
I don’t think I’ve ever reached town at such speed before. My legs were almost jelly when I joined my sister at the long queue for the guys’ autographs.
They were only signing their latest album and security was really strict and I was really pissed/angry/sad that they shuffled me away before I got my booklet back. Now the booklet is in someone else’s hands. But the good thing was I got to shake hands with all of them! All of them have such firm grips and their eyes are just electrifying.
I SHOOK HANDS WITH MARK!
I SHOOK HANDS WITH BEN!!
I SHOOK HANDS WITH CHRISTIAN!!!
//sidenote 2: I think Christian really likes his vest!
//sidenote 3: Every video is a GPOY because mine are full of screaming too!
plum.crazy.jingles 