Alright, I’ll admit it. I’m a rock concert virgin. And that’s why the Anberlin and Copeland concert on Sun, Jun 3, was such an unforgettable experience for me.

The indie rock musical affair was brought to us by Wake Me Up Music (WMUM), a local music label, as part of their 3-part series of concerts to promote indie music in Singapore.

According to WMUM director Jonathan Hemsley, the label felt they could “raise the standards in the Singapore music scene by bringing in popular indie acts and placing [their] artists on the same stage [when they open the show for them]”,

And certainly raise the standard it did. The response was overwhelming, especially with the 800-strong turnout at The Glass Pavilion, Far East Square that
evening. Most of these indie lovers were dressed to the nines for the occasion, with many decked out in skinny pants. I saw black skinnies everywhere I turned. Guess it must be some unspoken dress code that all indie rock concert goers must follow.

The night officially kicked off at 6.45pm when local act, The Fire Fight, opened the concert with their energetic performances. With the guitarist jumping around the stage, and the lead singer taunting the audience with questions like, “Have your feet start moving yet?” the crowd responded and started clapping along and bobbing their heads.

4 songs later, it was time for The Fire Fight to leave the stage with Vertical Rush replacing them. The emcee took the stage while they were setting up, and started to ask the crowd to scream. I was surprised that the glass walls and roof of the pavilion didn’t crack thanks in part to the audience’s ear-splitting high pitched screams.

Vertical Rush began their show by dedicating their first song “selah” (which stands for stop and listen in Hebrew), to the late Wayne Seah, who was a great contributor to the music scene in Singapore. The song started a capella, with the lead singer asking the audience to sing along if they knew the lyrics.

There was an emotional vibe to the song with each member of the band looked engrossed in the music. Especially the drummer with his epileptic movements when hitting the drum set, I was quite positive that he was being “possessed”. This performance certainly sent a chill down my spine.

The rest of Vertical Rush’s performance was completely different. The quintet soon turned energetic and rocked the stage which really got the crowd going. By that time, I was starting to tap my feet along with the music too.

By 7.30pm, Vertical Rush had ended their set and was replaced by Marchtwelve.

Consisting of female lead singer, Dewi-Marie Vincoy, Marchtwelve certainly brought a refreshing change from the all-boy line-ups.

Vincoy, certainly didn’t mince her words in expressing her anxiety about opening for Anberlin and Copeland, “F*** lah, damn nervous right now!” which caught me by surprise (hey,this was after all, my first rock concert!), good thing there weren’t any conservative parents there.

8.40pm. The Pavilion was buzzing with excitement as the crowd grew in anticipation for what they’d paid good money to see. But just before their impending arrival, there was a minute of silence in honour of the late Wayne Seah. And as the decibels dropped to zero, I suddenly realised how loud it had been previously.

Alas, the peace and tranquility didn’t last long. After the minute of silence, the crowd began gathering their excitement once again. Once Copeland came onstage, it was as though the accumulated energy exploded as everyone started to scream.

Copeland’s set started with the rhythmic “Testing The Strong Ones” which left the audience swaying as though intoxicated by the instrumentals and Aaron Marsh’s soothing voice.

Copeland’s arrival had audiences whipping out their cameras and camera phones in order to try and capture the magical moment. In between songs, there were also a few “I love you Aarons”, as the audience members declared their admiration for the band’s lead singer. He responded by thanking the crowd and saying how much they loved performing in Singapore.

But it was the rich sounds of the last song “You Have My Attention” that really got my attention. It started out slow, with smooth vocals, and then went mid-tempo with careful guitar pitching, harmoniously combining all the sounds into one awesome piece of music. Copeland ended their song with Marsh stretching the last note of the song to the maximum.

And as Copeland exited, the crowd started chanting for the other half of the event’s main draw, “Anberlin! Anberlin! Anberlin!”

At 9.55pm, the crowd finally got what they’d been waiting for, as Anberlin literally ran up onto the stage. And as expected, everyone screamed again, but this time, louder than ever. The band soon began with a high-powered performance of “A Whisper & A Clamour”.

The charismatic lead singer, Stephen Christian, as though trying to stamp his massive stage presence, kept running around the stage, swinging the microphone cord and catching it. The crowd literally went crazy with his showmanship and everyone started jumping, pumping the ‘Devil’s Horn’ sign in the air and even started moshing!

The crowd looked like a school of sardines, squeezing, pushing and moved in a wave-like motion. It got so rowdy that the concert crew had to hold on to the barrier in front of the stage to prevent it from collapsing.

Anberlin gave a really dynamic performance, jumping around the stage like a bunch of hyperactive kids. They were moving so quickly that even my camera wasn’t able to take a clear shot of them, especially from afar. Hence, I had to go nearer to the barrier in order to take better shots.

Now, standing right in front of the stage when Anberlin was performing wasn’t exactly a very good idea. Unless of course, you wished to be doused by sweat from their sweat-drenched hair as they head-banged. Nonetheless, I’d dare bet many die-hard fans would willing pay good money to be where I was standing.

11pm, and after 2 encore performances by Anberlin, the crowd was satiated for the night. And as the crowd started dispersing and queuing up for the meet-and-greet session with the band members, I begin suspecting that I had gone deaf as the whole arena was certainly quiet without the music.

All in all, an audience member, Intah, 18, summed it up best, “It was well worth the 60 bucks’ ticket price!”