StereophonicsThe heatwave we’ve been experiencing didn’t stop die-hard Stereophonics fans from squeezing and pushing in the 5,000-strong crowd at Fort Canning Park to cheer their idols on and rock the night away as the 3-piece Welsh band made their debut appearance in Singapore on Apr 28.

As with most concerts, the audience had plenty of waiting to do. But the event’s organisers, LAMC Productions, lessened the bore by inviting The Great Spy Experiment to entertain the early birds with a short pre-concert performance which lasted less than an hour.

Concert hosts radio DJs Shan and Ros from 987FM played games with the audience, giving away movie tickets and Samsung mobile phones making the wait a worthwhile one.

The Concert Begins

Stereophonics

Just when the crowd’s energy levels began soaring, the long-awaited Stereophonics took over the stage and got everyone’s adrenaline pumping with the concert’s first number, “Bank Holiday Monday”, which was incidentally first track from their latest album Pull The Pinthat was played on BBC Radio 1 last year.

As Kelly Jones, the vocalist and guitarist, belted out smashing tunes like “Trees”, “Superman”, “Doorman” and “It Means Nothing”, people became enraptured with his husky, deep voice and became rather excited.

StereophonicsThe band wasn’t the only entertainment that evening, the boisterous crowd, which was mostly Caucasian, kept UrbanWire amused with its antics. Some, who seemed to be the band’s countrymen, pushed their way through to the front with flag of Wales flying high with pride.

Mosh pits were formed almost everywhere. Groups of revellers were jumping, clapping, singing along and knocking into each other, having the time of their lives. If it were your first time at a performance like this, you might be slightly annoyed with those around you, with tipsy people sloshing beer from their cans onto your arms and excited teens shoving you around while trying to get a better view of Stereophonics.

As The Excitement Dies Down

StereophonicsAlmost as if on cue to calm the crowd down, Stereophonics began singing slower pieces like “Traffic”, one of the ballads from their first album Word Gets Around. As the concert came to an end with “Local Boy”, the crowd didn’t seem to want to let their idols off so easily.

To the roars of “Encore!”, Kelly came back on stage with his guitar, giving a very special rendition of the acoustic version of “Maybe Tomorrow”, which was followed with “Dakota” much to the appreciation of the crowd.

As Kelly sang the last note of “Dakota”, the concert drew to a close. While Stereophonics continues their tour in Australia, all we can do is seek solace in listening to their albums and praying that they’ll come back soon.

Photos by Muhammad Farhat Kamal