3
years after Suede's Headmusic Asian Tour, I finally get to catch suede live
performance for the second time in Singapore. Many suede fans in Malaysia were not aware of this
private showcase. It was only mentioned in one of our local music magazine and
I was informed by a friend who read the magazine and later on my friends in
Singapore call me up to notify me about the private showcase. I pre-ordered a
copy of suede latest single 'Positivity' from the up coming album 'A New
Morning' and was entitled to a free pass to catch suede private showcase at
MediaCorp Studio 1 Caldecott Broadcast Centre.
It
took me 4 hours bus ride from my hometown in Malaysia to reach Singapore and another 3 hours
wandering around the city before heading to MediaCorp Studio 1. I reached there
sharp at 6pm and meet up with 3 of
my buddies (Ray, Niven and Jett) there that are also suede fans since 1993. We
have to queue up for almost 2 hours before entering the studio, but it was
worthwhile. The queue line stretch from
the parking lot until the entrance gate of MediaCorp Studio. The crowd was
separated into 2 queues, those with green suede button pin pass and blue button
pin pass. Things start to become chaotic when the organizer didn't give the
crowd proper instruction on which floor is the studio located. I can see people
going down and up the stairs and people rushing into the lift without knowing
which floor to go.
It
was almost 8pm and we were still lost
in the building. Fear starts to build inside me and my buddies, we though we
going to miss our chance to catch suede's showcase. In the end finally we
managed to find the studio but we only managed to get the rear seating. Thank
God we managed to find the place before the showcase starts. The first thing
that I notice when I got into the studio was the stage settings. I can see colourful long curtains hanging at
the back of the stage and white lanterns on top of the stage. 2 acoustic guitars and an electric bass
guitar resting on its individual guitar stand, a keyboard and a drum kit. I
guess from the stage settings everyone knows that suede is going to play an
acoustic set that night.
We
were instructed by the MC to switch off our cell phone and no camera flash
during the showcase because they are going to do a recording of the whole
showcase. After the studio has been filled up with suede enthusiasts, the MC
ask the crowd to give suede a warm welcome once we see any of the suede member
come on the stage. Well I guess he don't have to ask us to do that, because I
bet most of they people there that night are suede fans and they have been
waiting for 3 years to catch a glimpse of Brett and the lads in person. They
will definitely give suede a warm welcome even without being prompt to.
The
moment that everyone has been waiting for…Brett walks from the backstage to his
position on the stage and adjust the mic stand. As expected the crowd cheer and
claps their hands welcoming Suede to "the endless Asia." Brett is in a very good form. He looks
"clean" and healthy…in one of his most recent interview he told the interviewer
that he has quit smoking and drinking. I think he's not lying coz I can see muscles tone on his arms and he has
gained some weight on his body…he's no longer the skinny lad that you see in
'Beautiful Ones' mtv. Alex and Richard follows, they grabbed their guitar and sat
on their own tall wooden chair. Brett stands in between Alex and Richard. Alex
was seated on Brett's right hand side while Richard on the left. The 3 lads
were clad in black. Alex and Richard wearing black shirt while Brett in black
body tight t-shirt the same design as the one he wore during 1999 gig at the
Harbour Pavilion. Richard spotting a short hair cut and looks like he gained
some weight too. Alex proved that he's not just simply a replacement for Neil
Codling, but as a member of suede that plays an important role in the band.
He
brought new life into the band with his guitar playing and backing vocals
unlike Neil who is more like a good looking mannequin on display during the
1999 Head Music tour. Alex even played lead guitar on 'Everything Will Flow'. I
guess Richard must very pleased to have a guitar partner in the band.
The
3 of them started the showcase with 'Simon' while Mat Osman and Simon Gilbert
were still at the backstage. The crowd clapped and cheered after every song
that suede played that night. Brett looked very happy throughout the showcase and
he was even in the joking mood. At the beginning of the showcase Brett jokingly
asked "So who's from Singapore here? Wow, there are
many of you here tonight." I wanted to shout out loud "Hey I'm from Malaysia!!!" but I didn't…I bet
it will make me look silly hehehee. Malaysian fans have always been the
underdog... I wonder if suede knows that we exist heehe.
Mat
(dressed in a maroon color shirt and jeans) and Simon (dressed in a white shirt
and jeans) came on stage to join Brett, Richard and Alex for the second song of
the night 'Positivity'. Although this is a new track but the crowd seems to
like the song a lot.
The
crowd went wild when suede starts to play familiar tunes such as Everything
Will Flow and The Wild Ones. These songs sounded great even on an acoustic set.
Suede played another 3 songs from their
up coming album, 'Untitled', 'When The Rain Falls' and 'Oceans'. Right after
'When The Rain Falls' the rest of the band members left the stage to allow
Brett to perform 'Oceans' on acoustic guitar. Brett joked "They are going out
for ciggy coz they are part timers" referring to the other band members. After
delivering a beautiful solo performance on 'Oceans', Brett told the crowd that
suede will play more songs if we cheer hard enough.
The
crowd were still thirsty for Suede tunes and this leads to loud cheering and
hand claps prompting for an encore!!!. Obviously suede won't disappoint their
beloved Asian fans heeheheh… they returned to the stage to deliver another 4
songs for encore. Brett took the mic and said "This is the first time we going
to do this song on acoustic…most probably it will sound like shit"…..rite after
that the band continue the showcase with 'Trash'…yeah we are lucky to get to
see suede perform 'Trash' unplugged!!! This song is no stranger to the
crowd…everyone clapped their hands and sang along to it. Right after 'Trash'
the band continues to rock the night with 'Lazy'…the camera zoom into Simon's
direction during the drum intro to 'Lazy'. We can see Simon were soaking wet
with sweats while bashing the drums from the TV monitor near the place where we
were seated.
After
playing songs from 'Coming Up' album, Brett told the crowd that they going to
play a song that they have not played for quite some time from the album Dog
Man Star. They crowd started screaming and looking at the enthusiasm shown by
the crowd, Brett jokingly said "Our worst album" and the crowd laughed
including me. Unfortunately the showcase has to come to an end after only an
hour coz the lads have a plane to catch. The end the showcase with a beautiful
rendition of 'She's In Fashion' with Alex Lee and Richard Oakes singing
background vocals. Brett prompted the crowd to raise and claps their hands
during the end of the song and sings along to "The sunshine will blow my mind and
the wind blows my brain"….As a consolation to the crowd before they leave the
stage, Brett said they would be back for "a proper concert".
Set
list :
1.
Simon
2.
Positivity
3.
Everything Will Flow
4.
Wild Ones
5.
Untitled (Keyboard
- Alex)
6.
Saturday Night
7.
When The Rain Falls (Keyboard - Richard)
8.
Oceans
(Encore)
9.
Trash
10.
Lazy
11.
The Power
12.
She's In Fashion
(Backing
vocals - Alex Lee & Richard Oakes)
It
was a good experience and I was happy coz I get to meet my fellow suede
fanatics from Singapore, Irah and Ain. I think
MTV should consider giving Suede a slot in MTV Unplugged. I bet Suede will
definitely be among the best band ever to play an acoustic set on MTV. I hope
that the suede team recorded the amazing suede showcase and will make the
recording as a part of freebies given to suede fan club members.
