Thursday, January 28, 2010

"Unveil Your Deepest Song"

I attended Alarice's album launch, "Sunday Afternoon" @ the Esplanade Recital Studio with my Dawnie just now. I'm so glad I went although I've seen her plenty many times before. Usually she plays with an acoustic set-up, but this time she had a string section and a full band: Er Chow Kiat on drums; David on bass; Nigel Tan on electric/acoustic guit; Jocelyn Ong on keys; Neli and Tina Atiga on backing vocals! It was a refreshing experience seeing her play with a full band. Enjoyed their arrangements and how tight they were.

I loved loved loved seeing Neli and Tina up there. They added so much with their harmonies. Neli waved at me from the stage too. Love the guy! And when he came in with his part for "First Dance", his duet with Alarice...you could literally hear the collective 'wow!' from the crowd. Smashing lah! :)

Anyway...coming back to why I'm so glad I went for Alarice's concert. I appreciated how natural and open she was in sharing her faith as well, which inspired her to pen many of her songs. And on top of that, I think I felt moved and inspired by her songs...which is prob something I haven't felt in a long while. Together with her originals, and covers like "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus; "Man in the mirror" by MJ and "Only Hope" by Switchfoot, I felt like I was given a huge dose of hope, and a Disney-esque prompting to dream again. Yeah...something I shared with Dawn that I need in this season.

I guess I really need to find myself again, step out in faith, face my giants and chase after the dreams that I've tucked away in the corner of my heart. This song from Alarice's new album kinda describes my state of mind right now. "Oh, midnight train, take me to lands unknown, show me where I need to go."

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Midnight Train (by Alarice Thio)
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Left her life in the city
Now her home's on her back
So scared yet so unafraid, of the heroes and giants she'll face

She took the midnight train, to a place far away
She packed her things and her dreams in a suitcase
She flew out the door, to follow her call
And as the clock struck 12, she was onboard
Thinking and dreaming as she headed for, headed for the stars

Oh, Midnight Train
Take me to lands unknown, show me where I need to go


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If you missed Alarice's album launch at Esplanade, she has another concert this Sun, 31 Jan.
3pm at Oosh, 22 Dempsey Rd. Ticket details at www.alaricemusic.com

"Sunday Afternoon," her new album, is available at HMV at $14.95. Support local music!! :)

Monday, January 18, 2010

Jon Chong's Gig @ The Esplanade (15-17 Jan)

Last week, I hardly knew how I would survive the wk with 3 rehearsals, 3 nites of gigs, and conducting the choir for Sun svces. Now that the gigs @ the Esplanade are over, I'm honestly quite relieved that I finally have a breather. But it really was a precious experience...every time I gig at the Esplanade is a precious opportunity. It was also great to be able to support Jon in his long anticipated album launch. I was with him when he first started out in his song-writing journey years ago. In fact, back then we were jamming in my room with Danny, and recording on cassette tape!! Haha! How we've grown since then. :)

Through this gig, I met some incredibly talented young musos from La Salle and a very groovy and funny bassist from Every Nation Church. And we had some fun times indeed...am looking forward to more gigs ahead. :)

I was also greatly moved by the show of support from my incredible fwens who came down to 'groupie' me. haha! And some of them even came down 2 nites in a row, although the sets were pretty similar. To be honest, I almost teared when I saw them in the crowd, looking so enthusiastic, cheering me on and even trying to make me laugh with their hilarious antics.

Thank God for the gift of fwenship. :)

Beautiful bkdrop of the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre.


Top row (L-R): Howard on bass, Jon on vox and acoustic guit, Stephen on electric guit
Bottom row (L-R): Naz on keys, Chow Kiat on drums, and me on bking vox