The Piano Guys: The Concert -- Before, During and After

Part One:

One, two, three......fourteen!

Yup, there I was calling SISTIC up at 10am the second ticket sales opened for The Piano Guys' concert....and wonder of wonders....I got through with absolutely no problems!
The nice lady on the line was able to get me two rows of seven at BE and BF, seats 1 to 7.

After that, it was countdown time to 2 September and closer to the date, I came up with the idea that we ought to do something for the Guys to show our love and appreciation more concretely....and suggested making big cards to hold up from where we would be seated so that they could see us more clearly. After some brainstorming via WhatsApp (yes, everyone's on WhatsApp nowadays!), we finally came up with WE*heart*TPG!

Now...I am absolutely clueless about art and craft so it was left to ST and K to do the necessary. Eventually, ST redid the cards and we had these, complete with ST's lovely quilling patterns!

Note that the cards are SIGNED!!!!

Yup, a little bird told me that the Guys would be at Raffles Hotel and I instigated ST to stalk them down on the morning of the concert, as the rest of us were all at work. She somehow decided to take a cab down to the hotel straightaway, managed to charm her way into the lobby and....spotted the Guys!!!
Without further ado, she proceeded to approach them and found them to be the nicest and sweetest fellas EVER. And they obligingly autographed our cards individually!
Omg...when ST WhatsApped us the images, we could not believe our eyes!
But truly, it was mission accomplished in two hours and which also set us up for an even more epic experience in the evening. :)

Part Two

It was with much excitement that we gathered for dinner at Star Vista and headed to the Star Theatre on time to settle down in our seats. I met many friends there and it was a lot of "Hey! You like The Piano Guys too?? They're awesome, right??" and one "You will LOVE these Guys!" to a friend who was accompanying her daughter but apparently had no idea what TPG were about. ;)

We saw Jon looking at the audience from the darkness of the stage and waved madly to him...and he waved back! :)

Pretty soon, it was time for the concert to start and ....voila!

Jon and Steven walked onto the stage, sat down at their respective instruments and it was all systems go!

The strains of Adele's Rolling In The Deep came on....and the Guys rolled on into all the familiar and beautiful tunes which most of us already knew from their MVs but it was absolutely awesome watching them LIVE and sharing in their witty banter and crazy antics.
Steven's facial expressions and actions with his cello were a blast (many have likened him to Mr Bean) but Jon was not to be upstaged.
His upside-down piano-playing was mindboggling and as for THAT dance during Rochelbel's Canon....well, it was hilarious and no, the audience did not walk out on him. :)


Upside-down piano-playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf9FLDZiK0Y&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ&index=7


Pachelbel/Rochelbel's Canon, where Steven demonstrates the wonders of Bruce Lee, his cool-to-the-max electric cello: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNZpvlJ-UTg&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ&index=6


There was also a nice collaboration with young violinists from UWC for the performance of One Republic/Beethoven mashup and one song which brought on the screams and cheers was A Thousand Years (from the Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn). Yes, my friends and I are also mad Twi-Hearts and this was THE song which we were dying to hear.

A Thousand Years:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqE5HqaKBag&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ&index=1

U2 Meets Pachelbel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtY1b3c8u2I&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ

Dvorak meets Phillip Phillip's Home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbm5BuSKh0A&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ

Michael Meets Mozart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fppN5RubWhM&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ

Charlie Brown medley:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWAwzxCPzyY&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ



When Al and Paul came on for the 'last' song, What Makes You Beautiful, the entire theatre were on such a high that it was inevitable that there would be an encore or two....and we were not disappointed!

What Makes You Beautiful...bloody awesome!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBACBeEoKa8&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ


First encore...Bring Him Home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVMgI_Wow24&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ

Second encore...Can't Help Falling In Love, complete with audience singalong brought the concert to a rousing end:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YIQE2LY5cs&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4G2TcQjOz7GE3wH7PqxcAZ



And the appreciative audience gave them a standing ovation!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YebtSzzm-iM


And there we were!
I just love these audience-behind-the-artistes shots! They always look freaking impressive! 

More pics:

Part Three:

Thanks to our intrepid ST, our group got to meet the Guys after the concert before they headed to the rest of their adoring fans for an autograph session! It was another mindblowing experience as the Guys were really friendly! There was lots of photo-taking and chit chat but all good things come to an end and we had to bid them goodbye and all the best....but we skipped the madding crowd who were lining up patiently in the foyer....omg, there must have been more than a thousand people waiting!

Wow! Just. WOW!!!!

I think most of us (the girls, at least) were walking on air after that fantastic evening for the next few days. :)

Please come back soon, Guys!
Many of my friends were keen to attend but either found out too late or could not make it on a Monday evening.
A Saturday night would be perfect and a bigger venue or two nights would also be great.
Yes, I would go for both!

NB:

Two reviews from the local papers:

http://news.asiaone.com/news/showbiz/concert-review-piano-guys-live-singapore


http://stcommunities.straitstimes.com/show/2013/09/04/piano-guys-musical-prowess-and-witty-banter
 

The Piano Guys: Pre-concert

Youtube sensations The Piano Guys were in Singapore on 2 September for their first-ever concert in our city and well, that is an epic story for my next post....and what a heck of a tale I will have to tell!

But first up, let me start by introducing this fabulous gang of guys whose music has taken youtube and by extension, the WORLD, by storm!

How did I get to know about them?

I cannot remember exactly but I do believe it was some time in 2012. It started with a vid on Facebook which one of my friends posted and I happened to see whilst scrolling down my News Feed. I think it was the Love Story/Viva La Vida clip and what enraptured me was how these fellas so smoothly blended these two great songs into one even greater mashup.

That got me into checking out their youtube channel and before long, I was hooked on their brand of music, which combined classical, pop, rock and what-have-you.

Their genuine passion and enjoyment whilst performing their songs are truly infectious and their sense of humour came across very well in many vids, especially in the Cello Wars...lol!

Here's a picture of them....just five fellows from Utah, sitting on the couch, looking oh-so-cute (especially Steven!) until you hear their music...omg!

From left to right, they are:

Al Van Der Beek, Steven Sharp Nelson, Jon Schmidt, Paul Anderson, Tel Stewart.

And here are the two performing guys, Jon on piano and Steven on cello:

Here is the link to their Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/PianoGuys?fref=ts

And the official website:

http://thepianoguys.com/

Check out all their MVs....too many for me to post here. 

I also signed up as a Founding Member, without hesitation as I could see that these guys had something very special and it was so cool to be able to help them and get an autographed CD amongst other stuff:

They were also going full steam ahead then with their music videos and mashups and soon, they had signed up with Sony Records and out came their two albums:

These CDs are a constant in my car and have helped sooth my frayed nerves many times.

So thanks a bunch, fellas!

And you know what else was cool?

My sons (especially my first and second, now aged 20 and 17 respectively) also enjoyed their music tremendously. :)

The next thing after all this was, naturally, that we hoped to see them perform live in concert and yes, I did always try to comment on their Facebook Page: Please come to Singapore!

I guess they heard me (and many others) 'cos one fine day in recent times, one of my friends tagged me to a post on Facebook with a "Hey! Aren't these your guys?"

Lo and behold, it was the LAMC announcement on their website!

That was it!

Time to call all my pals who were also avid Piano Guys fans to make plans!

I shall go into further detail in my next post. :)

Saving General Yang: Handsomeness and Action Overload!

I'm not really a big fan of period Chinese movies, with the exception of certain Jet Li flicks and in fact, I can't even remember the last time I caught one on the big screen.

But when I first saw the trailer of Saving General Yang ( in English!) whilst catching another movie, my interest was piqued, not least because of Adam Cheng (whom I loved in The Book And The Sword) and the surfeit of masculine handsomeness in the seven brothers, whom the director, Ronny Yu had gathered from Hongkong, Taiwan and China, with strict criteria for their ability to attract female attention for his war movie, which might otherwise not interest the fairer sex much.
Well, Mr Yu....your strategy worked for this fangirl!
This is one of the most excellent Chinese movies I have watched in a long time!

On the other hand, I had never heard of this piece of Chinese history before, either...but that's not too surprising. *grimace*
And I did not read up about the story much so as to watch it with fresh eyes and mind.

So when the movie was released in Singapore last week, I wasted no time in getting my tickets on a Thursday night for the 9:20pm show for my hubby and myself.


Aren't they just the best looking bunch of Chinese warrior heroes ever??

Here are the trailers:

This one is in English. Probably to appeal to the non-Chinese audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZetLV7i6Fc

This one is in Chinese:

In a nutshell, the movie did not disappoint me...at all!
I was enthralled from start to finish, by the cinematography, the visually arresting sets, costumes, action sequences and of course....the seven 帅哥 (shuai ge aka handsome guys) AND Adam Cheng, who at 60ish, is still as dashing and charismatic as ever.

The battle scenes were simply EPIC, complete with some awesome horseriding from the guys (for which they had to take lessons and actually did some of their own stunts) but the one which really caught my fancy was Third Brother's face-off with his nemesis....I won't spoil things for those who have not watched this yet.
Suffice to say, he reminded me of another long-haired blond and beautiful hero with fancy bow-and-arrow skills.... *wink*

The music (by Kenji Kawai) was very good and in keeping with the epicness of the movie.

Here are two BTS vids:

And here is the cast on Kangxi Laile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UPbysKxBWA&list=PLbHLPahX3mJ4Nbd6EA8B_QZ8VRq_GZHsJ&index=4


I missed seeing them in  Singapore....thank goodness for Razor TV!

http://video.xin.msn.com/watch/video/let-ekin-cheng-vic-zhou-and-wu-zun-tell-you-why-you-should-catch-saving-general/tn3hcnr0


And some good reads on Yahoo....Ronny and Raymond (the producer) are planning another movie with these dudes....but not a period piece; more like something along the lines of Ocean's Eleven...!!!!

They could look like this...*faints*

Or this...*faints again*

Omg....I can't wait for that!!!

http://www.dailychilli.com/happenings/20569-saving-general-yang-rebuffs-pretty-boy-vanity-project-

Cliff Richard: Still Reelin' And Rockin'!

If there is one singer whose voice I would describe as being 'rich as velvet', it would be none other than Cliff Richard (or more respectfully, SIR Cliff Richard....he was knighted in 1995).
It's amazing to know that he has been in the music business for 54 years and is still going strong!
Just look at the poster for his current world tour:

 

I've known Cliff since my childhood days with a very distinct memory of seeing him on the telly driving a big, red London bus and singing Summer Holiday. The song was so catchy and memorable but it was his voice which stood out...and of course, his handsome good looks. ;)

 

I don't profess to be his greatest fan but his distinctive voice and a whole list of wonderful songs over the years have ensured that he remained one of my favourite artistes of all time. I may not have many of his albums but the few that I do have been listened to death, especially Private Collection, and I love Some People the most of all!

I had the good fortune to see him in concert here in Singapore in 2007 when it was held at the Indoor Stadium. Needless to say, my girlfriends and I enjoyed it thoroughly so when I caught sight of the little snippet in the local paper announcing his upcoming tour which included our sunny island again, I wasted no time in getting the tickets. This was back in early December 2012 and his concert was scheduled for two nights, 25 and 26 February 2013.
My fellow fangirl for the night would be my dear schoolmate, Syl.

The buzz for the concert started sometime in February with a nice article in the local paper which had Cliff looking all suave and haha...don't you just love that proclamation?? ;)
I thought it was super cool and really shows how comfortable he is and how well he has managed to stay the course in this business. Such a lesson in longevity for younger artistes!

February 26 soon arrived and I went through my workday in a semi-impatient mood, just counting down the hours to when I could get off and head to Marina Bay Sands (MBS) to meet Syl for a quick dinner and then to see Cliff!!!
The foodcourt at MBS was full and judging from the crowd, it was obvious that almost everybody was there for our velvet-voiced crooner and before you knew it, Sylvia and I were settled into our seats, taking some pics and getting all excited.
The concert started a little later than the scheduled time of 7:30pm but no matter.

The lights dimmed, the audience started screaming and with the opening notes from the band, Cliff burst onto the stage and our night of awesomeness with a living legend began.
Photo-taking was allowed but not on 'professional'-looking equipment so what I have is from cameraphones and one which is from a fellow fan on Facebook.

He pranced around like a man half his age and his voice still had the power to make me, Sylvia and I'm sure pretty much everyone else MELT! Especially in the slower songs....that's where the velvet-ness shines through.
His duet with Suzie Furlonger for The Twelfth of Never was simply heavenly and I kept going "Omg omg omg..." to Syl...lol!
Honestly, I think he sounded even better this time than in 2007 ( or maybe the sound system at MBS is just waaay better than the Indoor Stadium!) and I could not help trying to record a couple of vids (albeit surreptitiously). As such, I only got two slower numbers. Besides, I wanted to really savour the whole experience and not spend all the time recording. ;)

This is about 3/4 of Ocean Deep:

And 3/4 of Suddenly (audio only):

More stuff from youtube which I found:

Cliff's sense of self-deprecating humour was evident throughout the night as he recounted amusing anecdotes of his experiences with the band and fans all over the world. Gotta love him even more for that!

I lost count of the number of songs he performed but he pretty much covered most of his hits from the early years with the Shadows all the way to the present and announced that he was working on a new album in Nashville of rock and roll classics. Can't wait for that!

Syl and I (and most of the fans) were singing along and clapping and generally having the time of our lives, punctuating the end of every song with screams of approval. ;)

Cliff changed to skinny jeans, black shirt and a snappy red jacket, complete with sneakers after the intermission and boy, can he still gyrate his hips, which were enhanced by said skinny jeans. ;)

Here's a lovely pic from Slune Chan on Facebook...doesn't he look great?? As one of my friends said: "Not an ounce of fat on him!"

 And when the concert had seemingly ended, he came back for a fabulous set of songs for the encore, at which point many of the fans from the back of the theatre started flocking to the front!
Without further ado, Syl and I squeezed our way past the people in our row who were amazingly, still seated, stepping on a few toes along the way and apologising profusely.
But nothing was going to stop us from going forward and seeing Cliff up close and personal.
And see him we did!

Here's Syl's photo: (I was too excited and hands too shaky!)

Oh...Cliff was awesome! It was an absolutely ROCKING encore medley of rock and roll songs and all of us were screaming and bopping along vigorously. Cliff made sure to wave and cover both sides of the stage as he ran everywhere. The atmosphere was simply HIGH!!! LOVED IT!!!!!
This is how all pop/rock concerts should be and it exceeded all my expectations for the night!

Here's another fancam vid of the fantastic encore medley...watch him go! 

But all good things come to an end and Cliff had to make his final curtain call. amidst screams and yells. The house lights came on and the audience filed out but with an immense sense of satisfaction. :)

Off I headed to the merchandise store and here are my acquisitions viz souvenir teeshirt, book and mug!

Syl and I stopped for a drink at the foodcourt before heading home and we enjoyed chatting with other fans there as we had our refreshments.

It remained for me to get home (courtesy of Syl), upload vids and write on Cliff's FB Page, thanking him for a fantabulous evening and hoping he'll come again soon.
And the next time, I'm getting top-dollar tickets and including other friends who found out about the concert too late and could not join me.

Stay strong, Sir Cliff!
I'm sure you're good to go on for another ten years!

Here are a couple of links to good interviews with him for this tour and the secrets behind his success:

http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2013/02/22/still-rockin-cliff-richard-returns-to-southeast-asia/?mod=WSJ_SEA_Blog

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/91585/tennis-and-performing-thats-what-keeps-cliff-richard-fit-at-72