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
