Large-scale live shows return to local venues
Pasir Panjang Power Station, Capitol Theatre to hold concerts and arts events with up to 400 attendees at a time under pilot scheme
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The Pasir Panjang Power Station and Capitol Theatre are set to hold concerts and arts events with live audiences, as Singapore moves cautiously towards allowing large-scale events that meet some requirements.
Pasir Panjang Power Station will host two events this month.
The first is a Christmas-themed concert, Flock - The Xmas Edition, on Sunday. It features home-grown acts Nathan Hartono, Aisyah Aziz and Lorong Boys in afternoon and evening performances, with 400 tickets available for each show.
It is part of an ongoing pilot with mandatory pre-event antigen rapid tests (ART) for attendees of large-scale indoor live performances. The tests are free at designated clinics for audiences.
The second is an arts event, Convey, split into two sessions on Dec 27.
Poets Charlene Shepherdson, Crispin Rodrigues, Marylyn Tan and Gwee Li Sui will create works live with illustrators Darel Seow and Weng Pixin. Fifty tickets are available for each session and attendees need not take the ART test.
Capitol Theatre will host a new concert series next month and in February, featuring Singaporean artists such as Jeremy Monteiro, Jimmy Ye and Art Fazil performing live in front of up to 100 audience members. The number might be increased, pending approval from the Government.
The five-part series, AL!VE, will take place on Jan 21 to 23 and Feb 5 and 6.
The singers for this Sunday's Flock concerts, which are supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, are excited to perform for live audiences again.
The 2.30pm show will feature performances by Hartono and Aisyah, while the 8.30pm show will be headlined by Hartono and Lorong Boys. Each set is expected to last almost two hours.
Hartono says: "The audience is irreplaceable. I always knew performing live is what I need and not just what I do."
For Aisyah, the year-end concert will make up for a year without live gigs. "I started off 2020 with kick-a** performances. I thought the year was going to be crazy good and then everything went into lockdown. The world has sent its message and I've come full circle," she says.
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FLOCK - THE XMAS EDITION
WHERE Pasir Panjang Power Station, 27 Pasir Panjang Road
WHEN Sunday, 2.30pm and 8.30pm
ADMISSION $35, $50 and $70 from 24owls.sg/tickets
CONVEY
WHERE Pasir Panjang Power Station
WHEN Dec 27, 2 and 3.45pm
ADMISSION $15 from 24owls.sg/tickets
AL!VE VOL 1-5
WHERE Capitol Theatre, 17 Stamford Road
WHEN Jan 21 to 23 and Feb 5 and 6, 8pm
ADMISSION From $58 to $118 at Sistic (sistic.com.sg). Tickets will go on sale on Thursday at 11am for those who subscribe to IMC Live Global's newsletter. Public sales start on Friday at 11am.
Lorong Boys member Joachim Lim, who plays drums and percussion, says their set will feature the mix of genres for which the group is known.
"We've written and recorded new songs during the past few months. We will be meshing classical, jazz and pop with new arrangements," he says.
The group also comprises violinist David Loke, pianist, guitarist and composer Jonathan Shin, and flautist Rit Xu.
The pop concert industry here, battered by restrictions put in place due to Covid-19, is slowly starting to pick itself up through shows with live audiences.
On Friday and Saturday, Back To Live, a show by home-grown artists, is expected to draw 500 music fans each night to the Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands.
In Convey, commissioned by the #BuySingLit reading campaign and supported by the National Arts Council, writers and artists will contribute to two collective pieces, a poem and an artwork.
Audiences are encouraged to not just watch, but also write their own poems or create their own sketches.
The first session at 2pm will be about an hour and 35 minutes long. The second session, which starts at 3.45pm, will run for about two hours and 25 minutes.
Shepherdson, general manager of non-profit organisation Sing Lit Station, says: "I'm excited to be in the same physical space as other creatives to collaborate on a pen-and-paper project again."
Seow, who has done illustrations for institutions such as the British Museum in London, says: "It's a beautiful expression of the connective power of the arts as we weave pictures and words, bringing people together both in-person and on-screen."
Audiences at both events, organised by event promoter 24Owls, can be seated in groups of up to five, but no intermingling among groups or single-ticket holders is allowed.
They must be masked and must check in using the TraceTogether app or token. Those who are unwell will not be allowed into the venue.
For the AL!VE series at Capitol Theatre, the first concert on Jan 21 will feature singers Art, Hyrul Anuar, Rahila Rashun and club circuit veterans Jive Talkin'.
The Jan 22 show will feature jazz musicians and singers Monteiro, Louis Soliano, Alemay Fernandez, Melissa Tham and Siti Iman.
The show on Jan 23 is a solo concert by Joi Chua.
The Feb 5 show will feature singers Sherman Zhuo, Tien Chong, Relyne Ban, Wilson Huang, Cherelle Tan and Marcus Lee. Singer Ye will stage a solo concert for the series' last show on Feb 6.
The audience will have to adhere to safe distancing measures, but will not have to go for pre-event testing.
