[新聞] Long but lovely trip to B612
The Straits Times life! January 23 2010
Media Correspondent: Boon Chan
M1 Singapore Fringe Festival
review concert
OUR OWN B612
Esplanade Recital Studio
Thursday
What was billed as a 40-minute gig turned into a 100-minute-plus talkfest,
thanks to the incorrigibly chatty Hsiao Chiu.
The 22-year-old, along with Shen Sheng-je, 27, is part of Taiwanese singing-
songwriting duo katncandix2.
The lengthy concert was quite a feat, considering that they have so far
released only and EP, 2375 (2008), and one album, Little Flight (2009).
Not that it was a drag as her refreshingly frank demeanour was most endearing
and there was also an easy chemistry between her and the good-natured and more
laconic Shen, whom she ribbed mercilessly.
There, was a slight disconnect, though, between the humorous "talking" episodes
, as she called them, and the sunny meloncholia of their music.
Their songs explore themes of dreams, hope and courage and are imbued with
youthful optimism. On We Are The Same, the chorus goes: "We are all the same,
have a pair of wings/We can dream, we can fly/We are all the same, each shining
in our own way."
Indeed, B612 refers to the home planet of French author Antoine de Saint
Exupery's beloved Little Prince character, a dreamy innocent, and is also the
title of one of their songs.
At the same time, many of their compositions are mid- to slow-tempo numbers
with a distinctive elegiac tinge, a natural fit for Hsiao Chiu's girlish,
slightly throaty vocals.
Live, she sounded more raw and less polished, particularly on the opening
numbers Little Flight and Accompanying You To The Ends Of The Earth.
But that only added to the charm of the show and she grew in confidence as
the evening progressed. The audience was treated to a new song, 22, from
their forth-coming second album and also covers of sodagreen's Minnan ballad
Sleepless and Yoga Lin'smoving Heartbreak.
As Hsiao Chiu became more confident, she became more loquacious.
She talked about how the band, including their keyboard accompanist, felt
quite nervous when they first arrived in Singapore as everyone spoke to
them in English.
She told the stories behind the songs and poked fun at her image make-over
by the record company, which had her looking "nauseating" and wearing a
skirt.
For the show, she was comfortably dressed in a T-shirt and overalls while
Shen wored a short-sleeved shirt over khaki pants. She invited fans to
leave messages on their blog and suggested they could chat about all sorts
of things, including where Shen bought his trousers.
In a long spiel near the end, the audience learnt how the two met, came
together as a band and about the journey they have since undertaken. Hsiao
Chiu pointedly ignored the efforts of the other two on stage to drown her
out with guitar and keyboard at several points.
Having gone severely overtime, the encore was a bit of a rushed affair. But
despite the unexpected length, the trip to B612 proved to be a delightful one.
--
看來這位記者先生也跟我一樣很enjoy棉花糖的演出 :)
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