Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Date: 28th July 2010
Promoter: Greenhorn Productions
Review by: Nadiah H.
Special Thanks: Sylvia & the Greenhorn Productions team
The stars in the skies of Singapore were shining exceptionally bright on Wednesday night. One star that truly caught my eye that night was Corinne Bailey Rae. The singer-songwriter put on quite an impressive show at the Esplanade theatres together with her 5 piece band. On that night, she truly proved to her Asian fans how talented she was. Not only did she have such a melodious live voice, her versatility in playing musical instruments was definitely shown. It ranged from 2 different guitars to a tambourine to a zither (at least that’s what it looked like from my view).
Clad in a jumper, barefooted, and her typical roaring afro hair-do, Corrine swayed the audience with music from her latest album, The Sea. I applaud her for being able to create such an album that truly shares with us about her love, life and lost. I personally got carried away into oblivion by the smooth tones in her songs while other fans were singing along in excitement every time they heard a familiar tune playing. The stage magnified the singer’s talent with just a simple background screen that changed colours. Somehow to me, it looked 3-Dimensional. I honestly felt like they were a lot closer to me than in actual distance. Maybe it was with the help of the amazing sound system but hey, I’m not complaining.
There were a few songs that definitely highlighted the night. Of course, one of them had to be “Put Your Records On”. That song got the crowd all jumpy and everyone sang-a-long which of course got the singer a few blushes. She looked genuinely thankful for everyone to be there, watching her perform. “Like A Star” was also another one of the crowd’s favourites. Some even clapped and cheered when they realized that song was playing. However, my personal favourite was her cover of Doris Day’s “Que Sera Sera”. The sultry and smooth performance truly emphasized how great of a musician she was. I would also like to praise her back-up vocals who stole the night too. Their combined vocal forces executed in that version of the song were the perfect end to a perfect night.
SETLIST
1. ARE YOU HERE
2. PARIS NIGHTS
3. CLOSER
4. LOVE ON ITS WAY
5. TILL IT HAPPENS TO YOU
6. FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
7. THE BLACKEST LILY
8. I ONLY HAVE EYES
9. I’D DO IT ALL AGAIN
10. PAPER DOLLS
11. PUT YOUR RECORDS ON
12. LIKE A STAR
13. I WOULD LIKE TO CALL IT BEAUTY
14. THE SEA
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15. QUE SERA SERA