Venue: Fort Gate @ Fort Canning Park, Singapore
Date: 9th January 2012
Promoter: LAMC Productions
Review by: Melissa L.
Special Thanks: Andre and the LAMC Productions team
Photos by Melissa C.
I was one of the early birds, going into the concert venue almost an hour early to get a good spot right in front of the stage to catch New York City’s disco-pop band Scissor Sisters up close, and I was not the only one. I was surrounded by the band’s hugest fans, including a girl who painstakingly painted their logo, wide open legs on the end of a pair of scissors, in bold red on her chest.
While we slowly waited for the band to kick start the show for what seemed like an eternity, we were “entertained” by DJ Hong of Zouk who mixed up some popular hits, like Foster the People’s Pumped Up Kicks, MGMT’s Kids and Time to Pretend, and Prince’s Kiss. The crowd also took pleasure in singing along to La Roux’s Bulletproof, that came blasting at us and you could tell we were all getting impatient and restless. A few songs later and fuelled with pulsating lights so bright they could induce epilepsy, we got excited and thought the band would finally show up but no, they still kept us waiting with sound checks and instrument tunings. At one point, we even saw a guy walk up to the set list and cancel something. That was when we started to panic a little.
But after 90 minutes of remixed songs, Scissor Sisters finally ran up stage and kick started the show with Night Work and Laura. Jake Shears’ and Ana Matronic’s dance moves were so energetic and at the same time, seductive, that the crowd seemed to have forgotten how long the band made us wait! Ana then told the audience that the most of the band members were suffering from what she termed as the “Bali Belly”, which we all assumed was food poisoning because Jake warned us that there may be some “live puking on stage tonight” and that was why the show started so late. Kudos to the band for being so professional and refusing to cancel the show. In fact, the entire group, right down to the backup singers, was so enthusiastic and energetic that they seemed to be feeling better already!
With Jake and Ana bouncing around the stage (at one point, Ana even said “Mama has to take off her shoes to do the next song”, before she started doing the Running Man move for Running Out), it was surprising how they managed to sound so good! But Jake and Ana weren’t the only ones who shined on Monday night. Babydaddy showed how much of a talented multi-instrumentalist he was by switching from the bass guitar to an acoustic guitar for a couple of songs and though Del Marquis’ guitar solos didn’t have that “rock star feel”, he still showed some serious swagger and the way he played, coupled with his outfit, transported me back in time to the Beatles era. Randy Real didn’t miss a beat either and did some kickass drumming towards the end of the show. Even the backup singers put on a good show, dancing along as they sang!
Perfect falsettos? Check. Infectious energy? Check. Swagger guitar solos? Check. Super sexah dance moves? Check. There was nothing not to love about Scissor Sisters’ performance at Fort Canning Gate.
The crowd of 2500 strong was an awesome crowd too, singing along PROUDLY AND LOUDLY to hits like Any Which Way, Fire with Fire, Take Your Mama and the band’s Grammy nominated cover of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. By the time Filthy/Gorgeous and I Don’t Feel Like Dancin were played, we were practically shouting the lyrics.
So go on and take your Mama out tonight to grab the Scissor Sisters’ latest album, Night Work, and groove your night away!