Ah... I must tell u abt sat's performance. One of the final acts for the annual Mosaic Music Festival, the 11th Hour - Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra was one crazy outing. Let me quote some parts from "The Mosaic Times" (a complimentary, colourful, super gd quality + well packaged festival programme guide):
"Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra was formed as a party band in the late 80s by a group of young musicians with a crazy sense of humour... Its unique Tokyo-ska sound was known to be unlike that of any of its contemporaries, featuring an instrumental, eclectic mix of traditional ska, jazz and rock...the band's sound is so contemporary and fresh and its members so energetic that younger bands of the genre fall by the wayside in comparison..."
"Energetic" is an understatement. Let's just say the 70min performance (w/o intermission) is executed by 10 duracell-ed, rapid-fire (in talk + song + play), PINK-tuxedoed Japanese men who appeared to be musically-talented descendents of another cosmos. Those accustomed to the usual sit-down, prim & proper, classic orchestra acts are in for the rudest shock. This mad-cap performance, where the 10 duracell bunnies jazzed and rocked their way through, "flinging and flanging" their trombones, saxophones, keyboards, drums and guitars with wild abundance while running all over the stage (and almost off it at some points), is a truly refreshing change.
Heck, they got the fluorescent-stick-waving crowd (many jap and ang moh expats amongst the locals) standing up, dancing, waving, shaking their heads & arms & bom boms before they even got through their first song! And 90% of the time, I believe many in the crowd (full-house in the concert hall) had no idea what they were singing/talking about. It's really the whole package that made every cent worth it, + the sight of fellow nocturnals utterly lost in music land. The audience, sometimes, can really make or break a performance.
Anyways, enough of it. Just too bad I didn't managed to get tickets for other acts. Next year, I'd be more than ready. Bring it on!
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