Feeling a bit tired from Sunburst the night before. 9 hours of grooving, swaying, head-bopping and outright mania did leave it’s marks on an aging guy’s body, I arrived in Changi airport relatively early with some hours to burn. Obviously, I prepped by abusing the airwaves with Duffy live tunes.
On arriving at the indoor stadium, it was evidently clear that Singapore venues are really a class of their own but one did wonder whether the concert theatres at Suntec and Esplanade might have been better and more personal venues for a performance from Duffy.
It was about 8.30pm when the concert kicked off. The simple stage setup illuminated into a bright purple signifying Duffy’s entrance. What I liked about the concert setup was it’s throwback to elements of classic motown setups. Duffy stepped to an intro instrumental tune and opened with Rockferry. And you know what? Her vocals will send shivers to your spine (in a good way of course). To all of you haters who tried to tell me that Duffy’s vocals are lousy, you might as well eat your words now. She was amazing and her retro voice reminds me of a more powerful Brenda Lee.
Next up was Hanging On Too Long, which she delivered like a realistic case of a jilted lover. Upon completing the song, Duffy scooted off for a change of wardrobe from her signature black dress cuts to a more bright dress. Another nice touch to the concert setup was the very well choreographed backup singers who were dressed up like Duffy doubles. It was so old school motown.
She followed up her strong start with powerfully belted out numbers, Serious and one of the new ones, Rain On Your Parade. Next up was my favourite performance of the night, Syrup and Honey. My oh my, this is by far climbing the charts for one of the sexiests performances that I have seen, ever. Very bluesy. She improvised the lyrics a little towards the end, which was a nice touch.
Duffy continued with Fool For You, Warwick Avenue, Breaking My Own Heart and Stepping Stone. By that time, the crowd was in a trance as she brought out some new tracks, Enough Love and Oh Boy. I am truly looking foward to the new album. When’s that out again?
Next up was one of my least favourite songs (yes I have some), Delayed Devotion. But I’ll tell you what, it doesn’t fit that category more cause when you’ve heard it live, it really brings the song to a whole new level. Duffy moved on to Stop next, which is another new song and ended the night (or rather take a break song). What else could it be but Mercy. Here’s the best part, I have listened and now watched live a version of Mercy. It’s never the same! She’s got so many improvs for this song, it is crazy.
Encore time. Another new song followed as Duffy re-entered the stage called Please Stay. Another jilted lover song. Duffy followed that with I’m Scared and finished off with my personal favourite Distant Dreamer. I love the drums and bass on this song. It’s very inspirational. Don’t ask me why.
Overall, the 70 odd minutes worth of Duffy songs were made up of very good vocal performances by Duffy and of course the backups. The band is made up of very accomplished musicians. I must say that Duffy doesn’t engage the crowd in conversations as much as I would have wanted, aside from her sexy take on Syrup and Honey. There were a few times where she included the token ’say thank you or hello in the local language’ and asked how the crowd was doing. Aside from that, it was all serious business.
Some of the highlights of the night were the fact I felt I was in a foreign country as 80% of the audience were caucassian. C’mon Singaporeans, where are ya at? Maybe they were resting up for Coldplay the next day. There was a young fan in front of me, no more than 13 or 14 years old who was at the concert alone. Now, that’s a real fan.
I will wait patiently for the new album.
I came out of the stadium looking pleased obviously before I trotted off for some food.
