There are so many puns that could be said about Suede’s concert in Singapore Aug 3rd. Like how ‘suede’ (sweet) it was, or how much I ‘sueded’ (sweated) waiting in line from 4 p.m. just so I could get a front row spot. It was amazing on so many levels, from meeting fans alike before the show to the amazing race-like chase for the band after…
For me, it started a week before. Having just gotten my salary and in dire need of a break from the norm, I decided to put any financial strife on the ‘ignorance burner’ and splurge on free standing tickets for a band that is an essential part of building up my “Voltron” of my favourite 90s revival bands. Having already started piecing together the ‘giant super robot’ in the form of some of my favourite like Blur, Atari Teenage Riot & Faith No More in the 2 years, Suede is just as crucial a piece.
In my solo pursuit I decided to join the Suede ‘fanclub’ facebook page in Singapore and to my surprise it wasn’t a shit talking threshold as I’d imagine it to be. I initially posted in hopes to find anyone willing to meet up and do a sign to flash at the concert. That led to more discourse and eventually a planned meet-up a few hours before the show at the Starbucks nearby the indoor stadium.
By the time a few of us got to stadium at 4 p.m. there was already a handful of people ahead of the line. And although there was a steady flow of early birds, nothing close to what I’d imagine it was during their hey day. During the 4 hours till doors opened, the Singapore Indoor Stadium was our ‘playground’ and the once ‘wild ones’ mingled with the ‘new generation’ of fans all in the name of front row standing view!
Suede are rockstars – hands down. True meaning of rockstars – the kind that travels the world to perform almost nightly to their fans in different countries and despite the incomprehensible jetlag and exhaustion they must suffer daily and nightly, they can still deliver with all the powers that be. Most impressive performance would have to go to Brett Anderson. He was every bit of sex on stage as the YouTube (and VHS) videos in the past have portrayed him to be. He still jumps up and down with one leg on the monitor speakers. His hand clap and hip swagger ‘dance’ still make the men and women swoon. He still knows how to work the microphone like a lasso and last but not least….that voice. Ohhh my, that voice.
Nearly 90 minutes with a 2 song encore later, it was over… or was it? I just happened to be among a group of rabid Suede fans who were relentless on intercepting the band at their hotel for a personal meet/greet. After taking photos at the stadium of the aftermath we got side tracked by a group of fans waiting for the band to get into their tour vans. Bassist Mat came out first and chatted a bit with the crowd. Later guitarist Richard came out and was kind enough to take photos with fans and sign autographs. Shortly after the rest of the band came out and just waved and went straight into the van. We knew we had to find a way to get to the hotel and taxi’s at the time were hard to come by. Note, I have never ‘stalked’ a band like this ever before but I thought this could be my only time to actually ‘meet’ the band so why not? Life is too short to wonder “what if?”. So 5 minutes after the band left the venue with no taxi in sight we waited in line at a taxi stand. You could almost smell the tension and aura of purpose permeating the air around us till finally a man approached us and told us he could accommodate the 5 of us in his van. Albeit a bit pricey for a 10 minute drive, we didn’t even stop to think and were in the van ‘chasing the dragon’ (god sorry for all these lame song-related puns)
We arrived at the Ritz Carlton but unfortunately missed the band by a few minutes. Still determined, we hung around in the hotel lobby for a while in hopes they’d come down for a night cap or something. During that time we came up with ridiculous schemes to get them down to the lobby – all in the fun of things ^_^ However when it got close to midnight, sad to say I gave up and caught a cab back to my hotel before the midnight taxi surcharge. The second I step into my hotel room though I get a text:
“I just shook Mat Osman’s hand”
This coming from one of the girls whose sole purpose for living that night was to shake Mat Osman’s hand – and she did just that! As I told the rest of them, me going home early was a sacrifice to the group, so in return, someone from Suede would come down.
The next morning, a group of them went back to the Ritz Carlton to catch the band before they headed out to the airport. Read an ‘epic fangirl’s’ account of the whole ordeal here:
Sure seeing the band live and in the flesh and being able to sing and dance to their songs in the moment was a major highlight for me, but in retrospect, it was also the fans I truly enjoyed meeting. The dedicated die hard fans who baked cupcakes for the band, flew thousands of miles to see them, cried uncontrollably – it was just amazing to watch it all right in front of me. To those folks, I’ll ‘see you in the next life’.
SUEDE HIGHLIGHTS
- Since their first album is in my top 5 albums ever, every song played from it was a highlight (I really hoped they had played the Drowners though!)
- Brett Anderson going “He’s just a fucking animal” right in front of me before going off on a foot tapping/dance/clap frenzy.
- The realization that my sign had been spotted shortly having Brett Anderson yelp “she sells heart, she sells MEAT” in my face as I shook the sign right in front of his face.
- Lasso mic move and full body wrap – check!
- Oh yeah, Brett Anderson finally got on twitter and he signed up shortly after the Singapore concert. (EDIT – According to some fans who met him the morning after, ‘he did NOT set up a twitter account and Mat added that it was probably a virtual impostor.’)
This is a pretty excellent compilation of videos from the concert.
