Perhaps it’s the selling or perhaps it’s just good timing, we notice that of recent, more and more musical events are collaborating with the Penang Georgetown Festival.
Charity events and concert that are previously held later in the year are brought forward to July in conjunction with the festival. Which not to say it’s a bad thing, the more the merrier! It’s just that, we find some of these events carry neither the heritage nor the celebration flavor…..
We attended a charity concert last weekend, Fever; A Feverish Night of Pop, Cabaret, Jazz and Rock. It’s a concert organized by the Jammin’ Senzation School in collaboration with the festival. There are a few other musical events that interest us too but since I oughta minimize my night outings now, we chose to attend one that’s more convenient to us.
The concert was held at a nearby venue, at Dewan Budaya USM and it’s at the beginning of the month when my mobility is still relatively good : )
Our last Saturday was packed with activities but we made it on time for the concert; the main performances were scheduled to start at 7.30pm only. The Prelude however started as early as 6.30pm with performances by the School Junior Ensemble while waiting for guests’ arrival. We think this is a very good move by the school; they cease the perfect opportunity to showcase their students’ talents : )
Well, actually the junior performances were far from perfect but that’s not the point. Parents and guests alike were all very pleased with them : )
The Guest of Honor, Y.B Tuan Phee Boon Poh arrived ahead of schedule (Yup, he was early. No waiting time for VIP :O). After a short officiate speech, the concert was opened with a welcoming song by guest artists Melanie Maslin and Moses Chuah.
The concert was divided into 3 acts. Starting with Pop the Musical; David Story, a guitarist hailed from Ohio opened the concert well. He was all charming and friendly with good vocal control.
The same cannot be said for the rest of the pop vocalists and performers though. Some were above average but most were … errr novice? Their singing was border-lined painful…. literally to our ears….. if that’s not too harsh a word if I may.
It’s cheeky or rather clever that the organizer sneaked some professional act in-between to drive the guests’ interest :p.
The concert got better after the first act though. But then perhaps there’re just too many performances, the concert ran until past eleven in the night. It’s an almost 5 hours concert including an hour of Prelude. A bit overkill, don’t ‘ya think?
Adult guests could barely stayed focus, not to mention that there’re many child guests in the house too.
The second act, Cabaret; The Misty Nite was opened by another professional artist, an opera singer from Australia, Melanie Maslin. We were feasted with a romance story at the background accompanied with Cabaret dancing. Student performers were aplenty but they were not the lead act.
This section of the concert was good but we were glad when it’s time for intermission. Our legs could use some stretching and our tummies were screaming hunger.
Yup, in my new Coach Leather Duffle (thanks Hubby!), lies some egg sandwiches and water.
We came prepared as we were not sure if food and beverages would be available on-sale then. There was none : (
It was past 10 pm after the intermission and half the guests of this sold out concert had left. It’s understandable since a lot of the guests came with kids.
The third act; All About Jazz was led by an experienced vocalist originating from the States, Denise Mininfield and Jens Bunge, a harmonist from Germany. The accompanied band was good too, led by Moses Chuah and Sons. We like how they improvised the music. Experienced musicians do that : )
This section of the concert was the best, too bad the time and stage arrangement were off. There were special performances by an invited rock band and Dasha Logan too.
The concert featured a wide variety and impressive music; we enjoyed most of the pieces a lot.
I don’t mind going for more of these Georgetown Festival events. Now, if only my back agrees with me …..
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