Colin Gallagher's Blog, page 11

Bootleg Beatles: Live in Singapore

There’s something weird about going to see a cover band and people reacting as if they’re the real deal. It’s like taking your photo with a wax effigy of your favourite movie star. Bit strange.

So it was at the Bootleg Beatles who played at the Marina Bay Theatre recently. There were screams of exultation of “John!” and “George!” and “Oh my God, ‘Hey Jude’!! Alright people, settle the hell down. It’s a bunch of blokes who are quite good musicians and dress up like the Beatles. But they ain’t them.

Having said all that, they put on a good show and musically they are on point. We saw them before a few years ago and they have the same in between song banter scientifically laid out by now. I don’t think a sitting down venue is the best for them though. People wanted to get up and dance (to the songs that were a hit before your mother was born) and the refined affair that is the Marina Bay Sands Theatre handcuffed people to merely rattling their jewelry throughout. Although there was some spontaneous standing up for “Help!”

At $75-ish for a seat in the back row of the ground floor it wasn’t the worst value for money but if they came around again we probably would just let it be…..:)

Bite Size Review: Open Farm Community

Open Farm Community is an open-kitchen concept based restaurant hiding along Minden Road near Singapore Botanic Gardens. It’s got all what you would usually expect from the increasingly popular restaurants that are embracing locally produced food and local farmers. Including somewhat steep prices. Naturally. Let’s take a look shall we?

Not MRT friendly so it was a taxi for us.

Menu presented on a wooden panel? Check.

Suntory on draft, which is a refreshing change.

Starters:

Warm salad of broccoli, pine nuts, sugar snap peas, crumbled feta, minden mint

The vegetarian agreed with this starter. No complaints. It is worth noting that there is only one vegetarian option on each of the starter and pasta sections of the menu. There are no vegetarian options in the Mains section. Something they need to look at.

Coal-baked omelette, smoked haddock, tarragon & grain mustard mornay

The omelette was so good but really filling and a lot for a starter. Lots of strong flavours with the haddock and the mustard battling it out over the egg main star. Thankfully the main that followed wasn’t as large.

Mains:

Minden Road pesto trofie, potatoes, french beans, pumpkin chunks

Another positive one for the vegetarian. Subtle flavours are always a winner for this brand of veggie eater.

Roasted short rib, buttery green asparagus, crispy kuzu noodles, Vietnamese pho flavours

This was a welcome lighter note after the heavy omelette starter. All the components blended well together.

Dessert:

Lemon tart, basil ice cream

I really don’t know why I ordered this as I was totally full of food at that point but sometimes I can’t resist a sweet afterthought. The basil ice cream was actually really nice and a nice contrast the tart, bitter lemon…tart. I couldn’t finish it and I left with egg on my face. Probably literally after the earlier omelette..

Open Farm has a lot of events and such going on its grounds regularly and the surroundings are quite lush and a refreshing break from the urban landscape that is Singapore.  It’s certainly put itself on our radar for potential dining options in the future.

Weezer – Live in Singapore

Want to feel old?

Here are a few of Weezer’s greatest hits…

“Undone – The Sweater Song” and “Buddy Holly” – released in 1994

“Say It Aint So” – released in 1995

“Hashpipe” and “Island in the Sun” – released in 2001

“Keep Fishin'” – released in 2002

It’s with those aural memories ringing in my old ears that I bought a ticket for Weezer. Playing in the weird venue that is the Suntec Exhibition and Conference Centre, I slalom-ed my way from City Hall MRT through the numerous Poke-Stops to make my way for an 8pm kick-off.

Having made my way up to the 6th floor by the longest escalators in the universe, I was met by some rigorous body scans from aunties who may not have known what they were doing. Or holding.

Did I mention how weird this venue is? You walk through the doors to be faced by a skyscraper of scaffold-ed seats right in front of you. No signs going anywhere else, and the “anywhere else” was dark anyway. So up I walked several flights of scaffolding thinking I would walk my way down into the standing area. But no… seating only, the entrances to the standing area were in the “anywhere else” area in the dark.

Finally in the standing area, 8:10 came around and Weezer hit the stage. The standing numbers were a little light if I’m being honest, looking back in the seats there was a healthy enough crowd but still a number of empty areas.

So the concert.

Again, not being a super fan, they were good. They deliver their songs a little clinically, with not too much gusto (especially from Messrs Shriner and Bell). Yes, Rivers Cuomo, the oft curious front-man, took a wander through the crowd, donned a crown and cape for “King of the World”, and they all broke out the leis for “Island in the Sun” but they’re all a little sedate while actually playing through their set.

Having said that, I’ve seen some sedate musicians/bands in my time (*cough* Nate Mendel) who play rolicking tunes and it takes nothing away from their musicianship on the night. I guess when you’re in your late 40s and still rocking you should perform however the hell you want to.

I formed a theory while standing there with my fellow head nodders. I don’t think Weezer is in the top 5 bands of many people in the world. They, perhaps, are a band that people follow for a core group of their songs and don’t buy the rest of the happy meal. Perhaps. I’m sure they have their super fans. Everyone does. Just my opinion yo.

But I saw many people get very excited (ie. scream in my ear and jump up and down with excitement) for some songs I was there to hear, then I saw said people put their heads down in their phones for let’s say “Back to the Shack” (which, actually, is one of my favs).

There you go. Enjoyable. $158 enjoyable? Nah. But they certainly have a number of great songs to bop along to until they go down your Spotify playlist once again.

Here, have “Buddy Holly” I recorded  while waiting to beat the crowd to the escalators before Youtube removes it or something.

Short Yacht Cruise from Singapore

Our friend had some credit card points to burn so treated us all to a yacht cruise with White Sails. We set off around 6pm from Sentosa Cove (which has a Cold Storage handy for last minute food/drink purchases) on a Sunday evening, bounced our way to a cove on St. John’s Island and hung around there for a few hours soaking in the sunset. Whilst there, you can kayak, swim, or fish. I did none of those but just chilled out, had a beer, and watched the sunset do its thang. It was really nice.

On the way back darkness had fallen so a quick detour to see some waterworks/fireworks show at Sentosa and then towards the city, dodging huge cargo ships, to see the skyline all lit up. Then back to dock around 10pm.

All in all, a cool little sojourn made even better when nature plays its part too.