Here's comments frm my fren who went for the SP concert:

"First song was Toccata Marziale by Vaughan Williams.. - Sp band had a great start. =) but then havin been a "loyal" audience to Sp band's concert, IT was jux not enuff. =) anyway, i didn't realli enjoyed this piece.. cos, i wasn't settled down yet. =)) my fault ~ hahax.

2nd Song , Divertimento For Band - 6 movements , all of them veri well presented to the audience. It was one of the many popular "choice" for a concert performance. WAt i find disturbin is that SP trumpeters seemed veri much weaker than the rest of the section. This is agreed by all 5 of us. But nonetheless, They are still good =) I can see the word "shame" on swee huat's face. lOLOL.

3rd Song - Twinkling Flutes- A song which features two flautists as solist.. erm, not a bad piece.. but the band sounded not in tune. maybe it's the flutes/ maybe it's jux me. oH well, i'm not a professional TOo ~~

4th SOng- Highlights From Chess by Johan de Meij - One of my all time favourite piece~~ Acjc played it the previous time, and this time i got to hear it again =)) veri grand opening by trombones i loved it. =) the horns were like flaring away, and we were all "WOAHHH~H~" lOlx.. i realli have no negative things for them .. until now =)

SP ALUMNI BAND
First i was already veri impressed with their strength. 50+. i was sooooo jealous.. >.< nvm anyway, it was their debut and i was realli looking forward to their playin. Since many of them used to play in previous MARVELlous concerts. =)

They played veri well and impressive for Hungarian March and 2nd Suite for bAnd (alfred reed). I loved their trombones. =))))))) simply loved.. they sounded so big and brassy WOOAOAHAH. then when the third piece came out. "big fun in the sun" i was acutally a bit turned off. cos it was a so damn easy sooooong.. + i hated it. But once thy finished the song.. i actually clapped DAMN loud.. which is unusual.. =))) the drummer completely did not follow the score and came up with different playings. OH MY~! Then when it came to Wipe out. *jaws Drop* realli.. the lower brass is realli DAMn GOOD. oh my.. I dare to say SP's Alumni band's "Big Fun in The Sun" is the Best Version i ever heard in singapore. Kudos. =) and when the MC said sp alumni welcome other band members... I told tun kuang "I WANT~~~~ I WANT TO PLAY WITH THEM >.<~" anyway, realli sp band were good =) + terence teow is handsome ~~

after that, SP band came back, and played

5th song - Inferno- RObert W smith.. HAhahx.. i alwayx tot this song was funny, cos it talked bout hell and blablabla.. SP's brasses were strong. bringin out the "colour" of the song, whereas the oboe player hmm.. abit not consistent. =) the chain and the walkin part realli made mi lurfef.. dunno y. =) when i heard compassvale's versionin SYF, i had the same reaction too. o.0

6th song - Cartoon by Paul Hart. A not veri good piece.. cos i think the players were tired. + this song is veri showy. THe brasses were obviously tirin out and mistakes were surfacing. maybe Mr tan shld consider to balance out the stress/ highlight on his different sections. This year, highlights were on trumpets and trombones. poor things. anyway, the song were quite messy.. which sounds/noise rising from everywhere. I wished i would have turned my ears off at that time. sorri.=)

Last song- Japanese Graffiti Vll . It was an attraction to mi, when they announced that they were playint jAp graph 7, cos it was a diff piece. i was amzed that they raelli got the bass guitar ready. Woah.. good band = rich band it's proven =) anyway, the band started gooD. And the alto sax soloist was cool. way cool =) however subsequent solists (trumpet, trombone, tenor sax) weren't as impressive as the alto's. Basically, they were good in my eyes, for Singapore standard. But as a Die HArd TKWO fan. erm, i mux say i'm a bit bias lar =))) anyway, the trumpeter was good lar, cos eh hitted allll his notes. except for one terrible high note =) and the tombonist actually did a great job i think. HOwever, the tenor sax guy... he played as if he was sight readin and totally no feeling. =X oOpx. anyway, It has almost become SP's brand to play JG songs.. I love the songs, and SP nv failed to impress mi with their Versions.

ON the whole, seriously if Tertiary bands were included in SYF central judging.. SP band can put all the top JC bands down to shame. ok, maybe not ALL. but i will not be surprised if it imerges as the top band / watsoever. =) SP band is good. the people there are realli playin music. =) ok i've spoken enuff. later i kanna bashed up =)))"

Yup thats all :D

posted by gonnie at 10:02 PM