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| Sunday, August 23, 2009
Music > 7@Eight by Agapella Writer : Charis Vera Ng7@Eight by Agapella 10th & 11th July 2009 (Fri & Sat), 8pm NAFA Lee Foundation Theatre NAFA Campus 3 151, Bencoolen Street It was one of those Saturday nights that would usually have been bustling with weekend excitement, but the town was different tonight. The slight drizzle gave the empty roads a shine to it and the smattering of coffee shops had their owners peering out, waiting for their empty chairs to be filled. Everywhere was relatively quiet and empty. That is, until we neared the NAFA Campus. It was lovely to see the hoards of people dressed to the nines and turning up for the Agapella concert, especially considering the recent enochlophobia that everyone seemed to have developed. So, I had my temperature taken like everyone else, got a cute little sticker to put on my top, and wriggled into my front row seat like the eager beaver that I was. I haven't heard Agapella live in concert before this. I did buy their CD over Christmas and enjoyed it thoroughly, but this was the first time I was going to see them live. Now, the first thing I noticed was the huge difference between hearing them on CD and watching them live. I know, understatement of the year, right? But I realised that while listening to their CD, it was awfully easy to forget that they sang without instruments. “Oh, there's a saxophone in this song, lovely stuff!” I'd think to myself. However, when I sat there, watching them on stage, I realised that everything, from the drums to the saxophone to the tiny bells that ring in the background, were all sounds made by them. It does feel like I'm pointing out the obvious, what else was I suppose to expect from an acapella concert? But it was something that made an impression on me and yes, their "instruments" really did sound that real. That aside, what I loved about the concert was how personal it was. It felt like you were having a huge picnic with a bunch of friends who would randomly break out into song halfway through the meal. They shared bits about themselves and about the group and by the time we hit intermission, it felt like we were friends with the entire band! Their playful banter amongst the group made us in the audience more comfortable and it was altogether a very lively, happy and definitely very relaxing evening. In terms of reaching out to the crowd, I'd say they definitely succeeded in doing just that! On top of that, it never hurts to have a slice of Christmas in the middle of the year, does it? And so, due to popular demand, Agapella performed some Christmas numbers off their album. My personal favorite was Follow That Star. I already loved it from when I heard it off the CD, but seeing it live, complete with their dance moves, cute outfits and that guy who played the part of the saxophone was infinitely better! We turned up and were told to sit back, relax and leave the week behind us. But being at the concert did a lot more than just that. It brought Christmas closer, for one. And it also brought back memories of when I was a little kid and my mummy used to play awesome Christian songs in the car during our long drives. Agapella's 7@Eight took me out of Singapore, out of the whole H1N1 situation, far away from the worldwide financial crisis to a place where everyone was cheery, laughing and ready to step outside and catch snowflakes on their tongues. (Maybe that last bit was influenced by the Christmas songs.) I left, with a skip in my step, my heart lighter and my tummy full of chicken pies. By the time I got outside, it didn't matter that it wasn’t really snowing; the post-drizzle chill made it feel like the snow had only just stopped.
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