Billy Bragg in Singapore

Never thought I would go to a Billy Bragg concert that was held at UCC, NUS. They had a pre-concert bar at the foyer, but no drinks were allowed to be carried into the theatre. I even sat at the stalls, right in the center of the hall at Row F. I wondered if this stop even made money. Judging from the filled hall, I guess it sorta did. To my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Billy Bragg is one of those charismatic performers who I rarely see anymore. He comes across as sincere and genuine. At this age, his entire life has been laid out for audiences to judge. His fans grew up and aged along with him. He put on a great show in Singapore. He's a consummate storyteller, brilliant singer and plays the guitar beautifully. It's not easy to put on a solo performance. But he did it. The easy banter took us through a too-fast set of 70 minutes.  

He covered Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine'. He told us the tale of how Paul Weller asked him to stop playing that because he played it till it sounded like 'Smoke on the Water'. Hahaha. And it really did. He played the last three chords of the song mischievously so. 

Why did the singer and activist (visibly so) bother with Singapore? I didn't figure him to be someone who cares about Singapore's audiences or her politics. While on tour in Australia in March, he joined ABC staff on the Sydney picket line. He did the same in New Zealand in February. As vocal as he might be about industry action and strikes, he obviously wouldn't do it in Singapore.

The seasoned musician knew exactly what to do in a solo show. This is his first time performing in Singapore, and he read his audience right — largely British in the late-forties to 60-something age group. This wasn't a show whose audience would wave phones and record songs or take loads of photos. I had to surreptitiously do so. Hahaha. Well, let's just say that loads of people in the audience took photos with the flash going off rather often. They genuinely didn't think that their phones could take shots without the flash. Okaaaay.

 

The show was peppered with anecdotes from his life, performances, and snippets of family interactions. Everyone apparently knew the lyrics to 'A New England' (from the very first album in 1983 'Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy'), and the theater sang along at each refrain.

In his encore, he sang 'Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards' ('Workers Playtime, 1988). The 1988 got a rework on chords and phrasing, and he revised the lyrics to throw in Elon Musk and podcasts. Too fun. What a delightful night. So aye aye, we're all pretty enough, still hip and very relevant.