The House of Riot: A Triple Bill
Well, if a triple bill means paying and getting your moneyās worth, The House of Riot sure got it right! 7 June 2015 may very well been an historical event and a major milestone for the local music scene. I was glad I was there to witness Singaporeās finest talents in action. It was the beginning of new things and also the goodbye of a musical journey.Ā
A video posted by Liyana Ibrahim (@orangebubblegum) on Jun 7, 2015 at 8:51am PDT
The night started out with the ever so talented singer-songwriter Inch Chua. Just an inch on stage she is not. She performed songs sheās written for her upcoming EP, Letters To Ubin, set to be released in September. She brought back her old songs too such as Dear Paramour and Wallflower, which to me were the highlights of her set as her acoustic performances just have a certain way of tugging at your heartstrings. She described performing her newly written songs as being stripped naked as youāre showing everyone what youāve written for the very first time. Check out Inchās instagram (@thisisinch) to check out how lifeās been so far at her residency on Pulau Ubin.
Although I actually expected The Great Spy Experiment (GSE) to perform last with the news of their departure and all, next up was them. In between the change of sets from Inch to GSE, they showed a video of behind the scenes footage of A Triple Bill consisting of interviews from the artists themselves and the backbone of House of Riot.Ā
A video posted by Liyana Ibrahim (@orangebubblegum) on Jun 7, 2015 at 9:04am PDT
As soon as GSE came out on stage, Fandy Razak, drummer of GSE, gave a heartfelt speech which Iām sure made many others teary-eyed too besides him onstage. Of cos, spending 10 years making music and succeeding at keeping everyone together is definitely not an easy feat. To have achieved that especially in Singapore is any bandās dream. GSE has definitely paved the way for Singaporean musicians of now and the many more to come.
A video posted by Liyana Ibrahim (@orangebubblegum) on Jun 7, 2015 at 9:14am PDT
GSE started their set with The Lights and Saiful Idris brought everyone to their feet. From circle 1, it looked like he was summoning everyone into the light. It was definitely an amazing moment. The night continued with everyone else in GSE calling out their loved ones in between like what Saiful said, a house party. Magdelene, keys for the spies, even wore heels and make-up onstage as per requested by her dear mother. GSE ended it off with a final performance of their classic Class āAā Love Affair. It was their last performance as The Great Spy Experiment and GSE definitely made it worthwhile for themselves and their fans. Yes Saiful, you made us cry.
A video posted by Liyana Ibrahim (@orangebubblegum) on Jun 7, 2015 at 8:32am PDT
The last one for the night was Charlie Lim. He started off with annoucing the success of his newly-released album Time/Space reaching #1 on iTunes and joked the SEA Games soundtrack may have knocked him off that spot by that night already but itās ok cos he wrote a song on it too. Time/Space is a double-EP which consists of his more folky, acoustic tunes on Time and more synth, electronic songs on Space. A double EP for the 2 very different musical stylings of Charlie. He was one of the most gracious musicians ever and he couldnāt thank everyone enough for being there and supporting everyone on that very stage and the local music scene itself. Besides performing his own tunes, he did a very groovy cover of Frank Oceanās Super Rich Kids. He even did an impromtu performance of Choices, joking that his father said audience participation was important and proceeded to play on the keyboard. Iām sure everyone in the hall was entranced by his performances.
It was definitely a night to remember not only for House of Riot, but for everyone else that made that night happen and were there to witness it. Congratulations to the House of Riot for such a successful, memorable night. Thank you to The Great Spy Experiment for giving us music to remember you guys by and Iām sure the legacy doesnāt stop there. To Inch and Charlie, canāt wait to watch you guys again soon. It was a very proud moment to see our very own local artistes on The Esplanade Concert Hall stage. I hope this wonāt be the last and there will be many more to come.
Relive The Great Spy Experimentās music on Bandcamp.
Stream Charlie Limās Time/Space on Spotify or Download it on iTunes.
Check out Inch Chuaās latest videos on her Youtube channel, iNCH.













