HeartRock Romania

[HeartRockSingapore]

My counterpart in Romania sent me this pix of their Garlic Festival which is for folk music. Now they are doing HeartRock Romania which is for rock music. Essentially we are doing much the same thing, going around doing little gigs here and there, organizing special events etc etc The last Garlic had 120,000 people

 

[thor666]

ah. so the question: how do we get 12k Singaporeans to watch a gig?

or to rephrase it: how do we get the common man on the street to become geninuely excited about a particular gig in Singapore?

food for thought... even for me - i have no idea how! :wink:

Anthony: That sure looks like an awesome gig. Kinda reminds me of the footage of Hendrix performing at the Isle of Wight...

 

[CrispyEgg]

1) publicity
2) word of mouth being spread around from one friend to another
3) media
4) for the word ROCK not to be so shunned upon by half the community
5) for more bands to move up to a live performing standard

"big" rock stuff like competitions like school of rock are held at TINY places, like SHOPPING CENTRES??? that can't be good for 10k people, and i'm sure many who WANT to see wats going on are 'turned off' by the cramp and crowd of the venue. youth park may be bigger, but it has awful sound. somehow the cars nearby just spoil the nice ambience. stuff like baybeats - ahh, those attract good crowd and showcase good music. but maybe not enough local hard rock?

 

[unsane]

but maybe not enough local hard rock?

there are more than enough local bands of every genre....

how do we get 12k singaporeans to watch a gig?
answer: it will never happen

the entire cultural mindset..the mentality is all wrong and i dont think it'll ever change,not in our lifetime that is.

ive been to many european countries and caught their local bands playing small gigs in little pubs etc. we're talking really crappy unknown bands here, and yet there are always at least 50,100 people watching,or at least present.
that kind of turnout at a singapore gig would be hailed as a success.

how many people attended the DT or mayhem gigs...its a pathetic amount compared to went those bands play in other countries. its an embarassment really..i fully expect those bands never to return to our shores...

the excuse that other countries have a higher population than singapore is bullshit...ive been in a little croatian city (population 82000 total,less in the city itself),and a metal festival drew a crowd of nearly 3000. do the math,people. how many did our sembawang fest draw.. less than 100, no matter what the papers say.

 

[madmonkeykungfu]

I wouldn't say the entire cultural mindset of Singaporeans is wrong, because how the common we perceive things is a product of our collective experiences as we grow up. We are too comfortable playing safe, that is why many Singaporeans would rather go to a gig of a high profile band because their perception tells them there is at least a certain "gurrantee" to the quality of the performance (which may very often be untrue and is different from the CD record).

Don't have to feel embarassed when an international act's gig/concert ticket sales turn out poor. It only reflects the size of their consumer market here, thats all.

On a side note, a friend told me he played a small gig in China before, and the crowd was 5000. Maybe size of the population plays a part (when it comes to China).

 

[HeartRockSingapore]

at least at last year's Rock On Singapore we had 10,000 less than 10% of what Romania got...oh well, over two nights though.

This was HeartRock Singapore

SOME PICS FROM THE ARCHIVE

 

[unsane]

well kudos..thats definately a step in the right direction then..

the fact remains though..if international band's consumer market here is so small,what more the chances of a local band's?

 

[stillwater]

i kind of agree with most of the points Madmonkey relating to our consumer market here. but as for china, small gig wif 5000 isn't what i've heard/seen...probably just their big scale music festivals...

heartrock and unsane, well i think you've probably made wrong comparison, culturally... what is more welcomed in romania/ some parts of europe may not be here... u dun compare the number of flamanco gigs betw Spain and Singapore do u? similiarly, if u replace the heartrock romania artistes with genre similiar to JJ, Ah Du and Stephanie sun, effects would be mutually exclusive... they do live acts too...

anyway, i nv agree on grass being greener on the other side(west), in the context of a musician's prospect, or live music's popularity. this thought equates naiveness. i've been a few places around also, always find myself trying especially hard to find live music, especially in well-established country. live music = minority, period. on the contrary, it is those more backward/third world countries that u can actually find more..

 

[ephyra]

COngrats to both heart rock singapore and romania
a great feat of achivement ...
i think jus give a year or more time ... i think its still a slow process but yup we can go to more than 10k ...

i have to also say young new local bands nowadays mature faster ... very skilled and talented ... experimenting with new fronts ...
than agin when u talk abt live concerts it boils down to how well you can entertain and bring down the crowd ... as long as you can put up a great all rounded show performance with good music and stage presence ... people will come and watch
(Not forgetting the tix pricing ... resonable... unless there are top notch international bands)

 

[thor666]

i've been a few places around also, always find myself trying especially hard to find live music, especially in well-established country. live music = minority, period. on the contrary, it is those more backward/third world countries that u can actually find more..

perhaps rock appeals more to those who live in harder, more politically conflicting countries.

 

[thor666]

the reason why i bring up the 10k question is that i still find the bulk of gig goers to be the same few people who are already patronizing gigs, many of whom are "in" the scene, playing guitars/basses/keyboards and having a band of their own.

why isn't the common radio listener going out to hear live music? i hazard one of the reasons is because lots of music lovers associate live music to be similar to recorded music - live music is at best, good.

Which I believe most of the people here wouldn't agree - live music is more than that. There's a process and an energy in gigs that mp3 lovers cannot experience on their players.

my opinion: to gain momentum, radio stations must push for people to go to gigs. marketing to the casual listener here is extremely important, and there has to be a "what it in for me" for them to try out and participate.

quality also has to improve. i say, down with less than good gigs. Performing over at some shopping centre with bad acoustics and lazy soundmen is just going to spoil the perception of the passer-bys. Bands should take courage NOT to participate in gigs which they feel compromises their band integrity.

 

[madmonkeykungfu]

Which I believe most of the people here wouldn't agree - live music is more than that. There's a process and an energy in gigs that mp3 lovers cannot experience on their players.

Yes, I totally agree that the magic lies in hearing the music live.
Quoting my lecturer from poly many many years back, she said "even if nobody buys recorded music anymore, even if everyone rather download mp3s illegally, people will still be willing to pay for good live music."

 

[CrispyEgg]

quality also has to improve. i say, down with less than good gigs. Performing over at some shopping centre with bad acoustics and lazy soundmen is just going to spoil the perception of the passer-bys. Bands should take courage NOT to participate in gigs which they feel compromises their band integrity.

i strongly agree on that. i've been "invited" to gig at events like charity or showcase of bands, and there are no entry fees and no contracts etc, and u find out that u got a 8 channel portable mixer, two cheap speakers that have no bass response whatsoever and a soundman who is either scratching his arse or finding the nearest kopitiam for a snack.

but there might be two more problems not fully brought up yet:
1) publicity/advertising. let's face it, when Dream Theater came to singapore, the only ads they got were here on SOFT, by word of mouth of DT fans, and straits times even published the wrong date. other various magazines like... i think maxim and new man published them... didnt do a very good effort in promoting the band. and there were no TV ads. c'mon, i remember some emo band having a TV ad. even Fort Minor and mike shi-icantrememberhisname has a TV ad.

or maybe it's just too expensive to advertise in singapore and advertising agencies know nothing about non-mainstream bands and hence come up with horrible promos for rock gigs.

2) singaporeans spend on stupid things like ciggs, beer and clubs. no offense if u like to do any of the three stated above, but c'mon: if u're gonna pay $10 for a pack of 10 smokes each lasting a few minutes, why not $100 for a 100minute rock gig for your ears? and it's definitely much more entertaining than puffing away. $5 for a bottle of beer, x5 = $25 for a local rock gig at a bar/club organized by aspiring teenagers? and well, some people like mainstream music or house music and stuff that's DJ'ed (i.e. played off records, not exactly "LIVE" at all). nothing wrong with that, but it doesnt hurt to listen to some other genres right? it's not like we're forcing it on you - i'm sure rock is easily acceptable over other genre's like NEWAGE and TRANCE which some people cannot stand.

oh and parents should let their kids go to rock gigs too. just because movies and media portrays rock gigs to have lots of sex booze and fighting, it's not true for all. heck, hip hop has lotsa sex booze and fighting but if 50 cent came to singapore i bet he'll be a sellout. and if the darkness came, parents would complain about the long hair, the half naked vocalist (hey 50 cent's album cover is half naked too) and the occasional swear word. which, is also in hip hop and other genres. so really, there's nothing very "wrong" about rock.

 

[HeartRockSingapore]

don't down the less than good gigs yet otherwise people will call for down with less than good bands. Everybody has a first time gigs and bands alike. To allow the scene to mature, grow, such natural development must take its course. The imminent is to start doing even while you talk and not talk alone. Get involve in projects and events that will benefit the local music scene and industry, whether in direct or indirect participation, or simply being an audience. These may not be just gigs. They may be simply gathering of musicians, drum or guitar exchange, workshops or clinics etc. Check out various gigs and judge for yourself which one will give you satisfaction and you make a judgement as to which of the gigs you will support most of the time. Give ideas to gig organizers as to what you want to see happening. Again it may not be for gigs alone. You can get gig organizers to do things other than gigs.

 

[thor666]

Anthony, just to share an experience with you. I played in the "Expose Your Talent" gigs you organized at Singapore Expo, and I must say, the soundmen were the best soundmen we've ever seen.

And for the other gigs - all the soundmen fell way below that kind of standard.

It isn't about the equipment - though the equipment at Expo was also way better - I remember the soundmen at Expo took pains for each band to get a good sound, dialled in reverb/flanger on the vocalist's input to improve each individual song - although he was not asked to do the extra work at all.

I've also been to gigs where the soundmen just sat there and did nothing. And the mix was horrible.

i believe there's a point where bands have got to take the initiative to throw the ball back into gig organizers/soundmen's court. It's not acceptable for soundmen to get paid by virtue of being soundmen, as it would not be acceptable for salesmen not to respond to customers needs. (that is though, another story for another day.)

i agree with your point not to down the less than good gigs. However I would like to emphasize that there is a difference between a good gig gone bad, and a gig that was bad to begin with - for the latter, no effort was made to make it good.

 

[visa]

it's all a step in the right direction.

lets keep stepping.

 

[HeartRockSingapore]

Thanks for the compliments. I was fortunate to have Team108 who sponsored the sound system and soundman, though the younger soundman provided by Expo is equally dedicated. Please patronize Team108.

The soundman's performance, the equipment indeed reveal the degree of passion, commitment a gig organizer puts in. My Marine Cove isn't anywhere near Expo in terms of expertise and hardware yet Mikeman has delivered the zest that equals the best. Please use Mikeman Studio.

I don't see there is a need to throw back. It is just a natural thing that you play for those you like and wouldn't for those you disgust..that's all, and it applies to all things. But there are still people who thinks that they are good for reasons unknown, so be it.

I hope to see more people here coming to HeartRock events, whether you are playing or not. Let's get to know each other better, exchange ideas and work towards the betterment of Singapore music. There's a coffee shop at Marine Cove that serves almost everything.

 

[thor666]

I would love to, Anthony. Had been having band jam sessions every saturday, so couldn't come for any of your Marine Cove gigs. Now that we're taking a break, I can come over and have a look.

The next one is 25th right? I'll clear my schedule to come down and chill out and help out should you need any assistance.

Cheers
Raymond

 

[CrispyEgg]

oh darn, 25th? i've got a gig on that day... shall go down for the nxt one then...

i'm hoping to find a decent sound company that i can work for in the future... i'd rather trouble myself with getting a good mix out of any equipment rather than setting up my own, spending thousands getting "the best" and not being able to get a good sound out of it...

yeah, studying to be a techie. lol.