I donned my ranger’s jacket, compass, backpack, hiking boots, and a grimace to make my way over to the far west of Singapore to catch Stereophonics this week. The Zepp@BlackBox in Jurong East has become a popular event venue in recent months for small to medium bands to visit. A lil’ out of the way for the core city citizens but off I went.
Again, as I’ve been in Singapore for what I would call an expanded stretch of time this was the second chance I got to see Stereophonics in Singapore. The first time was way back in the nose bleeds of 14th August 2013 surrounded by the humid green confines of Fort Canning park on the back of their Graffiti On The Train tour. The Zepp@BlackBox venue is an interesting one; it’s on the third floor of a department store. “Where are they playing? In the kitchen appliances section?” I quipped to nobody as I escalated my way through household sundries. I was wrong, the event hall is nearest to the sofa set section.
Stereophonics put on a good show. It’s all on the shoulders of Kelly Jones’ vocals it has to be said. If he caught a bad virus that ruined his vocal chords somehow that would not be good for them in the long run. His voice can be raspy and melodic, soulful and soft, high-pitched and sweet. All at the same time.
Their songs have amassed over time like stones (not the Rolling Stones, just stones). Their albums have been rolled(!) out every two years since 2013’s …Train. Before that there was a 4 year break back to 2009’s Keep Calm and Carry On which had been their last release in their first series of pumping out albums every two years (Pull the Pin 2007, Language.Sex.Violence.Other 2005, You Gotta Go There To Come Back 2003, JEEP 2001, Performance and Cocktails 1999, and Word Gets Around 1997). That’s some regular workflow right there but perhaps that 4 year break was good as 07’s and 09’s releases are probably the weakest in their tome..
Anyway, the concert. Very good. Great pace and a great mix of the better parts of their back catalog. Starting off with a couple of the more recent hits they get into their set-list with a laid back swagger. C’est La Vie, in particular, getting the size nines a tappin’. They dip forward and back in time throughout the main body of their show and it’s quite a confident selection of standout songs from their oeuvre. Stand outs for me were Have A Nice Day, Step On My Old Size Nines, Grafitti on The Train, and Traffic. Which is quite a varied selection from over the years. One song which was played due to technical songs was Bill Davey’s Daughter (which can be a major highlight of their set list if they wish) which rarely gets a run out usually. Nice. It has to be said a Stereophonics songs are best when Jones can spill his emotional guts out with his amazing vocal range and all these songs are prime examples of this.
Rounding out the main set list were a trio of older classics that take me back to 1999 and college in Dundalk. The aforementioned Traffic, Just Looking, and Local Boy In The Photograph. I slipped back to the back for a sneaky taxi run as I knew they only do a two song encore (thanks setlist.fm). Their usual encore are the raucous Bartender and the Thief followed by the sweetly sugared pumped up rock love song Dakota. Both excellent send off songs.
SETLIST
And an official live version of “Have A Nice Day”
Have a nice day.