:+: Fine after rain :+:

I caught local Jazz singer Nathan Hartono's debut solo concert which's titled Feeling Good With Nathan Hartono last night which was held at the Esplanade Recital Studio & with thanks to MTV ASIA/Music & Movement , I went to attend his maiden gig with Jiha for free haha & this event was part of Esplanade's Late Night Series too .

Before I go on further , I have to say that it was deja vu all over for me again as the very 1st Esplanade gig that I went for which took place almost 2 years ago was Electrico's Sound Therapy gig which incidentally was part of Esplanade's Late Night Series & also it was held at the Esplanade Recital Studio so eariler when I was there again after almost 2 years ago since I last stepped inside , it brought back fond memories of the very 1st Electrico gig that I attended .

Not to mention , like both events , Nathan & Electrico's Esplanade's Late Night Series gigs were all sold out . By right Nathan was supposed to stage his concert at 9.30pm only but due to such a strong demand for the tickets , Esplanade had to add an extra timeslot which was the 1 that Jiha & I went for at 7.30pm so just before Jiha & I stepped inside the recital studio , I saw the big banner that was plastered inside the Esplanade which was advertising Nathan's gig .

Not sure if the words SOLD OUT refers to the 9.30pm timeslot or to both the 7.30pm & 9.30pm timeslots . Probably for both .

Unlike most local gigs that I went for , events that were organised by the Esplanade usually & tends to start on time & this time around for Nathan's case , it started at 7.35pm which was already good !

Just to shed some light on Nathan Hartono . He's only 15 but yet he has accomplished so much since winning the very 1st Teenage Magazine Teenage Icon in 2005 & yes in the beginning , I said that his forte lies in Jazz which in a way makes him the youngest local Jazz singer around .

Before that , I have definitely heard a lot about Nathan & also the many accomplishments/acclodes that he has been getting since obviously I read Teenage & etc but yet I never got the chance to listen to his material which I'm glad that I won tickets via MTV ASIA on Mon as it gave me an opportunity to experience whether how good/bad he sounds .

& during the 1 hour show that he performed & sang , I think he's great & if you ask me , he looks even better & more dashing in real life haha

I have a confession to make in that before , I didn't listened to a lot of Jazz but it was only recently when I started to listen to J Pop Jazz singer Mika Nakashima which you can say changed my opinion & perception towards Jazz music as I assumed before gaining an apperication towards Jazz in that it was boring & stuffy .

The recital studio was packed just as I expected . Almost all 250 seats were taken up , that's how hot & in demand Nathan's . Nathan was accompanied by his band consisting of a pianist which doubled up as a keyboardist , a drummer , a bassist & a lead guitarist .

I went to his concert with an open mind & I have to admit that I was really blown away by his singing , talent & etc . Although he's only 15 , I'm sure he has a lot of potential to succeed in the local music scene in the long run .

Nathan mostly did Big Band Swinging Jazz No.s during the 1 hour duration of his maiden solo gig & he sneaked in some covers as well which were done in a really refreshing Jazz manner such as Keane's Everybody's Changing & would you believe it or not , The White Stripes's 7 Nation Army !

His take on 7 Nation Army was something like in the manner that Mika went for in NANA & pre/post NANA in that it was pretty rockish & jazzy at the same time & it was probably the most Rock-oriented song/cover that he did last night which I think it's great as he put a fresh sound/spin to the original . I'm usually not big on covers but this's an exception so thumbs up to him .

A surprise happened later on in the show where Teenage Icon '06 winner Ming Bridges came & did a duet with him in which later on she sang a cover of Corinne Bailey Rae's Put Your Records On .

If there's any gross that I like to talk about was that I realised when the drums were being played , the sound was a bit loud & it unfortunately or not , drowned the piano/keyboards & in the process the music of the piano/keyboards were somewhat being swallowed by the drums's .

& the place where Jiha & I were seated at , whenever Nathan finished doing a song , I was greeted by some hardcore fans of him who kept on screaming & clapping for him a little bit too much which was really gritting on the ears & it got even louder when Nathan did an encore of 2 songs in which 1 of them was his self penned original song called My Crush .

I was 15 once so I understand the whole groupie issue but the girls who did that were a bit too much to me . Somemore it didn't happened at 1 particular spot . It happened at all sides , North , South , East & West so in a way it made my hair stand !

Still I enjoyed myself a lot eariler & somemore what better way to treat Jiha on her birthday than this ! Actually I did asked Dan on whether would he like to accompany me since I won tickets but that didn't happened obviously . Honestly I think if he were to accompany me , he probably might feel outta place or probably bored during Nathan's concert haha cos I think you have to understand/like Jazz & appericate such music & guess what ? after watching Nathan in performance , I have gained a whole new respect & apperication towards Big Band Jazz no.s .

Am considering to get Nathan's debut solo album Let Me Sing! to relieve last night's moment , bliss !

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