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| Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Music > Alabaster Jar II The HomecomingWriter: Yang Ming TAGS presented Alabaster Jar II, second in a series of music events performed by gifted amateur and professional Christian artist. Yang Ming reviews the sold out concert. Playden, The Arts House, 27 April 2007, 8pm To the TAGS Artistic Director, To be honest, I dread gigs, or rather any sort of singing concerts. The scary thought of sitting through two hours to one human being crooning to a large crowd can turn me into a prune. I would rather put my dime on watching good theatre performances in town. Blame me for being more visual than audio.  The publicity of Alabaster Jar 2 stood outside of PlaydenThankfully, Alabaster Jar II didn't turn out to be a disappointment - instead, I was almost mesmerised. Dawn Fung on her own compositions with her precious guitarlele stirred an utmost interest in me. I enjoyed the folklore feel although I have no idea that folk songs can be such easy listening. Among all her compositions, "Doorkeeper" was my favourite. It reminded to be a doorkeeper within the context of keeping certain kingdom secrets. Lam Yishan was one bubbly, girl-next-door singer who sang her choice of songs with an influence of bossa nova, a musical phenomenon which dated all the way back to Brazil in 1950s. I didn't know bossa nova was such a huge phenomenon way back then. Yishan mentioned that the music grew out of campaigns not unlike our Teamy, the Productive Bee Campaign. I felt so old hearing that. I liked the rendition of "Desafinado" sung with guest musician, Isaac Teo. I thought it was a beautiful combination of voices in the gig. Overall, she could really sing! Come on, someone please give her a recording contract! Lastly, Kimberly Creasman cracked me up with her hilarious stories of living in Singapore. Her tunes were a combination of gospel and Broadway musical. She was one drama queen - every song she sang was an expression of joy, peace and a tinge of sadness within her heart. Each song made me longed for more. And I suppose I got what I wanted when she sang "Feels like Home". The background of that choice came from a time where Kimberly once witnessed the awesome sunset driving along the ECP. It reminded her of home, and mine too (the eternal one). I was so close to tears at last note. The main highlight for me or rather, the miracle of the night was the Mandarin song she attempted. "The Blessings" by Steven Curtis Chapman was based on the tune by Jacky Cheung. How appropriate then that half of the audiences whipped out their handphones spontaneously to support her as she prompted us, "Come on, wave your handphones". For a minute, I thought I was at a Cantopop concert and yes, I was guffawing loudly on my seat. It was a good effort for a New Year 2007 resolution fulfilled. Kudos to you, Kimberly! I wanna hear more from you!  Finale: A beautiful duet among the songstressesThe only problem I have is this : Please open up more space for Alabaster Jar III! Yours sincerely, Yang Ming
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