Concerts in Singapore

I am going to say this in the politest way I can conceivably think of: Live concerts in Singapore are weird. Now, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt because I’ve only been to one concert since living here. But, the one concert I went to was Red Hot Chili Peppers and they aren’t exactly the kind of band that you just politely sit and watch. At least, I didn’t think so.

I had been warned. I had heard tales of other Americans going to their first concert in Singapore and being surprised at how polite it all was. I even put said stories into consideration as I purchased seats rather than general standing room. I assumed that it would be similar to the states and, even if you had a seat, you would be standing because you would be rocking out because it’s the Red Hot Fucking Chili Peppers. Also, I’m old now so I’d like to be able to sit when I want and stand when I want.

By the time we made it to the stadium RHCP had already started. We broke away from our friends and found our seats which were about seven rows back, center stage, and an easy 100 yards away from the stage. To make matters worse, every single person was sitting. Not one soul was standing, rocking out to the music. Instead, they were all sitting, tapping their feet, some recording on their phones, but all being very, very polite. The standing crowd wasn’t much better. I couldn’t see one person with a “Rock on” hand in the air or a mass of people jamming to their favorite RHCP song. Instead, all I could see was a mass of people standing still and recording on their phones. It was surreally calm.

It was so calm that I swear, you could have taken an hour and half nap while the RHCP serenaded you to sleep. This is less of a statement on the RHCP and more on the vibe from the audience. I cannot imagine being a U.S. rock star and finding yourself in Singapore and wondering what you’re doing wrong. Here’s where I could use some cultural insight. Is this a Singaporean phenomenon? Are concerts in Singapore just generally more subdued? Or was it the band that they weren’t into (because I recently heard that Backstreet Boys rocked the house)?

Needless to say, I’ve learned my lesson. The standing room tickets are worth the price, especially if the concert will only last for an hour and half. Also, unless it’s a band that I just know will sell out, I’m not going to break the bank to buy tickets right away; it seemed like RHCP tickets were a dime a dozen by the day of the show.

Honestly, the most fun part about seeing the RHCP was going down the rabbit hole that is YouTube, and showing the girls old RHCP music videos, which apparently are totally incomprehensible because the band is shirtless the majority of the time. Never mind the totally psychedelic videos themselves, it’s the shirt-lessness that blows their mind. I don’t know what’s so hard to understand. Handsome(ish) men in amazing physical shape and they’re shirtless. They’ll get it in a few years, once they get over all boys having cooties.