Don’t wake us up when September ends. We wanna enjoy every second of it, ’cause there’s a plethora of awesome acts and massive festivals coming our way next month. Besides notable ones like the F1 concerts, Ultra Singapore and Mosaic Music Weekend, you’ve also got your pop punk bands, indie musicians and performers made famous by the grandaddy of videos, YouTube.
Without further ado, here are all the top gigs coming up in September. (You might wanna start opening your wallets if you haven’t already).
Mosaic Music Weekend
Sept 1-4, various times and locations. $30-$88.
It’s three days of great tunes at the Esplanade, with headliners such as UK double bill Lisa Hannigan and Patrick Wolf revving things up on Friday, followed by Korean electronic act Idiotape the next day, and capped off on Sunday by Tomgirl, a duo of Singapore’s Cherie Ko and Australia’s Ted Doré. Unfortunately, the performance by pianist Hiromi and The Trio Project has been cancelled due to ‘unforeseen health issues’, but there’ll still be jazz classics by Alemay Fernandez opening the weekend. Other local acts include Cheating Songs, Lew, Randolf Arriola, Deon and T-Rex.
Sezairi
Sept 2, 7.30pm at a secret location. $25-$30.
Watch the Singapore Idol winner perform his debut full-English album at a mystery location, where he’ll get his groove on with dance-worthy tunes like ‘Fire to the Floor’. Inspired by his life as a newlywed (and experiences from his seven-year relationship with his now-wife), the self-titled work offers up tracks that each rep a milestone in their journey together. Oh, and feline fans will love this — Sezairi’s an ambassador of the Cat Welfare Society Singapore (just look at his cat-themed album artwork and his six rescued cats), so part of the proceeds from official merch sold at the gig will go to the non-profit organisation.
Simple Plan
Sept 5, 8pm at The Coliseum, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa. $138-$158.
These pop punk guys who — once upon a time — perfectly encapsulated your angsty feelings about being a teenager are back. And while they’re all grown men now, with plenty of legit new songs from their latest album Taking One for the Team, we’ll never tire of the nostalgic feels we get hearing throngs of concertgoers in their 20s and 30s scream along to emo lyrics from early ’00s smashes like ‘I’m Just A Kid’, ‘Perfect’ and ‘Welcome To My Life’.
Against The Current
Sept 8, 7.30pm at *SCAPE, The Ground Theatre. $101.
YouTube is the magic that pushed this pop rock band into mainstream consciousness, and now they’ve got two EPs to their name plus a recently-released debut album titled In Our Bones. Catch them live and you’ll find out why they managed to garner such a huge following on YouTube over the years.
Kit Chan
Sept 10, 8pm at Singapore Indoor Stadium. $78-$188.
It’s a sweet homecoming for Kit Chan, who makes a stopover on our shores for her Spellbound concert — this marks the final leg of her tour, as well as her return to the Indoor Stadium after 15 long years. Expect a magnificent spectacle, complete with extravagant costumes and a soulful performance that includes songs from her extensive repertoire built up over the years.
Ultra Singapore
Sept 10-11, noon till late at Ultra Park. USD175-USD225.
After the colossal crowds that turned up at 2015’s Road to Ultra, we’ve got ourselves the first edition of Ultra Singapore this year. Hit up the brand new Ultra Park outdoor venue at Marina Bay for three stages packed with the beats of everything from pop rock and electro pop to techno and deep house. Headliners on the monster line-up include Kygo, Alesso, deadmau5, Axwell^Ingrosso, Afrojack and Above & Beyond.
Elvis Costello
Sept 11, 8pm at Esplanade Concert Hall. $48-$218.
In his decades-long musical career, Elvis Costello has pretty much done it all. With multiple awards and spots on ‘greatest of all time’ lists, there’s no doubt of his music’s appeal. In this retrospective solo performance, he’ll be taking you back in time with hits from his numerous studio and collaborative albums.
Music Matters Festival
Sept 12-15, various times and locations. Free.
Sandwiched between Ultra Singapore and the F1 concerts, this four-day music fest solidly holds its own, starring more than 30 up-and-coming and established artists from countries across the globe. Performing in various venues — including kyo, Switch, Timbre at The Substation, Barber Shop by Timbre and Millian (a live music venue at St James) — the line-up for this sixth edition includes the likes of Alex Cuba, Bastian Baker, The Veronicas, Garden City Movement and PISCO.
Yuck
Sept 13, 7.30pm at Hood Bar and Cafe. $38-$55.
This foursome from London kickstarted things the DIY way — by producing and recording their debut self-titled album themselves. And it all paid off mightily. With two more records under their belt — Glow & Behold and Stranger Things — the indie rockers are on their way to greater things. At their gig here, they’ll be supported by local dream pop act Subsonic Eye.
Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix
Sept 16-18, various times and locations. Tickets start from $78 for single-day Zone 4 walkabout.
Admit it, you go for F1 every year basically just to catch the concerts. After all, if you’re not a fan of watching cars zoom past in a blur while your eardrums threaten to rupture in protest, the massive mainstream acts that come to town for the race will convince you to get tickets anyway. This year’s line-up features pop princess Kylie Minogue, indie pop band Bastille, the collaboration of Queen + Adam Lambert, electropop songbird Halsey, rockers Imagine Dragons, a cappella group Pentatonix and disco funk outfit KC and the Sunshine Band.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Sept 20, 8pm at The Star Theatre. $68-$168.
They’ve probably got more than 20 dollars in their pockets now, thanks to the massive hit that was 2012’s ‘Thrift Shop’. It’s been four years since The Heist, but we’ll still gladly sing along to the American hip hop duo’s catchy tunes — no hesitation there. The Grammy award-winning pair of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis will be here for their Singapore debut on the heels of their sophomore album, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, and we’re gearing up for new tracks like ‘Downtown’, as well as older ones such as ‘Can’t Hold Us’ and ‘Same Love’. Here’s also hoping Macklemore will point into the crowd at random and challenge someone to a dance off (Idris Elba-style).
Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox
Sept 23, 8pm at The Star Theatre. $108-$158.
Scott Bradlee is the talented mastermind behind Postmodern Jukebox, an ever-growing collective of just-as-talented performers, who specialise in whipping up retro covers of Top 40 hits. If you’ve only heard their remakes of songs like Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ and Lorde’s ‘Royals’ on YouTube, this is your chance to watch them live. Take this impeccably upbeat version of Celine Dion’s melancholic ‘My Heart Will Go On’, for example. Sure makes you wish Titanic had an ending that reflects the buoyant beats here.
Bring Me The Horizon
Sept 27, 8pm at Fort Gate @ Canning Park. $108.
Armed with new tunes from their fifth album That’s the Spirit, British metalcore/alt rock outfit Bring Me The Horizon are heading to our shores at the end of September to round off a great month of gigs. Turn up for an exhilarating evening of explosive riffs, soaring vocals and infectious melodies.
