BeerFest Asia 2011 Singapore

Beer, beer and more glorious beer and everyone wants to be part of it! Situated with the Singapore Flyer in the background, BeerFest Asia 2011 made Marina Promenade its temporary 3-day home and played host to beer retailers, wholesalers and the who's who's in the beer industry (not forgetting tons of drunk people on that night). The only place where you could find beer more easily than you could find water - only if you were on the premises of BeerFest Asia 2011. The event was very well done in my opinion and just making to the entrance, you could already tell some major carnival-esque event was going on. There was heightened security at the front as anyone who entered had their bags searched as part of a routine check. That is not only forgetting that you had to pay While inside, there were plenty of sights to behold - the booze to savour, the ladies to check out and of course the live acts we were there to catch!

At BeerFest Asia 2011, there were the Blues Tent, Rock Tent catering to the different acts that were playing that day. Not forgetting the stand-up comedians over at the Comedy Room below:

I had along with me two enthusiasts photographers and sure did we run into a lot of familiar people on-site itself! There were plenty of action going on to be had, in all honesty I think the pictures tell it best, do enjoy!

And of course there were the live acts which featured: 53A, Raw Earth, The Goodfellas, The Soulfellas, Chicken Shack Revival Band and foreign acts like The All Star Show Stoppers and Killer Queen! I was fortunate to get an interview with the Rolling Stones Tribute Band, do scroll down for the interview! In addition, I got to interview with an up and coming talent 17-year old Joshua Francis whom impressed back at Bridging the Blues just couple of months back. Do check out the videos with Joshua on Robert Johnson's Crossroads and Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice I'll Be Alright!

But if you ask me honestly, you know where there's booze, fair share of troubles are always nowhere far to be found. By the time I got to video Killer Queen (the last act to perform that day), there were broken glass bottles on the floor, and there were some drunken people staggering about and some struggling to stay sober. Everyone was having a good time but me! Turns out I was sick with flu and sore throat that day and dodging flying souvenirs (there were giveaways on stage and the winners were whisking it towards the audience) and trying to keep my hat on me was getting on my nerves! I'd like to think they were under the effects of alcohol and it wasn't easy for me doing the job on my own.

Rolling Stones Tribute Band is part of the All-Star Show Stoppers and I managed to catch them right after their set on Friday. There were simply no airs about them, granted me an interview off-bat without any questions asked from which media source I'm from! (Stay tuned for the interview)

And of course there was Killer Queen who were the tribute band for Queen. Do check out the videos for the ever-captivating Freddie Mercury sound-alike!

(At this note, I'll like to post out that I'm still looking for keen/interested photographers to join me at events as such.)

Stardust 2011 - Band Category

After the intermission ended, the tension begin building up again because the band category was slated to proceed next. Clearly, the idea of playing in a band is way much more perplexing than having to do the job alone. Dynamics, coordination, concept of space, showmanship on top of the strength of the vocals being able to carry off the band as well as stage presence are all factors that were going to come into play.

This was also when the competition level started to diversify a little, with bands displaying more personality finding more favour with the audience. 4 Avenues, with a line-up of teens barely over 16 won the hearts of many despite not placing in the top 3. For a moment there, their rendition of Taylor Swift's Love Story brought back smiles to faces and memories of high school talentime for many. One of the judges also commented about how he had seen 4 Avenues' previous performances before and their ability to constantly engage the audience. You can check out the performance here:

There were the Shockers that left quite an impression in the semi-finals for the wrong reasons, and the contestants' display picture is all you need to get the full picture. There were several bands that opted for the medley route - mashup of several songs of their own choice and to be honest, it was going to be difficult to do justice to all the songs in the medley. Expectations for the different songs in the medley added up and it was the Shockers that did the best job out of the bands who opted to do medley. Watch them kick off with Nirvana's classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" here:

Though there were bands that didn't end up placing in top 3, they definitely could be proud of their on-day performances, there was Audio Kream. Judges complimented on strong personality as well as X-factor of lead vocalist to be able to carry the band. Should my memory serve me right, they were also leading in terms of the number of the audiences' votes halfway through the band category. These weren't slouches for sure, do keep an eye for them!

The metal-heads arrived in the form of St Helens and were the much needed wisp of fresh air in the competition. You might have mis-read the former as wisp of fresh hair as indeed, there was a dedicated post-performance interview with the hosts on how lead vocalist managed to keep his hair outrageously long and shiny for a guy!

And finally, the band that captivated the imaginations of both the judges as well as the audience. Performing to the classic "Time After Time", Freedom emerged victorious in this band category. There just wasn't many faults to be had with them - the rhythm section held up well, the guitar effects and keyboards didn't miss a note and there was just nothing more to ask for from the band for a top 3 worthy performance.

You can check out rest of bands' pictures below:

As well as the prize ceremony, congratulations to the all the bands!