the suede concert

What will the concert of a band often equalled to Sex Pistols be like? Wahyu and Daus from Hai found the answer straight from the World Trade Centre, Singapore.

"We play music for ourselves. If other people like it, that's good," said Brett Anderson.

The confident sentence was uttered by the vocalist of Suede, an alternative group from England. The quartet consisting Brett Anderson (vocals), Richard Oakes (guitars), Matt Osman (drums), Simon Gilbert (bass) and Neil Codling (keyboards) were formed in 1992. A year later, they managed to release their debut album: Suede. The quality of this album was said to be as good as Sex Pistols' Never Mind The Bollocks.

The second album, Dog Man Star was in 1994. And in 1996, to be exact on December, Coming Up was out. They were busy touring on early 1997 to promote this album. Including in World Trade Center, Singapore on March 7.

orderly crowd

Since the evening came, teenagers had waited in the venue that is similar to Jakarta's Balai Sidang Senayan. The area by the sea is really a good place to hang out. While waiting they could buy food in foodstalls lining up nearby. Many of them wore black shirt with "Coming Up" printed on it, the title of Suede's latest album.

On six o'clock that evening, two hours before the show started, the crowd had queued at Harbour Pavillion's corridor. Orderly they enter the room with the capacity of 4000 people. As usual, festival class was the favourite spot. About thirty percent of all viewers were gathering there.

And as usual also, although no barriers were put between festival class and others, nobody tried to sneak through the little number of security guards.

Half an hour after the promised showtime, stagelights sparked along with the intro of She from a digital equipment. Two minutes later come Brett, Richard, Mat, Simon and Neil onstage.

Without further delay, the band used to call themselves "Suave and Elegant" started with Trash, Lazy, Starcrazy and Animal Nitrate. In Trash, the opening track of Coming Up, the audience sang along with Brett. In Starcrazy, the backdrop with "Suede" written on it turned into white. And laser configuration started to dance.

Since the beginning of the show, Brett Anderson and Richard Oakes seemed to dominate the stage. Brett's vocals and Richard's guitar sounds went together in harmony. In almost every song Brett spinned his microphone while Mat Osman, Simon Gilbert and Neil Codling quietly played their instruments. Simon, for instance, only smiled in the corner of the stage.

This indifferent attitude is not new for Suede members. Western press sees them as a group that never care much about their appearance. However, "This is us," said one of them.

However, Suede's act finally managed to get all audience outside the festival class to stand up. Everybody screamed, sang and jumped together. In front of the stage, a small number of viewers were moshing but no chaos occured.

special song

As usual, Brett does a bit ad lib before shaking the crowd with hard numbers. Then, came So Young, By The Sea and The Wild Ones. "The Wild Ones is the best Suede song ever," proclaimed Brett on the release of Dog Man Star.

With that song, the audience got wilder in enjoying the band whose music influences include David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys, and Bob Dylan.

Soon after, the show continued with Saturday Night which received enthusiasm from all Suede mania. No wonder, because the track from their latest album was very popular besides Picnic By The Motorway and New Generation. And Brett's thought that not many people would've come to see them that night was proven wrong. "We thought there wouldn't be so much people come to see us. You've proven that we're wrong," said Brett frankly. He got noisy applause for those words.

After New Generation, the stage went dark. A moment later spotlights lit towards the keyboard. Behind the instrument sat Richard Oakes, replacing Neil Codling. From his fingers flew the intro of The 2 Of Us. Brett's vocals echoed comfortably through this soft number. Every chorus that went "...two of us..." was sang by the crowd. No wonder that Brett was amazed by Singaporean public's enthusiasm. "You're one of the most amazing audience we've ever got," said Brett honestly.

After the soft song, Brett ran to take a pair of maracas by the drum and said, "This will be our last song." They played Beautiful Ones. Brett didn't have to sing the chorus because the crowd already sang it together.

After the song Brett threw his maracas, and Simon threw the drumsticks to the crowd. Suede disappeared backstage.

About ten minutes later, Suede went back onstage to sing The Chemistry and Filmstar. The audience were not satisfied yet just by those songs, they called Suede back. With smile on their lips, Brett, Richard, Simon, Mat and Neil went back onstage.

"OK, one more time...and we do it especially for you," said Brett. And the last song really was special since they perform Sex Pistols' No Feelings. Then, the concert lasted for over an hour was ended. Satisfaction was on the faces of the revellers.

"It's totally extraordinary. I really enjoyed the whole concert," commented most of the viewers.

Who's extraordinary was not only Suede, but also the audience. They behave orderly since they queued into the building until the end of the show. How cool it would be to see the same thing happen in our country.

"it's not british invasion..."

In the evening at Levi's counter in Raffles City, before they performed, Suede held a fans-gathering and received an award from Sony Music Awards for their Coming Up which was sold over 10,000 copies in Singapore.

It was hosted by Danny McGill, MTV's VJ and was attended by no less than 50 fans who had waited in the Plaza Atrium since noon. Besides the fans-gathering Suede also held a press conference. Brett commented about British musicians who got across to America. "It's not British invasion because their music is American! That's what I think," explained Brett.

Their "allergy" to American music showed when Hai asked for their opinion about American music. Brett, Suede's spokesman, answered in indolence. Strangely, they admitted to be fans of Bob Dylan and confessed that their music concept had been influenced by the ballad singer. It was only when the conversation turned to Coming Up that the Suede vocalist seemed excited. "The Coming Up album is simple and pop-ish," he said. That's why he hoped the album would receive more recognition in Asia, including Japan.