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Concert review: Electrico (Baybeats 2013) | 3.5/5

SINGAPORE — Admittedly, I don’t recall meeting Singapore rockers Electrico for the first time all those years ago. But I have photographic proof that I did. Back then, they were a quartet — Dave Tan, Desmond Goh, William Lim Jr and Keith Colaco — who called themselves Electric Company, and they were performing at Fort Canning.

SINGAPORE — Admittedly, I don’t recall meeting Singapore rockers Electrico for the first time all those years ago. But I have photographic proof that I did. Back then, they were a quartet — Dave Tan, Desmond Goh, William Lim Jr and Keith Colaco — who called themselves Electric Company, and they were performing at Fort Canning.

No, I don’t remember anything about the gig.

But the gig I do remember was Electrico’s first one at Baybeats a decade ago. And now, 10 years on, it seems like the band has come full circle.

Back then, they had just regrouped after Electric Company folded when Keith left. They added Daniel Sassoon, late of Livonia, on guitar, and Amanda Ling on keyboards. (Daniel and Amanda have since moved on to other things, most notably being part of that delicious combo known as In Each Hand A Cutlass.) The remaining trio carried on for a while more before taking a hiatus sometime in 2010.

Now, they’ve regrouped again. Earlier this year, Electrico offered one new song, No!, for Asia Pacific Breweries’ responsible drinking campaign. Baybeats was their second show this year. And I was curious to see how they would fare back on the stage where they first came into our collective consciousness.

But first, I had to make a pit stop to check out Esther Lowless’ set. Esther has been in the arts scene for quite a few years (she even had acting stints on TV), and she recently released her EP, Strange Place To Meet, a project that I first caught wind of in April last year.

Her performance featured an assembly of musicians, including guitarist Simon Yong and drummer Adam Shah, all of whom were more than up to the task of translating Esther’s songs in a live setting. Her tracks are fairly cerebral and cross genres from classical to fusion to prog rock to pop, with rhythm changes and syncopated beats. Some in the audience didn’t know what to make of it. Musically though, it was spot-on as Esther ran through her set, even if she could have afforded a little more elaboration to her songs.

Perhaps she wanted to keep within the 30 minute slot, begging one to wonder if these sets could actually be extended to 40 minutes instead.

Then it was off to the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, redubbed the Arena for Baybeats, where Electrico kicked off their slot with Travel On The Sun and quickly followed it with No!.

That song was marred by technical gremlins as Dave’s guitar started acting up, which just goes to show that no matter how many years you’ve been playing, your set still can get upset by something as simple as a bad connection on a cable.

The band took the opportunity to road test a few new songs — so new that they didn’t even have titles yet. On the band’s set list, they’re listed as No. 11 (which sounded like early U2 or Joy Division), No. 7 (which Dave dedicated to the uncle who often dances in front at Esplanade gigs, but was a no-show last night), No. 5 (a “dance” song, infused with electronic beats and rhythms — probably the best song out of the new batch), and another one with a ’60s vibe that Desmond said was a song “close to their hearts”.

It was obvious the band was trying for a new sound and, for most part, it worked, even if the band borrowed from a kind of post-punk blueprint. Dave’s vocals were ably complemented with loads of harmonies and backing vocals from William and Desmond, although it could have done with less vocal effects. The addition of guitarist Mas Kimura, who toured with the band Australia in 2010 and came on for the last three songs, gave the show a big boost, thanks to his energy and presence.

While the crowd’s reaction to Dave’s request to shout “yeehaw!” if one liked the songs was tepid at best, the fans really came alive when the band played their old favourites, such as Love In New Wave and Walk. They even gave the band a standing ovation at the end of it.

Funnily enough, the 2013 gig reminded me of their 2003 gig. They did appear a little awkward and nervous at times (and there were times when Dave abruptly cut in when Desmond was talking), but they brazenly pushed on and they did have an infectious groove whenever the music came on. Judging from the looks on the faces of most of the crowd there, that was the important thing.

The band plans to release new material this year. How many of those would come from Baybeats’ set is anybody’s guess. But if the reaction was anything to go by, their fans won’t mind either way.

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