SINGAPORE — Nowadays, the cover song is king, with young audiences preferring to hear their favourite musicians perform familiar tunes. Gone are the days when bands and artists would be heckled off the stage if they even dared to play more than the token cover song.

This modern day phenomenon began with the popularity of talent competitions like American Idol and The X Factor, and television programmes like Glee. Not to mention the ascent of YouTube sensations, musicians who would post videos of them covering popular songs in their bedrooms, which would go viral and earn them record label deals.

It’s a new paradigm that has defined an entire generation of music fans in the last five years and is just as pronounced in Singapore, where the nightlife live music scene is dominated by cover bands doing exactly that.

Last week, YouTube sensations Alex Goot and Against The Current made their Singapore debuts to a packed *SCAPE Ground Theatre and, true to form, filled most of their respective sets with popular covers.

Despite the fact they had previously commented that there will eventually be a backlash against cover songs (Goot) and that original songs are still important (Against The Current), both made pleasing the crowd a priority. On this score, neither could be faulted as it was self-evident in the ecstatic response each time a popular cover was trotted out and delivered with high energy and panache.

In that context, perhaps it was ironic that the two opening bands — our very own Gentle Bones (aka Joel Tan) and The Summer State — got the most attention for their original material rather than the token cover they elected to perform.

By now, a Gentle Bones performance is invariably accompanied by an enthusiastic reaction and this was no exception. Tan remained a shy young man during the in-between song banter but once he started singing, he oozed assurance as his vocals hit the high notes with ease. Accompanying Tan was violinist Josh Wei, who embellished songs like Elusive and Until We Die with emphatic melody lines.

Since their song I Do, I Don’t broke into the public consciousness, alternative rockers The Summer State have developed an engaging stage presence that’s impossible to deny. Singer Bryan Santa Maria was the centre of attention and certainly carried out his frontman duties with aplomb. His confidence was infectious and it was easy to see how the rest of the band — guitarists Victoria Chew and Shaykh Akbar, bassist Edwin Waliman and drummer Ritz Ang — and the audience were swept away by this. Musically, the band still has certain issues to deal with although it is encouraging to see the group effort invested into the show and the material. The promise and potential is clear.

In this respect, it is fair to say that the opening bands outshone the headliners in choosing to highlight originals over covers. Not that that fact made had impact on the audience, who likewise lapped up every track performed by Goot and Against The Current. The latter’s secret weapon was diminutive vocalist Chrissy Constanza, running around the stage in her midriff-baring outfit like an Energizer bunny, all excitable and unstoppable as the band shot out perfunctory pop-punk numbers before the inevitable covers.

It was more of the same from Goot, it must be said. And perhaps it was all best summed up at the encore, when he performed Oasis’ Wonderwall and The Script’s Breakeven (Falling to Pieces) as the crowd happily sang along.

CORRECTION: The previous version of the article had given Chrissy Costanza the wrong first name. We apologise for the error.