In Continuum.

Seven Days Left

In the crazy world of the music industry, I'm sure there is a list of countries to tour in, or to perform for every record company. In the corner of that list, is Singapore. However, despite being on the last, nobody ever considers the country simply because with the name comes the sales of an artiste's records in the country I reckon. And with the population size like Singapore's, I won't be surprised if the record sales didn't meet their oh-we-should-tour-in-this-country standards. In fact, I'm not sure if they have heard of Singapore, or if they still think that it is a province in China.

Besides, Chinese music really dominates in Singapore, and that is not to blame of course. It's just that, if I am the boss of a record company, I'll probably not tour a country with a market as small as Singapore's, more than once or twice. So it was quite a miracle of sorts when Coldplay came for the second time, and Yngwie Malmsteen came about three or four times if I am not wrong. Still, I'd like to think that every major concert that happens here will be the singer or the band's last. Thus, the expectation and excitement rises, and you find this happening one week from one of those concerts:

You will notice the agitated me, the fidgeting me, the excited me. One week before the concert and I will be talking about it nonstop, and I probably won't stop talking about it until the singer actually comes onto the stage. That is when I will officially shut up, and if you are lesser of the two in terms of the level of fanaticism, then you should forgive me for my outburst of excitement. As a music enthusiast, this is what usually happens anyway.

I can't believe that it is a mere week from Rachael Yamagata's concert. I remember telling my mother the pros and cons of liking musicians that aren't exactly famous. On one hand, there are a whole world of Indie - or Independent - music out there waiting for people to discover. They are producing really good music, not influenced by the taste or comments of the general public unlike mainstream music. They are out there, like diamonds in the rivers or precious rocks in caves, waiting for us to unearth them. And more often than not, it is always better to expand your musical horizon, to listen to different kinds of music, rather than restrict yourself to the stuff they play to you on the radio.

Now, the con of it is probably the fact that because they are not exactly that famous, the chances of them coming to your country - a country like Singapore - drops. At a very drastic rate at that. Coldplay was a different case, because they are huge around the world. I never expected to see Rachael Yamagata in my life unless I decide to go to America one day and catch her concert. Also, that was probably why I was thoroughly frustrated when I missed Damien Rice's concert at the end of March last year. But anyway, I still have the little light of hope that he will be coming again, I just know it. I just know it.

Seven days till the concert and I can't wait. I can imagine all the concert rituals that I am going to be having on the days leading up to it. All those would include the charging of the camera battery, the dilemma of whether or not to bring my guitar(I have a strange premonition that she is going to be at the lobby, have a drink with the fans since it will be provided)for her to sign. Also, the fingers are already crossed for certain songs to be played. And I swear, if she plays Even So, Ode To or Sunday Afternoon(Or all!), I am going to have blood shooting out from all possible vents on my face and die on the spot out of excitement.

I just hope that she will play longer than a mere ninety minutes like the website stated, and I found myself looking constantly for her picture on every single Mosaic Music Festival poster in town. Buddy Guy took up a big space, but I guess that little space saved for her is enough to satisfy myself. I said it before and I must say it again: God Bless Mosaic.

By the way, I still very much want to go to the concert with you. In fact, there isn't anybody around me whom I'd like to see at the concert more than you. Yamagata was, after all, one of the reasons why we fell for each other, and I hope that still stands between us. There is something about the image of her on the stage and the both of us below that is making me miss the times that we shared in the past. Like every mental image that I have taken over the days with you, this one that is coming up in a week is - like all of them - perfect.

Complete my picture, would you please? Besides, it would be a damn shame to miss her in some musical action. Once in a lifetime I am rather sure, and I dearly hope that we have a blast that night, and the new days beyond too.