NUS Students were treated to a musical bonanza on Aug. 27 as Timbre Music Fest kicked off for the second year running.
With admission free, a packed courtyard at the University Cultural Centre was entertained by four of Timbre’s resident local bands, Shirlyn and The UneXpected, Michaela Therese Band, the Rockafellas and the Blues Train.
From acoustic soul and blues, to rock and pop performances, students indulged in four hours of non stop entertainment, free beer and food as they sang and grooved to the beats of popular tracks performed by local talents.
 There was also a guest performance by Miki Gavrielov, one of Israel’s most loved and popular folk singers.
Many who attended the event gave rave reviews and felt that it surpassed the success of last year.
Liu Zhenghong, a second-year medicine student and rock music fan, said that the large crowd turnout and the free beer really gave the show a party feel.
“The bands were really professional and there was (an) excellent sound system and stage set up," Liu said. "They really got the crowd into it.”
Joshua Yap, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, agreed that the show was a success. He said that he liked the fact that they had a wet weather plan, which included "plastic curtains that protected the stage, crowd and the equipment from the rain." Third-year geography major Bright Ong said, “I thought the show was a success. There was fantastic music and it’s great that NUS is promoting local artistes in this manner.”
He added that such events benefit the NUS community and the university as a whole. “It’s great that the school actually bothers to do things like this. It gives the school a culture, a character.”
Despite the positives, many students also had grouses. These included the limited amount of beer available and the seating arrangement. “One thing I didn’t like was that they stemmed the flow of beer to only two cans per person. The majority of the crowd was university students and things like this are definitely part of student culture. It definitely dampened the mood slightly. Some of the people I know left halfway through because of this,” said Ong.
Yap did not like the fact that there were seats in front of the stage. “The crowd was really responsive to the bands, but the seats hindered them a lot and took up a lot of space. It made the people in front more passive,” he said.
All students who spoke to the Observer unanimously voted The Rockafellas as their favourite band, with Shirlyn and The UnXpected coming a close second.
Among the suggestions for future improvements included calls for similar events to be held in bigger venues such as the multi purpose halls or the fields at the Sports and Recreation Centre (SRC).
“The SRC field will cater to a larger crowd because I expect a bigger crowd next year,” said Yap.
The event was a joint collaboration between Timbre and the NUS Centre for the Arts (CFA) as part of the ExxonMobil Campus Concerts 2009/10 season.
Tan Li Jen, a marketing communications manager for CFA said that the positive response from students meant that CFA had met its objectives.
“The purpose of (the) Timbre Music Fest is to bring good music in an informal setting to the campus community, with free beer and food thrown in to add on to the party feel. Overall, CFA and Timbre are happy with the turnout despite the less than ideal weather.
“Timbre and CFA have a collaborative partnership in that both entities believe in the nurturing and promotion of local music makers, hence the staging of Timbre MusicFest on Campus,” said Tan.
Tan also told the Observer that NUS students can look forward to more concerts by Timbre on campus, and that she hopes that these future events would “include a student band from NUS.” |
