Thursday, November 17, 2011

Budak Pantai at The Republic Cultural Centre

The Republic Cultural Centre

Budak Pantai - The Concert that Puts Hair on Your Chest (Women are Welcome)
Dates: 16 and 17 Nov 2011
Time: 7.30 p.m.
Venue: The Republic Cultural Centre, Studio, Singapore.
Tickets at S$20 each


Raving reviews about the local A Cappella group, Budak Pantai, has prompted me to accept an invitation to a concert that claims to "put hair on your chest". I was trying very hard to figure out what the concert title would mean only to conclude that I should not take myself too seriously.


Listening to Budak Pantai (which means "Beach Boys" in Malay) was very entertaining and musically pleasing to the ears. In this concert, there is a theme of nostalgia with modern twists. It was my very first time listening to Budak Pantai live.

Magically, their charming and rich voices that harmonize in perfect harmony won my full delightful attention. Before the concert, I was ambivalent if I would like the concert. After the concert, I dare say that Budak Pantai has the magical factors to be one of the A Cappella groups to listen to.


I later learnt that members of Budak Pantai have been singing in perfect harmony with one another since 1994. The group continued singing after winning the television "Rollin' Good Times" Beach Boys contest that year.

What are some of Budak Pantai's magical factors?

In my humble opinion, these are:
1) the members' love for good music.
2) each member capitalizes well on their strengths and expresses these strengths creatively through their performances.
3) the group's infectious and interesting sense of humour.

This concert opens with an opening act by the Republic Polytechnic's A Cappella interest group - Rhapsody. I learnt that these students had the privilege to exchange learning points with Budak Pantai. I thought that such collaborations were great ways to encourage a community of music lovers to exchange and sustain the art of making good music.

The Republic Cultural Centre, which is the venue of the concert, is also worth a good mention. It is envisioned to be the cultural hub in the North and is a home to 26 student arts group. The facilities look excellent, and I hope I could visit The Republic Cultural Centre again in the future.

***
For your easy references, please find the links to the websites of Budak Pantai and The Republic Cultural Centre here:
http://trcc.rp.sg
http://www.rp.edu.sg/location.asp
http://www.budakpantai.com

Special thanks to Budak Pantai for the invitation, and to Marcia Tan and Belinda Tan for making the invitation possible.

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