SGD98...that's crazy. I still can't believe I blew all that money on a show I knew wasn't going to last much more than an hour. It wasn't without its setbacks, but all in all I think that opportunity to see angela live once again was worth it.

Also, autographs.

A lot more after the jump.



I went to the concert alone, since the person I usually drag along to these things couldn't be there. It's a bit awkward, being at a concert on your own, but once the show got started and everyone had gotten on their feet, there's not really a lot of room to be embarrassed. Just threw myself into it -- it'd be a waste, not enjoying a show as much as I could just because I was a bit insecure.

And lightsticks? A good idea at these kind of shows. Giving the audience something to wave about makes it less likely for people to just stand around silently watching, which is something Singaporean audiences are wont to do...

The venue was a lecture hall in Republic Polytechnic -- pretty small, could seat about 300 people, with audience looking down at the performers.


I didn't dare flout the "no recording devices" rule so no pics of them performing.

Not the most ideal of venues to me. I prefer to look up onto the stage. But I got a decent if occasionally obstructed view from my third row seat.

The venue wasn't even half full, which was a pity but not unexpected, given the ticket prices and the short time between the announcement for the live and the show date. But I think those present made up for it with their enthusiasm. The energy of the crowd was pretty awesome, actually. I hope angela took heart in that fact.

I had some gripes with the sound system. It wasn't terrible, but not great either. The playback music threatened to drown out the two performers. Atsuko's voice came out strongly, but the subtler nuances of her performance, especially for the slower songs, were mostly lost, which was quite a pity. And it was hard to clearly make out Katsu's guitar solos. Oh, what I would give to see angela play with a live backing band. But they still managed to rock the venue.

Presumably to tie in with Jplex's screening of the Fafner movie (HEAVEN AND EARTH and don't ask me why it has to be in caps), the set list comprised mainly of song's that angela had contributed to the Fafner series. Without preamble, angela opened with Shangri-La, then followed right away with DEAD SET and Fly To The Sky before they took a break. Katsu traded his electric guitar for an acoustic one for two beautiful slower songs, Sayonara no Toki Kurai Hohoende and Separation. Even the playback problems earlier could not seriously diminish Atsuko's lovely and moving performance.

After FORTUNES was an awesome surprise - angela performed a cover of Neon Genesis Evengelion's Zankoku no Tenshi no Thesis, with Katsu providing his own version of the guitar solo. That was one of the highlights for me -- the song is one of my favourites. They ended of the main setlist with Soukyuu, the main theme from the Fafner movie, before bidding goodbye. They returned, though, after calls for an encore for another performance of Shangri-La. Atsuko, on the pretext of feeling very hot, brought out a towel, which angela fans would know was going to be used for the dance-a-long that usually accompanies Shangri-La at lives. Some angela fans had in fact whipped out their own towels, while the rest had to make do with lighsticks.

I wished the show had lasted longer -- it was just under an hour long -- but I'm still glad I forked out that money to see them. I'm just thankful I happened to have enough money at the time...

Digressing a bit...I find it understandable (I mean, hello, otaku), but I'm still amused by how an audience of mainly English-educated Singaporeans chose to pronounce "encore" as "an-ko-ru".

I really liked how good they are at building rapport with the audience. Atsuko did most of the talking in halting but comprehensible English, although she switched to Japanese for a while at some point when it seemed that most of the audience knew enough fangirl/fanboy Japanese to catch what she said. She chatted about her experiences in Singapore, the weather in Japan ("so cold") and her love for Fafner and Evangelion. Katsu, like at AFA X, greeted the audience with "Are you otaku?!" before declaring "Me too" and taught what he claimed was an otaku greeting. Are there really guys saluting each other while exclaiming "Moe-tsu!!" in Japan? He also gamely gave an impression of Kaworu from Evangelion when Atsuko mentioned that she thought they resembled each other.

Both members were clearly pleased when a quick survey revealed that fans from Malaysia and Indonesia were among the audience members. That was pretty cool.

I'm not sure if Atsuko and Katsu have a relationship that extends beyond the platonic, but they had a nice chemistry, an easy camaraderie of longtime friends. It wasn't as apparent here, but at their AFA X performance they also gave a hint of a straight man/funny guy (Atsuko/Katsu) dynamic.

The meet-and-greet/autograph session was right after the concert.


I took this before they started enforcing the "no photographs" rule. I'll take it down if asked to but I'd appreciate if nobody ratted me out.

Those who bought the SGD58 tickets got handshakes, while those who bought SGD98 tickets came away with an autographed poster as well. When it came to my turn, Atsuko asked me what I thought of the show (I gave a very positive response, of course) and reiterated the promise that they'd made after the show earlier about coming back to Singapore. I really hope they do. But better venue and longer set, please, organizers?


Much better than the AFA poster


My very modest collection of autographs -- I hope I'll get to expand it

Set list
Shangri-La
DEAD SET
Fly To The Sky
Sayonara no Toki Kurai Hohoende
Separation
FORTUNES
Zankoku no Tenshi no Thesis
Soukyuu

Encore: Shangri-La

My report/rant on Episode 9 of Madoka should be next -- I have a lot to say about it, and I hope I can find the time to make a proper entry out of that.