The Singapore Series: SINGAPORE GP 2014, JOHN LEGEND

You know the drill (of a free-standing concert).

Pre-concert. Get into a good position with the best view. Best view meaning clear view of the stage with minimal obstruction (i.e. heads, hands, mobile phones, cameras, etc.).

Then wait for artiste to appear; check watch constantly, fidget around to get your blood moving, keep a close watch of the stage, stare hard into each and every face that appears on stage.

Band walks onstage, cheers and claps erupts. Wait in anticipation as they pick up their instruments. Wait in anticipation as they test out their instruments. Then the lights dim, cheers all round, the first notes played, spotlight on, and there, appears the artist. Cheers and claps erupt.

Concert starts.

It’s the same drill with all the concerts I’ve attended. Except, this time, I am just three rows (of people) shy of the stage! I am that CLOSE to John Legend and terribly happy. It is my first time so close up front in a concert. Therefore, you are rewarded with more pictures (albeit taken with a 5th Gen iPod Touch and a Nokia Lumia 920) for this review.  No more squinting trying to figure out the singer from the musicians *claps*

This is how close my zoom can get to Legend.

This is how close I am to him in reality.

Before the concert started, we got to catch up on highlights of the previous Grand Prix on the giant screens beside and behind the stage. Useful for the F1 uninitiated, like me, who attends the Singapore Grand Prix solely for the concerts.  

Legend’s concert began with a string quartet playing a short riff to one of his songs (I’m not sure which), and then he coolly walked on stage to our frenzied applause and loud cheers. He raises both his hands and bowed, flashing us a wide grin – his form of greeting. He was dressed in a black satin shirt that is half unbuttoned, revealing a little of his smooth brown chest, paired with black pants and black leather belt. He looked like the suave crooner that he is.

Legend’s delivery is smooth, so silky smooth that you simply melt. When he sings he also awards audiences with a cheeky lopsided smile, some guys may cringe, but girls swoon. Legend knows that he has charm, which he puts to good use. He owns the night; grabbing it by the waist, twirling it around, snapping his fingers to the beat and leaning in for a kiss. He is unstoppable.

Really, it is only because I am situated so close to the stage that I managed to catch the little nuances of the performer; his smile, the sometimes self-satisfied smirk and his slick posturing. He starts off sitting at the shiny black grand piano. Watching Legend at the piano is a dream, especially up close. His movements are fluid and he doesn’t bounce around unnecessarily (ala Chris Martin). He enjoys the piano and the piano enjoys his masterful strokes. It is a captivating moment, made even more magical with the string quartet adding to the ambience. Then Legend sings and you’re simply mesmerised. At certain songs he stands, walks up to the front of the stage and graces us with some grooving. His confidence and esteem belies his diminutive size.

There is no need for me to mention how good he sounds and how remarkable his voice is. Everyone knows he can sing. What made the concert incredible are the nuances in his performance. He kept the best song for the last. When he came back out for his encore, he launched into the ever-popular “All of Me”. Everyone whooped in joy and sang along, in one united voice, to every single word in the song. It was a marvellous moment, that temporal camaraderie between us all, that feeling of solidarity and unity, however short and fleeting it was.

That night, we were all dazzled by (a) Legend.