Jason Manns @ TAB, Singapore: His Swan Song
I do love final performances, just because.
So there we were, the three musketeerettes, again, at TAB on Saturday night to see Jason's last performances. Unlike the previous day, we came just slightly earlier, and we were directed to the same seats that we got on Wednesday, which was awesome.
What wasn't so awesome, however, was the crowd. I won't go into details, not in this entry anyway, but man, the noise that the patrons that night aggravated me to the point of contemplating hexes via telepathy. Fortunately for them, I'm not Professor X with Magneto tendencies.
Putting that aside, the first set was entertaining. Jason played more of his originals this time round, which to us was a treat, because hearing 'Real World', 'Soul', 'I Remember', and 'Your Song' live - among others - put big smiles on our faces. This time round, he sang standing up, which was visually more impressive seeing as he's a tall person, but personally I thought him sitting down would convey a more relaxed atmosphere. But no matter, he was still great though, and he didn't let the noise or the rather indifferent crowd faze him. He did bring a bottle of water along to the stage, which made me think he was unwell. He told us later on that the stage itself was a furnace, which went a long way to explain why he was looking flushed while he was up there.
He remembered us, which was nice of him to, and sat by our table while listening to the act after him and waiting for his next set. It was too loud to be carrying a conversation, so much of the time was spent just hearing The Funkers belt out covers of Alicia Keys, Maroon 5, and strangely enough, Taylor Swift's 'You belong with me'. And in an unexpectedly sweet gesture, also asked us through writing in my notebook - I brought one along for recording purposes - if there was anything we would like him to play for the second set, and I immediately wrote back CRAZY LOVE! Yes, I'm unoriginal, whatever. I do really really like that song. Plus, from watching him write, we discovered that he's a lefty. *hi-fives*
We did get to engage him in a short chat after the group ended its performance and the noise wasn't too deafening. Priya asked him about his playing guitar experience (he started playing since he was 15), CC asked when was his flight back home tomorrow (9am!) and I was asking if he would arrive in L.A in time for Superbowl (he was supposed to land Sunday, 11am L.A time, so yes, he'll be there to support The Packers). We were also asking where he had been to in Singapore since we last saw him, and he'd been to Chinatown, Clarke Quay and Sentosa Island, which was mostly everything in terms of tourist attractions. He didn't manage to go to the zoo, though, and we offered to be his tour guides should he ever comes here for another time. :)
The second set was pretty much the same as the first one, with an added Crazy Love/The Weight kind of mix thrown in. I was grinning throughout that song. The crowd was better behaved this second time round, and at the end of the second set I spied some of them browsing through his CDs and buying them. CC bought one too.
Before we left we managed to give Jason our farewell gifts, and we got his autos as well as photographs, and hugs! All in all, a good end to a good night. Let's hope he leaves Singapore with good memories, and that he'll visit us again.
This time, I didn't even attempt to take pictures of Jason using my cam. Pictures are courtesy of Priya, Thanks hun!