Alice Nine / Sundown Festival 2012 Live Report – One Night Only “Fantasy” Under the Singapore Night Sky

The Sundown Festival is a music festival that celebrates the spirit of Asian Unity and is held every year in Singapore. This year it took place at the Marina Promenade (at the foot of the famous Singapore Flyer near the F1 Circuits’ “Final Corner”) with five bands; BToB from South Korea, Anthony Neely from Taiwan, Liu Li Yang from China, Laymond Ram from Hong Kong, and Alice Nine representing Japan. On that same weekend, due to the extreme drop in temperature as we head towards December in the tropical monsoon climate of Singapore, a large number of Asian artists were playing indoors such as PSY performing at the Marina Bay Sands while taking a short break from his world tour and 2NE1 playing in an indoor stadium. Changi Airport was engulfed in the wild fervor of local fans who had gathered to catch a glimpse of these Asian stars. Alice Nine’s appearance was enthusiastically greeted with high pitched screams that far surpassed those received in Jakarta and Taiwan. Even at the press conference held the day before, Alice Nine received more questions from reporters than any of the artists from other countries. The large number of members of the Chinese and Indonesian media that showed up made clear the anticipation for Alice Nine’s Singapore debut.

The sky that day had been clear since morning, but an expected squall hit in the afternoon, leaving the stage drenched. Although the staff was worried about whether or not they would be able to start the show, the sky cleared up in time. While the audience waited for the show to begin, they enjoyed the various Asian food stands, sponsor booths, and games set up seaside as well as performances from local dance groups and the opening-act local bands all in the rain. The busiest portion of the pre-show festivities was the merchandise booths. Among them, the line leading up to the Alice Nine booth was too long to count. The tremendous excitement of the local fans was clear as everything sold out before the beginning of the concert.

The show finally started at 8:00PM as the sun started to go down. The South Korean representative BToB started the show off with their youthful performance, livening the crowd. Anthony Neely and Lui Li Yang followed, increasing the show’s tempo. The moment the MC announced that Alice Nine was to perform next, an exuberant cheer erupted from the crowd followed by calls of “Alice Nine” so loud they extended beyond the venue and echoed through the streets of Singapore. Each time the sound of an instrument was heard during the sound check, huge, frenzied cheers rang out as to say “We can’t wait!” Finally, the MC called out the band and the opening sound effects began. The audience shouted the names of each band member while rocking to dance beats. The audience danced wildly as fireworks were set off from the stage during the first song, Heart of Gold, filling the venue with excitement. The next song, RAINBOWS, included even more fireworks; this production unique to Alice Nine on this day sent the crowd to the edge. Shou told the crowd of his joy by shouting “I’m glad to see you, Singapore!” in English, and when he announced that the next song will be “Fantasy,” just like audiences in Japan, the turnout held up flashlights that were sold that day, while they also, unlike audiences in Japan, held up their lit-up mobile phones. The executives with the main sponsors, Singtel and Blackberry, were delighted at the sight of this site-wide spectacle. Blue Planet and TSUBASA followed as the charm of Alice Nine was conveyed in a short time by performing a condensed set list with all their energy for the Singapore fans who had waited such a long time. Midway, Shou began to walk along the new T-shaped runway and overlooked each corner of the venue as fans pressed forward with excitement. The performance finished with Shunkashuto, popular both in Japan and overseas. The band left the stage, waving with a smile as to say “We’ll be back again,” as cheers from the audience rang out. As this was the first outdoor performance for Alice Nine and the show ran on until after 10:00PM, this was quite a different environment from Japan for the band. With around 6,000 people attending, Alice Nine has definitely left their mark on Singapore. As they look forward to future solo performances, the members of the band will hold the response in their hearts as they begin a domestic tour immediately after returning home.

[Set List]
1． Heart of Gold
2． RAINBOWS
3． FANTASY
4． Blue Planet
5． TSUBASA.
6． Shunkashuto (Spring Summer Autumn Winter)

Sundown Festival 2012
http://www.sundownfestival.sg/

ALICE NINE