SINGfest 08

After years of drawing club names and ’80s hair-metal bands, Singapore is finally getting a much-needed dose of pop relevance. Midas Promotions has unveiled a gilded two-day line-up for Singfest in the Park that includes Alicia Keys, Travis, Simple Plan and more. And while half of these artists have maintained a semi-low profile in the past few years, they’re still better and more current than acts we’ve seen lately. Headliner Alicia Keys recently popped up on John Mayer’s album Continuum and at his February concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. Her latest album, As I Am (2007), earned both commercial success and critical acclaim, proving her inimitable act has staying power in the notoriously fickle sea of female R&B songstresses.

But for Scottish band Travis, SINGfest smells like a chance for a comeback, as the band hasn’t released any noteworthy material in donkey’s years. Bassist Dougie Payne has been wrapped up with his new bundle of joy (that’s an actual baby, not a euphemism for a new album); then again, getting three hours’ sleep a night seems like good practice for returning to band life. Frontman Fran Healy has also been busy with fatherhood, describing the band’s most recent album, 2007’s The Boy With No Name (it took him four weeks to name his newborn son), as ‘like coming out of the forest’. Travis has promised to push out its sixth album soon, so fans can expect fresh material at the show.

OneRepublic, however, is out to prove itself as no one-hit wonder following the catchy Timbaland remix of the song ‘Apologize’. Fans can play a drinking game and hit the sauce for every cover the band does at SINGfest. As for Simple Plan, Panic At The Disco and the rest, what can we say? Their following here is fanatical; these are acts that can do no wrong. And with a fabulous outdoor venue like Fort Canning, there’s no reason to nitpick. Ready, set, grab your tickets. 

Our blog on Singfest 2008.