A Tempo XVIII

Well, my first concert with RJCSB, as well as my first concert with 2 runs, is over. It was ok, I guess, but not as satisfying as Prometheum XI or Coda II. Friday started out bad for me, for numerous reasons, and the concert wasn't that good either. Mr Oura certainly was not happy. Saturday's was OK though, so I shall talk about that.

The concert opened with Metroplex, which is a reasonably nice song with 3 movements, as it were. One fanfare opening, one bluesy sax solo and a fast jazz thing. The song was quite ok, not much to comment.

La Mer was ok, musically, but I didn't really like it. Neither did the audience, it seemed. Royce especially said that it sounded disgusting when arranged for a band as opposed to an orchestra. For my part, I find it a boring song, and I wish we could have put in something like Vox Stellarum.

Kaze No Mai was nice, being I think the only song in which I got a main melody part besides The Stars and Stripes Forever. I like the song, it's very Japanese.

Can't say much about Postcard from Singapore, except that I quite liked the second movement. I think this song was quite well done as well.

Miss Saigon was next. I thought this one was quite nice, but apparently the trumpets had some difficulties. I love the ending of this arrangement though. The helicopter/timpani cover was a nice touch, I suppose.

The ensembles were ok, we had a percussion ensemble and a jazz brass quintet. Pity there wasn't a sax ensemble though, would have liked to have one.

RIMB was next with And Then the Ocean Glows. I was very impressed by their performance, given the standard I had seen previously. Seeing the old band play on stage, and do reasonably well too, was a very emotional experience.

We entered with The Stars and Stripes Forever. I love this song, and I really enjoyed playing it, especially the quaver rundowns. My favourite song of the concert.

Norweigian Dances wasn't that nice, but I think we did OK. Boring for me though.

The sax solo song, I Need to Be In Love, was nice. Unlike Friday, the saxes stood up for the first part, which was nice. Didn't do that since Prometheum X a long time ago. The solo was pretty nice.

Sounds From the 60s was quite nice, I think it was quite popular with the audience too. Surfin USA is quite a nice song, though I prefer more symphonic stuff.

Silver Screen was better this time than the last, though I think there could have been a bit more improvement. It really fits the storyline though, the whole silent movie thing.

Our encore was Takarajima, which is a nice song. Pity the sax solos were a bit too soft though.


So, yeah. Not much I can say. It was fun, but not as much as Prometheum or Coda. Hopefully next time will be better.