Rachael Yamagata

Jon managed to get a pair of tickets to the Rachael Yamagata concert which was held at the Esplanade. It was the first time he and I were attending a concert since Asher came along, so it was a much anticipated evening for us! It was nice to be out, just the two of us, and doing what we used to do in London - going to the theatre for a concert/musical/play. Lots of thanks to my Mum who took time out to help watch Asher :)

I must confess, that even though I was glad to have time alone with Jon, I did also miss Asher. I mean, I'm usually with him 24/7. There have been a few occasions that I have left Asher to my Mum's very good care, but that night was going to be the longest period I'd been away from Asher. There have been times when everything was good and fine, but on a previous occasion Asher had been very unhappy with having to drink from the bottle (when we were still trying to give him that) that he cried alot during the feed. On another occasion, he was already so tired he was crying during his bath, and once the lights were out he just knocked out. So, I was a little worried that he would either be fussy during the feed, or during the bath. I was also particularly concerned cos when we were in the theatre there was no reception, so should there have been any problem, my mum wouldn't have been able to contact us! What could I do but pray that God will take care of everything. In the end, it was all ok. Thank God! I think motherhood has made me worry more, at least with respect to Asher.

Anyway, the performance was opened with local act Jack & Rai. They were quite good, though I must say Rai has better vocals than Jack. Jack's enunciation when singing is not that clear, so I missed the lyrics of the song he sang. His accent also sounded a bit too affected. Rai, on the other hand, had warm and inviting voice, and very good voice control. I also notice that they are, I think, influenced by flamenco style guitar playing, and incoporated such strumming and rifts in a few of their songs. It was a good opening act in and of itself, also because they fit Rachael's style quite well.

Rachael's performance was very good indeed, and she bantered a lot with the audience, telling us the stories behind her songs, telling us about herself, etc. I felt that it was an intimate performance, and it really showed off her personality very well. I particularly loved her song "Sunday Afternoon". I think that's definitely my favorite song of hers so far. It's about how someone tries to be strong and walk away, but can't last long, only until Sunday Afternoon. The other song I thought was sooo sweet was "Meet Me By the Water".

Her songs have very good rhythm, melody and flow, and for many of the songs I found myself imagining choreography to accompany the song. I kept whispering to Jon after those songs, "I can imagine a dance to that!" And then later, "Oh! I can imagine a dance to that too!"

Her ballads are the type of songs I could imagine myself listening to when sad and low, especially during my growing up years when nursing a broken heart? Heh. She's got a rock edge too, which is great, and makes for a more diverse range of songs, enabling her to bring out more aspects of human relationships, which she likes to explore.

But the funny thing was that I left the performance thinking that she was a good performer, had a wide range of styles, but that she was maybe too much of a Jack of all trades. For the ballads, I thought it reminded me a little of Sarah Mclachlan, for rock I thought of other artists, for the ambient feel present in some songs I thought of Kitaro. I guess I felt she's not the best in each area, nor the most original, but perhaps that's what makes her unique. She's able to pull together the disparate styles in her own characteristic way.

I'd definitely be interested to hear more of her stuff - especially if choreographing! :)