Mr. Slowhand

13 January 2007 (Saturday)...

Singapore Indoor Stadium...

10,000 fans mesmerized by Mr. Slowhand...

He's over 60 years old... He's been rocking way before I was born...

But I managed to get onto the Clapton bandwagon some time back in 1991... when I was in junior college... where any decent guitar student would attempt to play his Wonderful Tonight and Tears in Heaven...

Last night's programme was quite different from his 2001 tour... I have his 2001 tour DVD and was expecting this to be something like that...

But boy I was wrong... He dug in very deep back into his music history, and played many of his older songs... and also, there were lots of blues in this programme...

It was during the concert that I realised that I've unconciously been converted to like Blues music... all thanks to Mr. Slowhand...

I remember I tried listening to B.B. King's blues when I started out playing the guitar... but I couldn't quite appreciate it...

Perhaps it's due to age... perhaps it's due to Eric Clapton... I now can feel the Blues... the angst... the improvisation... the way the guitar notes pulls my emotions... simple pleasures...

The Sunday Times today reported that the 10,000 audience literally were eating out of Eric Clapton's hands... I think that's an understatement...

His guitar solos were simply silky smooth and creamy... He has definitely aged gracefully and still full of oomph...

He has changed his band for this world tour... and I liked one young guitarist in particular... Derek Trucks... His guitar solos are amazing... Has a very distinctive feel to it... Techniques are impeccable... Such a joy to listen to... Kudos to Eric Clapton for brining on up and coming young guitarists into the limelight...

The only minus point about last night's concert, if there were any, would just be that Clapton only played one more song for his encore...

But come to think of it... He THE GUITAR LEGEND... he doesn't need to come out for any encores should he not feel like it...

EC ROCKS!!!!

I.C.E I.C.E Baby...

I've always been particular with sound quality of any sound systems that I own... there'll always be a better system out there as long as one has got the money to spare... But within my megre budget, I'd like to get the best sounding speakers/ amplifier system available...

I changed the front speakers in my car over 1 year ago... and added an amplifier too... Didn't setup the sound too well then...

So yesterday, I went to shift the pair of front speakers to the rear, and added a better pair of Helix H236 component speakers to the front... At the same time, the installer shifted the pair of tweeters onto the edges of the dashboard to improve the sound staging in the car... Since I can't afford a sub-woofer (and my little RSP doesn't have any boot space anyway), I sound-proofed the front doors with a double layer Dynamat to boost the mid-bass of the speakers...

And oh my... the sound now is much fuller than before... All the musical instruments in any piece of music can be heard with greater clarity... But I guess I can only turn up the volume when I drive alone... I don't think anyone would appreciate sitting in my car with the volume cranked up... ;)

For the same amount of money that I spent, I could have modified the exterior of my RSP with front bumper, side-skirts and spoiler... Would definitely give the exterior of my car a brand new and sportier look...

But I'm the kind who's not too bothered with the exterior... I'm not bothered with swirl-marks, not too bothered with slight scratches, not too bothered with sending my car to washed at pertrol-kiosks, not too bothered with maintaining the exterior's absolute cleanliness even...

I'm more concerned with how the sound system should sound, and how well the engine is running... things that can't be seen from the outside... both poisons in their own rights, only to be meddled with with great discipline of the budget...

I guess this is quite reflective about the way I manage myself as well... Someone asked me recently to go get myself some good facial products to upkeep my face... Very nice of these friends... But I've been procrastinating this for quite a while... Can't seem to make myself spend such kind of money on facial products... Heheh, I don't think I'd even think a second if it's about spending on photography stuff or music CDs or DVDs... :)

Another Guitar Vituoso...

Amazing technique... Simply stunning...

Glorious 2007

Hadn't planned to shoot the fireworks because I just didn't feel like squeezing with the insanely massive crowd at the Esplanade area...

But I ended up shooting from my sister's new 18th storey flat... not a bad view at all... not a bad way to start the new year as well :)

Happy New Year Everyone!!!