Review: Chiodos Live in Singapore
American post-hardcore band, Chiodos, took their ambitious songcraft and inventive arranging skills to Singapore on the weekend to play a show in association with FIJI Water. Desmond Chan went along to check it out:
4pm is a rather strange time to start a gig. However, taking into account that a7x were playing later that night at 7pm, it’s then not too surprising. After all, you would expect the same people at Chiodos to inevitably be at a7x.
To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the concert. I knew of the band only in the vaguest of terms, with some recollection of having heard a couple of songs back in my younger, angsty teenage years. My biggest impression of the band coming into this concert was their stark similarity to Saosin (whom I adore. Used to adore. Still adore?).
The atmosphere in the room was buzzing, and you could tell that the venue was filled with proper, hardcore fans. Shouts of ‘chiobus’, Hokkien for ‘pretty girls’, brought a collective ironic laughter to the room. And the band did not disappoint, coming out with banging amounts of energy and fervour. Frontman Craig Owens jumps into the crowd in the very first song. Alright, this is going to be a fun gig. The energy in the room was palpable, with both band and crowd constantly feeding off each other. It was obvious that the band was incredibly excited to be playing here, as much as these fans were to see them. Its almost like two childhood sweethearts meeting again after 10 years apart.
Craig Owens’ impressive vocal performance, alternating between intense screaming, powerful melodic phrases and tender ballads, really stood out. He constantly reached out to the crowd, offering up his mic to fervant fans singing/screaming along. And the crowd was having clearly having a roaring good time, moshing along to the tunes. There was even some crowdsurfing, which seemed to impress the band. Owens wasted no time in passing his mic to the crowd surfers to sing along. One particularly tender and heartfelt moment during this intimate gig was when the band dedicated their ballad, Intensity in Ten Cities, to a wheelchair bound fan sitting up on the mezzanine floor.
Chiodos were clearly ecstatic and excited to be playing in front of such an enthusiastic crowd, repeatedly expressing their gratitude to the fans. And the crowd definitely did not disappoint, singing along to just about every song in one collective voice, with Owens at the conductor’s podium. It was a thoroughly exciting and enjoyable gig that I am glad to have attended!
Review by Desmond Chan.
