On June 4, Thursday, Beau Bristow performed in INTI. The event was organized by the college's CF. The night before the concert, I checked out his website to listen to his songs. (Obviously, you won't want to go to a concert without knowing any of the songs performed, right?) I instantly fell in love with a few of his songs. The best one for me the first time I listened, though, is Stand.
Before the concert, we saw Beau in the dining hall. And then while Olivia and Wendy were eating and I was busy talking, Olivia said she saw him coming out... from the INTIMart. HAHAHA! No, I don't know what he bought in our little convenience store from where I get my phone reloads and emergency cough syrup. :P
Anyhoo, the CF band opened with three songs that got the crowd into the mood for more music. It was a good opening, I think, especially with the uptempo tunes. :) After that, the emcees gave a short introduction of Beau himself (his real name is Donald and he is 28 - AND SINGLE! - as the male emcee very enthusiastically pointed out to the crowd). A few free CDs were given out to the lucky draw winners too. (Why didn't he pick my number, 104?! *sniff*)
The first song that he played and sang is Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. He mentioned that he likes to open his gigs with a song that the audience is familiar with, and then continue with his own songs. His rendition of Chasing Cars impressed me a lot. I really enjoyed the song not only because it is a song that brings back a lot of good memories for me (ah, the night something shifted in me...), but also because of Beau's own touch to the song.
He's awesome on the guitar - that's enough to melt my heart. But what's even better is that he used a guitar pedalboard all throughout his performance. When he first used the guitar pedalboard towards the end of Chasing Cars, I was befuddled as to where the background music came from even when he wasn't strumming the guitar anymore. Afterwards, he explained that the pedalboard functions to record what he chooses to record and then play back. Aaaah. Cool, isn't it?
Most of his songs are reminiscent of a cross between Jason Mraz and Rascal Flatts. Before he played the second song, Look At the Stars, he explained that it is a song that tells about having a good night after a bad day. That made me smile because it was exactly how I felt at that moment (for a while, it was easy to ignore my problems because sometimes we just have to let go and remember to live, don't we?). Sign Me Up, he said, is a song that he wrote for a girl whom he was into. How sweet is that? :) Tell Me Something's Wrong is inspired by his grandfather who suffered from cancer.
Don't Get Too Close to Me is about distancing yourself from others because you don't want them to see what's really inside of you. When It's Gonna Change takes a larger perspective on life; it is about how broken the world is. I Can Walk Through the Rain is an inspiring song that talks about finding hope in times of adversity. I don't know why I can't remember what Fighting Wars is about (sigh), but it's a nice, slow song with reflective lyrics. He ended the night with an uplifting song from his latest album, Standing. Still., I'm Gonna Love.
After that, there was a small meet and greet session. We purchased his CD for RM25 and lined up (okay, more like sandwiched ourselves among many other people) to meet him. It took a while to actually get in front of the line and when I was already there, many people kept on popping up to have photos taken with him. (Okay la, sometimes good things take time, don't they? Hmph.) He signed our CDs and talked to us briefly. He seems very down-to-earth and friendly. It was nice being able to shake his hand and tell him what a great show it was because I really enjoyed his performance. It's been way too long since I felt that way. :)
By the end of the night, I couldn't have been more glad to have decided to attend the concert. Earlier in the day, when I asked around, no one was free to attend the concert with me. Wendy was the only one who wanted and would go with me but had to leave early. But Olivia gave in to my persuasion and said fineeeeeee, she'll go. Hehhh. Good thing she ended up being happy she went. Phew. :P
:)
PS: I shall be writing a more formal review of the concert for the next issue of the Orion (college newsletter). Copies are available at SAO and INTIMA office.
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