Singapore
An early start to catch up on work back home means that breakfast is a relatively swift affair. Both Matt and I then retire to our rooms to plug in the laptops and do a few hours of screen time before meeting in the lobby at 11.30 and taking a cab to Chinatown. With Matt having been delayed yesterday he's not really had a chance to get a flavour of Singapore and needs to provide a backdrop to the feature.
We get dropped off on Pagoda Street, and there’s no denying that this is a little piece of China brought down to the tip of Malaysia. Obviously Singapore has a very large Chinese community and having a special part of town called Chinatown seems somewhat odd when the Chinese influence is so widespread here, but it’s a fascinating area, festooned with lanterns, flags, bunting, ribbons, shops, street markets and temples. But bizarrely the first place of worship we see is in fact Hindu.
The large Sri Mariamman Temple is hardly an ancient piece of history. Vividly painted it looks as though it was built yesterday. Removing our shoes we pad around the courtyard looking at shrines to various gods, realising as we do so that the humidity levels have been turned up to 11 today. Above us, clouds thicken and swirl but the sun keeps trying to burn them off.
We leave the temple and continue into the heart of Chinatown past restaurants with amusing names and pictures of their wares displayed. Trinkets are for sale everywhere we look, everything from waving plastic cats that "usher in wealth" to bizarre Chinese medicine stalls peddling all sorts of strange concoctions. We pop into the Chinatown Heritage Museum for a sobering look at how the Chinese lived here in squalid conditions in the 19th century and then decide we should get a quick bite to eat before heading over to the band’s hotel to interview Rod.
We choose Xiang Fu restaurant on Smith Street and avoiding the sautéed bullfrog in chilli sauce, and weird squirrel fish in radioactive substances, we plump for lemon chicken and smoked pork stir fry. Delicious, although Matt inadvertently eats a whole chilli and his eyes start to water in seconds.
Unfortunately, our quest to get a taxi back to the hotel proves fruitless. They all drive past the taxi rank cheerfully without picking anyone up and with time pressing on us I decide we’ll have to take a tube. What a revelation. Scrupulously clean, exceedingly well-managed, brightly lit and running like clockwork; the entire network puts London Underground to shame. A quick interchange at Dhoby Ghaut and on we go. Unfortunately we realise that we don’t actually know which stop to get off at so emerge into a completely unfamiliar area of Singapore. We accost some local girls who eventually understand what we’re asking them, and send us back in the right direction.
Finally we arrive, only 10 minutes late, to meet Rod by the pool. While Matt spends an hour interviewing him I check in with Todd, part of the band’s inner circle, to ensure all the arrangements are made for both tonight and tomorrow. We still don’t know if the Jakarta and Bali shows are going ahead but as we talk the news comes in – the gigs are on and we’ll be flying to Indonesia tomorrow.
There’s a certain amount of nervousness that accompanies this news. The current foreign office warnings for all travel to Indonesia is simple. DON’T GO!!! It’s there in explicit detail on the British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and US websites. The threat of terrorism against all Western targets is extremely high and all non-essential travel should be avoided. But hey, we’re bringing metal to the Muslim masses so there’s no escaping this one. We’ve just got to be super careful and pretty much stay in the hotel or within band security convoys at all times.
Once Matt finishes his interview we head up to the lobby where Bruce is waiting to go to the gig. There are lots of fans brandishing things for him to sign including one very sweet Japanese girl who haltingly asks which airport the band will be flying into when they come to Tokyo in a few weeks time. She wants to be there to see the plane arrive into the Land of the Rising Sun.
Soon we’re into the people carriers and just as we leave, the clouds overhead reach critical density and the heavens open. Down comes the rain in torrents. We splash down the freeways and after 20 minutes arrive at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Despite the rain, there are fans outside who scream when they see us through the windows of the vehicle in proper pop star fashion.
In we go, past the production teams who issue us with AAA passes and the cameras filming every move, and Matt is taken for a tour of the stage. It’s still being constructed, with the vast lighting rig swinging from massive chains in the roof. The venue looks cavernous without any fans in it and Matt’s mind is blown as Bruce walks him around the stage, along the ramparts, looking down into the drum kit and over to the mixing desk, explaining in infinite detail every last piece of equipment as we go.
Back in the corridors of the venue we pass posters for past and upcoming shows at the stadium – The Eagles, Michael Buble, Muse, Kylie and, bizarrely, the Osmonds!! Last night the stadium played host to Eric Clapton and a big poster announces Elton John is coming in May. The ticket price makes me wince at $500 a ticket – but then I suppose he’s got all those diamond encrusted nappies to buy now.
A journalist from Indonesian Rolling Stone magazine arrives to do an interview so we head to catering to grab some dinner. Fabulous Indian cuisine is on the menu and as we finish, the Rolling Stone journalist appears. I take him to a side room with Matt so that Matt can interview him about the music scene in Indonesia and what we can expect when we get there.
Leaving them to it, I then go to meet the manager of the support band, Rise To Remain. We talk through their plans for the year ahead which sounds very promising indeed, with their debut album just completed and gearing up for release later in the year. I meet a couple of the band and just have time to grab Matt out of his Rolling Stone interview so that we can get out front and see them play.
For a young band, they deliver an incredible performance. The Singaporeans go crazy for them and afterwards, dripping in sweat, the boys are elated and buzzing. They’ve got a bright future ahead! While I have a good chat with them Matt heads into the crowd with John and talks to various fans, getting vox-pox segments for the feature and before we know it the house lights go down and this is it. The main event!
Starting with 'The Final Frontier’ and ‘El Dorado’, the band turn in a stellar performance, despite it being only the second show of the entire world tour. New songs such as ‘Coming Home’, ‘The Talisman’ and ‘When The Wild Wind Blows’ sound immense live, particularly ‘Wild Wind’ which is played out in front of a black and white scene of nuclear devastation and features an incredibly powerful vocal from Bruce.
The classics get enormous roars of recognition with the whole place going mental to the likes of ‘The Trooper’, ‘Fear of the Dark’, ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ and ‘Number Of The Beast’, and before we know it we’re jumping into the people carriers and racing back to the hotel with the cheers still echoing around the stadium.
Down in the bar the evening continues with various band members joining us for drinks and chatter until the early hours of the morning until eventually at half past two we all call it a night. Tomorrow we’re off to Indonesia – and who knows what will happen when we get there!
