meteordust: (Default)
Two years ago, Lea Salonga performed at the Sydney Opera House for the first time. Two weeks ago, I got to see her in concert there again. From the opening number, she showed that even after all these years she's still got it. Her voice is just so powerful and perfect. She really can fill a concert hall.

She talked about how, during Miss Saigon, in the scene when Chris was singing "Why God Why?", she would be curled up under the bed covers, thinking to herself, "I wish that was my song!" Now, she said, she can sing anything she wants. And she sang it, and it was awesome.

(Miss Saigon has one of the most depressing stories of all musicals, but it's still up there in my top five because of its incredible songs, particularly Kim's, and particularly Lea Salonga's Kim.)

Last time, she sang "A Whole New World" (Aladdin) with a volunteer from the audience, which was really fun and charming. This time, she sang with Mat Verevis, one of the backing vocalists, possibly because the show was being recorded.

Other highlights included "Reflection" (Mulan), "Drops of Jupiter" (Patrick Monahan), and "This Is Me" (The Greatest Showman).

The encore was "On My Own" (Les Miserables), then a medley of pop songs. She has such an incredible voice that can do justice to just about anything. I just want to hear her version of all my favourite songs.
meteordust: (Default)
A few weekends ago, I got to see Hugh Jackman in concert, once again, at Sydney Olympic Park, during his 2019 world tour.

He is such a great performer - clearly loves being on stage and bantering with the audience. He made jokes about how he knows some people like to leave concerts early to get out of the car park, so he'd give everyone a heads up two songs before the end. And when some guy cheered at the video clip of Wolverine, he said, "A Wolverine fan! I hope you're not just a Wolverine fan, otherwise it's going to be a long night for you."

There was the most adorable little kid in the front rows, dressed in a ringmaster costume with a top hat. He must have been five or something, just dancing to the songs with a huge smile on his face. Hugh seemed delighted by his enthusiasm, and stopped to chat to him a few times.

I was hoping for some songs from The Greatest Showman, and I was not disappointed. He opened with "The Greatest Show" and "Come Alive", which was a great power combo for getting everyone energised. Keala Settle appeared as a guest, performing "This Is Me", and debuting a song from her new album, "Harder".

He also did songs from Les Mis, Peter Allen, and Broadway. It was entertaining to see him as Gaston, one of his earliest musical roles. The penultimate song was "From Now On", a rousing feelgood number, and he finished with "I Still Call Australia Home", always an emotional favourite.

The program book was full of glossy photos, but alas no program. Fortunately, the setlist is available online:

Australian setlist

International setlist
meteordust: (Default)
Just realised I mentioned the Infinity8lue concert earlier but never went into any detail about it.

I was as excited as everyone else when I heard that there would be a concert featuring music from the Studio Ghibli movies and the Final Fantasy games. I love the music from all of these, and the prospect of hearing it performed live, by a real orchestra...

For the most part, I enjoyed the concert, though I know a lot of people had complaints about aspects of the performances. The only things I really had issue with were the trumpet player, who obviously muffed some of his notes, and those of the vocalists who were almost inaudible. The guy who sang 'On Your Mark' did a great job, but as for 'Eyes On Me', I've heard it done much better at karaoke.

I liked the rest of it well enough though, and I liked the experience of watching the orchestra play and seeing how the different sections combined to bring a piece to life.

For me, the highlight was 'Liberi Fatali'. This is my favourite piece of Final Fantasy music ever. I remember the first time I saw the Final Fantasy VIII trailer - up there on the big screen in Mathews A, Squall and Seifer duelling as a chorus of voices rose to crescendo. The music filled the entire theatre. It was awesome.

Even taking into account my bias, I'd say that 'Liberi Fatali' was easily the best piece of the concert. It was worth the price of admission to hear it performed live.

May 2025

S M T W T F S
    123
4 56789 10
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728 293031

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 6th, 2025 06:13 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios