Etude 30

Repertoire:
1. Orient Express - a good starting song, very much took the concert into piece. Prepared us for what lies ahead.
2. The Phantom of the Opera - erm, quite messy and long. Seems too long.
3. Music from the Incredibles - this is one of the highlights i think. While a movie clip from the cartoon The Incredibles is showing on the overhead screen (ala projector style, another nice idea), the band provides the background music for the clip. Quite interesting.
4. Cry of the Celts - total of 5 movements, of which 1) ??? was quite ok, 2) (some celtic name) was quite sien, but guess that came as good prosody for 3) breakout, which was super, and the sad theme in 4) was very touching. 5) brought out a good ending to an excellent piece.
5. Star Wars - 3 movements in all. I'm very surprised that they actually played the actual music that John Williams played. Quite entertaining.

(Interval)

6, 7. Percussion Ensemble - 6), Tijuana Samba, was... erm not as exciting and full of energy as i expected it to be. the notes were all over, they weren't playing coherently... yep. guess abit too excited. 7), Circus Circus, was much better, but i still think they needed a conductor badly.
8, 9. Stage Band - 8) Music from Chicago and 9) Hello Dolly, was passable but, i feel, did not have the "wow" factor. Maybe i was too tired, but they didn't stand out very much, which was a pity, cos this is supposed to be one of the highlights of the show. The brass dominated the whole of both pieces i think, leaving the synth little space to breathe (which i must say cos this was my instrument!)
10, 11. Alumni Band - 10) Armenian Dances: a crazy 5/8 piece, which i can't catch at all. think i'm damn lousy at catching these dances. was getting drowsy (oops). 11) Pirates from the Caribbean was better, with its adrenaline-filled ship chases clashing well with the slow pieces, and the sad tune in the middle. For the amt of time that was put in, this result is extremely remarkable, esp the woodwind ppl.
12. Japanese Graffiti IV - after all the nice sounds, this is time to relax and this is one good piece to relax.
13. Tribute to Mr Ho - a slide show showing all his previous etudes, also showing other ppl like ms Kwa, some teachers, and alumni describing him. Very touching and... sometimes funny.
14. Amazonia - quite an exotic piece, a very nice way to end the concert.
15. Encore piece I
16. Encore piece II
17. School Song

Verdict:
4.5 / 5 stars. One of the best etudes i've ever heard, they have good players and good balance (although i think there is too much bass).

A smashing way to celebrate 30 years of etude.

the band's glory lies in its skill, but the band's identity lies in its mistakes