quietnotes called me one day to ask me whether I was free to attend Rickie Lee Jones concert with her because noisynotes had an overseas work assignment and had to give up his ticket. I had wanted to go for the concert already so I said yes. The concert was at the Esplanade at 11pm yesterday.
I met quietnotes at Pantry Magic at Holland Village where she was buying a muffin baking mould. She asked the staff to measure the width and depth of the individual muffin moulds because they had to be of a certain depth and width. Unfortunately, they were not but she bought the mould anyway. Apologies to baking enthusiasts who may be reading this, and reeling in horror from any misused baking terms.
We then drove to the Botanical Gardens basement foodcourt for dinner. During the drive, quietnotes talked about a crappy experience earlier that afternoon involving the exchange of a $90 red blouse (button issue) at MD that led to her buying a pair of $20 earrings to compensate for her wasted time at the boutique. She said she had chosen her concert outfit to match the new pair of earrings.
We parked and walked to the basement foodcourt. We ordered one big serving of hor fun, a two-person portion of roast meat and roast duck, a huge portion of vegetables with salted egg and century egg, one green apple juice and one watermelon juice. The quality of the food was good and I was delighted because this was the first time I had been to this foodcourt.
quietnotes talked about her recent Taiwan trip and her visit to the home of a bilingual Taiwanese writer Lin Yu Tang. She also said that she had been quite frustrated over the red blouse episode, but when she drove home from the boutique, she was totally over the moon because one of her orchids had bloomed. Her dogs were shocked by her athletic prowess as she ran past them, up the stairs and into her room to grab a camera. She dashed downstairs and took around 100 digital shots of the bloom (okay, one to two shots only). She showed me photos of the beautiful bloom.
We ate slowly not merely because we over-ordered but also because we had plenty of time to kill. I was telling quietnotes about the session I had earlier at the YWCA. I was being interviewed by an experienced counsellor to assess whether I was suitable to go through the intermediate round of training before I became a volunteer lay counsellor. I told her that I was very nervous and shaky during the session, but the counsellor told me that he would e-mail me regarding the course training so I think I passed. Then I told her about some stuff from two books that I had read recently - The Undercover Economist and Freakonomics. As always, quietnotes very politely listens to me ramble on about stuff that I don't think she's very interested in.
Before we knew it, we were stuffed and there was still quite some food left. quietnotes had an intense debate with her inner self on whether to doggy-bag the food or just leave it be. This went on for close to 15 minutes. She said that she didn't like to waste food. I, of course, merely said that if we were to doggy-bag the food, then we would have to drive back to her place so that we can refrigerate the food rather than leave the food in the boot of her car till the concert was over. At the 16th minute, quietnotes decided: Heck, let's leave it. We left the air-conditioned area and adjourned to the outdoor area to have teh-si.
While we were having teh-si, quietnotes related to me about how she has marked down a certain "domestic goddess" (big hint: NL) because her muffin recipe was unclear in certain areas. Her first attempt at muffin-baking resulted in literally true-blue blueberry muffins - 12 of them. noisynotes ate one blue one and said: "health food, huh?" She ate three, and gave the rest to her dogs who gobbled them down. quietnotes told me that she was undaunted by that unfortunate event, and had taken on the challenge of baking muffins again but this time, using a different baking book.
We finished our teh-si and drove to the Esplanade carpark. We entered the carpark at 9.50pm only to realise that entry after 10pm was $1 per entry and that before 10pm, it was $4. We decided then that we wouldn't go for drinks to save the $3. We walked to the Esplanade shop to kill some more time, and she bumped into the wife of a close friend. So the wife brought us to him and we spent some time discussing ideas and books with him. He made tea for quietnotes.
Soon, it was close to 11pm. So we walked to the concert hall and to our seats. I knew that a colleague and her boyfriend (the AA duo) were also attending the concert. It just happened that as we were proceeding along our row, I saw A and introduced him to quietnotes. The other A had gone to the restroom, but I managed to wave to her before the concert started.
The lights dimmed and Rickie Lee Jones walked on stage. Handclaps, whistles and shouts (whooping?). She proceeded to talk as she sat at the piano while the emcee was trying to get a word in. Finally she noticed him and he was able to introduce her to the audience. Following that, the concert started with her singing four of her old songs as she was playing the piano. Quintessential Rickie Lee Jones.
After that, she walked to centre stage and the rest of her extremely groovy band appeared. And she played songs from her latest album The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard. And I was instantly hooked. This is the first time that I've been exposed to such a mind-boggling performance, as quietnotes put it. I think that this is the best live concert I've been to so far in my life.
Her voice, her range, her improvisation, her sound, her emotions --- unmatchable. I was in awe and extremely happy that I was there in person to listen to her. I was leaning forward in my seat for most of the concert just so I can catch her singing better and totally focus on her and her band. The band was fabulous, totally in sync with her. Absolutely of one mind.
I told quietnotes that in the transition from her four old songs at the piano to her songs from the new album, I sensed joy. It was a powerful feeling that I got from the way she performed her new songs. quietnotes said that to her, the new songs were more matured and more textured.
To me, the other amazing thing was that Rickie Lee Jones' music sounded so modern --- the band's sound was so eclectic and so superb. And her very distinct way of singing topped everything. quietnotes said the concert seemed like a religious experience. It was one of a kind and truly Rickie Lee Jones embodies everything that is wonderful and excellent in a live performance. As of now, I'm still a bit stunned and still trying to come to terms with what I've heard and seen. Two words: Blown away.
We drove to HV where quietnotes lived, and she dropped me off near Cold Storage because I wanted to get a drink. One of her constant refrains after the concert when we bought Rickie Lee Jones' new album was: "Don't listen to it until one or two months after. You'll be disappointed because the concert was so good."
I think I'll follow her advice because then, I can indulge in memories of the concert that much longer, and also look back with joy and contentment on a day well-spent.
www.rickieleejones.com
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