Neon Lights Held Its Best and Biggest Celebration Yet in 2018!
SINGAPORE – A three-day affair filled with good music, good food, and good ambiance? Hell yeah, that was all Neon Lights Singapore 2018 about and we could not contain our happiness after watching the performances of our favorite musicians. On day 1 which fell on Friday, 9 November 2018, the set at Fort Canning Park was opened by Mantravine. Mantravine brought their first ever performance at Neon Lights’ Main Stage. Their set was followed by Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band from Thailand. Preetipls owned the stage at Easy Street when she collaborated with hip-hop musician, Subhas. DJ Shellsuit, Mediocre Haircut Crew and Ridz also performed at this stage. Right after Paradise Bangkok’s stage was finished, the much-awaited performance from Malaysian songstress, YUNA began at Main Stage. Upon many cheers from the crowd, she sang her hit singles from album “Chapters” like “Crush” and many more. YUNA has also performed at Neon Lights Singapore in 2016 making it her second time to perform there.
After the gate was opened at 2 PM local time, the festivalgoers roamed the stage to watch Instigator Afrobeat Orchestra where they performed various music influenced by Afro-beats, Asian instruments, and many more. Riot !n Magenta proved their popularity as they attracted the crowd to their set, as their performance was followed by a band called Shame, a post-punk unit hailing from London, UK. Not only performing music, on Easy Street, we could also join the workshop from E-TracX on how to learn skratch. Perk Pietrek, Faux, DJ Ulysses, and Silent Disco Asia served various branches of electronic music which makes the festival more exciting. The Vaccines took the stage by storm after a few songs by classic composer Bach and retro group ABBA was played. They opened their set with “Nightclub” before continuing to their hit songs like “Post Breakup-Sex”, “I Can’t Quit”, and many more. The ambient/dream-pop group who is currently popular among the youth, Cigarettes After Sex stunned us with their music and visual. They were pretty consistent with their monochromatic visual down to their lighting, LED projection as well as wardrobe. The one and only Interpol closed out the day 2 celebration with a bang when they performed “All The Rage Back Home” and other classic hits. This time, they also introduced us to their new discography that includes single “The Rover”.
As if it wasn’t enough, on Sunday, there were still plenty of wonderful performances to pamper our eyes and ears. Sobs opened the festival and followed by a Brooklyn-based punk band, Bodega. Phum Viphurit from Thailand became one of the stages that were filled with the audience. His hit song “Lover Boy” got the crowd singing and his playful manner on stage worked like a charm. On Easy Street, we witnessed yet another performance from DJ Shellsuit, Djazz Djogets, Read Bridge Dulcimer, Orkestar Trio as well as Daphni, the alter-ego of Caribou’s frontman, Dan Snaith. Sticky Fingers got everyone dancing with their reggae tunes and dancehall anthem while Rhye, turned the stage’s atmosphere into a sultry, sensual and soulful mood. Peking Duk brought its electronic affair to the Main Stage before the last day was closed out by a performance from Caribou. Overall, Neon Lights Singapore 2018 managed to serve good quality stages with varying genres. We’re excited to see what’s more to come in their next edition. See you!
Documentation: Neon Lights Festival
