there were these 2 aunties sitting beside me and they were like [everything said in hokkien for fear of eavesdroppers, =D or maybe cause since its such an auntie language] "he is so big size, block my view!" and whenever mr foo walked back onto the stage, she would say "he looks like he is in a hurry always!"

oh, and some sound advice to both bands. =P

PLEASE, DON'T EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER count out loud or mouth 'one two three four' because the audience can see EVERTHING. i mean - all eyes are on YOU so you better be professional about it. [i never realised it but NOW I KNOW. im enlightened. =P ]

and don't always stare at your scores. SURE, you maybe worried that you might cock up or that when you look at the crowd, you might get jelly legs or SMTH, but NO - you have practiced intensively [I DO HOPE SO] and shld be able, if not, MUST BE ABLE TO REMEMBER ALL YOUR NOTES AND BEATS BY HEART. so looking at the score is just a form of reassurance. =) alternatively, you could look at the conductor which is an EVEN BETTER IDEA. but i'm glad that both bands were attentive to mr foo and mr ng when they played. it rlly helps cause you never know what might JUST HAPPEN. =/

also, try not to be so tensed and nervous. the more nervous you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes. the more mistakes you make, the more likely for you to get nervous. IT'S A VICIOUS CYCLE. what you shld do is play the music and FEEL THE MUSIC [i never thought that one day i will quote mr foo's fave advice but - HERE I AM DOING IT] and relax and enjoy yourself. that will help.

besides that, when you make any mistakes, its best not to grimace or make any sort of expressions or show it through your body language. DON'T FORGET THAT ALL EYES ARE ON YOU. o.0 so just ignore it since it is done and continue to focus and play the rest of the piece well. as performers, you must always remember that THE SHOW MUST GO ON.

GESSBAND!!!!! =) nice shot of them but mr foo always turns so fast. =/ i feel like telling him - RELAX, TAKE IT EASY.

i read a bit of the programme before i went into the hall. there was this part where mr foo says that music is like a musician's food. which is rlly great for me cause i love food and i love music. HAHA, i get the best of both worlds. =) but down stage, while i watched both bands play, i understand all the past lessons taught to me regarding music and how to play a gd classical piece. it's not just reading the score and doing what it says exactly.

YOU MUST FEEL THE MUSIC. =))

yah. you get the idea.

okayy, it wasn't a clear shot but it's the shot of the PERCUSSIONISTS!!! =)

i just want to say GREAT JOB by Elise, Wei Jie, Marcus, Guo En and Aefy. and of course, gotta thank Sin Hua for being a stand-in. well, he is ALMOST part of the percussion family i guess. =) you shld hav heard wanfen - she was like "marcus is so cute!"

okayy, i think i'm going to be killed for saying this. =/

i thought they were great but as there are insufficient players, a lot of them had to multitask. that's one thing of percussionists - we always have to multitask. OH WELLS. -.-" but we have fun always. and that's what i love abt being a percussionist. =)

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. ='(

i took a few pics and i rlly missed playing in band when i heard them playing Harry Potter and GOF and Animation Medley. they also played some x'mas songs as it was 12 days to Christmas.

they put on santa hats too which were cute. HAHAHA. =D and this reminds me when GESSBand were playing in Kaleidoscope '06 and we wore the kooky sunglasses with stars on it for the piece 'Disco Lives'. HAIZ. what good times they were. =)

for this concert, i took 3 vids of the percussion ensemble and the harry potter and x'mas songs. also took quite a few pics. i got told off by one of the SCH personnel for using my cam but then i rebelled and took pics WITHOUT FLASH anyway. i even partially hid my cam with my jacket to take the vids. SEE! MY DEVOTION TO RECORDING PRICELESS MEMORIES OF GESSBAND! HOW CAN THAT BE A CRIME LAH? whatever, here's my fave pic!

that's mr ng, our brass instructor. and in his hands is a santa hat. but obviously he is too paiseh to put it on. i was like - WHY DOESN'T HE PUT IT ON? but perhaps his ego got in the way. JUST KIDDING. he is a nice guy. =) but mr foo is a better conductor lah. =P

in the end, i rushed home with jyn, ham and fen cause WE HAD NTH TO DO ACTUALLY and wanfen was having a headache and jyn was being persuaded to go hme and my feet were being killed by my new shoes. ham just tagged along. =)

here's a picture that might get ham and wanfen arrested. and jyn is stoning at the back.

NO FOOD AND DRINKS IN THE HALL!!! ORH HOR!!! =P

just kidding. i couldn't bear both of them going to jail. HAHAHA. =D

i was just constantly thinking why GESSBand couldn't book such a gd location for our '06 concert. i love the conference hall and the atmosphere it has. ytd's concert was my 4th time there. WHY CLDN'T WE PLAY THERE? =( must be the ELDDS fault i guess. so hopefully GESSBanders will work MUCH MUCH MUCH HARDER such that the next time we can have a concert spanning 2 nights on the weekends at the s'pore conference hall without any guest players or anyth of the sort. THAT'S MY DREAM FOR NXT YR.

otherwise, all you guys have to do is get a GOLD WITH HONOURS for '09 SYF. ;)

work hard. we're with you all the way. =)

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YES, jyn, now i know that old chang kee is 51 yrs OLD. =D