Neon Lights Festival 2016!

A week ago I was having one of the best times of 2016 at Neon Lights Fest in Singapore! So as promised, I'm going to blog about my trip there. Anyway I flew into Singapore on Saturday (28th November) at 9 AM and reached Singapore at about 11:30. Went straight to my hotel (Peninsula Excelsior) to try my luck in getting a room before the check-in time. Anyway I chose this hotel cause it was so near Fort Canning and I'm so glad I chose it because it was truly convenient.

It was about 12:30 PM when I reached the hotel and thankfully I got a room! I couldn't get any sleep the night before, since I left my hometown at 2:30 AM heh. So I decided to take a nap. Woke up to realise it was raining so heavily. But I braved myself to go to the festival ground.

 Disco Hue, Gotta Find You~

The first act I watched was Disco Hue! Awesome band from Singapore that I discovered through my friends on Facebook and also from a local music channel here. I'm glad to have caught them live, Gotta Find You is such an awesome song haha. After that I went to seek refuge from the rain to catch a poetry slam show called "The Poetry of Unlove" by Marc Nair. I enjoyed his poems! Especially the one about Kenny G, it was so hilarious haha. Truly brighten up the mood despite the downpour.

 Lucy Rose on stage, still enjoying the rain!

The next set was Lucy Rose but due to technical difficulties, it was being pushed forward a bit. So I grabbed myself some lunch. Thankfully there are vegetarian/vegan options around! Got myself some falafel pita bread which is so good. The set started and we were having such a great time dancing and listening to her in the rain. I know Lucy Rose but I haven't given her albums a proper listen. But damn, I really really fell in love with her music. When she played Shiver, I almost cried :(

 Shura was so so incredible

After Lucy Rose was Shura! The act I was looking forward to the most in the festival. I went to wait for her set and thankfully got a good place haha, wished I was in the middle though, I was on the side. Nevertheless Shura's set was so so amazing. I am so honoured and happy to have the opportunity to see her live! Despire her set being cut short, it was a wonderful wonderful performance.

 I was 2shy really

And... I also got the chance to meet her in person! Some of us went backstage hoping to meet her. We saw her move out and she was like "Give me 5 minutes!" and we waited. Oh man I was so excited and happy and 2shy to meet her. So sorry if you couldn't get what I was saying haha. It was such an honour to meet her and thank you so much for signing my album! Thank you also to a fellow fan who helped me take the photos. It was definitely a night I will never forget. What a great first night!

Okay then I headed out to meet Jes, but I'll talk about this on another post! My plan was to head for dinner with Jes and then return back to catch Neon Indian. However I was feeling really really tired that night. Well like I said I didn't sleep at all. So I went back to the hotel and crashed.

 Linying!

Day two started with Linying! I wanted to catch .gif but I was late T_T when I reached Fort Canning they were playing their last song. Oh well I was quite bumped but it's okay, I hope to catch them live again. I discovered Linying through YouTube. Her video for "Paris 12" was on my recommended tab and wow she's such a talented singer! Her set was great, glad to have discovered her :)

Went for Linner with Saeyeoh and Yoyo before heading back to the finale!

The last two acts that I went to see were Yuna and Sigur Ros. I did catch Blood Orange for a while as well and it was a good time dancing to their music in the muddy field haha. Alright let me tell you an interesting story. In the afternoon, seeing the muddy situation, I knew I had to go get slippers because my shoes are already ruined by the mud haha. So I went to get (cheap) slippers before heading back.

 There's a first time to everything

But to my _______ I realised the slippers doesn't help. In fact it made things more difficult because they will get stuck in the mud and it was harder to walk. So I ditched the slippers after Blood Orange. I went to the beer stand and asked this lady in the stand if I can keep the slippers at the stall and come back to retrieve it. She said I can put it below the stand but she couldn't guarantee that it'll still be there. I said I'll gamble and... It pays off, it was still there when I was heading back to the hotel haha.

 The visuals at Yuna's set was amazing too

Yuna was so amazing! She's truly a Malaysian pride (or Southeast Asian pride!) and gosh her voice is so good haha. I was just grooving and dancing around to her music together with this random audience who happened to go alone as well ahaha. Fun fact: I actually saw a mak-cik and pak-cik couple dancing to her music as well, despite the muddy condition. Truly a #couplesgoal haha.

 Magical, as always

I wanted to see Jose Gonzales before Sigur Ros but seeing how people are rushing to fill Fort Green, I decided to give him a miss and secure myself a good spot haha. Sigur Ros was incredible. The set felt a bit "empty" because the last time I see them they were accompanied with strings and winds. But wow, the three of them can give such an incredible performance! I was mesmerised as usual. It was another truly magical and wonderful night. I am so happy that I get to see them live again.

I caught them for the first time at Fort Canning four years ago with Joel. And this was my third time, and it was as magical as ever. Takk Fyrir Sigur Ros! I hope to see you again one day.

That's all for my Neon Lights experience. To be honest Neon Lights is probably the best music festival that I went to. Everything was run well in my opinion. The waiting time is alright, and the art performances in between the waiting time is great. I really hope to return next year and I hope the lineup will be awesome! And also I hope the weather will be better haha. But well, Mother Nature....

 Takk!

You see... Music has always been my escape. But the two days spent at Neon Lights was truly an escape. Spending two days losing myself to music, enjoying the sounds and the vibes. Literally dancing like nobody (I know) is watching. It was definitely a much needed break for me.

But most importantly, it was a much needed time to be alone.

Thank you once again to Neon Lights for the great time! And to all artists and musicians for their hard work and incredible performances. I hope to return next year! Cheers guys.