A Concert Held at the Grand Ballroom Saved Only by an Excellent Showmanship

Just last night, Iris and I went for the Michael Buble concert at Marina Bay Sands Grand Ballroom. It was a concert that Iris was excitedly anticipated and eager to watch since the announcement last year and so we bought the tickets at the MBS ticketing booth while attending the Child Aid concert last year. The tickets were priced rather high, and we bought the middle-ranged tickets at $292.00 per person, and we were promised that the tickets would be mailed to us as a commemorative gift.

Little did we expected that the tickets were mailed to us via registered post and it was only an ordinary envelope with the tickets together with the receipt. That was a huge letdown and a great disappointment, and MBS certainly could improve on that--they could at least send them in a classy envelope or include a commemorative post card with Buble's signature (it would be fine even if we knew that the message would be photocopied).

On the actual day, we were further infuriated to realize that the concert was to be held at the Sands Grand Ballroom instead of the theatre hall. Initially, we had walked to the MBS theatre, only to be directed to the ballroom wings which was at the other end. We were beginning to feel disappointed as we knew that the expectations of the concert was about to fall off from the roof of our heads.

True enough, we were directed to a couple of levels up to the Grand Ballroom, and walked close to another hundred metre before we reached the entrance. There were plenty of ushers and marshalls, and the security checks were smooth. However, we were upset upon seeing the make-shift concert hall:

1. Raised platforms that spilled beyond the walls of the ballroom. 
2. Ballroom chairs which are usually seen at banquets. 
3. Cable-tied numbering on the seats.
4. Poor arrangements of chairs (our row was arranged 15-20 seats with only one entry/exit point on the right side only).
5. Poor layout of the entire concert hall (with our tickets priced mid-range, we were disappointed to find that the passage way one row in front of us was leading to the outside, which totally disrupted our views with the frequent in/out of the concert-goers). 

Our experience was dwindling further in disappointment when the group, Naturally 7, came on at around 8pm to perform onstage, taking about 45 minutes in total. When Michael Buble finally came on, it was five minutes to 9pm. The show was only saved by Buble's showmanship, and he totally blew the audience away with his singing. The other saving points included:

1. An excellent stage set up with moving platforms. 
2. A 3-part centre piece tilting platform that was a spectacular backdrop and props to Buble's dancing skills.
3. A majestic stage-wide LED screen that showcased spectacular backdrop images.
4. Ample projection lighting on stage. 
5. 2 sets of line-arrayed projection speakers.

Naturally, the projected sound wasn't as good as it could be, as the ballroom was not acoustically tuned for such events. Michael Buble was perspiring so much at one point, he joked that he would donate back the earnings to the air conditioning system. (But who could blame him as the central A/C could not particular cool down the stage area with those hot, glaring spotlights.)

Iris and I could not helped but memories of Michael Buble's previous concert at the Esplanade was a much better event. Furthermore, the sound acoustics, the viewing angle, and the layout of the venue was in comparison a markdown score considering the heftier ticket prices we had paid for it. To add to matters, they had allowed food and drinks in the ballroom and as well as kids.

A family of three in front of us had a kid who was on the iPad, iPhone and other electronic gadgets while the parents were watching the concert--who would pay that much extra for the kid to come only to be entertained by his own gadgets? It would have been far better to hire a baby seater to take care of your 10-year-old boy instead of bringing him to the concert and bothering the father every once in a while.

The 40-year-old man beside me, meanwhile, ate his chips furiously as if he had not had chips for a hundred years. He finished it off with a bar of Twirl which made him smelled like vomit throughout the show, and it was tormenting affair to be seated beside him--no joke!

I could only hope that my next concert at Marina Bay Sands--the musicial "Cats"--would be a much better experience for me. Meanwhile, going to concerts and musicals are burning a big hole in my pockets so I would be giving Christina Perri, Meghan Trainor and a few other artistes a miss (unless a sponsor comes along!).