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From June Ang:
I had the best headbanging time of my life! Some of us sang to some parts of Yngwie's guitar solo, we knew them by hard! It really is different from listening to his songs and seeing Yngwie playing 'live' because i learn a 1pxg or two from him. A great Virtuoso, he is perfect with the delays--ABSOLUTELY flawless. Dougie was the Storyteller of the Night, i was enthralled (not to mention i have a fetish for Scottish accent!) by him. Joakim reminds me of Jon Lord with his "Hammond" effect and after Yngwie, sent us wild with his part of J.S. Bach's of "Toccata and Fugue in Dm"!!! At one point Patrick did a speed-punk drum solo (wild!!!) and i 1pxk Mick was banging on his bass! Manymanymany thanks to Yngwie and the crew for the Viking Invasion...I, too, hope Yngwie plays in the Esplanade's concert hall!!!
From Saini Masidi:
Thank you Malmsteen, the band really ATTACK Singapore! Superb concert! Malsmteen dancing, chopping and swagging with his guitar. The opening act is Rising Force followed the new song. Dougie reveal, THE NEW ALBUM IS LIVE IN SINGAPORE!EVERYBODY MAKE A LOT OF NOISE! The fan chant, MALSMTEEN, MALMSTEEN ,MALMSTEEN! Body surfing, fist on the air,feet drumming at the platform and everybody sing along. The concert last about 2 and half hour. At the end of the concert, Yngwie keep on saying thank you and the band bow 3 times. CHEERS Saini masidi, Singapore
From Nicholas Ng:
Hails all! Would like to give everyone a review of one of the greatest concert ever held in the history of Singapore. Held at Expo Hall 1A, Yngwie's first ever appearance here was a resounding success. Just as the concert was about to begin at roughly 830pm, Patrick Johansson went to the mike and announced that tonight's gig is going to be recorded live. As he encouraged everyone to make lotsa noise, everybody went ecstatic. Yngwie then appeared onstage did a couple of soundcheck and runs on his guitar and kicked off the concert with Rising Force. The setlist was about the same as the ones in Japan, with a couple of extra songs added. The band played songs mainly from the Attack! Album, but it was the old classics that made all the fans go wild. Halfway through the set, it was time for the solos, as the individual members of the band started their solo act. Each solo performance was A class, which was rounded off by an excellent drum solo by Patrick. During the concert, Dougie was constantly encouraging everyone to be as loud and rowdy as possible, which was greeted by a loud but rather limited response due to the other half of the audience being restricted to their seats. It was only till the song You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget, when Dougie made a request for the barriers to be removed so that the seating fans can join the standing crowd in front of the stage. Once the barriers were removed, everyone made their way to the front while singing along to the chorus. It was then the gig began to gather pace. With everyone gathered in front of the stage, the response was even greater. Everyone sang in unison to the chorus of the song which was extended for a singalong session. The highlight of the night was perhaps during the song I am a Viking. Everyone sang along to every line of the song such that even Dougie's vocals were buried, which I'm sure surprised everyone in the band, further inspiring them to put out their best effort. Dougie even sang We Wish You a Merry X'mas which of course, sang along by everyone. The excellent crowd certainly caught everyone by surprise, and everyone in the band, including Yngwie was at a loss for words. Yngwie kept saying that You guys are fucking amazing and you can see from the way he spoke, he was certainly caught off guard by the crowd's response. Even Dougie mentioned, One 1pxg good about touring is that, you never know what you're gonna get during each concert.
Atmopshere at the concert hall was at a maximum high, and when the band bid farewell, the strong 2500 crowd started chanting Malmsteen! Malmsteen! Yngwie and band reappeared for the last time, starting off with the crowd favourtie Black Star, followed by an super long version of Deep Purple's Mistreated and finally ending off the night with I'll See the Light Tonight. Before leaving the stage, the band requested the crowd to pose with them for a photo with their backs facing us. We took 3 photos with the band, and were promised that the photo will end up in the upcoming live album sleeve next year. With an emotional farewell by the band at 11pm, everyone left the concert hall with an unforgettable & incredible experience which they will cherish forever&. CheerS!
From Adrian Koh:
Finally , Yngwie rocks Singapore ! After waiting for more than ten years , the viking hits our shores with a concert that could not describe in words. The words Awesome & Fanatastic would be an understatement ! Yngwie & band display mastery of their instruments with such rapport with the fans never experience before . They may have set a new record for longest rock concert ever in Singapore - starting at 8:40 pm & ending at 11.15 pm ; more than 2.5 hours! (Don't recall other rock bands performing after 11 pm. ) The fans were in the concert hall by 7:20 pm & waited eagerly for Yngwie & Rising Force to appear , by 8:30 pm they were getting impatient . Then Yngwie management made a surprise announcement : " Tonight concert will be recorded Live on CD to be release next year as Live In Singapore ! the whole crowd went wild with delight , chanting Malmsteen ! Malmsteen ! Yngwie got the crowd moving when he played some furious licks & Intro Of Purple Haze while in backstage . Not long after the Intro of Rising Force ( Singapore Fans' favourite ) turn the crowd on ,singing together with Dougie White the lyrics. The band played several new tracks from the Attack album as well as classics like Dreaming ( another fans favourite ) & I am a Viking . Yngwie as usual displaying his virtuso neo-classical guitar playing , doing wonders with his whammy bar , rapid fire arpeggios, sweeps , tapping, playing with his teetn & buttocks ! proving no doubt He Is The Greatest Rock Guitarist In The World ! During a vocal & guitar trade -off , he uses his pick-ups as a mic ! The crowd was fanatastic that night , they sang whenever they can , punching their fists into the air , hungry for more . The concert reach its climax when Dougie White requested to remove the metal barriers between the standing fans & seated ones & the rear crowd rushes forward to the stage & turn the Expo into a huge rock party!
Half-way into the song You don't remember I'll never forget .... Dougie cheekily sang Jingle Bells & We wish you a Merry Christmas ! As the band rested backstage before the encore , the crowd chanted " Oleh ! Oleh ! Oooleh ! ( a victory chant during football matches ) . The concert ended with a finale of Black Star , Mistreated & I See The Light Tonight. The fans went home with a burning desire to see Yngwie performing his concerto suite at the newly built Esplanade- conceret hall on the Bay.
Set List (May missed 1 or 2 songs as I was head banging away ! - wrote these on paper)
1. Intro
2. Rising Force
3. Ship Of Fools
4. Stronghold
5. Far Beyond The Sun
6. Dreaming
7. Razor Eater
8. Attack
9. Guitar Solo ( Baroque & Roll , Trilogy Suite , Spacebo Blues , Red house , Fugue )
10. Keyboard Solo
11. Bass Solo
12. Drum Solo
13. You Don't Remember , I'll never Forget ...( Medley of Jingle Bells , We wish you a Merry Christmas , Woman From Tokyo )
14. I am A Viking
15. Vahalla
16. In The Name Of God Encore
17. Acoustic Guitar Solo ( with Air On G-string )
18. Black Star
19. Mistreated
20. I see The Light Tonight
From Sook-yee:
Hi all, I just want to say thanks for a great time at the concert on Dec 19. I was one of the lucky 3,000 who caught the concert and was mesmerised throughout by Yngwie's virtuosity. Thanks again for bothering to drop by to this tiny speck of a country called Singapore. Happy holidays to all of you, Sook-yee
From Nijam:
Hi there.. Tonight's concert was really electrifying 19/12/02 . Media coverage gave the best ever. Yngwie had a signature session at Tower Records yesterday. Due to his overwhelming response by the fans here, I 1pxk it was a sold out concert. Doogie and Yngwie were doin every1pxg they can. Many solos from Yngwie, of course, he played classics too. As well the rest of the band members attack with their talents too. Bass and keyboardist too fantastic. And Yes yngwie announced THAT TONIGHT'S CONCERT IS BEING RECORDED LIVE IN SINGAPORE SO EVERYBODY PLEASE MAKE LOT OF NOISE!!!!!!! That's true, it was recorded in a very special occasion for the album ATTACK! Doogie said to watch out this album next year. And it's official. At the end of the concert he said, Singapore thank you for great hospitality and hope to see you next year again. A memorable night to remember. Nijam
From Mr Crowley:
Hello everyone. Just come back from the live gig at Expo just now. Believe it or not, the band is recording 'Live In Singapore" for a new live album to be out next year. They keep repeating about the live recording "make more noise " stuff throughout the gig. They did a 2 and a half hr show. Sorry I am not really a Malmsteen constant listener so I dont know his newer songs. The set list is about the same as the Japanese ones. But they did open with Rising Force, followed by 2 songs I cant recognise, Far Beyond The Sun followed. More newer songs but some classics they played were You Don't Remember ( a very long sing-along session), I Am a Viking (definitely the biggest roar from the audience for this one but too bad they played only the 1st two verses), Mistreated (yes the DP tune), Black Star, I'll See the Light Tonite finished the gig. I 1pxk the band never expected such a warm welcome from the audience. The vocals was superb and Yngwie's sound was excellent. Guess the crowd was at least 2,500 strong. Thank you Yngwie for visiting us.
From Zul & Memnoch,TheMetalvault.com:
Its 7:45 PM and after about half an hour or so of waiting and reminiscing our Malmsteen favorites, Memnoch and I decided it was time to step into the arena and wait patiently for the concert to begin. So we exchanged our tickets for the backstage passes and goodie bags which contained Yngwie's latest CD Attack!! and the official concert posters, as we walked to the entrance which was just a few steps away from where we exchanged the passes, I was constantly telling myself that I had to get these items autographed personally by the man himself Mr. Yngwie J. Malmsteen, I even brought Yngwie s 1985 CD Marching Out (without a doubt my personal favorite) from my own personal collection. As we were passing through the entrance we were stopped by a man who politely told us that cameras and any form recording equipment were not allowed and had our bags promptly searched. Alrightee then. The atmosphere dramatically changed as we walked into the dim lit arena, we heard indistinct crowd chatters which eventually unveiled them as we took a few steps past the large black curtain that was separating the backstage from the actual arena. We got to where we were supposed to be standing and fuck yeah; being approximately 1.5 meters away from the stage meant that we were going to experience some really extreme close up on the actions. And wait patiently we did, for about 45 min or so we watched the crowd poured in and observed Yngwie's guitar Tech doing his final preparation while listening to a compilation CD being played on the system.
Its was around 8:20 to 8:25, a fellow wearing a T shirt that says 'Yngwie Who' on the front and 'Yngwie Fucking Malmsteen' on the back went on stage and announced that tonight's` concert was going to be recorded and released as a live album. The moment he uttered recorded and released as a live album the crowd went totally wild and berserk, they roared with so much energy and unity, some1pxg totally foreign to me. Finally at around 8:40 the concert kicks off with Rising Force and from then on I was in a trance, I had my fist constantly up in the air, I was singing along, I was moving and grooving with the music and constantly chanting fuck yeah! Memnoch: What can I say man, Malmsteen, the legend, the man himself right here in front of me about a fucking metre and a half in front of me and man did he rock. Proving once and for all he is all that people make him out to be and maybe even more. With guitars blazing and a superb Rising Force line-up. It was truly a site indeed. Let it be said that the best way to appreciate Malmsteen truly is to see the man live. This guy just had so much energy, not just himself but his songs as well which translated to the crowd. It was just phenomenal. You truly had to be there. His songs from his new Attack CD sound absolutely great live and Zul and I were ecstatic that he played our favourite tracks from that album. Malmsteen himself had unparalleled showmanship. Swinging his guitar around like the axe that it was meant to be, dragging it across the floor, rubbing it raw against the monitors, with him practically ripping out the strings from his guitar which sent the crowd wild. All that just one of his numerous solo bits, which he on top of all just freaked out everybody with his speed and his improvisational skills. His band was phenomenal as well. The vocals from Dougie White were just excellent; I have never heard anyone sound so good live. Not too mention the guy was funny as well. Mick Cervino on bass was out of this world and everyone who saw this guy s bass solo would know what I was talking about. Joakim Svalberg on keyboards was just as good not too mention epic. Last but not least was the drummer Patrik Johansson (who looks a like HHH from the WWE) was huge behind his kit and the way he was pounding it out, man&..fuck yeah!!!! The crowd was fantastic that night, everybody singing , 3000 odd or so fists punching into the air.
The concert reach its peak of excitement when Dougie White requested to remove the metal barriers between the standing fans and the seated ones.Malmsteen just demonstrated to me how the entertainment level could go through a roof without a big stage and big lights as in other concerts I've seen. Yngwie proved that you don't need that to perform a wonderful show. Right now all I can say is I am waiting for him to come back and play his concerto suite at our newly built Esplanade- concert hall. Zul: Seeing Malmsteen and the new fantastic rising force line up live is unforgettably a religious experience. I believe it was a bit long overdue, the Viking was supposed to hit our shores like ten years ago but I guess it was worth the wait and what better way to do it then with Yngwie's latest release, Attack!! Yngwie's piercing stage presence and professional showmanship definitely captivated audiences here; he interacted with the crowd on a personal level so much so that his random stares into the crowd probably felt really personal and special to some lucky few who were right in front. I have to say I left the arena feeling like a million bucks and undoubtedly December the 19 2002 will remain engraved in the memories of Singaporeans. We from the MetalVault Hail and salute Mr. Yngwie J. Malmsteen. Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force live in Singapore All hail the Norse god of rock, Yngwie Malmsteen! Date: 19 December 2002 Venue: Singapore Expo Hall 1 Time: 8pm (the band appeared around 8:35pm)
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