Feeling far from sinister with Belle and Sebastian

"Make me dance I want to surrender," Stuart Murdoch sings as the girl in front of us is dancing like no one is watching. Well, not really. She keeps looking around her and smiling uncertainly. I'm not sure if she has friends elsewhere in the audience, but I can tell that the guy sitting beside her didn't exactly come willingly. From time to time she tries to pull him up but it's hopeless - he likes his chair too much. Meanwhile, practically everyone else has no use for the cushioned seats, happily dancing to the music. Stuart says they were planning to ask everyone to stand three songs toward the end. That would be completely unnecessary, since the audience was on their feet as soon as the lights dimmed.

"We were going to ask you to stand around three songs from the end, but that idea's gone out the window," he said before they played "Expectations." Just like the first song's title "I Didn't See it Coming," the concert wasn't what I was expecting. I didn't really know what to expect, actually. I'd listened to Belle and Sebastian countless times since I discovered their songs. Whenever I'd feel silly, happy, sad, or just plain weird - there was always a Belle and Sebastian song I could play. Thanks to too much reading in the dark, my eyesight could barely manage to make the band out onstage from our seats which were somewhere in the middle of the concert hall. Still, it was one of the best concerts I'd ever been to - and it had just started. More often than not, I get a blank look when I say I love listening to Belle and Sebastian. The band from Glasgow, Scotland has been around since 1996, and even with albums that climbed pretty high on the U.K. and U.S. charts, they've managed to stay off the popular radar. It was wonderful to be in a hall full of people who felt the same way I did. With the exception of Strait Records' Ridhwan, who bought our spare ticket, I didn't really meet anyone, but it felt like finding hundreds of new friends. Not only did everyone know who Belle and Sebastian was, they knew the words by heart. This is the sort of concert fans dream about, definitely not just a weekend activity to do on a whim. In fact, this is Belle & Sebastian's first time in Southeast Asia, and one of their first shows in around four years. Aside from the Singaporeans who were celebrating their birthday that weekend, fans from neighboring countries in the region made up a considerable part of the audience. I was one of them - once I heard about the concert, I couldn't not go. I never really thought I'd ever get to see Belle and Sebastian live, and the idea of them being so close was irresistible. Those who prefer the slower Belle and Sebastian songs could predict by the third song that the set list wasn't particularly in their favor, but it isn't like there were any complaints. After all, the next song, "Step Into My Office, Baby" is particularly difficult to not like. The audience gamely sang along in the "universal language of woo" to "I'm Not Living in the Real World," then Stuart introduced the next song, which was simply "Beautiful." The concert hall was perfectly hushed and you could hear the quiet strumming and lyrics clear as a bell at the beginning, followed by the violins, cello, trumpets and flutes floating in slowly until finally everything was loud but at the same time soft. It wasn't your usual concert - the closest thing to a mosh pit was the fans who crowded at the foot of the stage, taking pictures despite the supposed restriction on cameras. Even with the band onstage, the show was more about listening than it is about watching, less of a performance than storytelling. They told the next tale with "If You're Feeling Sinister," Stuart singing to an appreciative audience "go off and see a minister...chances are you'll probably feel better if you stayed and played with yourself." Then they played "Suki in the Graveyard," which wasn't any more cheerful as far as lyrics go but with a tune like that, even the unwilling boyfriend got up for a bit and danced. Stuart positioned himself behind the keyboards before realizing he was poised for the "wrong animal" and moved back to his spot behind the microphone before they played "Funny Little Frog." He picked a girl from the crowd near the stage and helped her up, and she spent the next four minutes dancing her heart out onstage. In contrast, the next song was pretty sad, but it was also pretty. Despite its being sad, strangely enough, "Fox In the Snow" made the audience very happy. If anyone felt low, Belle and Sebastian was quick to fix that with their next songs "Another Sunny Day" and "The Boy with the Arab Strap." Things could only get better with "If You Find Yourself Caught in Love," especially with Stuart suddenly leaving the stage to make his way through the audience. He slid along the banisters, giving and getting high fives all around. He then disappeared through an exit, and took a while to return to the stage. He later wrote on the band's website that he got lost and hit a fire escape, and a security lady found him. Meanwhile, their guitarist Stevie Jackson kept the audience busy with his internet-like guitar skills. "Name any song, he can play it," the band said, as Stevie obliged with a few chords. When Stuart finally reappeared, he was carrying the Singaporean flag. He draped it over the Belle and Sebastian banner, and the band played a short Happy Birthday to Singapore. Someone in the audience wasn't pleased, as he shouted "Don't believe the government! It's not our birthday!" But Belle and Sebastian's music has a way of calming you down, and everyone settled down as they played the next song, "Judy and the Dream of Horses." I kept hoping they'd play one of my favorites, but they didn't. Still, just to see them and hear their songs live was more than worth it. They ended their set with "Sleep the Clock Around," and they were hardly off the stage when the hall burst into cries for more. They returned with a three-song encore, beginning with the bright and sunny 'I'm a Cuckoo," then finally playing "Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying," a request that had been tossed out since the beginning of the concert. The concert ended on a high note with "Legal Man," and it was difficult to decide to stay and watch, or run out to line up for one of the limited autograph-signing slots. We stayed, and it turns out that was the right choice because for one thing, slots were for those with official merchandise to sign, which I didn't have with me. The other thing was that our other friends were able to get in line, so I was assigned to take photos, a feat easier said than done because a lot of those who weren't able to get in line for the autographs settled for photos of the band from relatively close. Rumor has it Belle and Sebastian will be playing in the Philippines. If the grapevine is any good, I'm pretty sure we'll be watching again. - GMANews.TV Photos and videos by Michael Benedicto