The title is inspired by The Oddfellows’ radio hit, and justly so. fFurious presents So Happy: 50 Years Of Singapore Rock – a retrospective exhibition of our rock music heritage. Why? Because rock neber dies!
From Naomi & The Boys (’60s) to Western Union Band (’70s) to The Oddfellows (’80s) to Psycho Sonique (’90s) to Caracal (’00s) this decade’s sub:shaman, this So Happy exhibition – like our version of Hall of Fame – is a timeline of 100 photographs showing prominent local rock bands from each decade. Accompanying the photographs are captions by writers contexualising the artists.
“Writing a caption for every photo was challenging, so it was paramount that we assembled a dedicated and knowledgeable team of writers. We hope visitors will not just admire the photographs, but also be interested and curious enough to dig deeper and discover more about our music scene,” says producer Patrick Chng, the editorial manager for the exhibition (and band leader of The Oddfellows, kids).
Sideshow Judy was formed in December ’93; they were originally called The Breathers.
So Happy was conceived, organised, and curated by Little Ong, co-founder and creative director of fFurious, a multi-disciplinary creative agency based in Singapore. “It’s a chance to appreciate and celebrate the talent, boldness, and hard work of our local rock musicians, and be moved to create something too,” says Ong. “It’s also a project that has brought many people of different ages together to reminisce and share the precious memories that have shaped our lives.” Memorabilia includes flyers, vinyl records, cassettes, and ticket stubs — along with a music mix and video interviews.
Riot !n Magenta is a current circuit fave, and they’ll be playing at So Happy‘s opening night.
Yes, there will be performances! (Bring your own lighters. Okay, maybe not). But definitely get there early.
April 8: The Oddfellows, Riot !n Magenta, and The Pinholes.
April 9: Plainsunset, Rudra, and LC93.
Aspidistrafly play a blend of minimal folk and noise rock.
We’re really psyched for this one, if only there was Spotify in the ’60s, eh?
So Happy: 50 Years Of Singapore Rock
April 8-17, from 12–8pm (on opening nights April 8-9, it’s till 10pm). Free entry.
The Substation, 45 Armenian Street.
More info in their Facebook page, or check out the site SoHappy.sg (from April 8).
