Esperanza Spalding and Radio Music Society live in Singapore

Esperanza Spalding performed to a packed audience at the Singapore Esplanade Concert Hall last evening (13 Mar).  I believe most knew about her when she won the Grammy Best New Artist in 2011, to the disappointment of Justin Bieber fans.

For the concert, she was backed up a 11-member ensemble Radio Music Society.  Esperanza staged her concert as if she was talking to a (former) love interest and it led to a song. At times, the presentation was a bit ackward and it left the audience alienated.  This was how I felt with the first half of the concert.  While she and the band played well, the connection was not there. 

The format was changed to a more direct performance segment in the latter half and things got more exciting.  Of course, the Radio Song was enjoyable. And what was really enjoyable to me was the 2 encore songs, where Esperanza played wth a smaller ensemble and for the last piece, it was just her and the double bass.

It was still an enjoyable concert, and I still look forward to her future concerts, maybe in a more intimate setting.