Five things you missed at The Sam Willows Take Heart Tour

Four years since their debut on YouTube, local indie pop band The Sam Willows marked a milestone in their career with a full-fledged concert last Friday.

The Sam Willows, which consists of siblings 26-year-old Benjamin and 22-year-old Narelle Kheng, Sandra Riley Tang, 25, and Jonathan Chua, 26, put an impressive performance at their first major ticketed show.

Performing in front of a 2,500 crowd at Hard Rock Hotel Singapore’s The Coliseum, the band treated their fans to a two-hour long set filled with their own songs and covers such as Little Mix’s ‘Secret Love Song’.

Here are the five things you missed at The Sam Willows Take Heart Tour in Singapore:

1.  A “star-studded” crowd

Besides drawing Singaporeans of all age groups (including secondary school students still decked in their PE attires), local musicians such as Joel Tan (better known as Gentle Bones) and Nathan Hartono were spotted in the crowd, grooving to The Sam Willows’ catchy tunes.

Other influencers we spotted include Sonia Chew and Kimberly Wang from 987FM, and fashionistas Christabel Chua (@bellywellyjelly) and Isabel (@prettyfrowns).

Gerald and Joakim from The Bro Code also kick-started the concert with an autographed giveaway after opening acts Samantha Rui, and Indonesian trio The Overtunes, took their respective stages.

2. Music videos coming “live” on stage

Complementing The Sam Willows’ strong and stable vocals was a visual fest of smoke machines and a dizzy display of spotlights.

The four members were also joined by ballet and contemporary dancers during songs such as ‘Stay’ and ‘All Time High’. The choreography was perfectly executed on stage – we felt like we were watching one of The Sam Willows’ music videos coming to live!

3. A ShiGGa Shay surprise

The mystery guest of the night turned out to be none other than ShiGGa Shay, local hip-hop artist who recently collaborated with Jay Park during SHINE Festival 2016.

The renowned artist graced the stage during ‘Taking All His Time’, rapping enthusiastically to the delight of the crowd.

However, his cameo was disappointedly short as he made his exit within a few minutes. Nevertheless, he still got the crowd jumping to the rhythm of his rap.

4. Individual stage performances

The concert also saw the four members taking their own solo stages.

While Narelle, Sandra, and Jonathan stuck to music performances, Benjamin displayed his charisma and confidence in a five-minute monologue titled ‘To my followers’, which he had written specifically for this concert.

Inspired by a simple Facebook status, the poem featured issues relating to personal identity, which he ended off by pointing to the audience and repeating: “You are brilliant.”

5. A display of the group’s strong friendship

Being their first major concert, it was understandably an emotional night for the quartet. Throughout the concert, the four thanked their fans repeatedly while exclaiming about the huge turnout and the audience’s enthusiasm.

After the encore stage, the band shared a group hug on stage, reducing keyboardist Sandra and bass guitarist Narelle to tears – a true testament to the band’s strong friendship.

All in all, the concert was living proof of the group’s hard work over the past few years. Not too shabby for a band that first started out making covers on YouTube way back in 2012, huh?