The biggest party this side of Jurong East

Posted by Tym under Explore Singapore 2006, Explore Singapore!
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“Singapore Science Centre” and “indie bands” — two phrases that I never thought would appear in the same sentence, least of all be associated with each other. But that’s exactly what took centrestage at the Science Centre’s Eco-Garden on Saturday night, as local bands and DJs rocked their socks off (and then some) from 7 pm onwards.

The line-up: The Great Spy Experiment, Astreal, Electrico (in the video above), Poptart and Guerilla Collective.
The weather: Cool and even occasionally breezy, perfect for an outdoor event.
The crowd: Young, energetic and present, despite the fact that the Singapore Science Centre isn’t exactly the most accessible party venue in Singapore.

I have to confess my own suakuness here: this was the first time I’d seen any of these bands, though I’d certainly heard of them before and even picked up their CDs to browse through at a CD shop. I think I was in the minority, though. There were plenty of people in the crowd who were familiar with the various bands’ music and hollering out requests between songs.

All the bands got an overwhelming response, though you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell from my photos. Like any good bands, they were also incredibly energetic and on the go all the time, which made snapping clear photos even more of a challenge.

Astreal looks better in video anyway. How else would you be able to tell the amount of spirit and verve went into their guitar work?

In between sets, people popped off into the Science Centre itself for a toilet break or just to see what else was going on. All the exhibits were open and the place is just as colourful as I remember it being when I was a kid. While a lot of displays have predictably gone high-tech, with lots of mirrors, lights and projectors to jazz up the place, it was good to see some classic old exhibits, like the little chick hatchery. They never tell you what happens to the chicks after they’re hatched, though …

The Science Centre exhibits also seemed jam-packed with a lot more information than I recalled — or maybe there’s just more to know these days and more I’ve forgotten along the way. Countless optical illusions to tease the eye, which were fun but I was too tired on a Saturday night to really get the science behind it. Heaps of life sciences exhibits, with a faux mangrove swamp, aquariums bubbling (or not) with coral growths, and giant jet engines in the aviation section.

Amidst all that, it seems the Centre’s trying to collect 1 million red saga seeds, to achieve some kind of record. They’ve just passed the halfway point of collection, so there’s plenty of space for people to fill with their own saga seeds. I just pity whoever has to count them all up in the end!

As a break from all the concert bopping and head-banging, everyone trooped into the Atrium for the Tesla Coil demonstration, which involved turning on the Tesla Coil, having it emit 3 million volts of electricity (or something enormously impressive like that; numbers are, truly, not my strong suit), and sticking a man in a chainmail suit in the middle of all that extraordinary voltage.

Other than proving the usefulness of the chainmail suit, the objective of the demonstration seemed to be to make everyone ooh and aah at the purplish flashes of light generated by the Tesla Coil, which made me feel like I had been transported into the middle of some kooky scientist’s experiment. And then, with the flashes of light crackling all over the man in the chainmail suit, it looked very much like some modern Frankenstein was being re-energized right in the middle of the Science Centre.

Fortunately, this version of Frankenstein is very much human before he steps into the chainmail suit and was not sparked by the electricity into doing anything, um, weird afterwards.

A little mad science, a little mad music — what’s not to like?

See Flickr: Explore Singapore!.

Tags: explore singapore, Chinese Heritage Centre, National Heritage Board, Singapore