Where can you go to hear a live band play Steely Dan's "Reelin' In The Years" or the 11-minute opus that is the live version of "Sultans Of Swing", complete with sax solo? Well, The Blackbird at Gillman Barracks, that's where.

The Blackbird's resident band, Reverie, plays songs that aren't always on your Spotify Top 10; instead, revelling in dishing out rarer tracks that you don't always hear on Singapore's live music circuit.

But Reverie has a bigger stake in The Blackbird than you think: Singer & guitarist Surath helms the venue, while multi-instrumentalist Joanna helps coordinate events held there, including the recent She Shines music event, and BigO's 40th anniversary show.

With Blackbird's 2nd birthday coming up, the two of them share the highs and lows of being in a cover band and running a live music venue.

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*audio quality inherent at source

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"Lion City Rock Theme" performed by Kevin Mathews and Chris Toh.

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LINKS

Follow The Blackbird: Instagram

Read Kevin's Digging Up Singapore's Indie Roots on Power of Pop Substack / Bizarro World

Follow Lion City Rock: Facebook / Instagram

Email us: lioncityrocksg@gmail.com

Listen: The Lion City Rock Playlist

Read Chris' Full Sput Ahead! (Substack review)

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Like, share and subscribe to Lion City Rock on RedCircle, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a 5-star rating and review – it really helps others discover some good ol' Lion City Rock!

Let us know what you like (or don't like!) so we can improve it. Also, we can do much more if you drop a donation in the link provided. Every little bit helps. Thank you very much for all your support! We appreciate you!-

We're continuing our Lion City Rock x BigO 4-O series for the 40 Years Of Counter-Culture music festival, which will be held on 12-13 April at The Blackbird to celebrate the 40th anniversary of BigO Magazine, one of the cornerstones of Singapore's indie music scene of the 1990s.

The line-up features The Mother, Typewriter, Obstacle Upsurge, Force Vomit, Plainsunset, Opposition Party, Disko Biscuit, The Oddfellows, Rudra, The Pinholes, Astreal and our guests for this episode: The Great Spy Experiment!

They're probably one of Singapore's best live bands of all time, and in this episode, the band talks about the challenges and opportunities that have shaped them to be who they are.

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*audio quality inherent at source

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"Lion City Rock Theme" performed by Kevin Mathews and Chris Toh; excerpt from "Unity Song" performed by The Fast Colors. Excerpts from "Siti in the City", "Class 'A' Love Affair", Wasted" and "In The Sun" performed by Great Spy Experiment

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LINKS

Get your tickets for BigO 4-O: 40 Years of Counter Culture

Follow The Great Spy Experiment: Instagram / Facebook / Bandcamp / Spotify

Related episode: It's Saiful Idris

Read Kevin's Digging Up Singapore's Indie Roots on Power of Pop Substack / Bizarro World

Follow Lion City Rock: Facebook / Instagram

Email us: lioncityrocksg@gmail.com

Listen: The Lion City Rock Playlist

Read Chris' Full Sput Ahead! (Substack review)

******

Like, share and subscribe to Lion City Rock on RedCircle, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a 5-star rating and review – it really helps others search for some good ol' Lion City Rock!

Let us know what you like (or don't like!) so we can improve it. Also, we can do much more if you drop a donation in the link provided. Every little bit helps. Thank you very much for all your support! We appreciate you!

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It's the first of our Lion City Rock x BigO 4-O episodes for the 40 Years Of Counter-Culture music festival. Happening on 12-13 April at The Blackbird, it's two days of music remembering and celebrating one of the cornerstones of Singapore's indie music scene of the 1990s: BigO Magazine.

Bands performing include The Mother, Typewriter, Obstacle Upsurge, Force Vomit, Great Spy Experiment, Plainsunset, Opposition Party, The Oddfellows, Rudra, The Pinholes, Astreal and our guests for this episode: Disko Biscuit!

One of Singapore's earliest shoegaze bands, Disko Biscuit, has been returning to the scene in recent years, and in this episode, they talk about their origins, their future and what BigO Magazine means to them.

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*audio quality inherent at source

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"Lion City Rock Theme" performed by Kevin Mathews and Chris Toh; excerpt from "Unity Song" performed by The Fast Colors. Excerpts from "Guardian Angels", "Circle Jerks", "Ethereal Walk" and "Gelombang Hati Dunia" performed by Disko Biscuit

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LINKS

Get your tickets for BigO 4-O: 40 Years of Counter Culture

Follow Disko Biscuit: Instagram

Read Kevin's Digging Up Singapore's Indie Roots on Power of Pop Substack / Bizarro World

Follow Lion City Rock: Facebook / Instagram

Email us: lioncityrocksg@gmail.com

Listen: The Lion City Rock Playlist

Read Chris' Full Sput Ahead! (Substack review)

******

Like, share and subscribe to Lion City Rock on RedCircle, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a 5-star rating and review – it really helps others search for some good ol' Lion City Rock!

Let us know what you like (or don't like!) so we can improve it. Also, we can do much more if you drop a donation in the link provided. Every little bit helps. Thank you very much for all your support! We appreciate you!

IT'S FINALLY HERE: Our monumental mega-episode with ASTREAL!

As one of the key shoegaze bands here in the Lion City over the past three decades, Astreal has been going through thick and thin, releasing three albums and performing at every major gig you can think of.

Ginette Chittick (bass/vocals) and Muhammad Alkhatib (guitars) share the ups and downs of Astreal's musical journey: What was it like for Ginette to join just before the launch of their debut album, which the band had already recorded with another singer? How do they feel about the music scene today? And will it really take 10 years to produce another album?

Also: Remember to get your tickets for the BIGO 4-O: 40 Years of Counter Culture festival on 12-13 April, from noon onwards at The Blackbird. Tickets are selling fast so don't say we bojio!

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"Lion City Rock Theme" performed by Kevin Mathews and Chris Toh; excerpts from "Snowflake", "Blush Response", "Our Time Is Now", "Colossal" and "June 12" performed by Astreal

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LINKS

Get your tickets for BigO 4-O: 40 Years of Counter Culture

Follow Astreal: Instagram

Related episodes: Ginette Was A Punk Rocker

Follow Lion City Rock: Facebook / Instagram

Email us: lioncityrocksg@gmail.com

Listen: The Lion City Rock Playlist

Read: Full Sput Ahead! (Substack review)

Read Kevin's Power of Pop Substack / Bizarro World

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Like, share and subscribe to Lion City Rock on RedCircle, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a 5-star rating and review – it really helps others search for some good ol' Lion City Rock!

Let us know what you like (or don't like!) so we can improve it. Also, we can do much more if you drop a donation in the link provided. Every little bit helps. Thank you very much for all your support! We appreciate you!

Happy International Women's Day!

To mark the occasion, we're looking back at an album that made a splash back in the day: No Excuse For Sexism.

Released in 1998, it was the first album to feature an all-female line-up, with all-female or female-fronted bands: Clothes Peg, Flying Pills, Sideshow Judy, Psycho Sonique and Astreal.

How does the album hold up after all these years? Was it an accurate example of what our female indie musicians had to offer? And where are Flying Pills and Clothes Peg today? (No, really - give us a shout if you know)

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"Lion City Rock Theme" performed by Kevin Mathews and Chris Toh; excerpts from "No Excuse For Sexism" performed by Clothes Peg, Flying Pills, Sideshow Judy, Psycho Sonique and Astreal

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LINKS

Get your tickets for No Finer Time To Be Alive

Get your tickets for BigO 4-O: 40 Years of Counter Culture

Related episodes: Sideshow Judy's Pauline Chong / Psycho Sonique's Ginette Chittick

Follow Lion City Rock: Facebook / Instagram

Email us: lioncityrocksg@gmail.com

Listen: The Lion City Rock Playlist

Read: Full Sput Ahead! (Substack review)

Read Kevin's Power of Pop Substack / Bizarro World

******

Like, share and subscribe to Lion City Rock on RedCircle, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a 5-star rating and review – it really helps others search for some good ol' Lion City Rock!

Let us know what you like (or don't like!) so we can improve it. Also, we can do much more if you drop a donation in the link provided. Every little bit helps. Thank you very much for all your support! We appreciate you!

Read less

We're honoured to be part of No Finer Time To Be Alive, a music event on 15 March 2025, 6pm at Vertigo26 where The Substation will kickstart celebrations for its 35th anniversary.

To share more about this lively do is the lively duo behind it all, DJ KiDG, aka Robin Chua and award-winning composer Joe Ng. The gig will feature iconic Singaporean music curated and mixed live by KiDG, and you get to journey through Singapore’s music history, with tracks from legends of yesteryear like Zircon Lounge and The Quests to today's musicmakers like Subsonic Eye and more.

PLUS: You'll enjoy special cocktails inspired by local indie classics, happy hour drinks all night, and a refreshed menu.

Get your tickets on Eventbrite - ticket proceeds support The Substation’s mission to champion independent artists.

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Excerpts from "Radio Station" and "So Happy" performed by The Fast Colors; excerpts from "The Return of Mona Koh" performed by Force Vomit; excerpt from "The Girl From Katong" performed by Seranaide

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LINKS

Get your tickets for No Finer Time To Be Alive

Follow The Substation: Instagram

Follow Lion City Rock: Facebook / Instagram

Email us: lioncityrocksg@gmail.com

Listen: The Lion City Rock Playlist

Read: Full Sput Ahead! (Substack review)

Read Kevin's Power of Pop Substack / Bizarro World

******

Like, share and subscribe to Lion City Rock on RedCircle, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a 5-star rating and review – it really helps others search for some good ol' Lion City Rock!

Let us know what you like (or don't like!) so we can improve it. Also, we can do much more if you drop a donation in the link provided. Every little bit helps. Thank you very much for all your support! We appreciate you!

Read less

We're honoured to be part of No Finer Time To Be Alive, a music event on 15 March 2025, 6pm at Vertigo26 where The Substation will kickstart celebrations for its 35th anniversary.

Featuring iconic Singaporean music curated and mixed live by DJ KiDG (Robin Chua), the five-hour non-stop set will take you through Singapore’s music history, with tracks from legends like Zircon Lounge and The Quests to Astreal, Humpback Oak, Plainsunset, Sobs, Subsonic Eye and more.

PLUS: You'll enjoy special cocktails inspired by local indie classics, happy hour drinks all night, and a refreshed menu.

Get your tickets on Eventbrite - ticket proceeds support The Substation’s mission to champion independent artists.

In the meantime, here's our rewind episode from Nov '24, featuring The Substation's Kim and Yuni, as they shared about the Sub's programmes. (PS: audio quality inherent at source)

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"Lion City Rock theme" performed by Kevin Mathews & Chris Toh; excerpt from "Finer Life" performed by The Fast Colours

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LINKS

Get your tickets for No Finer Time To Be Alive

Follow The Substation: Instagram

Follow Lion City Rock: Facebook / Instagram

Email us: lioncityrocksg@gmail.com

Listen: The Lion City Rock Playlist

Read: Full Sput Ahead! (Substack review)

Read Kevin's Power of Pop Substack / Bizarro World

******

Like, share and subscribe to Lion City Rock on RedCircle, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a 5-star rating and review – it really helps others search for some good ol' Lion City Rock!

Let us know what you like (or don't like!) so we can improve it. Also, we can do much more if you drop a donation in the link provided. Every little bit helps. Thank you very much for all your support! We appreciate you!