Show Picks: Music fests at *Scape and Lion Studios, Merlion The Musical
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South Korean indie band Adoy are one of the regional acts performing at Music Day Out – Magical Garden, a new year countdown music festival at *Scape.
PHOTO: ADOYBAND/INSTAGRAM
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Music Day Out – Magical Garden
Herald the new year with this music festival in the heart of Orchard Road.
Music Day Out – Magical Garden features 16 acts from around the region, including home-grown ones, performing on two stages at *Scape. These include South Korean indie quartet Adoy, winner of the Judge Special Award at the 2019 Seoul Music Awards. Their most recent album, Pleasures, was released in late 2023.
On the local front, there is grindcore stalwarts Wormrot. The band’s original line-up recently reunited with a series of shows that included gigs in Japan and Indonesia.
Malaysian retro-rock favourites Masdo are also on the bill, as well as home-grown hip-hop act Mary Sue And The Clementi Sound Appreciation Club and experimental rock band sub:shaman.
The festival is part of comma 2025, a series of events at *Scape from Dec 31 to Jan 26 that celebrates young talent from Singapore’s creative arts scene.
Music Day Out is also part of the ONE Countdown 2025 events taking place all over the island.
Where: The Ground Theatre and Playspace, *Scape, 2 Orchard Link str.sg/oGZps
MRT: Somerset
When: Dec 31, 5pm to Jan 1, 4.30am
Admission: Free with registration at
Lion Fest 2024
Singapore hardcore veterans Overthrown will launch their new EP, Existence, at music festival Lion Fest 2024.
PHOTO: OVERTHROWN/FACEBOOK
This series of three concerts at iconic local music studio Lion Studios continues on Dec 21 with a headlining set by hardcore veterans Overthrown.
The show is a launch party for the band’s latest EP, Existence. Other home-grown bands performing include mathcore band Glassmouth and alternative rock band Terrestrea.
Lion Fest 2024 kicked off with a pre-album release gig by math rock band FXTRT on Dec 7. It will wrap up with a Dec 28 gig featuring a headline set by Singapore’s first punk band, Opposition Party, still going strong since they started out in the mid-1980s. The line-up that day also includes ska band Cesspit and pop punk band Iman’s League.
Opened in 1980, Lion Studios is where some of the region’s most established stars, including Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng, Hong Kong singer Alan Tam and Malaysian band Search, recorded their albums in the decade that followed.
Where: Lion Studios, 02-00, 115B Commonwealth Drive str.sg/55mL
MRT: Commonwealth
When: Dec 21 and 28, from 5pm
Admission: Pre-sale tickets at $30, go to
Merlion The Musical
Singaporean actor Nick Shen (left, in blue) is among the cast of Merlion The Musical, which also features individuals with special needs from charity organisation Christian Outreach to the Handicapped.
PHOTO: MUSICAL THEATRE LIMITED
Actor Nick Shen stars in this fantasy musical centred on the character Merlene, a Merlion girl who is the daughter of the king of Lion City, and Aquina, a fish woman.
Shen, winner of the Star Search talent contest in 1999, plays the Sea Lion Warrior, protector of Lion City. The cast includes individuals with special needs from charity organisation Christian Outreach to the Handicapped, who will be performing in their first major musical.
Playwright Stella Kon was the scriptwriter and Desmond Moey was the producer, composer and lyricist, with Emida Natalaray and Serene D’Cotta directing.
It is a President’s Challenge-supported project by theatre company Musical Theatre Limited.
Where: Theatre @ The Republic Cultural Centre (TRCC), Republic Polytechnic, 9 Woodlands Avenue 9 bit.ly/4dLh3ic
MRT: Woodlands/Woodlands North
When: Dec 21, 8pm
Admission: Free, with registration only. Go to
