Live with Lizzy!- Irma- Face to Face Tour
22-9-15
One of our fabulous critics, Laurella Jose, loves hearing live music and seeing local bands play. We've had the demand to cover the music scene in Hong Kong for years but didn't have a passionate, music lover with the skills to take it on. We present a new series to HKELD called, Live with Lizzy!
Lizzy will be talking to us weekly about music events she attends, Hong Kong's developing indie scene and bands she loves.
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Starting on YouTube, this French-Cameroonian folk pop singer, now has over 31,000 subscribers and millions of views. Over the weekend, she stopped by Hong Kong as part of her Face to Face Tour and performed at the Vine Centre in Wan Chai.
It became more and more evident as the performance progressed how much the places she been to had influenced her music and style. Growing up in Douala, Camaroon moving to France and more recently, New York, the cultures she’s been exposed to is brought out by the mix of sounds of her music.
A lot of the songs she performed consisted of herself, a sound mixer, and her acoustic guitar under a single spotlight. The pieces that really struck were her slower songs; it really highlighted what her voice could do – the wispy, gentle tones her voice captured within the ambient sounds and rings of acoustic guitar. I think this is beautifully bottled in It Ain’t Easy, on the the songs of her new album Faces. It’s the type of sound I lean towards during rainy days and cold nights. It’s comforting, soothing, understanding.
But then, there’s the more up beat side to Irma’s music. Something to whip out when the day calls for some dancing, and not long winded emoting on bus rides.
Another thing that I noticed, whether that be in her YouTube videos or on stage, is that she loves moving her feet. It’s always nice seeing artists moved by their creations, themselves. It’s definitely the ‘dancing alone’ type music where you just let go and let loose. You can tell by her feet that she loves what she does – whether it’s her Michael Jackson covers or her own songs like Save Me. Regardless boy, can this girl dance. It adds a little edge to her art. Something, I think is important when your media is focused on YouTube.
I think that it’s safe to say that there is no shortage of singers and creators on YouTube which then demands artists like Irma to do it right or not at all. And I think Irma does it right. She really involves herself in the whole creation process. Her videos are a mix of simple, point and shoot types of videos and carefully crafted, produced videos. The concepts are there, it’s not boring, it’s the type of creative, YouTube as a media platform is made for, I believe. In short, definitely check her channel out and tell us what you think.
Have a music event you want Lizzy to attend and write about? Contact us!
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