Showtime: Kollaboration Acoustic 5

Definitely a bit on the late end however definitely not least. I was able to attend this year’s
Kollaboration Acoustic 5 and enjoy the unplugged version of the Asian American contest that has attracted many fans and singers alike in one spot for a night.

The Ford Theaters place was the perfect place for the Acoustic show for its intimate ambiance that only made the show that much better. Although I’ve never been to an acoustic show I have to say, they picked an amazing line up of competitors to show up this year. Usually when one sits for one of these competition shows, you usually try and pick who’s going to win or not however by the time they hit intermission, I was pretty pressed as to who would actually win.

Many of the performers got the audience participate and also got to talk to the audience a bit before they performed each piece. Though everyone was thoroughly amazing, there was some key competitors that shined brightly on their own.

Ensemble Memo was a band that intrigued everyone based solely on their skill. Definitely feeling the teenage idol group band look, the group took the stage very quickly and awed the audience just that quickly as well. Their amazing talent to play a piece – composed and produce by them as well – had the audience on their feet before they even ended. Without a doubt, everyone agreed that they were too amazing for words and couldn’t even wait for another performance by them.

The very talented and very beautiful Nessa Rica got a chance to show off her own solo piece and fans fell in love with her more simply off her introduction. If magically cartoon birds appeared where she walked and her songs could talk to the animals, it would actually fit her musical stylings to the the T. Her song not only captured the audience and judges but it fit very well into her own dreams: being the voice of a Disney princess.

One of the main favorites and also Kollaboration winner of Acoustic 5, Tranley’s lyrics is what really got the crowd favorite. Rocking a simple tune and some serious audience participation, Richard Tran serenaded the audience with his original song and serves up with a cup of soul. Despite being only on the radar for a short time, his musical skills and artist aura make him a total perfect music package.

The Mood Junkies and Jason Yano should seriously consider putting a concert together because if there was ever a need of good helping of music soul, they’re totally it. Mr. Jason Yano made a jaw-dropping performance that was blew you away. His woman man-eater song lyrics cracked up the crowd as they listened on to the Asian American version of Sinatra. The Mood Junkies floored the audience and fans as well as the simple harmonies of percussion, drum and vocals mixed up the perfect music concoction. I had a great pleasure of sitting behind the The Mood Junkies’ family and was moved about how loudly they cheered on when they performed. Incredibly moved by their soul song, I was completely blown by their charisma and stage presence.

Though I didn’t go through every performer’s stage time in depth, that doesn’t mean that they were anything less then extraordinary. The ambiance mixed in with overly talented people, an awesome music showdown, a killer session of comedian KT Tatara, and a truly breath taking performance finale of Priscilla Ahn made the lack of sleep and heavy humidity all worth it.

A very big shout out goes out to all the volunteers and the staff for bringing us another year of great music and very, very special shout out for Mr. Marvin Yueh for his hard work and giving us a chance to enjoy this incredible event.
Credits:ChannelPKtown & Kollaboration, HypnoticaAsia