Elisa Garcia: Fado at Bukit Pasoh

There was initially some confusion. My wife was traveling and we discussed over the phone when Elisa had said she was going to sing at BOCA. One of us thought it was “today”, so off I went on that Tuesday night. As I arrived it was a bit too empty for such an event. I was quickly told that the music would be Wednesdays. Not too big a loss because I now could scope out the place and make a reservation for a suitable table. 

After that I simply drove to Hopscotch “around the corner” where I order Chinese take away and I found good company, like always.

My particular interest in seeing Elisa sing at BOCA was that BOCA is a Portuguese restaurant and Elisa was going to sing Fado. All I knew about Fado at that point in time was from one or two CDs, it may be a double, by Amalia Rodrigues, that I own and used to listen to. Amalia was probably the queen of Fado and it is likely impossible to reach her stature in the genre but I, being more a live person, thought it was much better to go see Elisa and hang out with some random people in the process, than to dust off Amalia at home. Secondly, and with me this is secondary, my apologies to Singaporeans' number one fad, I could explore a, till that point to me completely unfamiliar cuisine: Portuguese. 

  

As noticed the previous evening, the interior of BOCA is charming and tastefully romantic, which will bring us back to Fado.

What ever you read about Fado, it will not be happy, apart maybe from the fact that it brought Amalia from dire straits to fame and probably money (though either is not a guarantee for happiness). Fado is soulful, it is about loss and yearning, the kind of emotional pain we like to hear about, judging by the many music genres reflecting it, though we are very scared of actually experiencing it.

I have heard Elisa sing the more “frivolous” Latin music with “local” bands such as the Havana Social club but not yet this stuff. I was impressed from the first notes. In contrast to the general topic of Fado, her voice as well as delivery was powerful and rich. Amalia had that trait I think. You will not be considered the queen of anything if you do not show that self-confidence. Sadness delivered with a power of “I will survive”, but in a melancholically romantic way!

I understand that Elisa will be a regular on Wednesdays at BOCA, I will go back one evening soon, this time I’ll make it a date. I am pretty sure, afterwards, we will walk arm in arm down Bukit Pasoh rd, rather than me a couple of meters ahead prioritizing finding a taxi.