Cruise Control takes the stage at Shanghai Dolly
Shanghai Dolly is home to new band Cruise Control and their impressive musical playlist
They came together as a band just one month before they were set to perform live.
Yet, Mr Gordon Foo, managing director of The St James company, is confident that the six-piece and sometimes seven-piece bilingual band Cruise Control can perform a playlist of over 10,000 songs at Clarke Quay's biggest nightclub, Shanghai Dolly.
"They each bring to the table their individual repertoire of songs," he told M during an interview on Friday.
The band, which practised day and night for a month before the launch of their latest Happy Hour promotion, finally went on stage on Monday at 6pm before they closed their segment at 9pm.
Chairman Dennis Foo said the latest after-work promotions were set to "wow the crowd" as they ride on the tagline "Biggest Live Band at the Biggest Live Room with the Best Value".
The club's new after-work promotion, which will also be available at The New Paper Sports Bar, located on the second storey of Shanghai Dolly, boasts one of the lowest price tags in the country with a Tiger Beer Tower going at $50++, Chivas Regal (12 Years) at $138++ and Chivas Regal (18 Years) at $188++.
He added: "In the industry, you almost never see such a huge band take the stage during Happy Hour and at the same time enjoy a 'value for money' list of drink promotions.
"This is result of us wanting to give our customers the best they can get straight after they leave the office."
Their first show as Cruise Control - a band that was put together from the troupe of performers working at the 17,000 sq ft nightclub - was deemed a huge success.
MUSICAL CHEMISTRY
When M called one of the band members yesterday afternoon to find out how the inaugural Happy Hour show went, the band's 28-year-old pianist, Mr Zach Tan, told M that it "went well", adding that the crowd sent in "a lot of requests", including a few Mandarin song requests that they had not practised, but the band "tackled them successfully anyway".
That, however, is normal for every live band.
Mr Lai Jee Yon, 28, the sole guitarist of the band, added: "It is impossible to practise every single song (as a band) beforehand, but our advantage is our musical chemistry.
"If someone requests a song we know, but haven't practised (as a band), we tend to follow the score and pull it off. And it worked out well."
But it is the band's camaraderie that has set them on the path of "thinking as one".
"They aren't just my colleagues any more. They are like my family," one of the band's vocalists, Miss A J Ying, 32, told M in Mandarin.
"On top of the eight or nine hours that we meet up to practise, we spend more time with each other after work, and sometimes during our day off, when we have potluck gatherings."
Musical director Mark Shi, 34, added: "Their chemistry as a band is one of a kind, but that's also a product of working hard."
Mr Tan said that rehearsals aren't "fun and games" for them.
He said: "You play one wrong note and the scoldings (from the rest of the band members) fly in left, right and centre.
"We're musicians at our core, so it isn't a huge surprise that we tend to work this way.
"We're a very passionate band, but that's what it takes if we want to deliver a good show to our audience."
It is impossible to practise every single song (as a band) before we take the stage but, our advantage is our musical chemistry.
- Mr Lai Jee Yon, Cruise Control's sole guitarist
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