10 music acts to catch at Singapore Grand Prix 2024

With 12 stages spread across Marina Bay Street Circuit, the Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2024 from Sept 20 to 22 once again boasts acts that cater to a wide range of music fans.

The Straits Times picks the top 10 gigs to catch, from Lenny Kravitz for rock/soul fans to Kylie Minogue for the dance-pop crowd. And who isn’t curious about the headline-making, barrier-breaking and hijab-wearing Indonesian metal trio Voice Of Baceprot, who will be staging their first gig here?

10 music acts to catch at the Singapore Grand Prix

Lenny Kravitz

For fans of: Rock, soul, funk

Signature songs: American Woman (1999), Fly Away (1998), Are You Gonna Go My Way (1993), It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over (1991)

Where: Zone 4 Padang Stage

When: Sept 22, 10.25pm

An artiste who found commercial success with his blend of groovy rock ’n’ roll and smooth soul, American star Lenny Kravitz is finally playing his debut show in Singapore.

His gig will cap off the Singapore Grand Prix weekend and is expected to pack the Padang, which hosts the biggest stage in the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The Grammy-winning 60-year-old made his debut in the late 1980s, but it was only in the early 1990s that he started scoring hits that featured his trademark falsetto and blistering guitar riffs.

He is still making new music and released his 12th album, Blue Electric Light, in May – his first since 2018’s Raise Vibration. He also got back on the road in June to tour Europe. After the F1 concert in Singapore, a Las Vegas residency in October beckons, followed by dates in North and South America in the final quarter of 2024.

Kravitz tells entertainment publication The Hollywood Reporter how revitalised he feels: “After being around for a lengthy period of time, to still feel fresh, motivated, inspired and hungry – and I feel all of those things just as much as I did in the beginning – I think is amazing.”

He adds to trade magazine Variety: “And it’s exciting to put out new music that you enjoy. It’s new music to play, new places to explore, new offerings to my supporters and I’m so looking forward to it.”

The bohemian cool cat also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March. At the unveiling ceremony, his actress-daughter Zoe Kravitz gushed in a speech about how “your radness doesn’t come from your shades or leather pants or netted shirts, it comes from your true love of life”.

So, expect all of that come Sept 22. And surely in Singapore’s heat and humidity, those famous shredded abs will also be on display.

As Kravitz was quoted in an interview with news and entertainment portal BET.com: “It’s interesting where I am in life, mentally, spiritually and physically. I’m in the best shape and place I’ve ever been.” 

Voice Of Baceprot

For fans of: Metal

Signature songs: God, Allow Me (Please) To Play Music (2021), School Revolution (2018)

Where: Zone 4 Downtown

When: Sept 20, 9.15pm

While they are not playing the big stages, Indonesian metal trio Voice Of Baceprot (VOB) are certainly one of the most novel acts to grace the Singapore Grand Prix concert line-ups.

The all-female, hijab-wearing Gen Z rockers made headlines as the first Indonesian band to perform at iconic British music festival Glastonbury in June.

VOB – which comprise singer-guitarist Firda Marsya Kurnia, 24; bassist Widi Rahmawati, 22; and drummer Euis Siti Aisyah, 24 – were also listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Class of 2024, which highlights trailblazers in the entertainment and sports fields.

“Baceprot” means noisy in Sundanese and their songs, sung in Sundanese, English and Bahasa Indonesia, tackle issues such as gender inequality and climate change.

Their upcoming set will be their debut show in Singapore and their first at the F1 race.

“We’re taking this concert very seriously,” VOB say in an e-mail interview with The Straits Times. “Our goal is to have fun, and we hope the audience will share in that experience.

“To be honest, we’re only familiar with Formula One because we often hear about it on television. That’s why this will be a completely new experience for us, and we’re very excited about it.”

The band were on the bill of the 2021 edition of local music festival Baybeats, but were “quite disappointed” that they could play only an online set because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Formed in 2014, the band comprise three secondary school friends from a farming community in Garut, West Java, who were introduced to heavy metal by their music teacher.

They started out by uploading YouTube videos of themselves performing covers of songs by American metal bands such as Rage Against The Machine, Metallica and Slipknot. In 2018, VOB released their debut single School Revolution, which led to slots in music festivals in Indonesia and abroad.

While the petite young Muslim women consider Glastonbury as one of their biggest achievements, their most memorable gig to date was at Wacken Open Air, one of the world’s biggest metal festivals held annually in Germany.

They say: “That has been our dream since high school. It felt like we were in the right place, and we still get goosebumps every time we talk about it.”

In 2023, VOB embarked on a tour across the United States, performing in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

Back home, the group are driven by do-it-yourself and community-centric ideals, and their goal is to build an ecosystem for like-minded musicians to thrive in their home town. They run a space, Ruang Riung Baceprot (“Baceprot creative space” in Sundanese), for their local community where they showcase self-made merchandise as well as food and beverages. “We hope that our efforts today will bring positive benefits to both ourselves and many others.”

Their journey has not been easy and the trio have had to put up with criticism of their unconventional career choice, that hijabi “making noise” in a band goes against traditional cultural and religious values.

“We still face many stigmas, and we know overcoming them will be challenging. This has been a struggle since the inception of VOB.”

Their most popular song, God, Allow Me (Please) To Play Music, addresses the backlash head on.

“I’m not the corruptor, I’m not the enemy, I just wanna sing a song to show my soul” goes the lyrics of the track that won Best Duo/Group Rock Collaboration at Indonesian awards show Anugerah Musik Indonesia in 2022. The song was included in their 2023 debut album Retas (Sundanese for “breaking” or “open”, or Bahasa Indonesia for a type of igneous rock).  

While they acknowledge that a lot of the attention they have been receiving is due to their image and gender, they hope that audiences can focus on their artistry instead.

“We don’t have time to dwell on it any more. Our focus now is on our music and managing VOB as effectively as possible, given that we’re an indie band.”

Still, they hope to see more Muslim hijabi play heavy metal not just in Indonesia, but also around the world. “This extends beyond music to all aspects of life. We’re confident it’s not just our dream, but also the dream of everyone who seeks a more diverse and equitable world.”

Kylie Minogue

For fans of: Dance-pop

Signature songs: Padam Padam (2023), Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (2001), Spinning Around (2000), I Should Be So Lucky (1987)

Where: Zone 4 Padang Stage

When: Sept 21, 10.25pm

Where: Zone 1 Wharf Stage

When: Sept 22, 6pm

Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue is one of the rare acts returning as a headliner in the Singapore Grand Prix, and staging two sets this time to boot. Her last show in Singapore was at the F1’s Padang stage in 2016. She also performed here in 2011, 2008 and 1991.

And over the decades, the 56-year-old has simply never gone out of style.

The former soap actress has had hits in every decade since she dropped debut single Locomotion in 1987. Her 1988 debut album Kylie also contained I Should Be So Lucky, and she scored another enduring 1980s hits through her duet with fellow Australian singer-actor Jason Donovan, Especially For You.

The 1990s were a relatively quiet period that still generated several Top 10 singles. She came back in full swing in the 2000s with some of the biggest hits of the decade, such as the 2001 global smash Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and 2000 club staple Spinning Around.

The 2010s earned her several No. 1s in the US dance charts, most of which were from her 11th album Aphrodite (2010). More recently, she earned her first big hit of the streaming age with Padam Padam, the 2023 synthpop anthem – from the album Tension – that went viral worldwide.

OneRepublic

For fans of: Top 40, pop-rock

Signature songs: I Ain’t Worried (2022), Counting Stars (2013), Apologize (2007), Stop And Stare (2007)

Where: Zone 4 Padang Stage

When: Sept 20, 10.15pm

American band OneRepublic, fronted by singer and hitmaker Ryan Tedder, are behind some of the biggest pop-rock hits of the last two decades.

Their 2007 debut single Apologize, which was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammys, was an instant winner which topped the charts in countries such as Australia and Germany.

Meanwhile, Counting Stars, from their third album Native (2013), boasts four billion YouTube views and 2.5 billion streams on Spotify.

OneRepublic have quite a following here. They have performed in Singapore six times, including two performances in 2023 alone.

Just how much do they love us? Artificial Paradise, their sixth album released in July, contains an instrumental track titled Singapore. And the music video for the single Runaway features scenes filmed at Marina Bay Sands.

Thirty Seconds To Mars

For fans of: Alternative rock

Signature songs: This Is War (2009), The Kill (2005)

Where: Zone 1 Wharf Stage

When: Sept 20, 7.45pm

Where: Zone 4 Padang Stage

When: Sept 22, 6.15pm

Comprising Hollywood star and singer-guitarist Jared Leto, 52, and his older brother and drummer Shannon Leto, 54, the F1 gig will be Thirty Seconds To Mars’ first show in Singapore in 14 years. They last performed here at music festival Singfest in 2010.

The band were formed in 1998, four years after Jared Leto made his acting debut in teen drama series My So-Called Life (1994 to 1995). Leto went on to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing an HIV-positive trans woman in the drama Dallas Buyers Club (2013).

A Beautiful Lie (2005) was hailed as one of the year’s best albums by rock music publications such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound. They released their sixth and latest album, It’s The End Of The World But It’s A Beautiful Day, in 2023.

That same year, Leto made headlines when he scaled the Empire State Building in New York to promote Thirty Seconds To Mars’ ongoing Seasons Tour.

Babymonster

For fans of: K-pop

Signature songs: Sheesh (2024), Batter Up (2023)

Where: Zone 4 Padang Stage

When: Sept 21, 4.45pm

Babymonster’s Padang set will see them take on a bigger stage than their first Singapore show at The Star Theatre in June.

The rookie K-pop girl group, with members aged 15 to 22, comprise Ahyeon, Rami and Rora from South Korea, Asa and Ruka from Japan, and Chiquita and Pharita from Thailand.

The septet are K-pop agency YG Entertainment’s first girl group in seven years after Blackpink, one of the world’s most successful groups.

Babymonster released debut single Batter Up in November 2023, and its music video became the most-viewed debut K-pop music video in 24 hours on YouTube. Their eponymous debut album dropped on April 1.

Disclosure

For fans of: Electronic dance music

Signature songs: You & Me (2013), Latch (2012)

Where: Zone 4 Padang Stage

When: Sept 21, 7.30pm

British electronic dance music outfit Disclosure will be represented by one-half of the sibling duo, Guy Lawrence, 33, who will do a DJ set.

They are best known for Latch, the 2012 dance-pop hit that featured British singer Sam Smith’s compelling vocals. Their first three albums – Settle (2013), Caracal (2015) and Energy (2020) – were all nominated for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the Grammys. Their fourth and most recent album, Alchemy, dropped in 2023.

The pair – including Howard Lawrence, 30 – made their name through other high-profile collaborations. Talk, the 2019 hit with American singer Khalid, was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2020 Grammys.

Tones And I

For fans of: Pop

Signature songs: Fly Away (2020), Dance Monkey (2019)

Where: Zone 4 Downtown

When: Sept 21, 6.30pm

Where: Zone 1 Wharf Stage

When: Sept 22, 4.15pm

Many may think of Tones And I as a one-hit wonder, thanks to her 2019 breakout earworm Dance Monkey. It was the most streamed song on Apple Music for Singapore fans in 2020.

But the Australian singer has also racked up several other global hits. These include Never Seen The Rain from her 2019 debut EP The Kids Are Coming and Fly Away from her 2021 debut album Welcome To The Madhouse.

The 31-year-old songwriter and producer, whose real name is Toni Watson, has a new batch of songs too. In August, she released her second album, Beautifully Ordinary, which topped the Australian album charts.

Honne

For fans of: Dance-pop

Signature songs: Location Unknown (2018), Day 1 (2018)

Where: Zone 4 Padang Stage

When: Sept 20, 7.45pm

British electronic-pop duo Honne will kick off the performances at the Padang, the biggest stage.

Andy Clutterbuck and James Hatcher last performed here at The Star Theatre in 2023. During that visit, they took videos of themselves performing their songs such as Location Unknown at local spots in the Keong Saik Road, Joo Chiat and Katong areas.

K-pop fans might also find them familiar – they produced and co-wrote seoul, the popular lo-fi track from BTS member RM’s 2018 EP mono.

Expect to hear some new songs, as Honne released their latest and fourth album, Ouch, on Sept 6.

Kool & The Gang

For fans of: Classic R&B, funk and disco

Signature songs: Get Down On It (1981), Celebration (1980), Jungle Boogie (1973)

Where: Zone 1 Wharf Stage

When: Sept 21, 4.30pm

Freshly inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April, American R&B group Kool & The Gang are a musical institution and the most senior band on the F1 line-up.

The icons released their 26th studio album People Just Wanna Have Fun in 2023 and celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2024.

Headed by 73-year-old Robert “Kool” Bell, their extensive discography dates back to their self-titled 1969 debut album and encompasses evergreen party anthems like Celebration, Ladies’ Night (1979) and Get Down On It. Their numerous accolades include two Grammys, seven American Music Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Book It/Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2024

Where: Marina Bay Street Circuit
When: Sept 20 to 22
Admission: Single-day walkabout tickets (starting at $128) are available from singaporegp.sg and authorised ticketing partners. All tickets provide access to the performances in Zone 4, which includes The Padang and Downtown Stage. A Zone 1 ticket is required to access the Wharf Stage.

This article was originally published in The Straits Times.