DISTRICT M: A Marina Central Festival returns with more music and good vibes for the third time running. On 19 and 20 September 2025, the Marina Central district was transformed into a vibrant celebration of music and culture.
This included the Music Piazza at Suntec Plaza which featured performances by home-grown singer Gareth Fernandez and Australian singer Matthew Ifield on the final night (20 Sep).
Organised by Marina Central Business Improvement District, the festival is part of Singapore Design Week.
Gareth Fernandez
Gareth Fernandez showed up confident and strong with The Momma Shop. The band would never ‘Let You Down’ by starting the set with that iconic clean electro-pop song.
Without a ‘break’, the Singaporean R&B soul artist showed off his prowess in writing songs about the Zillennial struggle. Gareth returned to the music scene in 2023 with this fun, goofy and groovy track after a two-year hiatus.
To continue his singing streak, he then performed ‘Best I Can’, an unreleased song that consoled your soul (and might be released sometime next year). We also didn’t mind Gareth showing off more of his falsettos with the next song, ‘idrm’.
The Momma Shop who has been performing with Gareth for 10 years was formally introduced – the band included Titus Ng (bass), Anson Koh (drums), Joshua (keys). The band’s signature soul, funk and R&B has been reverberating through the Singapore music scene since 2014.
The setlist was not for the weak as they performed the Gospel-inspired ballad, ‘Achilles’. The song is about acknowledging and owning one’s flaws in order to grow.
The song transitioned to the R&B track, ‘higher love’. He cheekily remarked about the stress of having to rap for the song.
‘Lost In You’ was a modern love song that draws parallels to Alice in Wonderland, and featured Titus’s bass solo.
Gareth then performed another unreleased song to express that “I hate being second best”. With a calm melody, the witty lyrics directly hit home.
Being a songwriter who enjoys making relatable and fun music, Gareth teamed up with Mandopop singer-songwriter Yokez to perform their latest collab, ‘RICH’. They met at Chingay 2022, and are now manifesting to be rich as the crowd sang along.
Yokez is currently working on her first full length album that promises to be genre-rich with diverse artist features.
Notably, the local music industry’s interconnectedness became apparent with many local artistes being producers of Gareth’s songs.
Gareth & The Momma Shop ended on a pleasing note with ‘Bit of Your Love’, a mix of funk and jazz to soothe our ears.
Matthew Ifield
After Gareth Fernandez’s soulful set, the night’s headliner Matthew Ifield took the stage.
With a blend of modern pop’s warmth with jazz’s smooth sophistication, the Australian singer-songwriter made the fans hungry for more tunes with ‘Dinner For Two’.
Last year’s headliner for District M were also Australians who had a strong loyal fanbase in Singapore.
Matthew then said ‘Sup’ to the crowd, a song that he released with Thai singer, WIM, with jazzy bedroom tunes including a voice trumpet solo.
Alongside the all-ladies band, he slowed it down to ‘When I Loved You’ and showcased his falsetto.
The next love song that he performed was ‘Like I Do’, as he crooned sweet lyrics and strummed his guitar.
He then played a surprise number with a cover of the viral song ‘Until I Found You’. Matthew Ifield shared that the original singer Stephan Sanchez had inspired a lot of his music, which was evident in his setlist so far.
The crowd was definitely ready for him to shine as a musician with ‘Ready For Love’.
Matthew proceeded to express a slow heartbreak with ‘She Doesn’t Care’.
With beautiful melodies and an enchanting voice, he did not need to ‘Start From Scratch’ to raise the atmosphere with the upbeat, funky track. With Holly Connor on drums, Lauren White on bass, and Tash Wolf on guitar, they caught our attention with their solos.
The energy surged as Matthew kicked into ‘Sunflower’, a groovy, sun-soaked track that had heads bobbing in unison.
Keeping us on that flowery path, he transitioned seamlessly into ‘Blossom’, a tune that blooms with optimism and those signature jazzy undertones that make his sound so distinctive.
‘My Favourite Place To Be’ got the crowd dancing and singing along to the rhymes of the pre-chorus. Matthew then quipped that Singapore was his favourite place to be.
The crowd continued to swoon over his honey voice as he sang a cover to Elliot James Reay’s ‘I Think They Call This Love’.
After taking us through 45 minutes of emotional ups and downs from upbeat jazz funk to tender heartbreak, it was time for his final song before his departure.
The last song was aptly titled ‘In The Event Of Her Departure’. It was a bittersweet, contemplative closer that left us reflecting on love, loss, and everything in between.
Overall, District M delivered a heartwarming night that reminded us why live music hits different, especially when it is filled with this much soul.
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