David Tao Concert - This is no block of wood!

Amidst the glossy and fickle Chinese music industry, a few truly talented and well-marketed artists stand out, one of them is David Tao. His well-known signature R & B tunes have come to be the genre in the Mandopop industry. Well, he is also one my favourite singers, so called me biased if you want.

The Capacity Crowd

Towards show time, the capacity crowd streamed into the venue almost like those time lapse videos. Like all concerts outside Esplanade, this concert didn’t start punctually. But the waiting definitely helped to build up the anticipation. As soon as the light dimmed to signal the start of the concert, the crowds were already all well warmed up and cheering for David Tao to appear.

The overture started with chants of “1, 2, 3″ in Mandarin and then in various languages which pleasantly amused the audience. Then David Tao rose from below the stage to appear before the excited audience.

David with the quintessential guitar

Within the first 3 up tempo songs, he had already had the extremely responsive crowd standing and waving their arms to the rhythm of the music.

After the fourth song, David took time to interact with the audience. Momentarily, it seemed rather awkward that he conversed predominantly in English for a concert consisting of Mandarin songs. It was later that I realised that there would be a number of band members as well as audiences that only understood English or not as familiar with Mandarin.

One of the main visual surprises at this concert has got to be the use of laser lights for the heavier up-tempo numbers. The first time it came on for the song “鬼”, plenty of oohs, aahs and howls complimented the stunning effects. It was clear that plenty of effort and heart was put in for this concert.

It seems that there has been a trend of Easternisation in Mandarin pop. First there was Jay Chou’s “千里之外”, soon there would one from Jeff Chang’s new album. Under David’s belt would be “Susan 说”. This live version was preluded with a pipa recital accompanied by a modernised opera dance, giving it a very strong Chinese flavour.

Before his next song, “爱我还是他”, David took time to introduce one of the many local talents in his crew. On the keyboards was Goh Kheng Loong, the music director whom he has worked with for 8 years. More amazingly, there had never been any arguments between them, something he attributed to God. That got a rather muted applause from the audience. If you didn’t know, David Tao is very upfront about his Christian faith and is unapologetic about sharing it with the audience at his concert.

Next was the jazzed up version of Teresa Teng’s “月亮代表我的心” which I felt was a little over-sang. He then followed up with “10:30的飞机场”. For “今天要回家” “今天没回家”, David got the audience to sing-along for the easier parts of the song. But when he challenged them to sing the following faster stanza, the audience stumbled. Nonetheless, the crowd enjoyed every moment of it.

“小镇姑娘” was definitely one of the more refreshingly rearranged songs. Originally a very light, country and folk sounding number, this live version was heavier and really rocked the house and had the audience on their feet and arms in the air.

A significantly slower “寂寞的季节” was then performed to lead up to his unplugged number, “普通朋友” which he shared the stage with his guitarist on tour, Jamie Wilson who surprised the audience when he replied to David’s questions in Mandarin. This would be just one of the numerous occasions in the concert where he showcases his band of talented musicians.

One of the things that set David Tao apart is how he uses his music for positive change in the world. The next song “Dear God” was one he wrote in response to the tragedies that had happened around the world in recent times as a cry out for change. It had a video prelude with the accompanying crew introducing themselves, their role in the band, their different nationalities and racial diversity. Then they introduced themselves in common as human to drive the point that the fighting that is happening around the world needs to stop and that we should recognise that our most effective weapon is love instead.

“今天你要嫁给我” is a duet which he wrote and sang with Jolin Tsai. Of course Jolin wasn’t around. So Singapore’s very own Tay Kewei sang her part as David flirted with her on stage as always in every of his concert. It is a pity her talent is not as recognised locally, judging from the somewhat awkward audience response when David referred her as the pride of Singapore. But hey, it’s just a few more songs before her debut album rocks our air waves, but if you are curious, visit her blog for her demo tracks and support local talent!

Producing a concert is always a team effort, so David took ample time after the song to introduce everyone that made this concert possible, on and off stage. Notably, there were many musicians that hail from Singapore and Malaysia. I was darn impressed that every musician on stage could sing and play at least one instrument! A special mention for Alisa Elisa, the multi-talented Taiwanese back up vocal who can also play the flute, trombone and violin. Not to mention that she quite gorgeous as well.

David then shared a little secret - he is a closet dancer, but a bad one at it. That’s why he remains a closet dancer. But still he wanted the audience to have some fun, he included a dance medley so that everyone can get on their feet to shake it up little. Interestingly, during the dance medley, David took the role of the back up vocals for John Tan David Tan (back up vocals and guitar) to take centre stage.

Halfway through “就是爱你”, David decided to get off the stage and get cozy with the audience. The ladies screamed with delight as they flooded towards the barrier for a hug, handshake or even just a touch of their idol. The fans loved it tremendously. Due to the local concert regulations, he could only access a limited area of the crowd. Returning to stage at the end of the song, David even thanked the security for their hard work in making that up-close and personal experience possible and safe for everyone.

The lady in red gets her tickets’ worth with a full embrace

Near the end of the concert he shared that he was considering a move to Singapore, because it was one of the few places where there is racial and religious tolerance. On a lighter note, he said that said that contrary to what people said, Singapore is actually a fun place, with the latest attraction being the Singapore Flyer, which is really slow and expensive.

For those who remembered his comments on desperately anxiously seeking a life partner at his press conference, David picked out a lady in the audience to serenade with the song “沙滩”, on stage. Darn lucky girl. Hmm… Isn’t he awfully transparent laying out plans to get a Singapore PR, don’t you think? I could almost hear some of the audience chanting, “PR! PR! PR!” Or maybe David’s already aiming for Singapore citizenship?

For the last song of the night, David sang his break out hit, “爱很简单”. With it he thanked the audience, the crew and especially God, sharing his testimony of miracle healing of tonsillitis on the morning of the concert. Yup, that too got a rather awkward reaction from the audience. But that didn’t affect the concert experience one bit. It was undoubtedly a great concert that would be remembered for a long time.

The Rakes - Who needs radio when you’ve got indie?

I like indie (independent) music. It is always effortlessly refreshing. Here is a genre where there are no rules and no restrictions, just the love of making music. Other descriptive terms include experimental, unconventional, quirky, fun, original. Well, you get the idea.

But with major record companies hogging the frequencies, it is rare that we hear music from indie artists, unless they were signed and groomed for stardom by the record labels. Which is why it is great that Heineken Green Room have started bringing in refreshing indie gigs to their parties. This time, Heineken Green Room literally flew The Rakes over from half-way across the globe for a one-night-only gig at Zouk.

The signature green ambience of Heineken Green Room

I arrived at about 10.30pm and was quite relieved that the gig hadn’t started. So when was it going to start? Then a assistant stepped on to the stage numerous times to fiddle with the instruments and stretching the audiences’ patience.

The band finally appeared from the back of the stage just before midnight, delighting eager party-goers and probably appeasing disgruntled ones. The band quickly got the crowd psyched up with plenty of their energetic and quirky original music.

Known for being well-dressed, they seem somewhat more casual at this gig in comparison. Must have been the the weather. Nonetheless, the group rocked hard for the audience in their signature geeky, unfazed in the chaos style, much like the title of their song, The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect.

The first few songs had the lead vocal, Alan furiously signalling to the sound controls to tweak the volumes of the various instruments and vocals. Once that was finally fixed, he proceeded with his infectious signature quirky dance moves while singing that got the crowds rocking.

It was obvious that everybody on stage and off were enjoying themselves. The crowd seemed to have forgotten how long they had waited for them. Perhaps it is a similar attitude of patience that we should adopt for indie music as we trawl through the internet to find our own favourite brand of tunes.

Back on stage the guitarist played so hard his top ripped at the back! Ventilation is definitely helpful in our tropical climates.

And between songs, there would be the endorsement actions by members of the band. I am definitely going to show my appreciation to Heineken Green Room in the same way!

I have to say that I am really impressed by the Lasse’s relentless energy on drums in particular. Being positioned right at the back of stage never obscured the intensity of his craft. In his frenzied performance, he exuded his own kind of charisma on stage.

Drumming - a great work out

And just as everyone was high with all the great music, The Rakes left the stage. It took a long time of cheering from the floor before they returned to stage for an encore performance much to the appreciative crowd’s delight.

The Rakes would then stay on to spin for Zouk for the night, but many who attended have proceeded towards the exit, including myself. And by the time I got out, my ears were ringing, but I was humming the their infectious and catchy tunes.

Jeff Chang’s Concert in Singapore - A Review

This review was written for youth.sg
Direct link: http://www.youth.sg/content/view/4661/54/

Jeff Chang possesses one of the most distinctive and unmistakable voices in the Chinese music industry that can achieve keys few would venture to. His pristine vocals delivered those familiar gentle soothing ballads that he has come to be known for. Attending this concert was likened to artistic appreciation and tasting of fine wine.

It has been a while since Jeff Chang performed in Singapore. Like many veterans in the music industry, Jeff has also somewhat slowed his pace of producing records, choosing to take time to produce quality albums and going on world tours. On top of that, his record company had also chosen to reduce promotional efforts in Singapore. While his albums are still available here, local fans got to see less of their idol. But like all good things worth waiting for, appreciative fans of Jeff Chang filled the Max Pavilion to the brim.

As it approached show time, crowd warm-up came in the form of die-hard Jeff Chang fans with their blinding props. At the same time, I spotted some familiar faces…

Say, isn’t that a mini-star?

Unlike his previous concerts, this one was drastically different. Jeff was accompanied by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Orchestra to provide an element of classical grandeur as well as additional dimensions in the music. The concert started with the orchestra performing an overture of Jeff’s signature songs.

At the same time, the giant frames at the back ran a slideshow, showcasing art works by masters from various eras. Suffice to say the stage and lighting design was quite spectacular that it looked convincingly lush and Victorian, yet modern.

His entrance on to the stage was surprisingly low key in relation to the whole set up on stage, but it was very much congruent with his refined mannerism. Jeff proceeded to deliver 3 of his most well-known hits, 宽容 (Tolerance), 信仰 (Belief), 不要对他说 (Don’t Tell Him) to warm up the crowd. His costume was elaborate with plenty of glitter and lush detail. Personally, his new hair style which some had described as a pile of instant noodles, took a bit of getting used to. Of course, the fans loved it no matter what, instantly noodles or not, and screamed, “阿哲! 你好帅!” (Jeff, you are sooo suave!)

Taking a break from the singing, Jeff explained the art works that would be displayed during his performance and the connection between the style of art works and his set of songs.

With another song, he exited the stage. The orchestra then performed a classical piece while Jeff did his costume change. I thought it was a pretty clever arrangement that added to this music connoisseur atmosphere. However, unlike an actual classical performance, the audience used this musical interlude as a time for chit chat, thereby probably ruining the whole intention of classical music appreciation.

Jeff then returns to stage to deliver more songs, some that I was not too familiar with. It somehow got a little difficult to feel connected with the songs and the lyrics. The orchestra also sounded like it was competing with Jeff’s vocals and the problem seemed to be made worse probably because the acoustics set up at Expo wasn’t exactly suitable for an orchestra. The audiences’ reaction also seemed restrained. For me, I was a little disappointed. I looked through the song list provided for the media to look for familiar songs in a bid to do a litmus test of sorts upon myself, to find something that can redeem the concert, to see if it was just me less familiar with the songs or if the performance really lacked the emotional connection. And the next song was one I was familiar with…

I knew I needed to be biased towards the performance and even hummed along, but it still didn’t seem right. Technically, the song was delivered flawlessly, but the emotional ride was monotonous and it didn’t feel satisfying. It wasn’t the gut wrenching melancholic feel that I remember which girls would swoon at.

Then came a pleasant surprise came in the form of a new song in his upcoming album to be released in April. The song was introduced by a Chinese opera hua dan who performed a graceful solo as Jeff looked on and later joined in. After Jeff’s first part was sung, it was followed by a Chinese opera xiao sheng’s operatic singing. The collaboration has undoubtedly visually and aurally refreshing and perhaps a one-up against Jay Chou!

The element of audience engagement was sorely missed in this concert. Perhaps it was Jeff’s reserved nature as well as the classical music interludes and the fine art display that restrained the audiences’ emotions and reactions. There was probably also a little too much explanation about the slide show displaying the art works which served more as a distraction between the audience and the star of the show.

In the following segment which was complimented by impressionism paintings, a few of his songs were rearranged and given an up-tempo twist in line with the idea of impressionism. They were as refreshing as they were a little awkward, especially when he swayed clumsily to the upbeat renditions.

It seemed that it was only in the final segment of the concert did Jeff finally get comfortable enough to interact with the audience, making suggestions that he would be dispensing relationship advice through his songs. It was a much needed break from the emotionally monotonous concert thanks to the consistent melancholic melodies and lyrics. Even he was joking that the audience might have been falling asleep listening to all the slower songs. Finally to end the concert, Jeff sang his break out hit, 爱如潮水, which had the audience screaming in approval and singing along. Jeff jokingly lamented that they should have been in this state earlier and not towards the end of the concert.

Of course, concert going in Singapore is never a complete experience if there wasn’t the demand for an encore. With the audience starting to rush forward and the intensity of the applause building up, Jeff gamely returned to the stage to show his appreciation for the audience and joked that since he’s already back on stage, might as well carry on singing. So he belted out a medley of his songs to officially end his concert.

Perhaps there was also a good side for the shortcomings I experienced. I’m sure it made the fans want more.

The Year of Jacky Cheung World Tour ‘07

This post was written for Youth.sg.
http://www.youth.sg/content/view/4162/54/

I’m an eighties kid. I was born in that decade. And growing up, people around me would listen to the music on the radio. There would be a powerful voice singing the some of the most popular songs on air. That voice is none other than Jacky Cheung’s and he was easily the most popular Chinese singer around.

It is pretty safe to say that Jacky Cheung is a name well-known in every Chinese community in the world. His voice has captured the attention of countless audiences the everywhere and in this world tour, it was no exception.

The Indoor Stadium was packed to the brim. The atmosphere built up with the audiences’ anticipation with every passing second. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the appearance of Jackie Cheung on stage. Sure enough, the crowd cheered as the dancers appeared to perform to the overture. Then he appeared…

…and he kicked off his concerts with a medley of sexy, sensual, high energy dance songs. He danced and sang non-stop with amazing vigour as the ecstatic audience cheered him on. It is hard to believe that the man on stage is already 46 years old and outdoing people 20 years younger.

The medley of dance songs ended with some stage pyrotechnics. Then he began chatting with the audience. This was the 92nd concert in his world tour and he admitted that it was hard work to be dancing and singing at his age. Knowing how to please his fans, he runs through his repertoire for the night. It would be impossible to perform all his hits in this concert, (it would probably last for at least 8 hours if it were to include everything) so a number of his classic hits in Mandarin and Cantonese were selected. There would also be less of his newer songs as audiences in his previous concerts had lukewarm reactions. There would also be songs from his musicals, “Snow Wolf Lake” and the more recent “Perhaps, Love”.

Jacky Cheung is perhaps best remembered for his sentimental love songs. It was common (and probably still is) to serenade girlfriends and wives with his songs. While most would probably suck at the difficult vocals, the green faces and/or constipated look (out of breath from singing) tend to convince the serenaded ones that they mean every word in the lyrics.

Despite singing for 23 years and a throat complication a few years back, his vocals remains strong and robust yet extremely versatile. In this concert, he effectively displays his showmanship, performing songs of vastly different genres, from sentimental love songs to rock to dance and musicals. He truly lived up to the title: “God of Songs”.

Referring to the rock-styled pieces performed, he reasoned that it was one rare channel where he could transform into something more animalistic, and thus the screaming during some of the pieces. While he explained that he doesn’t behave that way usually, he engaged the audiences in a brief screaming match to encourage the behaviour within the Indoor Stadium at his concert.

In this concert, Jacky would also share his with the audience his personal life. In fact, the concert could be considered as his autobiography. In his 23 year career, he has released over 70 albums, sung over 1000 songs and won about 300 awards. Yet his greatest pride and joy is his family. Behind all the glitz and glamour belies a humble family man. And he shared a little embarrassingly that despite having sang so many songs, he hardly had any songs specially dedicated to his wife and daughters. So in a recent album, he had a song written each for his daughter and wife. He joked that he was somewhat disappointed by his wife’s “not bad” statement as he had expected a bit of tears in her reaction.

He also shared snippets about his childhood. He lived in a large family where all the men were sailors. They only returned every three years. He joked that he only knew the difference between a man and a woman when he was three because that was when his mum introduced him to his father! He also shared that he got seasick, which was why he never followed the traditional sailor’s path of the men in his family. That would have been a blessing in disguise.

Relating how he entered the entertainment industry, re-enacted the singing competition which he participated in and won. It was no doubt his life altering moment which he shared in the most vivid and animated manner.

True to his observation from previous concerts, the audience reaction was lukewarm during some of his songs. They seem to only react in a more appreciative manner when he sang his more familiar songs. They cheered and sang along.

With a quick change of costumes, the concert progressed to the section where he performed songs from his musicals, “Snow Wolf Lake” and “Perhaps, Love”. On stage, Jacky Cheung and his dancers played out the excerpts for each song performed. It was a unique and more stylised presentation which joined the songs of two different musicals together. If my memory serves me, “Snow Wolf Lake” was the first Cantonese and Mandarin musical ever produced.

Once the musical songs were over, Jackie left the stage for another costume change for the encore. The thunderous applause beckoned him back to stage where he would the last series of songs for the night. Encores must have been an idea stemming from Singapore’s kiasu mentality, must always get more from a concert. Performing more classic hits, he got the ever ecstatic audience to their feet. The crowd went wild and the live cameras recorded every instance of fans waving their hands and light batons while singing along to his songs.

As Jacky Cheung introduced his last song for the night, audience gave their most appreciative cheer. While it was sad that this concert had to come to an end, they were probably also extremely appreciative of the he had made Singapore one of his world tour’s stops.

In retrospect, compared to other concerts, Jacky Cheung hardly did the mic-to-the-audience-partly-because-I-forgot-the-lyrics trick. It is no doubt that he continually works hard to produce quality works and performances. This three and a half hour concert was a fantastic visual spectacle and absolute audial enjoyment. The set, lighting, sound and pyrotechnics all synchronised perfectly with Jacky Cheung’s flawless vocals and showmanship. The concert was definitely worth every cent.One thing’s for sure, I feel more complete as a Chinese having watched Jacky Cheung live in concert.

S-Pop Hurray!

What do songs like 《我要的幸福》,《假面的告白》,《天黑黑》,《你知不知道》,《木乃伊》and《一人一半》have in common? Well, if you didn’t already catch the hint from the title, these songs were written by Singaporeans. While we constantly listen to Mandarin Pop, it is seldom that we recognize and remember the songwriters. While we probably know the Li brothers and Lin Junjie, there are also “quieter” songwriters like Xiao Han, Wu Jiahui and Huang Yinren who ply their trade successfully in the competitive music scene in Taiwan.

So S-Pop Hurray was probably conceived to tell the masses about Singaporean music or rather, music created by Singaporeans. There is a slight difference which you’ll understand later. At the same time, it was also to coincide with a national-level songwriting contest to discover new talent and new creations. And yes, I’m thinking there is a greater power who is pulling all stops to promote S-Pop.

So I was on assignment yet again with youth.sg to cover S-Pop Hurray. The programme started with an introduction of all the artistes who will be performing in the 4-and-a-half-hour long live recording. There were plenty of the hot-at-this moment artistes as well as those who were all nearly forgotten until their names were mentioned. Some that had moved on to business arenas, others to teaching and journalism.

The programme proper started off with a good dose of nostalgia with Deng Miaohua singing an old SBC drama serial theme song. For the uninitiated, SBC was the former name of TCS, which in turn was the former name of MediaCorp. Deng was probably one of the first popular local artistes from Singapore thanks to drama serial theme songs. At the that time, the likes of the young Li brothers were still schooling along with contemporaries like Zheng Zhanlun. It was the same recording company that Deng was under that discovered the Li brothers’ songwriting talent in the beginning. The twins then went on to write many other drama serial theme songs.

Next introduced were the works of Liang Wenfu. To describe him as a songwriter would be an understatement. Liang’s lyrics resonated many aspects of life in Singapore with songs like 《我的朋友 我的同学 我最爱的一切》and 《太多 太多》. The former being a song about friendships and school life and the latter being song that complains of too much of everything. Perhaps predictably, only《我的朋友 我的同学 我最爱的一切》was performed by Wu Qing Kang, yet another pioneer in the Xinyao movement. One notable thing on stage during his performance was the use of the “in-house” back-up dancers that was as cheesy as the days of the old television.

While still on Wu Qing Kang, it was surprising that he had won an award at a prominent Taiwanese song writing competition for a single he composed. As the programme progressed, there would be many of these snippets to “unconsciously” remind us that Singapore got talent.

Right after Wu Qing Kang came Zheng Zhanlun, yet another long-lost singer from the 80’s. It turns out that he had left the entertainment circle to tend to his businesses back then. Now he’s specially back to perform his hit song from then, 《我用真心添满你的孤单》. Zheng was also one of the small group of local musicians involved in the Xinyao movement during the 80’s.

Perhaps it would take more than just a few works to convince audience that the genre of S-Pop exists. So specially brought in from Taiwan are Chinese music’s heavyweights like Xiao Chong, Yang Qian as both had took local talents under their wings. One had commented that he was touched by the local flavours in our Singapore-written songs. I guess that’s an important tip for all aspiring musicians - maintain the local flavour!

Which brings us to showcase some successful songwriters from Singapore. Namely, Huang Yinren, Wu Jiahui and Xiao Han. Based in Taiwan, the three of them some of the successful but relatively unknown songwriters from Singapore. Probably with exception of Wu Jiahui, who’s is hot locally at the moment for the 881 hit, 一人一半.

What makes an effective songwriter? The trio answered that a well-written song should be visual and connected to its audience. How? Well, I can’t be sure, I don’t write songs.

Wu and Huang then took the stage with 一人一半, to which the audience clapped to the beat. Somehow songs with Hokkien origins are very popular here. Stefanie Sun had 天黑黑, now this…

The show then whisks the audience back again to the era of Xinyao with Ah Ben, Ah Ben and 我们这一班 (originally by Xu Huanliang and his band) performed by Project Superstar finalists. Like all good shows that talks about past, present and future, the producers managed to find incriminating video footage of the much younger Xu Huanliang with flowing locks of hair, a sharp contrast with his bald pate today. Best of all, he was performing together with Eric Moo in bad English! If you need to see those early days, you must watch the show on TV!

Also on stage reminiscing their early songwriting days were Eric Moo, Li Feihui and Wu Jiaming. The bunch of them shared a flat and often sang late into the night with their guitars, sometimes earning applause from their neighbours. They joked that Eric was the more successful among them because he was the only one presentable enough for television, and subsequently had to be the “breadwinner”, earning measly sums of money for every TV appearance. Eric also revealed that one of his early songs was about that period where they bunked together and shared everything, particularly a vest he always wore for performances.

Thereafter, Eric Moo took the stage to sing and talk about his long musical journey. He shared how his first song came about after listening to a Hong Kong singer’s simple but beautiful lyrics. Why couldn’t the local scene produce good works like that? He thought he needed to prove that Singaporeans could come up with quality works and subsequently wrote his first song. At that time, songs were simpler, reflecting the simpler way of life in Singapore. These songs were about life in Singapore, and thus gave birth to Xinyao. Unlike music today, this genre did not set out to sell albums. Instead, it was meant to prove that we can write and sing.

It is apparent that these early musicians started out humbly, a contrast from music school trained artists of today.

Li Feihui then joined him for a few more songs before taking over and bringing in his students to perform his most memorable songs, 等你等到我心痛 and 说走就走.

The pioneers and the new talents sharing the stage played up the notion of the old bridging to the new. Different generations sharing a common passion. The contrast of the new and old musicians also showed how they had progressed throughout the years. While it wasn’t moving in leaps and bounds, it was steadily moving forward.

It is with much credit to the pioneers in the industry that our new artists can successfully break into the ultra-competitive market. They proved to Taiwan that there are discoveries of talents and potential to be made in Singapore, such as Kelly Poon who emerged from Project Superstar.

Consequently, the show moved the spotlight to the industry today, Lin Junjie shared the stage with his mentors Xu Huanliang and Xiao Chong to share about his road to success in the industry. Unsurprisingly, the subject was on the necessity of multiple talents to be successful. JJ’s reply was that The JJ fan club went absolutely wild at the appearance of their idol performing his piece on piano.

And then an up-tempo number.

The show then moved on to showcase our local bands. First up was 迷路兵 (Milo Peng?), the product of Project Super Band. Honestly, I could hardly hear their singing with all their loud music. There wasn’t really a follow up interview with them, so the show moved on to 梦飞船, Dreamz FM.

Dreamz FM only released one album as a band. One single, 不值得 became a runaway hit solely viral marketing online and reached as far as China, where the band never set foot on for publicity. They only came to realise it when one of them noticed their song being played as background music in a restaurant. Thereafter, they sort of went into obscurity. Dreamz FM unfortunately, was a tragedy of bad timing. A month before their album release in Taiwan, the 921 Earthquake sent the country into a different state of mind, relegated entertainment to the lowest priority. Album sales consequently suffered. Around the same time, the boss at their record company passed away, diverting all attention away from the band. When asked if they’ll make a comeback, their response was, “only if we have support from the audience.”

The show then moved on to yet another nostalgic segment paying tribute to Liang Wenfu, with singers that either haven’t appeared for the longest time or crossed over to other realms.

I have to say that I would likely have forgotten names like Pan Ying and Hong Shao Xuan if not for their performances their unique voices as they delivered Liang’s compositions. Hong in particular had a really unique voice that was near Fei Yuqing’s.

Another memorable voice from the Xinyao era was Huang Hong Mo, who sang his songs with gusto. You could describe that his works has a very strong folksy flavour to them, which melded beautifully with his singing technique. He performed 野人的梦 much to the audiences’ delight as they “hey-ed” to the beat of the song. Perhaps, you could even say that Huang has his own genre that might be called S-Folk. Needless to say, he and his music stood out during the Xinyao era.

Nostalgia went into overdrive as the following segment showcased old TV drama theme songs. (For anyone who would like a fix of those oldies, tune in to Channel 8 in the late evenings. Everything then is still entertaining even with minimalistic production) Cai Lilian performed her song that is permanently etched in every Singaporean’s heart, 关怀方式.

Followed by Jeff Wang and his song, 最高点 for that-show-about-Christopher-Lee’s-bleached-hair.

Last in the TV Drama segment was Deng Miaohua performing 温柔的夜, a hit theme song from an 80’s local TV drama.

Whenever we talk about Singaporean songwriters, the Li Brothers stand out. The twins started out locally, writing songs for TV serials. Xiao Chong saw the potential in molding the twins into an image of two multi-talented and suave brothers and brought them into his company to polish them. (For actual shots of their image then, watch the show!) Much credit has to be given to this mentor as the brothers cemented their talent and place in the music industry.

Together, the twins wrote hit songs for Jackie Cheung (你知不知道) and Jolin Tsai (假面的告白) as well as our very own Stefanie Sun (我要的幸福，天黑黑). As a special delivery, the twins co-composed a tune specially for the host Quan Yifeng, which very much proved that she was indeed musically challenged as she always claimed.

Their compositions were then performed by Project Superstar finalists.

With established songwriters introduced, interviewed and showcased, the show brought on Eric Moo yet again. As mentioned before, Eric Moo was one of the first Singaporean to successfully break into Taiwan. This time on stage, he performed works that established his place in Taiwan, namely, 爱那么痛 and 太傻. The recording for the second song brought an awkward silence to the whole theatre as he never started singing. He then requested that his original track be used instead. He reasoned that it was a particularly special song that he would demand to deliver with his original track so as not to shortchange the audience. The nervous silence was only broken thanks to the quick thinking by Quan Yifeng commenting that she must have mixed up her horrible karaoke disc with Eric’s. Thereafter the recording resumed.

After the solo performance, Lin Junjie came on stage much to the delight of his rabid fans. He would perform with Eric for 你是我的唯一 unplugged, with the latter on his guitar.

The piece was quite magical. It was a moment of the new coming together with the old and creating something familiar yet remarkably different. The duet was more about succession and hope in S-Pop, of continuity for a genre of music that we can call our very own and it took over four hours to convey that thought.

The stage was then passed over to Chen Weilian, the visually handicapped winner of Project Superstar. I guess the producers of the show are still riding on the message of hope, especially when he was the perfect poster boy against all odds after winning the contest. Subconsciously encouraging people not to be limited by their environment or disabilities and take a leap of faith for their passion in music.

Finally, JJ comes back on stage yet again to perform a medley of his songs as well as S-Pop Hurray’s theme. But before that the hosts requested for JJ to perform beatboxing, imitating drums, bass and even an er-hu. It most definitely pleased the fan club especially since they got to see their idol showing off his many talents for free at one sitting.

Oh, just in case I missed out, JJ is the ambassador of S-Pop Hurray, that’s why he’s performing the theme song.

The 4-hour performance recording effectively took the audience through Singapore’s musical journey. While what we see on stage and TV are the successes that only came along with lots of hard work. For me, the bring home is a renewed attitude to take notice of Singaporean works and artists, and then to take action to support their works.

So remember to catch S-Pop Hurray! on Monday, 26 November, 7pm on Channel U

Support local artists!

(official website: http://spop.mediacorptv.sg/)

Eric Moo’s Concert

Update: For this entry on Youth.sg, click here.

Then he picked up his guitar, and you’ll know that you’re in on an intimate musical journey.

I’m on Youth.sg assignment again. This time, I got the chance to cover Eric Moo’s (巫启贤) concert. Who’s Eric Moo? Here’s my personal take: Without him, Singapore might have less of successful Chinese singers to boast today. We might not have successes like Kit Chan, Stefanie Sun, Tanya Chua, A-do and Lin Junjie. Eric Moo was one of the pioneers of Singaporean artists that broke into the ultra-competitive Chinese music market in Taiwan.

Of course some may argue that he isn’t really Singaporean (he was born in Malaysia), but most of his music was produced in Singapore and along with a few like-minded songwriters, they brought about the era of Xinyao (新谣). At the peak of his career in Singapore, Eric was literally the most well-known Singer in Singapore and Malaysia, every house also know his name (巫启贤的名字家喻户晓。). Even non-Chinese knew him, listened and sang to his songs and one even translated his song to English! I was in primary school then. Almost every week he would appear on television as a guest.

Certainly, Eric has come along way since the Xinyao era, him breaking into the Taiwan market and sustaining for so long. I could tell that by the demographics of the audience, mostly 30’s to 50’s. Their courtship years probably spanned from the late eighties to the early nineties, the same time when his music was everywhere. For me, this concert brought back fond childhood memories.

First starting out in a standard black blazer, Eric was accompanied by his band of musicians as he belted out familiar songs in his repertoire. However, it did take a while before the audience warmed up and started participating in a sing-along session. Well, I guess the audience aren’t as energetic.

He paid tribute to many of his friends in the music industries, with appreciative mentions of local songwriters like Liang Wenfu and Li Feihui, for 想着你的感觉 and 等你等到我心痛. Oddly enough, Liang Wenfu was seated far behind as opposed to Li Feihui seated second row from the front. But no matter, the audience didn’t scrimp their applause for him as he was the prominent songwriter behind our Xinyao era who never failed to create Uniquely Singapore songs, even before you could brand anything Uniquely Singapore.

His first guest, Qiu Haizheng came on stage for her song before he went off to change. Having not sang for so long, she did sound off-key as she sang her signature song. Then Eric returned to stage in a get-up of jeans, red t-shirt and vest, along with a cap, reminiscing younger days. Qiu didn’t miss the opportunity to poke fun at the futile attempt to look younger. I have to agree that the package was rather orbid. But then he picked up the guitar for his unplugged section of concert, and you know you will be in for an intimate musical journey.

Eric is probably best known for singing with his guitar. It was an image he started with right in the beginning of his entertainment career, strumming his way to the radio stations, television and into our hearts. It is also this simplicity that breaks down any barrier between him and his audience. This was definitely one of the highlights of his concert. Not only that, it was probably the easiest section of the concert for him, because just about everyone in the audience knew the lyrics to his songs by heart. And that I feel speaks much of how well-remembered his works were.

Near the end of the segment, he jokingly complained that the audience should have mentioned earlier that he only needed guitar as the hiring of the band members cost extra money.

His second guest was Fang Wenling, another partner from his earlier days, whom he referred to as an ageless legend (不老的传说). After a solo and a duet with Eric, Qiu Haizheng joined them on stage for a short chat, remembering their good ol’ days. The ladies then sang their signature song with Eric before leaving the stage.

The concert concluded with another seven songs. But still the audience wanted more, so they swarmed forward for another glimpse of Eric and started chanting, cheering for him to come back on stage for another encore…

And more followed…

Many climbed on to the chairs, despite their age and/or size. And you thought only youngsters do that…
Finally, he returned to stage…

Much to the delight of fans…

While he would love to stay for more, it would risk an overrun. So he could only lead the audience to sing another 2 songs, run to their delight.

So, don’t think because people are older that they can’t behave like crazy fans ok? Hell, these are mild compared to Chan Poh Chu fans you see today…

Anyway, to round off, the concert was really well-done even though simple. As Eric said it best, the audience weren’t there to watch him dance or see fancy stage sets. And he delivered a quality performance which connected intimately with the audience, despite such a large capacity venue. While the lighting was occasionally too harsh and the music overly loud, these were merely technical flaws which were well-compensated with Eric’s heartfelt performance.