Only the best from A-Mei - Concerts Promoter

[ 02-12-2003 ]

Living up to her reputation as one of Asia’s best live performers, A-Mei’s three-hour-long A-Mei Live in Malaysia 2003 concert was a display of her superb vocal prowess and showmanship as she rendered up-tempo numbers and melodious ballads, writes MICHAEL CHEANG.

IN the past, Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur may be more famous for its place in our history books and for sports events but, this year, the iconic site has been better known for a string of concerts that has been the highlight of Malaysia’s concert calendar.

In October, Hong Kong rock band Beyond and American rock group Linkin Park brought down the house in what were the most entertaining concerts this year. Last Saturday, Taiwanese pop star A-Mei scored one for the girls as she served up a delicious platter of entertainment and rounded up a good year for our dear old Stadium Merdeka.

Organised by Galaxy Productions and presented by Tiger PowerHitz, the three-hour long A-Mei Live in Malaysia 2003 concert was a display of non-stop entertainment, coupled with a brilliant and enthusiastic performance by the singer. Judging from this performance, it was easy to see how the 31-year-old singer had earned a reputation as one of the best live performers in Asia, as she was full of energy and her showmanship was marvellous.

A-Mei had the 10,000-strong crowd practically eating out of her hands as she teased and flirted relentlessly with the crowd. Her disarming and infectious smiles were enough to melt even the coldest audience member, and her enthusiasm bubbled over into the audience, so much so that by the time the encore came around, the crowd had gotten out of control and I had to stand on my chair at one point because the fans were surging forward to get closer to their idol.

One of the highlights had to be when she invited a shy-looking guy onstage and strapped him to a chair. Clad in a skimpy cleavage-baring red leather outfit, she proceeded to “seduce” him with Touch Me. It was hard to say which was more entertaining, A-Mei’s saucy smile as she teased him, or the poor guy’s desperate attempts to keep his eyes off her cleavage. His girlfriend (who was also present) would have a lot to say about that segment of the show.

The concert was also well-choreographed, with a combination of dazzling light displays, fireworks and well-rehearsed dance sequences.

During one song, a cover of rock star Chui Jian’s Nothing, she stepped onstage in a hooded grey cloak, as torches blew flames along the stage, giving the song a really “fiery” effect. Here, A-Mei’s choice of costume came to the fore, as she first took off the cloak and hood to reveal a red leather top and a frilly red skirt, which was also discarded after one song to reveal a pair of red leather hot pants.

Her outfits themselves proved to be another point of interest, as she had no less than six changes, ranging from tacky (a frilly white tutu) to saucy (the above mentioned red leather outfit), with the classiest being a delectable glittering black suit complete with a top hat. At one point she also had a live camera following her into the dressing room so the audience could watch her change, which got the crowd rather excited, to say the least.

Lest one think that A-Mei is all about flash without substance, her vocal performance on the night was superb. It was crystal clear most of the time, reaching high notes effortlessly, and transiting with ease from powerful high notes to almost child-like gentleness; even though there were times when her voice was drowned out by the loud music during the fast songs. Nevertheless, her vocal performance was solid on the night, even after 30 songs and all the shouting and screaming.

Her versatility shone through her selection of songs that ranged from energetic dance numbers to romantic ballads, even including songs in Malay, Indian and Hokkien. She also took over the drums halfway through Three Days Three Nights, and played a few strands of music on the gu zheng (Chinese harp) for Sisters.

Perhaps my only gripe about the concert was that the selection of songs consisted mostly of fast numbers that did not bring out her voice to the fullest, even though there was a semi-unplugged sequence of slower numbers, which included the inspiring My Future Is Not A Dream, a song by her late mentor Zhang Yu Sheng, which was one of the few poignant moments in an otherwise action-packed performance.

At the end of the three-hour long concert, it was time for a grand farewell. Befitting the moment, A-Mei chose one of her biggest hits, Nothing You Wanted, to close the show. It was then that the emotion of the night and the overwhelming support she received was too much for her. She broke down twice towards the end of the song, and could not even finish it, relying instead on the enthusiastic audience to fill in the blanks. All in all, it was an emotional ending to a wonderful night of entertainment by one of Asia’s best live performers.