Becoming a Jay-maniac has been one of my most rewarding fandom experiences ever!
In the one year after I became obsessed with His Royal DIAOness, he has come to Singapore twice:
First as (a MAJOR) part of LOUD Festival in October 2011, and in January 2012 for the gala premiere of The Viral Factor.
And I got to see him both times!!!! *happy dance*
Anyway, I was mulling over what to post tonight (frankly, I'm spoilt for choice!) and after some thought, decided on writing about the first time I watched him performing live, which was the above-mentioned musical extravaganza last year.
You can imagine how mind-blowingly excited I was when I first got wind of the fact that Jay would bring his LOUD Festival concert to Singapore, as they had originally appeared to been scheduled only in Hongkong and Malaysia.
So when my dear fellow Jay-fan-friend, A messaged me on Facebook with the news, 7 October was officially declared My First Jay Chou Concert Nite in my calendar and nothing/nobody was going to interfere.
Yes, Jay was amongst four acts for LOUD but he definitely was THE main draw for the fans, who snapped up the tickets to make it a capacity audience...and the response at the concert proved as much.
As I mentioned earlier, besides Jay, there were three other acts viz Sodagreen , Landy Wen and Cindy Yen. They are all Jay's friends; he has written many songs for Landy and Cindy is an artiste with his company JVR Music. Sodagreen is a popular Taiwanese indie-pop-rock band who have quite a following in Singapore too.
I shall take the liberty of posting a write-up from xinmsn here as their review is quite comprehensive, complete with links to vids of the artistes:
http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/en/celebrity/buzz/asia/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=5376453
Text: Joanna Goh
Photos: UnUsUaL Entertainment
Videos: Fiona Lin
"The LOUD Festival had more than 8,000 concertgoers rocking out to a mixture of rock tunes and pop-ballads by Taiwanese artistes such as Sodagreen, Landy Wen, Cindy Yen, Jay Chou, and local band Ang Mo Pai.
Taiwanese indie-rock band Sodagreen hyped up the Indoor Stadium's atmosphere when they kicked off the concert with a rock tune called 'Kuang Re'. The six-member group (minus Kay who is away in the army now) bantered onstage as lead singer Greeny went round interviewing his co-members in-between songs.
The stadium sang along when the group, who will be releasing a new album in November, played a mixture of favourite hits such as 'Xiao Qing Ge' and new songs like 'Xi Huan Ji Mo' and 'Zao Dian Hui Jia'.
After Sodagreen's eclectic performance, Landy made a loud appearance and paid tribute to her ethnic roots when she showcased her powerhouse vocals in an aboriginal-esque tune. Dressed in a gold brocade outfit with a mesh top over a short jacket and lace shorts, it was not the 32-year-old's sexy table dance that had the crowd swooning at her feet. Instead, it was Landy's live rendition of her popular love ballads like 'Zhu Wo Sheng Ri Kuai Le' and 'Sha Gua' that got everyone excited.
Following Ang Mo Pai's entertaining rock tunes and a short showcase of Cindy's versatile vocals, concertgoers went electric the moment Jay took over the performing baton. On their feet, everyone welcome Jay with enthusiastic screams and jumps of glee -- as if it was the multi-hyphenate's personal concert -- when he popped up from an ornate coffin for the song 'Herbalist's Manual'.
The man showcased his adroit piano-playing skills with a short performance of 'Flight of the Bumblebee' and delighted fans with his next song, 'Shuo Hao De Xing Fu Ne'.
In a red biker jacket and torn jeans, Jay was surprised at the crowd's overwhelming responsiveness and quipped teasingly, "Everyone's so high today! Why are you guys so enthusiastic?"
Apart from improvising the lyrics in his songs last night, Jay also performed an improvised rock-ballad version of 'Shuang Jie Gun', a hit song from his debut days, on the guitar. Hogging the entertainment headlines with his rumoured romance with an 18-year-old Hannah Quinlivan, the 32-year-old did not forget to poke fun at himself when he thanked fans for their support in the past decade.
"You and I will not give up regardless of rumours or speculations," he cheekily added.
After his performance segment, Jay reappeared with Landy for an encore rendition of their well-loved ballad, 'Wu Ding'. It was a rare chance and a surreal moment for everyone present to catch both Jay and Landy sharing the same stage, performing the latter's 1999 hit as the concert concluded on a resounding note."
Some pics from my album of Sodagreen, Landy and Cindy:
And of course, resounding screams when THIS appeared!
Some of my own thoughts on the show:
It was simply awesome to have all those artistes there for a night of music feasting.
They were all very good, and apart from Jay, Sodagreen. especially had loads of fans who were singing along lustily as well.
Landy performed well but she was a little out-of-breath after the dance numbers. ;)
The audience appeared to be less familiar with Cindy, which I think is a pity as she really gave it her all and she shows great promise in her writing, singing and dancing. Only time will tell.
As for Jay...what can I say???
It was DA MAN himself on that stage!!!
His outfit totally ROCKED!
Red jacket, black tee and torn jeans...MUCH better than the furry thing he wore in Hongkong.
NB: hairpiece looked almost naturel. :P
He pretty much performed the same songs as at other LOUDs, with his usual banter and joking with the audience.
Viz Ben Cao Gang Mu, Free Instructional Video, Where is the Promised Happiness, Qing Hua Ci, Final Battle, Shuang Jie Kun and Rooftop with Landy Wen.
Oh...and his rendition of Mozart's Turkish March on the piano.
He couldn't help throwing in references to tabloid news about his love life and speculations on when he was getting married and asked us if we would still support him when he did.
Of course the response was a resounding YES!!
There was also a nice bit of lyric improv in Qing Hua Ci, where he expressed his gratitude to the fans for their warmth and support all these years...very endearing!!
All in, it was a wonderful combination of music styles in one concert and the only grouse I had was that Jay escaped very quickly after the show and did not do what Jacky Cheung did after his concert...greet the fans at the stadium exit as he was leaving.
But I guess I shouldn't complain.
He came and he gave a GREAT performance....what more can a fangirl ask for, right??
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