2009-12-02
The Hongkong diva gave her Malaysian fans a night to remember in the last leg of her concert tour
IF last Saturday night was a battle between Sandy Lam Yik Lin and the Hongkong duo, Alan Tam and Hacken Lee, I will tell you that Lam won the battle hands down even though I didn’t go for the latter’s concert.
Of course, I am biased but I can assure you that if you were there at the Bukit Jalil Indoor Stadium that night, you will agree with me.
But if you were not there that night celebrating the last stop of Lam’s tour which kicked off last year in Hongkong, you have indeed missed out on the best live concert of the year in Malaysia.
Brought to you by Marctensia and UCSI Communications, the concert kicked off at 8.25pm with K.K. Wong and Luke Loke of K6 warming the audience up with their wacky performance.
At 8.50pm, the large screen on the stage came to live with a montage of images and scenes before the screen swiftly lifted to reveal the diva herself.
Lam immediately launched into a string of fast tracks moving to the beat together with six backup dancers. That was just the start of a night filled with music, dance and songs.
Lam was in her element throughout, drawing her audience in to her songs and stopping often to chat with them.
“Are you ready to party? Let’s have fun!” Lam shouted before diving into The Night’s Too Dark and Valentine’s Tears.
Other songs she tackled that night included Days, her Mandarin cover of Robbie William’s Better Man, It wasn’t Meant to Be and many more.
A lot of her classic tunes were also given new arrangements which sounded unfamiliar until Lam started singing them, and then the audience caught the notes and cheered her on.
One segment that I consider a really outstanding presentation was that of a video presentation of multiple images of Lam doing an a cappella version of A Stroll on the Street.
Bit by bit, her voice strung together the simple and sweet melody of the song. It was an ingenious arrangement and I am sure the melancholic tune brought tears to many in the stadium.
Another segment had Lam singing her favourite movie theme songs such as Farewell My Concubine and Red Dust. The screens behind her ran scenes from the movies as Lam soared seamlessly from one song to the next with such powerful emotions at times that her vocals rose to a crescendo in a pitch perfect ending.
But undoubtedly, the crowd’s favourite was At Least I Have You, which is one of her biggest hits ever. Her fans happily sang along with her until the whole stadium reverberated with new energy and many in the crowd started to stand up and dance!
When Lam finally ended the concert with her classic dance tracks, Gray and Crazy, the fans were still insatiable and shouted for more.
Their wish was granted as Lam not only came back for one encore but four, singing another 11 songs in all.
Her long-time musical director, Anthony Lun, joined her on stage for the finale, Let the Memory Remains.
Altogether, Lam delivered a total of 40 songs that night – the most songs she’d ever performed for this world tour! But even then, her fans refused to let her go. Lam, who was ever so sweet, finally had to beseech them to go home.
Kudos to Lam for giving us such an amazing and entertaining performance. It was truly amazing for someone her age (she’s 43) but her voice remained crystal clear and pitch perfect throughout the night and her stamina outpaced many much younger.
It wasn’t her costumes or stage design (both were simple) but the live band experience and her singing that made the concert so memorable.
It goes to show that a good live concert does not need too many extravagant props – just a great performer.
No comments:
Post a Comment