Since the announcement of his concerts in both Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, it has been difficult to grab a ticket or two. Everytime the tickets go on sale, within 2 or 3 hours it would have been all sold out. Perhaps he is trying to get us to experience the ups and downs and volatility in mood – anticipation, stress, happiness, disappointment, acceptance, grateful. And thus experiencing the decades of the an individual’s life, a reflection of his new song “Another 10 years”.
After the 3rd attempt to buy tickets upon the additional 2 shows in Singapore, the tickets were finally available for the 3rd August 2023 show. And off we go, scooting quickly to Singapore to watch the show. The opening act starts on the dot, with a landscape of the sun hiding in the patches of cloud accompanied with waves of water. And hanging there is Jacky serenading his opening act in the beautiful voice that is his. And thus the concert night begins.
He starts the opening with a few Cantonese songs, followed with some Mandarin songs. And a mixture of newer songs from his recent career. What is very impressive about the concert is actually the way they incorporated the orchestra into the stage, with a mix of CGIs and stage performances. I love the fact that Jacky took the time throughout the concert to introduce each and every one of the orchestra members and dancers. It shows significant appreciation to these artists who work on and off stage, a very attentive details from the veteran singer. And the moving parts of the boxes in the orchestra is very well-done. Loving the stage that they had arranged.
With the focus on the orchestra, Jacky has also chosen to sing two particular songs with the accompaniment of the harp, string players and the piano. Subsequently, he serenades two of his newer song. One a more melancholic song of Another 10 Years, a very nicely done AI aging of Jacky over the years. And frankly, the song really evokes strong emotions that time is precious but passes by so fast. Kind of remind us to savor each and every moment that we have as another 10 years can easily pass by.
Another small note is how fast Jacky changes his costume. He is already in full sweat (who won’t be in the sweltering heat and dancing on stage) by the 2nd song, but he changes his costumes with very smooth transition with the help of the orchestra and dancers throughout the concert. Barely 5 minutes and hardly noticeable to the audience. Really thoughtful of the choreography.
In the later part of the concert, he starts with his classic tunes including Breaking Up on a Rainy Day, You Came for my Concert, Longing to Go with You, and a few more evergreen tunes from his earlier years. The audience who is obviously a bit more matured seems elated with these familiar tunes, perhaps a little more muted during the earlier part of the concert. But trust Jacky to have the attention to details especially to the audiences. He pays special tribute to those seated in restricted views, whereby he serenades 1 song each to left and right of these sections. What a wonderful gesture!
Comparing the Classic Tour which focuses mostly on his most classic songs, the 60+ concert is a mixture of new and old. It is a good chance for Jacky to introduce his newer songs, and provide a little room for improvising and experimenting with new genre of songs. His voice is superb with barely a change over the 2.5 hours of concert. Almost like directly from the studio.
After the Singapore’s leg of the concert, the Malaysian side opens up tickets for restricted views. And there I was, so enamored with the performance that I queued to get another chance to watch the great performances, picking 13th August 2023 for the performance. The show starts off on time, but this time round, it feels that Jacky performs in a slightly sluggish manner.
Upon his conversation with the audience, where he speaks in Cantonese (vs in Mandarin for the Singapore’s leg), he confesses that he is having a vertigo attack. He has never experienced this during performance previously, but starts having the symptoms in the previous night’s performance. Despite this, he shows extreme professionalism in performing even with his head still spinning. He still perform simpler dances, and you can see him closing his eyes while performing as he mentions this helps the symptoms of spinning.
While singing Wishing to Follow You A Lifetime near the restricted view area, he slips on the slight slope while going towards the centre of the stage. It shocks me and the audience all around slightly, but the great singer slips one small verse of the song, and picks himself up to continue to sing the rest of the song without even missing any other things! What great showmanship he has shown, totally unbelievable…
Subsequently, it is heart-breaking to see how he continues to perform to his best ability with a spinning headache. What worries me most is when he has to go nearby to the stages which continues to move about. The last part of the performance requires the stage to be elevated and personally I felt that it is so dangerous especially with his condition. There are guards at the side of the stage who helps him off-stage but not near enough to be able to help in case he really falls down. All the time, am thinking of all the artists who have fallen off stage and hurt themselves, including Beyond’s Wong Ka Kui, George Lam and even Terry Lin. Frankly, I do think that Jacky should not take such risks anymore in the future, no matter how desperate he wants to provide great entertainment to the audience.
Some major differences of the performance in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are the language that he uses ie Mandarin in Singapore and Cantonese in Kuala Lumpur. The crowd is also more boisterous in Kuala Lumpur, cheering loudly and many audiences sing along with him when he performs. Quite different environment actually. He also sings more Cantonese songs in Kuala Lumpur. Although he isn’t in the best form when he performs in Kuala Lumpur, it really showcases the showmanship of a great singing legend.
Hoping that Jacky recovers soon and gets the well-deserved rest he needs. And definitely looking forward to more concerts in the future from him.
Cheng's Musings 