Alan's birthday concert!

(updated)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALAN!

Can you believe this man turns 58 years-old today? And he is still as young as ever - albeit a few more lines of wisdom on his face..
I've lost count of the number of time I've seen my `idol' Alan Tam in concert - either a solo performance or with other artistes together.. but I remember I've liked him since I was in form 4 - that's a long, long time ago.. and although today I'm less fanatical, he is still the ONLY artiste who I would not miss any opportunity to meet and watch his shows..

Just got back from his concert at Genting Highland.. it ended at 12:15am so basically the audience got to celebrate his birthday with him!

I just couldn't wait to blog about it.. and started this post at an unearthly hour as we got baack pretty late!!

I found another Alan Tam fan in Evonne so we both were really looking forward to this concert - although for her it was her first while for me, the anticipation still beat going for concerts of any other Cantopop artiste!

I secured pretty good seats almost a month earlier. And for the first time in a long long time, I actually bought a concert ticket - though we got at special price due to my past working relationship with the organiser.

Due to the heavy rain and the jam in town - ya, went there to buy something for my computer - I thought we were quite lucky to make it in good time. We entered the Arena of Stars at 8pm on the dot. But on the way walking there I found it was quite quiet.. and then when we entered the stadium, I was shocked!

The stadium was empty!

how could it be.. was the response that bad? was all the audience that late? And then I quickly took out my ticket and look again.. and here it says:

Stupid me - I actually snapped this pix of my ticket during dinner but DIDN'T notice the time! (btw, I didn't go free cos my friend's tix is full-price and we sorta share the cost..)

Ahh...! the concert was to start at 9pm, not 8pm like always!! And then later i know why because Alan wants his Friday night audience to celebrate his birthday for him too!

So we killed time by first by posing by his concert poster/bunting and then had a drink at Coffee Bean at Themepark Hotel..




When we re-entered the stadium near 9pm, it was pretty full. We were seated right in the centre - ninth row from the front. The first five rows were reserved for VVIPs. It was a good from where we sit though my compact digital cam (with no power zoom) can't get very good pix.. In fact, after the first three songs, we were barred from taking photos.. until the very end part when `all hell broke loose'!!

But from these not so good pix you can see the many expressive and animated sides of Alan!






The only Malaysian in his band is my friend Joanne Yeoh - and as usual, she did a great job with her violin. She also has a more important role to play than the Chinese instrumentalists being involved in most of the repertoire. And I could see she really enjoyed herself - and has this radiant smile throughout.. :)

Towards the end of the concert, Evonne `abandoned' me by going right to the front and stayed there for like the rest of the concert and encore!! Don't blame her, she went forward to pass her idol a card she made herself but she had squart there to wait for opportunity.. and finally when it's encore time, more people rushed to the front and she was stuck there I guess..

The two girls seated in front of us were real fan of Alan.. came armed with placards, presents and all..though they're barely in their mid 20s! That shows how universally Alan's appeal is.. but the audience in the packed stadium was also more towards the mature age.. around 30 and above.. The most funny thing was seeing an uncle (about 50s and looking much older than Alan himself) dancing and prancing and screaming away near me!! Well, I also found myself standing on my chair singing and waving away.. :p

At the stroke of midnight, his crew came out and we all sang Happy Birthday song to Alan and the stadium was in a carnival and party mood.. and then he sang two more songs, including `Friends' and one that expressed his love to sing..

Throughout the concert, Alan did not disappoint and sang many of his golden hits from the 1980s.. as well as a number of Mandarin songs - alas, his mandarin diction is still out! Oh, he also sang a few English numbers which he did pretty well..

His critics (like my sis!) thinks his vocal isn't very nice - well, he is not really the mellow or very soothing type. BUT no one can doubt that he CAN sing - he has superb vocal technique and skill.. Even my vocal teacher said he is one of the very few Hong Kong singers who know how to sing!

But the fact that he still commands such a wide fan base has a lot to do with his personality.. charismatic, genuine and unpretentious.

I must be honest and say that last night's concert wasn't the best that I had seen.. I really enjoyed his Hong Kong 30th anniversary concert in 2005 (despite ended up watching alone) and another very high and memorable one was in 1999 in Genting (where I had a personal encounter with him - no that wasn't THE reason..) Still, I think his fans would be more than happy as he has indeed sang his heart out.. and covered a vast repertoire..

Moreover, it was the first time, I (and thousands of his fans) ushered in his birthday with him during his concert!

So on the drive back to Kuala Lumpur, Evonne and I had only one topic to talk about..sharing our views and adulations on our idol, while listening to the new Alan Tam CD she bought earlier...