IT WAS a long-awaited reunion for fans of Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau – a 14-year wait in fact – since the singer-actor’s last concert here in 2005.
So when he returned last weekend for his My Love Andy Lau World Tour Kuala Lumpur 2019, this heavenly king of Cantopop (one of four in Hong Kong) had to extend his scheduled two-night concert to three.
Earlier this year, another heavenly king, Jacky Cheung, also did a three-night sold-out concert in Kuala Lumpur. But while Cheung’s concert was a choreographed visual showpiece of drama and colour, Lau’s was a more intimate performance.
And it was not just women who flocked to see him in action; the men were also there in full force, even on the last night of his show here on Sunday.
Lau sang – in both Mandarin and Cantonese – and the crowd applauded each song.
But it was his banter with the audience that elicited the most cheers and claps, especially when he gleefully announced that he is still called ‘leng chai’ (handsome) even after some 40 years in showbusiness.
The 57-year-old was like a child given candy when the crowd readily chorused “leng chai” to him at each of his repeated requests, drumming his feet in glee and telling the crowd to do the same.
And when some diehard fans started singing happy birthday to him (he turns 58 on Sept 27), he promptly led the rest of the crowd into singing along.
It was interludes such as these that endeared him to the crowd more. In fact, I dare say more than the performance or the songs.
For when he took to the air, strapped to a contraption that lifted him high over the stage and slowly swung him around the arena for those in the upper seats to get a close-up shot of him, I doubt many were listening to the song, Ru Guo You Yi Tian (If One Day), that he was singing.
They were just too busy taking pictures and selfies!
It was very much Lau they were here to see and touch base with. The songs were just side dishes to sweeten the reunion.
That’s not to say he didn’t deliver a performance that lived up to his heavenly king moniker.
In total, he entertained his fans for some three hours with 22 songs, including a medley of eight tracks, accompanied by a troupe of 20 dancers in most cases.
Lau was in his element in songs such as Zhong Guo Ren (The Chinese) where he displayed his drumming skill on a giant upright rotating drum, Ben Xiao Hai (Stupid Kid) where he pranced around the stage with his troupe of ‘monkeys’, and Nan Ren Ku Ba Bu Shi Zhui (It’s Not a Crime for a Man to Cry) where he showed off his vocal prowess accompanied by a big band.
He also added Teresa Teng’s Yu Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin (The Moon Represents My Heart) in honour of the Mid-Autumn Festival which fell on Friday. For this, he requested the audience to switch on their handphone lights and sing along with him.
It was a pity that the effects from the much-touted RM350,000 projection-mapping sky screen brought in for his concert were lost up above the stage.
Aside from the start of the concert where it brought the stage to life, it was used only for the occasional song. But who would look up at the ceiling when all the action and star was below on stage?
The My Love Andy Lau World Tour Kuala Lumpur 2019 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur was jointly presented by Allianz Malaysia and S.P. Setia and organised by Focus Entertainment, Star Planet and Entertainment Impact.
Source: The Sun Daily
