and this was the turnout last night:
Granted, the first shot was taken 2 minutes before showtime last year, and the latter about 20 minutes before yesterday's show; regardless, the crowd was noticeably less this time round.
The atmosphere was rather more sedate too. Last July, there was banter, between the bandmates themselves, and with the audience; the song set was great - the crowd whooped at the intro of every other familiar song and sang along with the band; the performers were on a high and there was just this really great energy in the air.
Last night, they had to come up with a new set for their solo performances, some of which were newly written ones, and while there were a few good songs, I think they just weren’t as instantly recognisable and sing-along-able as the ones they played last July. And when it came to the final few songs of the group performance part, the fatigue really showed. 周华健 somewhat expressionlessly strummed the guitar when it wasn’t his turn to sing – a far cry from his usual booming-laughter-and-huge-gestures persona onstage. 张震岳 went one up (or down?) didn’t even sing some parts of several songs, at one point even sitting with his back to the camera, so that for a good part of a song, we stared at the back of his vest and cap on the giant screen above the stage. Well, I’m being nice and putting that down to exhaustion from touring 40-odd venues in a year. Or I could be cynical and call it a snooty, unprofessional lack of showmanship, which it probably was, too. After all, the other two 大哥s (李宗盛 and 罗大佑) sang their hearts out all night and never for a moment seemed out of it the whole time they were performing. I guess it’s true what they say about old ginger.
To be fair, it wasn’t a total let-down. The new songs were mostly good – I particularly liked the one with the 罗大佑 drum performance) – and even though they more or less just recycled their group performance and encore sets, I think the audience still enjoyed those parts the most, there are some things you just can’t get enough of. And it’s only on hearing it the second time that I realised 罗大佑’s 《皇后大道东》 has such interesting lyrics on post-colonial Hong Kong, in addition to having a great catchy tune.
The two oba-sans sitting to my right seemed tickled to no end by 李宗盛’s cartoonish facial expressions while playing the guitar during his solos. Totally absorbed in his guitar and song, his eyes were closed, and mouth was open (showing off the many gaps between his teeth), and he would sometimes stick his tongue out during the more fancy complicated chords. I also learnt that he’s twice-divorced, currently single and had something going on with the wife of chicken-rice seller in one of the cities they toured (couldn’t catch the details about the 鸡饭嫂 they were talking about).
Some guy in the front section screamed very loudly “周华健,我爱你!” right after 周华健 did his first solo piece, to which he replied “谢谢你,那个非常粗暴的声音 […] 你的女朋友不会奇怪吗?”. Even on his off days, he still has his sense of humour intact. And he still puts up a solid show. What can I say? The guy can sing, I thought he really has a really really good voice. Just too bad he wasn’t in top form this time round.
For all the sullenness he projected towards the end of the concert, 张震岳 did play the percussion for the entire show; and I guess it’s a bit much to expect the same rock musician who did songs like 《我要錢》 and 《我爱台妹》 to perform 《明天会更好》 and 《朋友》 with the same passion and vigour.
All night, I was wondering if they were possibly not going to play 《出发了》, the first song they recorded as a band, and one of my favourite songs from their last concert. Of course they did, and saved it for the last during the encore. So I suppose the concert did end on a high note for me.
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