Top Asian Musical Talents: Wang Lee Hom (Part 2)

Some time ago, I wrote a blog entry about one of Asia's top musical talents, Wang Lee Hom... http://www.alivenotdead.com/jedijean/Top+Asian+Musical+Talents%3A+Wang+Lee+Hom-profile-192064.html

In that entry, I promised myself that I would go watch Lee Hom in concert, the next time he came to Singapore, because till now I had been missing his concerts each and every time he came to Singapore.

On 01 Nov 2008, I fulfilled that promise to myself and watched my first ever Lee Hom concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The concert was part of Lee Hom's Music-Man Tour, and apparently, Singapore was the 3rd stop in this tour.

I had some pretty good tickets, sitting on the right side of the stage (that would be the left side of the stage, if you were standing on the stage and facing the audience). My seat was the first seat in the 4th row on the slope, but that seat was closer to the stage than even the first row on the ground, and I was so close that I could actually sneak peeks under the stage and watch people moving around underneath it... fascinating. I don't have any pictures of this concert though, 'cos I didn't bring my digicam with me.

What can I say about the show... I enjoyed the music, because they had some really wonderful musicians playing onstage... Kheng Long, Jamie Wilson, Jingles, and Eric Fawcett (drummer of N.E.R.D. and Pharrell Williams)... and some wonderful background vocalists too, like Kaira, Yingying, Lisa, and AnD Artist, Tay Kewei, who was singing onstage that night with Lee Hom. Of course, her journey with him on the concert tour started long before the concert came to Singapore. You can check out her blog here at AnD to read more about her experience working on the show in Taipei. She has some great pictures there too! :-)

So what are my feelings about the show and seeing Lee Hom in the flesh for the first time... boy, I'm glad I got such good tickets! Whenever Lee Hom came over to our side of the stage, I was able to lean over the railing and get real close to all the action, so to speak... he was less than 10 feet away.

I loved the way he rocked the stage with his brand new guitar... I loved it even more when he sat down at his piano and started singing all those lovely ballads... but I think what really moved me the most is when he played the violin onstage and sang the song that was inspired by the movie "Lust Caution"... it was a performance that almost moved me to tears... the sound of the violin is like a human voice, and in the hands of the right player, it's a sound that can penetrate right thru' your very being, right down into the core of your soul, and that's what I felt that night when Lee Hom stood onstage playing his violin and singing that song... it was breathtaking and it was hauntingly beautiful.

I don't remember the exact order of the songs he performed that night, nor do I remember every single song that was sung that night, but I do recall hearing these songs...
**W-H-Y
**Forever Love
**Kiss Goodbye
**Di Yi Ge Qing Chen
**Gai Shi Ying Xiong
**Ni Bu Zai
**Xin Zhong De Re Yue
**Ai Cuo
**Yi Shou Jian Dan De Ge
**Zhu Lin Shen Chu
**Liu Lei Shou Xin
**Da Cheng Xiao Ai
**Nu Peng You
**Long De Chuan Ren

I'm sure there are a few songs that I might have missed out... if anyone else here knows what they are, pls do remind me.

During "Forever Love", he came down from the stage to shake hands with the crowd... and without giving too much away, let's just say that the show was literally "magical"... and if you think you saw or heard more than one Lee Hom onstage at one point in the show, then hmmm... maybe you did!

There's one other magic trick that Lee Hom pulls off during the show, but I won't say what it is... it's a good one though! But if you wanna know what it is, then you're just going to have to buy tickets to go see his concert to find out... but I can promise you one thing, this trick is a GOOD one!! **winks**

One more little tip for all you Lee Hom fans out there... if you make it to the merchandise stands, buy the t-shirt with the white background, 'cos that's the one Lee Hom will be wearing onstage... of course, if you don't fancy looking like Lee Hom, then just get the one I got... it's all black in colour.

One very big Asian celebrity was in the audience that night... Stefanie Sun! I'm not sure if it was real or not, or if it was just a part of the show, but it seemed pretty real to me!

Among the folks who sponsored the show in Singapore were Hype Records, Sony Ericsson, StarHub, Bausch & Lomb, and Marina Mandarin Hotel. Once again, I don't recall every single sponsor's name, as I'm not a member of the press, so there isn't exactly any press kit readily available to me when I'm writing about this concert... no song list and no sponsors list either... so whatever I'm mentioning here in my blog is whatever I can recall very quickly from the back of my mind.

All in all, a good show... Lee Hom plays guitar, piano, violin, and maybe drums during the show (although I can't be sure if it was really him or just an illusion - guess you could say that their magic consultant guy did a good job).

It was pretty incredible being able to sing melody, while Lee Hom sings harmony for "Yi Shou Jian Dan De Ge" in a "live" setting... now I can say that I have sung with Lee Hom before... haha! Just kidding. I merely got a small taste of what it might sound like... but with everyone else in the crowd singing along, and at the top of their lungs too, it's a little hard to hear what your own voice might sound like with his... but OMG, if that really came true, I'd have to pinch myself over and over again, just to be sure that I was awake and not just dreaming.

Hmmm... some questions I'd like to just voice out here... please feel free to tell me your answers.

Question 1: If you could do a duet with Lee Hom, what song would you pick, and why?

My answer: Interesting question, but a pretty tough one for me to answer... I'd probably have to choose between "Gong Zuan Zhi Zuan/Revolution", "Forever Love" and "Kiss Goodbye". Why? Because they are my most favourite Lee Hom ballads, they are beautifully composed songs with moving lyrics and a great melody... and I personally believe that a composer's heart may sometimes be found in their works... oh yeah, and did I mention, I'm a sucker for a good love song?!?? LOL! :-p

Question 2: If you could see Lee Hom play a musical instrument (and maybe jam along with him), what instrument would you pick, and why?

My answer: If I had to watch him play an instrument without jamming with him, I'd pick the violin, because he plays it beautifully and I'm pretty sure he could move me to tears just by playing the violin. But if I had to jam with him, then I'd pick the piano, because I think he plays real pretty on the piano, and I'd love to play along with him on an instrument that I'm more familiar with. So maybe we could both jam on the piano, like he did with JJ Lin in one of his previous concert tours... except that we'd be playing on the same piano. I know at one point, Lee Hom said that he hated playing the piano and much preferred the violin, but jazz piano soon became one of his most favourite subjects in school. I'd like to get jazzy with Lee Hom on the piano. It might be fun! :-)

Oh yeah, one more thing you might wanna look out for if you're attending any of the Music-Man concerts... pyrotechnics are used for the show, so do stay safe and keep a respectful distance from the stage.

OK, that's all the energy I have left for blogging today... catch up with you again another time for more on Lee Hom.