sojourneys

A two-year absence has not dampened the ardor between veteran crooner Wakin (周华健) and his fans, judging by the capacity crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Feb 7, which was packed to the rafters and brimming with the warm comfort of Wakin’s music as well as his crisp, pristine voice that has endeared so many.

The sound engineering was excellent–rare for the acoustically-challenged venue–which allowed Wakin’s strong, excellent vocals to reveberate sonorously throughout the stadium.  For this concert, Wakin and his production company invested creativity in bring to life Wakin’s rooftop concept–a place where Wakin spent many a childhood night seeking solace from life’s storms and fantasizing about a career in–wouldn’t you guess–music.

But all the props and pyrotechnics were unnecessary.  For the fans, Wakin’s music was enough.  The warm rapport was clear, with the audience loving his occsionally self-deprecating humor, responding heartily up his easy banter, and of course, singing along without prodding to his signature tunes.

And signature tunes from his musical canon there were many, but what stood out for me were some of the less-often heard songs such a <<最真的夢>>, which was evocative as ever, and Jonathan Lee (李宗盛) ’s rock ballad <<我是一只小小鸟>>  which Wakin plugged at in the final encore with a plaintive, soul-drenched urgency.  Even his originally chirpy <<花心>> was rearranged to bring out its wistful melancholy and longing.

The concert reinforced why Wakin is one of my favorite musicians all these years.  Someone with real talent, and someone who can say that he has  survived 22 years in the capricious music industry with his integrity intact.  I’m looking forward to many more.  Here is a clip of one of his evergreens, <<愛相隨>>, which no doubt served as a soothing balm to many through the ups and downs of relationships.