Jay Chou (周杰伦) Concert Review
Last week, for Lunar New Year (or Chinese NY as I like to call it Allan.lol), I wrote about my favourite artist Faye Wong (王菲). This week, I’m going to write on another favourite, Jay Chou (周杰伦). In December, I was fortunate enough to attend his concert at the ACC. I know it’s a late post about it (considering Dec.), but I was consumed by Top 10s. Anyway, it’s never too late, the concert will come out on DVD and if you’re interested you can check it out.
Jay Chou (周杰伦) is pretty generic and standard in Chinese music. In the sense that, he’s Pop. Even though, he’s one of the few artists who composes, writes and produces his own music. He is still Pop. And, it’s no disrespect. I love his music. I’m just making myself clear that Jay Chou (周杰伦) is a mainstream Pop artist. Despite this fact, he’s by far one of the most, if not the most, talented young artists in his genre.
You can expect the usual from the concert. Fireworks. Dancing. Ballads. More dancing. Jay Chou (周杰伦) playing the guitar and piano, pretty standard. What I didn’t expect. A piano battle between Jay Chou (周杰伦) and Yuhao (詹宇豪), he’s pseudo-protege. Jay Chou (周杰伦) playing the Chinese harp. Jay Chou (周杰伦) playing the drums. He sang the hit singles from most of his albums. Saying in between that if we don’t understand what the heck he’s saying, we can wait for the subtitles on a DVD. Well, at least he knows his audience, and he knows what we’re really thinking when he’s chanting that fast.
Often, when listening to his music, I feel like telling him to stop reaching for the higher notes. His voice is not the greatest. But apparently that’s a style. I was pretty hesitant to think that until the concert. I must admit, he sounds pretty good live. He’s still struggling, but it sounds less like a voice cracking and more like just a style of singing. Obviously, I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to live shows. I don’t attend them very often. So for me, anything that sounds like the record is good performance.
I wouldn’t say that I was entirely impressed by his concert, it was just a really good show, nothing spectacular. I liked it. I enjoyed it. And mostly, I was impressed by his capability of playing the different instruments. Yes, I know he’s not the only one. And yes, I am pretty impressed by all musicians who can play that many instruments. I consider Jay Chou (周杰伦) a favourite of mine, not because he’s extraordinary, but because he’s really good as an ordinary.
Jay Chou (周杰倫) – Twilight’s Chapter Seven (夜的第七章) from Still Fantasy.
Jay Chou (周杰倫) – Dandelion’s Promise (說好的幸福呢) from Capricorn.
Jay Chou (周杰倫) – Grandmother (外婆) from Common Jasmine Orange.
Jay Chou (周杰倫) – The Youth That End Wars (止战之殇)) from Common Jasmine Orange.
Watch this piano battle, everything from 3:00 on was performed live.
Tags: concert
