(Toggle) We were a little past the halfway mark of Taiwanese band Mayday’s Life Tour at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last night – the first of three sold out shows here – when lead singer Ashin had a thoughtful moment of nostalgia.
“When we first started out 20 years ago,” he mused. “We never thought that we would get to travel so far away from Taiwan to perform.”
Yet, there he and his band mates – Monster, Stone, Masa and Guan You – were, over 3,000 kilometres from home, delivering unfailingly energetic renditions of about 30 tracks to 10,000 equally enthusiastic fans for three solid hours. The tour also took them even further to chilly North America last month, but if their sweet talk is to be believed, the quintet is more in favour of our sunny island’s heat.
“We’re so happy to be in Singapore because it’s really warm here – not just the weather, but also the reception,” grinned guitarist Stone, as bassist Masa added, “It was very cold in the USA and Canada, but we kept reminding ourselves that we would be in Singapore soon!”
And their devotees from the little red dot were just as thrilled to welcome them back, a year and four months after their last gig here (we’re sure even the airport customs officer who jokingly said to Ashin, “You’re here again?” was glad to see him too) – the cheers were deafening, the singing along was on point, and the crowd called for two encores (or in this case, “jia ban”, meaning “overtime”).
If that isn’t true fan love, we don’t know what it is.
In addition to the expected musical presentations (the set list consisted of both new songs from their latest album History of Tomorrow and beloved classics such as ‘Cheers’ and ‘Contentment’), there were also a few elements that made the event feel like more than just an ordinary concert.
For instance, the opening video – in which Mayday played a team of Avengers-esque superheroes – had a bit of the technical magic of a “4D” movie you’d see at an amusement park. Although the effects were limited to well-timed pyrotechnics, screen animations, and other lighting and laser gimmicks, it was still easily one of the most impressive and entertaining concert introduction clips we’ve seen (and we’ve seen a lot).
Of course, no Mayday showcase would be complete without the audience’s colour-changing light sticks, which were distributed for free at the entrance of the arena. With the devices in perfect sync with the visuals on stage, we felt as though we were a part of the show, instead of just being mere spectators.
Mayday’s fictional, world-saving adventures continued in the form of short videos that were played during intervals. The flick showed them temporarily retiring from superhero life to have “normal” jobs, only to be recruited by a man (hilariously played by Chinese actor Huang Bo) to fight an impending alien threat. Can someone make all that into a full-length feature film already?
But as much as we enjoyed the mini movie, the biggest highlights were still music-related. There was one particularly epic, decibel-busting moment after lively KTV anthems ‘Jump’ and ‘Motor Rock’ when Ashin urged the crowd to make the indoor concert feel like an outdoor one by echoing his adlibs as loudly as possible.
How do we know everyone succeeded in satisfying Ashin’s request? “I think the band and I need to go get our ears checked after this,” he quipped. We think we do too, but it was all worth it.
For instance, the opening video – in which Mayday played a team of Avengers-esque superheroes – had a bit of the technical magic of a “4D” movie you’d see at an amusement park. Although the effects were limited to well-timed pyrotechnics, screen animations, and other lighting and laser gimmicks, it was still easily one of the most impressive and entertaining concert introduction clips we’ve seen (and we’ve seen a lot).
Of course, no Mayday showcase would be complete without the audience’s colour-changing light sticks, which were distributed for free at the entrance of the arena. With the devices in perfect sync with the visuals on stage, we felt as though we were a part of the show, instead of just being mere spectators.
Mayday’s fictional, world-saving adventures continued in the form of short videos that were played during intervals. The flick showed them temporarily retiring from superhero life to have “normal” jobs, only to be recruited by a man (hilariously played by Chinese actor Huang Bo) to fight an impending alien threat. Can someone make all that into a full-length feature film already?
But as much as we enjoyed the mini movie, the biggest highlights were still music-related. There was one particularly epic, decibel-busting moment after lively KTV anthems ‘Jump’ and ‘Motor Rock’ when Ashin urged the crowd to make the indoor concert feel like an outdoor one by echoing his adlibs as loudly as possible.
How do we know everyone succeeded in satisfying Ashin’s request? “I think the band and I need to go get our ears checked after this,” he quipped. We think we do too, but it was all worth it.
Mayday’s Life Tour is happening tonight (December 16) and tomorrow (December 17), 8pm at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Source: Toggle
