Forever Grasshopper FanGrrls!!

On Sunday, September 2, I indulged my FanGrrlness with my bud and fellow FanGrrl Sau Lai. We had Front!Row!Tickets! to see a Hong Kong Canto-Pop Boy Band of our youth, Grasshopper. Yes, you can stop laughing now. They are really called Grasshopper. Come on now. We don't be hating on any of the insect band names of the West, dammit. Beatles, much? 'Sides, three cute guys shaking their booties to upbeat pop songs? What's not to like?

Anyway, I digress. The concert. Dudes, in one word: Grasshopper-tacular. It was soooo fun! Here are a couple of pics I took on my cell. Yes, they suck. I took more, but I was juggling a couple of lightsticks, and was all atwitter in my FanGrrl excitement, so those pics came out worse than these.

But back to the concert. High energy, really active, non-lump-on-a-log fans (Sidebar: Most Canto-Pop concerts I've attended in the past have had some really passive fans in the front row...tepid clapping, no dancing or moving, heaven forbid they even scream or wave...but that seems to be slowly changing. Lots more excitement and energy from the front row audience...). Our boys --lead singer and attention whore Remus (yes, I had a crush on him as a teenybopper), his older and more articulate brother Calvin, and Edmond, the funny and mellow one (Sau Lai's fave)-- are, let's be honest, pushing 40+ in age, but they looked GREAT. They still got their moves, their showmanship, and of course, their voices. They sounded fantastic.

Our boys performed a wonderful set, hitting all the songs on my must-list. Great choreographing, energetic show. They encouraged us to get up and dance, and by gum, we did. And screamed, and waved our glowsticks with rabid ferociousness in hopes of attracting their attention. Another sidebar: dudes, front row has its perks. Concert staff started distributing glowsticks and glow bracelets to us before the show started. Those things were selling for a couple bucks each before the show. Of course, Sau Lai and I didn't really need their stankin' standard issue sticks. We had our own Very Special Multi-Flashing Battery-Op versions, which kicked ass, and, I think, certainly attracted the G-boys' attention more than a couple times. I swear to all that's Fried and Good in this world that I locked eyes with each of the boys at least once...and all due to our proximity to the stage, our Kick Ass Lightsticks, and our high octave FanGrrl shrieking. Oh hey, I should mention the Front Row tix were a special treat in celebration of Sau Lai's birthday (Happy Birthday, Dude!) and she, being a diligent FanGrrl, made sure to scream that it was her birthday a couple times to the boys, in hopes, I suspect, that they would hop down and serenade her. Or at least give her a hug. Or at the very least let her cop a feel.

Time flew by so quickly at the show...Grasshopper has a huge repertoire of fast, high-energy songs (granted, some are Chinese versions of foreign hits, but hey, still very good)...and they kept going, and going, and going. And us fans blessed with seats so close to the stage went and went and went with 'em. We were on our feet, glowstick-wielding arms raised high most of the show. I have to admit, near the end of their extended dance medley, I was really beginning to hope for a ballad so I could take a break. But they kept going! I dunno how they did it. Cuz, you know, they were singing and dancing some fast-paced, highly choreographed routines. And not lip syncing. And not even breathless!

Speaking of the choreography, some was pretty edgy, as were a lot of their costumes. Lots of skin, lots of provocative moves. At one point, the backup dancers were dressed as wolves, with realistic wolf headdresses, complete with green glowing eyes, and then after some slinky moves, the boys simulated a mating ritual with these wolf gals. I'm making it sound weirder and kinkier than it was. Hold on a tic. Actually, it was pretty kinky. And kids, I liked it. You can bet I howled like a wolf girl when they did that! And of course, we can't have three scantily-clad pretty boys and NOT have some homo-erotic moves. And yes, I liked it, and yes, I howled again.

All in all, a wonderful show and a fantastic experience. It was worth the pushing and shoving (those bastids in steerage who tried to rush the stage and block our view), and getting all up in some dude's grill, as he tried to claim to a security guard that he was in OUR seats. It was worth the soreness in my arms (from the enthusiastic glowstick-waving), and my hoarse throat (from the FanGrrl screaming) the next day. In sum, Grasshopper is HOT, at any age, and if you can swing it, embrace the Front Row, and your inner FanGrrlness, at least once in your life!