Canto-Pop Concert Day!

Shanghai, October 20, 2007 (Saturday)

Concert Day! (Note: The concert coverage below might be a bit too detailed for most, but I wrote an essay about the concert in Chinese as homework for my taskmaster Bad Cop teacher, so I figured I’d include it in English as well.) I slept in, and had a leisurely morning. I left for the Hongkou District, where the concert stadium, Hongkou Soccer Stadium, was located. According to my guidebooks, the Lu Xun Memorial Park was nearby, and it was also near other Lu Xun related sites, like his former residence, and a street that he liked to hang out at. Oh, I should explain who Lu Xun is: he’s a famous Chinese writer, known as the father of modern Chinese literature, who wrote from 1915 to the 1930s or so). He wrote beautiful pieces (essays, short stories, and poems), but I like his satirical pieces the best. He used comedy and satire as tools to point out injustices in society. He is best known for his “The True Story of Ah Q” which is a short story (well, a long short story, or a short novella, depending on your perspective) about a simpleton named Ah Q who got into various scrapes during China’s revolutionary era. The story was made into a 1980s-era Cantonese movie, and also spawned many related novels by more current, modern authors. I wrote a paper on Lu Xun for my grad school East Asian lit class, and believe you me, the movie was very very helpful (!)…as well as the exploration of references in modern culture, such as Old Master Q comics. But I digress. The metro took me straight to the stadium, and the park was a 5-minute walk away.

The metro station links directly to the stadium, so I was able to peek into the stadium via its gates. They had curtains covering each of the gates, but some of the curtains were ajar, so I was able to see how huge the stadium was, and how far away my seat was from the stage! Forty bucks buys you semi-nosebleed seats…imagine what 10 bucks buys ya! I saw a crowd of fans gathering near the main doors, and as is the norm here, join the fray…there must be something interesting going on. It turns out it was the die-hard Sammi fans. They had a huge banner, and one dude, who I assume was the thankless president of the “We Heart You, Sammi” Fan Club, had a megaphone and was trying to get the peeps in line, as well as practice chants of “Sammi, Good Show!” He was ignored, of course. A mini van came to a screeching halt a few minutes later, and the fans started shrieking. Four people jumped out of the van and dashed into the stadium. I assume one of them was Sammi, since a couple of the fans in the front were crying in bliss (at having caught a close glimpse of the star, I guess), while others were crowing about managing to snap a picture. I saw Jack. Not Jack, as in her manager, but jack squat. Ah well. That’s what happens when you serendipitously cross paths with rabid fans. I overhear a couple of fans say that Sammi will be rehearsing in a little bit, and I recall the slightly ajar curtained gates above. I make a mental note to come back a bit earlier and see if I can’t catch a glimpse of the rehearsing.

But first, Lu Xun Park. My goodness, what a park! It’s a beautiful green area, with a man-made lake, and beautiful pockets of greenery, tranquil benches, and rock formations. There were also huge open squares dotted with trees and benches, in which people were sitting and talking, or playing chess or cards. Various karaoke stations, with bright LCDs also dotted the square, and it was a wonderfully bizarre sight to behold people of all ages clamoring around the screens to sing along to Chinese classics. A couple of musicians were practicing in the square, one playing an er-hu, a screechy-in-the-wrong-hands string instrument, played with a bow, one playing a harmonica, and their efforts added to the lively cacophony.

The park was truly a public space, with families enjoying the beautiful weather in a leisurely fashion. Children begged parents for toys being peddled in the square, or for the chance to play in the huge “beach ball” bubbles in the lake. Each child was encased in their own bubble, and then gently launched into the lake, where they “walked” on water gleefully. Youths played badminton, sunbathed, or practiced gymnastics or martial arts in the designated “Exercise Ground”. Senior citizens strolled leisurely along the cobbled paths, pausing to admire a blooming flower, or chat with a friend seated at a bench. Sidebar: Walking backwards seems to be a popular exercise. I saw a few seniors do just that, swinging their arms energetically.

There were many Chinese citizens taking pictures, too. I wouldn’t say they were tourists, though there were many of those afoot. They were taking pictures of each other, of blooming flowers, or of flowering trees. A couple of tea pavilions stood on the lake, and these were occupied by elderly gents, as well as some tourists, enjoying a cuppa.

The park also had its share of wedding couples, too. I saw at least three couples having wedding pictures taken. One had their picture taken in front of the Lu Xun Memorial Clock, which I thought was a little odd…the word clock in Chinese is a homonym for “end”…I thought the symbolism was bad juju…but evidently not to the couple! Maybe I’m not modern enough for modern China.

I walked the park for a good hour or so, before leaving in pursuit of eats. I wanted something quick and close by, so ended up at a Chinese fast food joint that specialized in Beef and Noodles. If it’s from a cow, they will pair it with noodles. Brilliant. I decided to forgo the more wacky pairings and try a classic braised beef and noodles, with a western twist: cherry tomatoes and spices that gave the broth into a borscht-like flavor. I tamped the spicy broth with a yummy frothy papaya drink. Total cost of hearty meal and drink: $4. Bloody hell. The drink alone would have cost me $4 in the US. And this meal is not even considered cheap in China! I am in lurve.

Properly sated, I made my way back to the stadium, hoping to catch a glimpse of Sammi in rehearsal. I saw a tiny dot that sounded like Sammi singing. She was then joined by her guest, Richie Ren, and they practiced a duet. The zoom on my camera didn’t help much; I couldn’t see a thing…though I heard everything aok. The acoustics were awesome.

I hung around for a couple of numbers, before deciding to stroll the outlying area a bit. I got out of the main thoroughfare and wandered some residential backstreets…and was a little taken aback at the contrast. Neatly cobbled, tree-lined streets gave way to dirty streets that were treated as part of the tiny living structures. For example, the front of the houses were half kitchen, and half laundry room, with pans of raw vegetables stacked along with buckets of laundry and garbage. I passed some street vendors selling roasted chestnuts and steaming buns, but opted not to try them, as I had promised my Mom I would not eat from a street vendor. I intend to keep that promise with the caveat that: if there is a line of locals greater than five deep, then that negates the promise. Also, if the vendor is located inside a covered square, and not on the street, then they are no longer a street vendor, so that would make it ok. The vendors I passed did not meet my two loophole criteria, so I had to pass them by.

It was starting to get dark, so I made my way back to the stadium, pausing to buy a pearl tea on my way back. I passed numerous ticket scalpers and vendors selling cheap binoculars and snazzy glowsticks. I expected to be allowed into the stadium, like before…only now, they had barricaded the entrances and stationed security at all points. Gosh, I guess I was lucky earlier to be able to move freely around the stadium and eavesdrop on the rehearsal and sound checks…I waited with other fans outside the main gates, and about an hour before showtime, they finally allowed us in.

I knew the stadium was huge, but you really feel its size when you’re inside of it. I have no idea what the capacity is – I would guess at least ten thousand, and probably much more. My seat was in the “mid-range”, not high up, but in the middle. I would say height-wise, it was “loge”, but as for distance from stage, I would say “balcony”, if that makes any sense! I could see the stage, at least. The real nosebleed seats, at the opposite far end of the stadium, had to make do with a huge screen – they couldn’t even see the stage.

The concert started about 25 minutes late. In the interim, I amused myself by memorizing the script of the three commercials that were on endless loop on the large screens. Guys, you can only take so much of the same three ads. I was ready to blow my brains out by the 15^th iteration. Thankfully, I was able to distract myself by keeping an eye on a couple to my right. They were shadily doing the “musical chairs” maneuver; that is, they were scoping out seats that were better than their real ones, tentatively sitting at those seats, and then sheepishly vacating them (and playing dumb) when the real ticket holders appeared to claim their seats. I watched them do this twice before they finally returned to their original and rightful seats. I felt very smug, the fact that I was considering doing the same musical chairs maneuver when the lights dimmed, notwithstanding.

Finally, the lights dimmed. There was a roar of anticipation from the fans. Guys, these are some active fans. I would say a good 50% had glowsticks, and they were not passive sticks…they were moving quite actively, which means the arms and hands holding them were moving. Active fans! No sticks in the mud! That’s pretty impressive in my book. The sticks glowed cheerily in the darkness. And then…boom! A flash of light, and the stage was illuminated. The stage set and lighting were very well-done. They had a catwalk that zigzagged and ascended to a high platform, and there were various descending stage spots that allowed people to appear “out of nowhere”. The opening routine involved a slew of female dancers dressed up to look like Sammi. They sported various signature Sammi looks. All the while, Sammi was singing an upbeat version of one of her classic hits. Then, she revealed herself by removing a wig dramatically.

Sammi changed her look after a couple of songs; her reddish hair was in a sleek bun, which allowed her to don wigs to go with her different looks. She started out with a casual loose top and leggings look, then changed into a sparkly bolero and sleek short bobbed wig for a faster song. For her next look, she dramatically descended from a raised, neon-trimmed cage wearing a long red-haired wig and short booty skirt with boots. She channeled Beyonce and jammed with a Chinese rapper on a R&B-infused song.

She sang mostly Cantonese songs, and a lot of which I recognized, even though I hadn’t been into new Canto-pop music for a good 4 years. She didn’t chat much for the first third of the show, opting to go with a pattern of sing, change clothes, and sing.

Her next look was a sleek bobbed wig paired with a whimsical white dress over leggings, accented with a floaty, round, petal-like attachment to the back of her dress. She sang some super-sweet love songs in this look while her dancers, dressed in fairytale-inspired costumes, danced whimsical ballet routines.

Next, she donned a chic white pantsuit and her own hair, still in a bun, for a series of power ballads. She took this opportunity to finally chat with the audience. She revealed that this was her comeback concert after a two-year hiatus, and that this was her first concert in Shanghai. She shared some personal anecdotes, such as how her father suffered a stroke two years ago, and how that factored into her decision to take a hiatus and spend more time with family. She dedicated a song to her dad, as well as one to her good friend Andy Hui, who recently lost his father.

Sammi’s mandarin was passable (better than mine!) though you could clearly hear the Cantonese influence. She inserted a couple of Cantonese sayings (for example, “fourteen fifteen”; “sup hm sup look”; denotes “being undecided”) which didn’t translate to Mandarin at all. Native mandarin speakers were puzzled by that saying. Sammi had to revert to Cantonese or English on a couple of words she couldn’t say in mandarin.

After this emotional interlude, she introduced her special musical guest, Richie Ren, a Taiwanese pop singer with whom she starred in a couple of romantic comedies with. Mr. Ren is quite ruggedly handsome, and his appearance, with short hair, white shirt, black blazer, and snug-fitting black leather pants, elicited quite a few girlish squeals. Sammi and Richie make an adorable couple, and they sang a duet from one of their movies. Sammi then left for another wardrobe change, leaving Richie to sing his famous single “Look Over, Girl from Across the Way”. It’s one of those grand “singalong” songs that everyone knows the words to. He ended by introducing Sammi, who appeared amid a blast of lights in a loose ponytail (her own hair) and a loose white T-shirt and track pants. Definitely comfy clothes to dance to. And dance she did! An awesome routine to her greatest dance hits, remixed with a high-energy, almost trancey feel. She ended the routine with a bang – fireworks and all. As she curtseyed and bowed to thundering applause, she revealed that her earpiece gave out just before the routine, and that she had basically sang the whole routine without hearing herself. She was quite unhappy with that, and wanted a do-over. So she switched out her earpiece, and to the delight of her fans, she did that 15 minute, high-energy routine AGAIN, sans ending fireworks, of course. If anything, the routine was even better the second time around. And she actually sang and danced – no lip-syncing here, thank you very much. She sang a few more fast songs (a couple of fast songs from the mid-1990s – “Chotto Deng Deng” and “Ding Dong” – settle down peeps, it’s not an obscene reference, it’s the sound a bell makes). After these high-energy songs, she went through a spotlight introducing her band, dancers, and backup singers, then descended the stage as her finale.

As this is a Chinese concert, the first finale is a warm-up finale. After five minutes of cheering and applause, Sammi returned for an encore, in her own hair, done up in a messy bun, and in an edgy white dress trimmed with knotted pieces. She sang a couple of slow classic songs before ending on a power ballad, yelling “Thank you, Shanghai” as she descended below the stage via the hidden elevator.

And yet the fans wanted more. Another round of frenzied clapping and cheering, and stomping in unison convinced Sammi to return to the stage…in her white terry bathrobe! She joked that she had slipped into her post-concert comfy wear, revealing a loose camisole underneath her robe, to appreciative fans. She thanked her fans for their support, and sang one last song, a popular mandarin song which I’ve never heard before, but which many of my neighbors knew the words to. She descended once more to the stage below, to a standing ovation, and her fans, finally satisfied after nearly three hours, happily left the stadium.

All in all, it was a great show; very high-energy and lively. Sammi is a really good singer and a captivating performer. She has a great sense of humor, and an engaging style. She sang very well throughout, and you could tell it was live. I blame the occasional loss of audio clarity on the crappy headset mike rather than on her singing. The transitions between wardrobe changes were done well, making full use of the video screens to keep the story going. The screens were put to good use when she was onstage as well: colorful graphics, as well as karaoke lyrics appeared in sync with her performance.

Her fans are very passionate – many, many waving glowsticks. And many many people who sang along with her, even when there were no karaoke lyrics on screen. This is great – except the guy near me was so loud! Dude, I’m there to hear Sammi sing, not some karaoke-crazy freak. I must say though, he must have clocked in a lot of mike time at his karaoke lounge…his pronunciation of the Cantonese lyrics was pretty damn good for a native mandarin speaker.

Hongkou Stadium is an open air arena, with a real grass soccer field. The evening was very pleasant, around 65 degrees. The moon shone brightly, moving slowly across the sky as Sammi serenaded it. Lovely time, very glad I made it. The one snag in my evening was the unpleasant discovery that the metro does not stay open later on the weekends. They shut down at 10:30pm, and we didn’t get out of the stadium until 11pm. So I had to fight with locals to get a taxi. I ended up walking a good two blocks away from the stadium in order to more easily flag a cab. Before any of my surrogate (or real) mums give me any flak, I was right behind a group of teeny boppers, and was not in a secluded area. Concert goers leaving the stadium were all over. Also, I feel that Shanghai is relatively safe. The chance of getting mugged (or worse) is very low, not that one shouldn’t exercise common sense and caution. I hopped into a cab, and was back at my hotel in about 20 minutes, which cost around $7. A bargain.