Celebrating the Celebra-Hound

Saturday, August 29, 2009

My second day back in Hong Kong fell on a Saturday, and while my sleep pattern was a bit wacky (10pm to 2am; 7am to 11am), surprisingly, I actually woke up while there was still daylight. I wasn’t sure what to do – stay in and “work”, camp out at a café and “work”, or forget about “working” and just go out and play. I opted for playing, and hit up my go-to “what to do” website for Hong Kong, Time Out Hong Kong (http://www.timeout.com.hk) to see what the cool kids were doing this weekend. Several things sounded interesting, but required money, and as I am still in starving student mode, I had to regretfully reject those options. One event looked promising, however: The Torch Relay for the 2009 East Asian Games, which Hong Kong is hosting in December. I attended the one year countdown for the event in 2008, where a bunch of local Hong Kong pop stars made an appearance to promote the Games with performances that culminated in a group-sing of the theme song. Hey, it was free, and there was a promise of celebrity spotting. So of course I was going! Unfortunately, the only celebrity worth seeing, Alan Tam, made a too-brief appearance, only joining in to sing the theme song during the finale. However, it was interesting to see Hong Kong fangrrls in action, though. They brought some handmade signs, and did some light screaming for their pop idols, but it felt half-hearted, especially after I witnessed the power of Japanese fangrrls at the Arashi concert in November. Arashi! Squee!

But I digress. Back to the Torch Relay. I hopped online to see the roster of torch bearers, and where they would be on the relay route, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Hacken Lee, one of my favorite Canto-pop singers, would be participating, along with Alan Tam, and other pop singers like Eason Chan, Richie Jen and Joey Yung. The singers were spaced out along different points on the relay, so I had to make a tactical decision as to where to camp out. Naturally, I picked the area where Hacken would be, which was along the lovely Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, near the HK Cultural Centre. It was near the latter end of the relay route, so that gave me a little time to get there.

I arrived at the waterfront at about the time the relay was commencing at the starting point in Kowloon Park. I thought I’d walk along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront until I found the Hacken fangrrls, but that plan was thwarted by the presence of police officers and security barriers that cut off chunks of the waterfront, so there was basically no way to smoothly walk along the waterfront promenade. Instead, peeps had to weave in and out among the buildings along the waterfront to get to different points along the promenade. On the waterfront, there were designated “cheering” areas where little uniformed school children waving HK flags and various paraphernalia stood, but members of the public would have to stand along the metal barriers lining the route.

I was not able to locate the presence of any sign-toting Hacken fans (dudes, where were you?!!!), so I camped out where I thought he was supposed to be based on the route map…and well, you know me and maps. However, the presence of sign-toting fangrrls for some other celebrity (some dude I didn’t know, so as far I as I was concerned, not a celeb!) alerted me that I was in the wrong place. So I backtracked along the route, and noticed a cluster of peeps clamoring over each other to take pictures of…Hacken!!! Whee! I pushed my way in and started snapping pics with my crappy cell cam, too. I also shamelessly squeezed into a tiny open spot on the barrier between a little girl and this older dude, so I had a clear, unobstructed view of Hacken…A metal police barrier, a cop, and ten feet separated me from dearest Hacken.

Now I must admit, generally, I’m the sort fan who doesn’t make a fuss – I won’t scream to try to get an idol’s attention. I admire, with silent dignity, and much respect – I won’t do anything crazy just for a split second of eye contact, a smile, a wave, a nod, basically ANY form of idol acknowledgment. The one exception would be for my beloved Arashi. I would scream my head off for them, cluck like a chicken, moo like a cow, flash ‘em (and yes, risk indecency charges), anything, if I was within ten feet, heck, a hundred feet, of them. Oh, the magic of pretty boy bands… Arashi instills within me an unreasonable, inexplicable fangrrl obsessiveness, while Hacken, unfortunately, does not. For Hacken, I have great admiration, but not of the squeally fangrrl variety.

All that aside, Hacken was looking pretty damn good considering that he’s pushing into his 40s – he had on the standard torch-bearer uniform of East Asian Games t-shirt and shorts with sneakers. He looked quite fit, almost as fit as when he and Alan did their February 2009 concert (read my con report here).

Here are the pics of Hacken, and the surrounding area, that I snapped while waiting for the torch to arrive. Click slideshow player to zoom in a new window:



While the day was sunny, thunderstorms were a-rumbling, and it even started to rain lightly while we waited for the torch. Hacken didn’t have a whole lot of spectator interaction, despite some of the peeps screaming his name, or yelling “Go for it, Hacken!” in Cantonese. He smiled occasionally when spectators yelled, but other than that, he avoided eye contact with the spectators while waiting for the torch, probably because of the blatant celebra-hounding picture snapping. Really, it must kinda suck to have peeps always rabidly snapping pics of you like you were an object, and I felt kinda bad about being such a celebra-hound myself…but I guess it is all part and parcel of being a public figure.

The torch arrived, preceded first by a cop car (a Prius!) then the camera truck, which went slowly in front of the runner . I have no idea who the runner before Hacken was (the website list says he was Wong Fai, an athlete in the shooting/marksmanship category), but Hacken began running ahead before the torch was officially passed to him, so my view was obstructed as he ran away from where I was located. So yeah, I was a little bummed that I did not get to see him running with the lit torch. It was funny how the second the torch passed us, all the spectators, me included, began running alongside the barriers, trying to follow Hacken as he ran. It was pretty crazy and chaotic. His torch bearing run was very short, maybe a three-minute sprint of 100 meters or so. Then he passed the torch on to the next bearer and hopped onto the support mini-van that carried all the “finished” torch bearers, and disappeared from our sight.

All in all, it was a nice little interlude, and definitely a bit of a thrill to see a singer I admired up close, in a different light, and of course, it was lovely to revel in the shared celebra-hounding that seems intrinsic in HK and Chinese people. You know the stereotype of how Chinese people love taking pictures of things and people? (And perhaps to the detriment of being able to fully enjoy an experience?) There’s a lot of that going on here…though I think we all certainly experienced the excitement of the moment, too. It’s hard to explain why we get so excited when we see celebrities and why we start snapping pics wildly…a lot of it is bragging rights, yes. And of course, the picture not only helps substantiate the bragging rights (Look, I really did see him!), but also, at its very fundamental core, helps us remember an exciting memorable event. We all perhaps have the desire to capture that moment in time forever, in a tangible form…this desire is a little greedy perhaps, but definitely human, relatable, and understandable. Kinda like how I want and keep copies of everything and anything (ticket stubs, programs, pics, video, audio), in order to help me remember, to prove that dammit, I did things and experienced things beyond Tivo and couch-potato-dom. So what is the takeaway from all of this? Well, try to remember to fully experience and enjoy every moment, and not just focus on recording or documenting these moments. I mean, what’s the point of having a picture of something if all you remember is how frustrating it was to take the picture rather than how awesome the moment was? Also, celebrate your inner celebra-hound – it’s ok to be one, really. Just remember that celebrities are peeps, too, and respect their boundaries. Unless of course, it’s Arashi, in which case, all bets are off, and I’m rushing the police barriers and bulldozing security in my crazy, rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth, fangrrl, obsessive mania to get me some Arashi. Yes, they are that awesome, dammit.

I Want My Grasshopper Now!

In early April 2009, I relived my youth by attending a couple of concerts for Grasshopper, a Cantopop boyband that I was insanely crazy about when I was a teeny-bopper. A live concert report will follow soon, but in the meantime, here are a few pics courtesy of my crappy cellphone cam. Click slideshow player to zoom in new window:

Viva la Coldplay!

On March 25, 2009, Coldplay played to a sold-out crowd at the 10,000 crazed fan capacity AsiaWorld Expo Arena in Hong Kong. Now I can't say I am a die hard Coldplay fan, but I am completely enamored with their song "Viva la Vida", and love it so much that I actually made it a life goal to hear them play that song live. So with that in mind, I talked myself into buying a rather pricey ticket to the concert. It was twice what I'd pay for a HK Cantopop concert, but about what I would pay if I were in the states, so I was able to rationalize it all in my addled brain.

So on the blessed evening, I hopped the E22 bus, which makes the 45 minute trek from my dorm to the airport, and the adjacent AsiaWorld Expo Arena, and made it to the venue with time to spare. There were a few of the usual glowstick vendors, but they weren't doing much bid-ness, as, come on, Coldplay is not a glowstick type of band.

The arena is huge, and was not a central, open-face stage. That is, the stage was at one end of the space, and there was a definite front and back of the room, so to speak. I had managed to grab a top tier (cost-wise) ticket that was near the front of the room, and that was basically stage adjacent. That wasn't too bad, though let's face it, we would only be treated to the side view at all times, and we couldn't see the huge screen behind the band...nonetheless, I wasn't too bummed, because I was close enough to see the performers' faces, and that's always cool.

The concert-goers were a good mix of non-Chinese (and Chinese) expats, as well as local hipsters. This was the first time I saw booze allowed in a concert venue, and peeps were bringing in plastic cups of foamy concession stand beer and wine by the four-pack (i.e. paper carriers that held four cups.)

I was generally feeling aok about things until about 10 minutes before the concert started, when an expat couple, she of average height, he a giant of at least 6 feet, planted themselves in the seats in front of me. Ruht roh. This did not bode well.

The opening band, Mercury Rev, was pretty cool. They had some mad guitar skillz, and played for 30 minutes. Then there was a brief intermission, with random high-energy background music playing. Then a roadie in t-shirt and jeans came out, sweeping up the stage, but moved by the hip-hop song playing in the arena, began busting some impressive moves, much to the audience's delight. The music then changed to Strauss' Blue Danube, and the dancin' roadie began a lovely waltz, with his broom as a dance partner. The crowd was much appreciative, clapping along with the familiar rhythm, as the song sped up, reached a crescendo, and the roadie disappeared behind the curtain.

Then the arena went dark, the crowd went wild, and the curtain raised to reveal semi-sheer panels of fabric back lit dramatically, showing the silhouette of the band. Heeeeere's Coldplay!

I wish I could give a blow-by-blow description of every song and every moment, but alas, I was too caught up in the moment, alternating between rocking out and screaming, and being annoyed at Giant Dork in front of me who insisted on standing up and dancing goofily in the aisle for nearly every song. Sidebar: I love a lively audience. I appreciate an audience who can let loose. I can even appreciate a Giant Dork who mimics Chris Martin's wacky dancing. Just not in such a manner in which you are obstructing my view and enjoyment of the show, dammit!!!

Aside from that hiccup, which was resolved when I carved out a spot whose view was not obstructed by Giant Dancing Dork, the show was awesome. The staging was very simple, with the huge video screen behind the band showing gorgeous, striking imagery (i.e. video footage, or images of the album cover, or abstract paintings, etc), as well as the usual jumbotrons hanging from the ceiling so that peeps in the boonies could actually see the band, there were several "video orbs", huge spheres which were able to have images projected on them. I loved the orbs, as they mirrored what was being shown on the video screens, creating a very cool, surreal look, as well as different colors and patterns. The band was in their element, playing strong, and of course, Chris Martin is da bomb. His high energy, moving from his trademark hoppy-dancing, to pounding on his piano, all the while singing strong vocals, is amazing. One of many highlights in the show was when the band played "Yellow", when suddenly, dozens of huge yellow, confetti-filled balloons fell from the ceiling, and the audience kept them on the move, batting them about like kittens with balls of yarn. The song ended with Chris Martin popping one of the balloons, unleashing a rain of confetti on the lucky fans in the choice seats.

Another highlight was when the band, after playing for about 45 minutes, suddenly left the stage, and walked the length of the arena, guarded by burly security, of course, to the BACK of the room, where four mikes and a few acoustic guitars were set up. The band then played a few lovely acoustic numbers, including a cover of the Monkees' "I'm a Believer". The band's percussionist is so very talented...he could play the guitar, and had a great voice, too. The fans in that section, who had occupied nosebleed seats for most of the show, were suddenly in possession of the best seats in the house. (Sidebar: I thought it was nice that the band did that, but dangit, it's kinda not cool for the peeps who did pay for prime seats and were suddenly thrust in "nosebleed seats", even for a few minutes. Still, the band is so awesome, the performance and enthusiasm so engaging and contagious, that I don't think peeps really minded.)

Then, the moment of truth came, when the band played THE SONG, "Viva la Vida". What can I say? It was brilliant, and felt unreal and like a dream. I adore the song, love love love it, and sang, along with my fellow acolytes, the whole song at the top of my lungs. Yes, it is the only Coldplay song that I know all the lyrics to. Chris Martin led the audience in a sing-along near the end of the song, and he and the rest of the band seemed really touched by the love.

While that was the climax, for me, the band did continue to play a few more songs from the new album, before disappearing behind the stage amidst yells of "Thank you!" and "Goodbye!" The crowd wouldn't budge, and instead of screaming "Encore!", we opted to sing the "Whoah oh oh oh" refrain from Viva la Vida, which went on for a good minute or so before the band reappeared for their encore, in which they played a few more classics, such as "The Scientist".

The band left the stage, waving and yelling "Thanks!" and "Cheers!" and "Goodbye!" again, to an arena full of peeps giving them a standing ovation. The crowd was finally satisfied, and we all left, in a fairly orderly fashion, considering all the liquor and adrenaline in the air, many still humming the melody from various Coldplay songs...I, of course, hummed "Viva la Vida"...

Here are a few pics from the show:

Getting My Culture on in Hong Kong...

Yes, there is culture beyond poppy Canto-pop concerts, as blessed, numerous, and awesome as they are.

Hong Kong has its own ballet company, philharmonic orchestra, Chinese orchestra, opera, and active Academy for the Performing Arts, which hosts various cultural events such as plays, musicals, modern dance, as well as free recitals featuring Academy students.

Hong Kong is also host to various arts, literary, and film festivals, so there is quite a bit of horizon-enhancing cultural events. There are many museums in Hong Kong, and they offer free days every month. Speaking of free stuff, many of the aforementioned cultural events are free, or usually fairly affordable, especially for students and seniors, who often get up to 50% off the ticket prices.

So of course, I have been taking full advantage of this. These past couple of weeks, I have attended:

- On March 14: A HK Arts Festival performance by Modified Toy Orchestra, a totally awesome UK electronica group that plays instruments that are, well, modified toys. In essence, they troll garage sales, buy old electronic toys (i.e. toy keyboards, talking toys, learning toys, etc -- basically anything with a circuit board), and do something called "circuit bending" in order to make the toys play new, different sounds. These guys took things like Speak N' Spells, Casio mini keyboards, talking Barbie-like dolls, and other electronic toys, and made some kick ass music. They even altered a toy rocket that teaches kids how to count in Mandarin. One of the funnest moments was when they rocked out on toy guitars and toy saxophones. They even had a toy double guitar....rock on, dude. Check them out online: http://www.myspace.com/toyorch

I thoroughly enjoyed this performance. If I had to gripe (oh, who am I kidding, I LOVE to gripe), it would be about the annoying dude behind me who kept screaming "Whoo-Hoo" every other minute. Normally, I love audience enthusiasm...just not directly in my ear.

- On March 28: A lovely performance by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, which consists of all-Chinese instruments, such as the Erhu, the Pi-pa, etc. The theme of the performance was "Shanghai", which, as you all know, has a special place in my heart. The orchestra played a wonderful mix of Shanghai-themed music, including the theme of "ShanghaiBund", developed for the 1980s TV series starring Chow Yun -Fat, set in 1930s Shanghai. They also played Western music, such as polka pieces from Strauss, as well as a suite from Carmen. They also played the entire "Butterfly Lovers" suite, from the well-known Chinese opera. Hearing ancient Chinese instruments play these familiar pieces was quite a treat. The instruments have a special sound and power to them, and the sound (and sight) of the orchestra was quite magical. The instruments were interesting, and seeing the orchestra, resplendent in their royal purple Chinese-style robes, playing in perfect unison, was amazing. My favorite piece was one of the Strauss polkas, in which the strings were played, not using the traditionally bows, but plucked by hand. Utterly lovely, and an utterly new sound. The conductor, who turned out to be a Shanghai native whose father wrote many of the lyrics for the classic Shanghai songs played that evening, was an absolute delight to watch. I normally don't pay very much attention to conductors, but this man was like an extension of the music...he moved, nay danced, vividly, as he conducted. I normally roll my eyes when diva conductors leave the stage after a piece only to return minutes later for the next piece, in order, in my view, to garner more applause, but for this guy, I think he totally deserved every clap. The orchestra was a delight, and have some other interesting upcoming events (like a global erhu relay!)...check them out at: http://www.hkco.org/index_eng.asp

I thoroughly enjoyed this performance. If I had to gripe (oh, who am I kidding, I LOVE to gripe), it would be about the annoying lady behind me who sang along with the orchestra. Normally, I love audience enthusiasm, but when you're at an orchestral performance, and not a sing-along, pipe down so others can appreciate the music! This is an orchestra, not bloody karaoke! And like all good Asian citizens, the surrounding audience members all shot her disapproving looks, rather than telling her to shut the eff up, and she eventually got the message. Viva la passive aggressive, threat of society shunning pressures of the Chinese culture! But despite that blip, the orchestra was wonderful, and truly deserved their standing ovation at the end of the night.

- On March 27 and March 29: The Hong Kong Dancesport Festival and International Dancesport Competition, in all its spray-tanned, flesh-baring, garishly sequinned, ruffled, spandexed glory. But why, you ask? Well, as a fan of Dancing with the Stars, I admit to having a great admiration for ballroom dancing, and all of its funny, fodder-producing quirks. All of the glitz aside, it truly is a sport and an art to perform such intricate, beautiful dances, and is a true celebration of music and the grace of the human form. And the glitz is fun. The over-the-topness of everything makes things fun. The Mar. 27 daytime session was the quarter-finals for various competitions (i.e. amateur ballroom/latin, junior ballroom/latin, professional ballroom/latin, etc.) There were multiple heats for each competition, with multiple dances for each competition. Each heat danced the same dances to the same music, and it was quite a frenzy watching 12 couples storm the floor at a time. I don't know how the judges are able to judge appropriately, what with so many couple whirling around...I wanted to watch everyone, but ended up focusing on one or two who may have had the flashiest costumes, or the most striking moves. I prefer ballroom (or "standard") to latin, as it evokes mellow, elegant, Fred and Ginger-esque grace, which I adore. Plus I love the music they play, classic, old school stuff you'd hear from the Fred and Ginger era. Since it was the quarter-finals, not a whole lot of people showed uptp watch, so I got cheap tix for decent seats, and also got to see competitors up close, in their full on sequinned, hairsprayed , made up, spray-tanned glory. And this applies to both men and women! Speaking of spray-tans, I think this is the one aspect of Chinese culture that shuns the lily-white, porcelain, tofu skin complexions...all competitors, regardless of age, were tanned a dark, golden color. It was quite jarring to see so many Chinese girls tanned so dark...it felt odd indeed...

The costumes for ballroom are the usual foofy swirly gowns, often in bold, bright colors, with lots of sequin or ruffly detailing. The fluorescent greens and oranges were hard to take, so I often cheered for the gals with more simpler gowns, in less flashy colors like white or pale pinks. The latin costumes were, of course, much flashier and sexier...and that includes the men's costumes...across the board, latin -dancing men had shirts slashed open to reveal spray-tanned, waxed chests...and similarly, the ladies showed as much skin as possible, too, with short skirts, low necklines with lots of cutouts, or simply bandeau tops with some sheer fabric draped strategically. I did appreciate one couple, where the girl opted to dance in a strapless dress with a much longer, form-fitting skirt (think pencil skirt, knee length)...granted, it was super tight, and sequinned all over, but she was going for something different, and I think it helped them stand out. The juniors had much more modest costumes (and dance moves), but I still got the impression of little girls playing grown-up, ala child beauty queens, with the heavy makeup, overdone hair, and spray tans, etc....they danced very well, though, and I estimate the youngest were probably 11 or 12 years old, so that makes it less eeky, I guess.

If I had to gripe (oh, who am I kidding, I LOVE to gripe), it would be that the people from the different dance schools/associations cheered obnoxiously during the actual dancing...Picture all these unruly hoots of "jia you" (yep, they were a mainland China dance school) drowning out Sinatra singing "Just the Way You Look Tonight" (one of my fave Sinatra songs ever), as the competitors gracefully dance a waltz. Not cool, dude. Cheering boisterously during a more upbeat latin song is cool, since it further fires up the dancers and the atmosphere, but just seems wrong for quieter, more elegant dances.

The March 29 evening session was the finals for the competition, and also included exhibition performances from world-ranked professionals. The finals came down to six couples in each category, and they were truly the cream of the crop, dancing quite amazingly. The professional performers were awesome, too, and funnily enough, were names I recognized from Dancing with the Stars (i.e. Victor Fung from America). Great stuff. One of my faves was the tango performed to Beethoven's 5th...the professional latin couple from Poland was wonderful too, sharp sharp moves and innovative choreography. And the guy shunned sequins and stayed in a simple black turtleneck for all of his performances, so word up. I also liked how during intermission, they actually invited audience members to dance on the dance floor. And couples actually did! Dance culture is huge there, especially for the more mature set...I can easily see my Mom attending something like this, and being the first one on the dance floor...

If I had to gripe (oh, who am I kidding, I LOVE to gripe), it would be that the language issues in the MC-ing (they had to MC in English, Mandarin and Cantonese) seemed to inhibit audience applause...for example, the English MC would say "Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for...", and there would be silence as performers entered the dance floor, because the majority of the audience didn't understand English. When they finally realized that they should announce things like that in both English and Chinese, the audience began clapping accordingly, and the atmosphere became less awkward and more welcoming for the performers, so that worked out much better...

Overall though, it is very easy to get your culture on in Hong Kong. If you still have energy after all the eating and shopping, you will find lots of great events to go to...aside from the few I mentioned above, I also went to a couple of literary festival events and film talks, all free, and all quite interesting...so while Canto-pop concerts are the bomb, you should also consider balancing out the bubblegum poppiness with other cultural events...and Hong Kong, thankfully, makes it easy to do so.

Alcken or Hacklan Concert? Either Way...Legendary!

Verbose, verbal detailing of my memories is below, but I did manage to sneak some non-verbal memories in the form of:

- Crappy cell-phone pics: (Click slideshow for larger pics)

- Short, crappy cell-video (before security yelled!) (Youtube Playlist)
- Really crappy cell-mp3s (Imeem Playlist)

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You should have heard my squee of delight when I heard that two of my most favorite HK Cantopop singers, Alan Tam (譚詠麟) and Hacken Lee (李克勤), were reuniting to do a series of concerts in February 2009. (Their popular 左鄰右李 concert, which is a play on words using a Chinese character from each of the singer's names. The concert title sounds like the four-character Chinese phrase "左鄰右里", and is meant to denote a close community with good neighbors and friends nearby.)

The squee got louder and more shrill when I found out the concert was being held at the legendary Hong Kong Coliseum (or the Hung Hom Coliseum, which is named after the district in which it is located.) The Coliseum is a wonderful venue with a cool open stage with lots of interesting lighting and effects capabilities, but had been undergoing renovations for the past year. The inaugural event at the newly renovated coliseum would be "Neighbors 2009". Yay!

Tickets were available a full month before public release for patrons of the Bank of East Asia. (By the way, this is evidently a common practice, giving special early access to particular sponsors' patrons.) And yes, I considered opening a BEA account just to get a chance to get tix early. Funds limitations and minimum deposit restrictions put the kibosh on that plan, so I, like the rest of the plebeians, waited until tickets were released to the public, which is roughly a month before the first show. I bought one "top tier" ticket for HK$480, which is a pretty good price, considering how much tickets to a show like this would cost in the States. (Easily double the price, probably more.) They had originally scheduled 10 shows, starting in the beginning of February, but then added a few more, bringing the total to 14. After some thought, I talked myself into getting another ticket for another show. Some of my internal rationalizations: The tickets are a steal, I heart Alan and Hacken, and when will I get to see them perform here again? Suitably convinced, I now possessed two tickets (one for Wed., Feb. 4, and one for Sun., Feb. 8) without any qualms or guilt.

Getting to the concert arena was a breeze. It has its own MTR station, which is located only 2 stops away from my location. By the way, this MTR line (the East Rail) was formerly operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway, which was a separate longer haul train operator that recently merged with the HK MTR. The former KCR line took passengers to parts of Southern China, and even now, Hung Hum Station is one of the hubs for trains into China.

I arrived to the venue about 40 minutes before the official listed start time of 8:15pm, and walked around the arena, which is this cool, huge, diamond-cube-trapezoid? (guess it depends on how you look at it)-shaped building. Seating areas are divided into four colors, and the admission gates corresponded to the colors. I was a Red on Feb 4, and a Yellow on Feb 8. People were lining up at the admission gates about 30 minutes before, so I hopped in line, too. I was surprised at the wide variation in audience demographics: I saw cool hipsters, yuppies, middle-aged "see nais", elderly peeps, middle-aged couples who brought kids...the snarky overseas student demographic was limited to just me, as best as I could see.

We were finally allowed entry at 8pm, and it was pretty painless, considering how pushy Hong Kongers in a crowd tend to be! And especially when free schwag (in the form of inflatable thundersticks) is concerned. I found my seat, which was in the front row of the raised area beyond the cream of the crop, stage-side seats. (As an open, four-sided stage, this meant there are four front rows on the main floor. Then there are about 9 rows on the main floor behind them, then we get to the raised stadium seating, which is where I was sitting. So to be technical, I was in the 11th row of the "top tier seats".) The seats were still good, though of course I wished I were a BEA customer who had snagged one of the main floor seats...

The stage didn't look super different from what I remember seeing in the past concerts on DVD, but I did notice the lighting rig above the stage and around the huge 4-sided jumbo-trons, looked much fancier than before. I guess the renovations must have been mostly structural, with some cosmetic improvements. I amused myself for the next 15 minutes or so by watching the PSAs on loop on the jumbo-tron (Cantopop stars like Kelly Chen extolling the awesome public facilities like the HK library and museums), as well as the antics of snap-happy concert patrons. Aside from taking pictures of the stage, themselves, and themselves in front of the stage, I noticed many people posing with their inflated thundersticks and lightsticks, or making their poor kids do the same.

Let me take a second here to discuss thundersticks. To put it simply and rationally, I hate them. I wish I could righteously say it were due to the negative environmental impact (though there's that), but to be honest, it's because they annoy the crap out of me. The way they sound, the way they block people's views and also invade people's personal space. Hate 'em. And for this concert, the way they look was also annoying. They were shaped to look like microphones, but for me, whichever angle you held them, they looked phallic. So watching peeps pose with large, inflated, yellow, phallic-looking thundersticks, though annoying, was admittedly a hoot. Especially the annoying chick in the front-row seat who was holding it in an innocent (but not to my juvenile mind!) manner: she was hugging it and pretending to kiss it. I'm sure it was innocent. Only I have such a dirty mind. But I digress. Back to the concert.

At around 8:25pm, the venue went dark, and an announcer began reading off tragic events that occurred in the past couple years (i.e. the coldfreeze in January 2008, the May 2008 earthquake, the milk powder crisis, the financial crisis, economic downturn.), finally ending with the statement that people were beginning to worry and be scared...at which point, you could hear Alan and Hacken say firmly "Mm Sai Loot", which is Canto-country-slang for "No need to be scared!" Then upbeat music started, and the pair, resplendent in flashy, sequined costumes, rose to the center stage via a trapdoor and elevator rig. Their opening medley consisted of happy, upbeat songs from both singers as they jogged around the stage waving at the audience and shaking the hands of the lucky bastids who scored main floor front row tix. After the medley, they welcomed the audience by commenting on the unlucky events of the past year, and then made an optimistic statement saying they hoped their concert would bring the audience happiness and cheer to last them through the year.

Just as a brief historical note, when they did their first Neighbors concerts in 2003, it was amidst the post-SARS economic downturn in Hong Kong, and both Alan and Hacken wanted their concerts to cheer up Hong Kong. And hey, it seemed to work...

They then traded in their impossibly heavy, long sequined tailcoats for lighter, more dignified ballad jackets. (Note: Dignified is relative. The jackets were cut more like tailored blazers, but they were still in impossibly flashy colors and trimmed with sequins and sparkly bits!) Then a lovely interlude of them singing a couple of popular ballads commenced. I wished they could have just done that for the rest of the night! I was in seventh heaven, the awesome songs, beautiful voices, and the excitement of hearing it all live, in person.

Next was a gag that they did in the past, where they collected lai see or red envelopes, which are customarily given out to children during Chinese New Year (which was a week prior, and lasts for a couple weeks.) Alan called it "Kay Fook", or basically, asking for blessings of happiness by giving an offering (i.e. the red envelopes). Hacken commented that he didn't feel right collecting lai see now that he was married, at which point Alan advised him that if he wouldn't collect for himself, then at least collect for his son as it is expensive to raise a child. Hacken then sassed back that Alan would know, which was a not-so-hidden dig at Alan's personal life (he has a son, but not with his wife.) Alan laughed good-naturedly, then asked his assistant to bring his special lai see bag, which was a sling bag sequined in gold to match his outfit. Music started, the houselights went up, and hordes of people lucky enough to be in the front main floor section dashed stage-side waving red packets. The guys split up and went around the stage, shaking hands receiving lai see, and singing Alan's "Love is This Sweet". Near the end of the song, there was a commotion on Hacken's side, and he disappeared from our sight, and I actually thought something had happened to him (i.e. an overly enthusiastic fan pulled on him and he fell or something). But then Alan finished singing, thanked the fans, said that all the collected envelopes would be donated to the Sichuan Rebuilding Fund, and announced that Hacken would perform next. Oh! Hacken left the stage to prepare for his next song, and was not writhing in pain backstage! Whew.

So houselights dim, and Hacken, in a suit studded with white Christmas lights and adorned with a HUGE flower-esque silvery fabric sculpture on his back, rose from center stage as the first few notes of his "Flying Flower" played. In time with the music, background dancers, dressed as silvery flowers, also rose from hidden trapdoors. A lovely sequence with mellow dancing and lovely use of lighting commenced. In addition to "Flying Flower" Hacken also sang a new song, which was written by a young Cantopop singer named Justin. I wish I knew the song name. After a dazzling end to that song (think flares from the four corners of the stage, as well as a neon palm tree), Alan hit the stage. Or more precisely, a huge prop designed to look like a chaise lounge chair rose center stage, and on it, a background dancer dressed in a flowy, wispy red robe, hit the stage as the opening notes of Alan's "Fantasy" started. Alan rose to the stage via another trapdoor, and performed a rather dramatic rendition of the song, with great use of lighting and the sheer red fabric of the dancer's costume.

Next, two poles were raised in opposite corners of the stage, and two sexy dancers with identical bobbed wigs did a suggestive striptease. Then, clad in purple satin bra and skivvies, they did some impressive pole dance work. Hacken ascended the stage and began singing a really trancey version of "My Shirley", while performing rather suggestive and racy dance moves with the two dancers. One of the moves involved her pulling down his leather vest to show off his surprisingly well-toned chest. Yes, I said it, Hacken Lee, he of the skinny, bony, "love him for his personality and talent, not his looks", category, has a tanned, well-toned chest. Now, he will never be on Aaron Kwok's level of tanned, well-toned chest-ness, but Hacken had a respectable-looking physique. Truly, I think he is in the best shape of his life...no wonder he made sure to thank his personal trainer. But back to the performance. He ended "My Shirley" with a rather S&M-esque touch, being tied with purple ribbon to one of the poles.

At that moment, Alan and a scad of dancers popped up via the scads of trapdoors around the stage. They all had on black leathery costumes. Both singers performed some song of Alan's (sorry, it wasn't that memorable) while dancing. Then Alan did a solo performance of one of his songs with a jazzy feel (sorry, again, the song wasn't super memorable.)

Next was a blur. I think they reverted to ballads (yay!), in which they mashed up versions of each other's songs. For example, Hacken would sing half of an Alan song, then Alan would sing half of a Hacken song, without the music stopping or transitioning. That is, the musical director composed a way of mashing the two songs to sound as if they were part of the same song. Really cool, and of course, it's always nice when they sing ballads.

Then we moved on to one of my favorite performances...when a huge wooden mountainesque sculpture appeared, with Hacken atop it, dressed in another sleeveless vest-leather-pants ensemble. He began singing one of Alan's ballads, and then was joined atop the wooden sculpture by Alan, also in a similar black sleeveless leather ensemble. Then as they continued to sing the serious ballad, with similarly serious faces, the wooden sculpture began to rotate slowly, and the guys started to, and I kid you not, do bodybuilder poses. They continued with this, faces deadpan, singing perfectly, and doing wacky bodybuilder poses on the revolving wooden sculpture. I laughed my arse off, it was so perfectly goofy and "them". They did the "bend on one knee and extend arms like an arrow towards the sky pose", the classic "look at these guns, ladies" double bicep pose, and many variations in between. Genius. Brilliant. Loved it.

Next was the "talky" segment, where a local actor (Chien Ka Lok) came out to banter and gossip with them about local entertainment news. It was amusing. The actor then helped get the crowd worked up to do the wave, then sang Alan's "Lorelai" with them.

The next performance was athletics-related, since another one of the sponsors was the East Asian Games, which are being hosted by Hong Kong this year. In addition to singing the theme to the games, on Sunday, they brought a bunch of the athletes on stage with them. Then was a dancey segment where the guys sang a couple of their less memorable, thus newer, up-tempo songs while dressed in sequined tracksuit-esque costumes.

The finale was the best part, when they sang a school band version of Hacken's "Hope", then the guys, on raised daises, did some wacky ribbon dance choreography in time with the speeding up of the song. On Wednesday's show, Hacken's ribbon flew off the stick. You could hear his "Aiya!" of frustration, then he tossed the ribbon stick into the audience, and picked up the ribbon and tried to continue on, but the ribbon wouldn't cooperate, so you could hear Alan stifling laughter as they both continued to sing the song. When they finished the song, they both busted up laughing, and Hacken referred to the ribbon curse...evidently on an earlier show, he stepped on the ribbon and the ribbon snapped. It was a funny interlude that seemed so genuine and real, and I enjoyed it immensely. On Sunday, there were no ribbon mishaps, though they both did comment on the ribbon curse after the performance.

Next was the official "finale" sequence, where they did some more fast songs, then a few ballads. The most memorable bits were them singing ballads on the edges of the stage, then those edges rising, illuminating in soft light, then rotating. That was kinda cool, and must be part of the new stage improvements. They also did a few "get up and dance" sing-along songs, most notably, a fast Alan song with the chorus of "Wildly Scream 'I'm Lonely'" (i.e. Kwong Foo Ngo Hoong Hui! Hoong Hui!), as well as Hacken's soccer song (Qi lai, qi lai, qi lai, qi lai....).

They ended with the official "Neighbors" song, and descended under the stage with Alan hinting that they'd play longer in the encore if the audience showed them more love. The encore curtain calling began, with the drummer helping to set the applause rhythm. Then the guys finally ascended amidst lots of fanfare, and performed a couple more upbeat songs (i.e. Alan's "Love Trap"), then took audience requests. They sang a few lovely ballads (i.e. Alan's "The Source of Love", Hacken's "Crescent Moon Song"), and on Sunday, even brought a few celebrity audience members on stage to sing with them. They were a couple of married actors whose heyday was the 1980s, as well as Anita Yuen and Julian Cheung, who were celebrating their eighth wedding anniversary. The quartet and the singers then sang Alan's "Who Can Change", which was very sweet. A note on other famous guests. On Wednesday, Alan pulled Wing Yee, a relatively young and new singer onstage to sing the same song. On Sunday, the chief executive of HK, Donald Tsang, was in the hizzy, along with a tycoon whose wife is a gorgeous former Miss Hong Kong. It was kinda cool to see these guys there.

But back to the concert. They ended on Hacken's iconic "Red Day", which is a fabulous, "get up and sing along" song. After that rousing performance, while yelling "thank you", they descended the stage, as the announcer politely informed the audience that the show was over. This normally wouldn't deter me, especially after the Arashi concert where the announcer said three times the show was over, yet the boys still came back for encores...but things be different here. Arashi fangrrls are way different and more unified than the diverse, ragtag audience of this concert. All in all though, it was a very satisfying, awesome, legen...wait for it...dary concert. Hacklan/Alcken Forever!

Addendum: Just a quick note about photos and recording. Officially, all photography and recording is off-limits, but the security peeps seemed to tolerate photography, even flash photography. They were totally strict about video recording though, which explains why I got yelled at by security while video-recording with my dinky cellcam, yet he left the chick beside me, with a huge professional quality camera and telephoto lens setup, alone! On Sunday, they even started confiscating cameras from peeps caught video recording. (Darn that tell-tale red light...) But anyway, while I much prefer enjoying the concert experience in person, the sentimental peep inside me always want some reminder of the concert, which is why I do try with the photos and recording...unfortunately, it's always with my crappy cellcam, so the end result is always terrible! Oh well.

Viva La Disney

Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth...HK Disneyland is the happiest place in HK...I will elaborate more soon. In the meantime, here are some pics, as well as a couple of poor quality videos. Click on the slideshows for larger, captioned versions.

Disney, January 2009:


- Video of Disney Lion Dancing, Jan. 2009

- Video of Chinese New Year Floats, Jan. 2009

- Video of Dumbo Ride, Jan. 2009

Disney, December 2008:


- Video of "It's a Small World" ride, Dec. 2008