Friday 15 October 2010

Adam Lambert Live in Malaysia

Last night hubby sai, "So, your dream came true". He was referring to my dream and wish that Adam Lambert would come to Malaysia and perform. Ever since Adam Lambert auditioned for the American Idol Season 8 competition with a rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody", I had hoped he would one day go on a world concert tour. (Simon Cowell, I have more foresight than you, LOL!!) He has such an amazing vocal range and is so energetic that all other contestants fell short. Very, very short.

A year later, my dream came true. I was one of the "over 10,000 fans that turned up at Bukit Jalil Indoor Stadium to be entertained by Adam, despite protests by PAS". *Source: The Star*


At eight-ish, a local artiste, with a name that sounds like Eggo, performed the first opening act. It was a rather dismal performance, as everyone had a certain expectation from the opening act with a main star like Adam Lambert. Hubby and I commented that the show organizer would have done a better job if they had invited Sin Huey to open the act, especially since she was there at the concert.

Fortunately, the second act was much better. Daniel Lee, the Malaysian Idol 2005 winner  did Bon Jovi reasonable justice with his rendition of "It's My Life". Mind you, that is not an easy song to sing, and most Asian singers don't have a powerhouse voice. That is why they mostly stick to melodies. So, what Daniel Lee was able to do is considered decent enough. 

After Daniel's performance, there was a long wait before Adam showed up on stage, in spite of screams and shouts from excited fans. I think he's a little hard of hearing, if he could fail to hear  the ruckus we fans stirred up, shouting his name again and again.  ;)

To give us something to do before we screamed ourselves hoarse, the Yellow Man / Yellow Duck released some balloons for the crowd to bat at. Yes, it's DIGI. 

At 9.20pm, the lights dimmed and the show finally began. And one thing became very clear throughout the 90 minutes. Adam Lambert is in the league of legends like Michael Jackson and Queen. Even though he's a beginner, his showmanship, his energy and most of all, his vocals, showed clearly that he is one big powerhouse. You see, the acid test is always the concert. 

A singer may sound good on TV, music videos or CDs but only a truly good singer can sound good in a live concert. In a live concert, you don't get the benefit of a sound engineer doing some sound editing to cover up your weakness!

Take for example, Inxs. JD Fortune sounded really good in the RockStar competition on TV, music videos and CDs, but when he sang in a live concert at Stadium Negara in 2006, he wasn't able to project a commanding presence. His voice lacked the range, or should I say the power that Adam Lambert has. Don't get me wrong. I love JD Fortune, too, but I have to be honest.

The last song (well, not counting the encore) was If I Had You. After introducing his dancers in the middle of the extended version, Adam got the crowd into a frenzy by getting them to sing along.

I am so glad that Adam decided to bring his show to Malaysia, and I hope he will come again in the not too distant future! He will be working on a new album in winter, after his tour is completed, and I can't wait for it!