an evening with anuar zain

"I was at the first floor, third row from the front. The view was GREAT! :D"

Anuar Zain is indisputably one of the most talented male artistes of his generation and it would seem inconceivable for me to miss his first ever solo concert (in Singapore?) at the Esplanade Concert Hall. So maybe sitting in the third row was a tad too obsessive perhaps but with ticket prices being what they were, I just thought I might as well get my money's worth. From my vantage point, it was possible to actually see the beads of perspiration that gradually trickled down Mr Zain's cheeks when he finished the first half of his concert!

Contrary to what you may think, I am NOT such an avid fan but I couldn't pass up on the opportunity of catching Mr Zain LIVE. All this while, I've seen him sing a couple of songs (or half-a-dozen at most) on TV in some variety show or other but can he carry the full weight of TWO hours (or slightly less) of concert showtime on his skinny shoulders? The answer is a resounding affirmative.

Despite having only three studio albums to his name, there is actually a rich plethora of ballads (and a precious few, yet still rather notable, uptempo numbers) for him to choose from to make up his itinerary of songs for the evening. Right from the moment his soulful vocals soared through the hall on Keabadian Cinta, he had the audience hooked. Although Mr Zain complained of a sore throat (or something of the sort) after an amazing rendition of I'm the Lucky One (or was it Mungkin?), his voice, fortunately, was in fine form that evening, all the way 'til his encore pieces Ketulusan Hati and Lelaki Ini.

However, I have two little grievances. One: Repartee with audience, was virtually negligible, except for maybe a couple of feeble attempts. I guess I was probably expecting something akin to the seasoned banter of Siti Nurhaliza or Sheila Majid, chatting up the audience, sharing "personal" experiences and stuff. Two: With the exception of a spontaneous (and awesome!) rendition of Greatest Love of All, all the other songs were from the Anuar Zain songbook. I was hoping that he would surprise his fans with a couple of songs, at least, which were not his own. Anuar Zain singing Dealova perhaps?? LOL

I was also quite disturbed by the sight of at least two whole rows of stall seats empty/unsold but from my point of view, it looked as if the upper floors were all nicely filled up. Apart from this, and my griping from earlier, Mr Zain's concert, I thought, was a triumph.

And I almost forgot to mention that the moment Mr Zain walked out after his last song, the same fans who were screaming for him previously, started calling out for Taufik Batisah. The latter even caused quite a jam in human traffic when he was exiting the hall. Honestly, women can be so fickle! =p