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Liang Wern Fook’s For Music, For Life...Concert Review

SINGAPORE — Liang Wern Fook’s For Music, For Life ... concert, which ran for nearly 4.5 hours when we caught the show last Friday evening at The Star Theatre, was one of the longest gigs we have attended. What was more remarkable was the fact that Liang managed to squeeze more than 30 of his best hits and nearly 20 guest performers into the programme. Let’s not forget this is the xinyao’s songwriter’s first concert in his impressive 35-year career.

Xinyao songwriter Liang Wern Fook performing at his debut concert at The Star Theatre. Photo: Ocean Butterflies Music

Xinyao songwriter Liang Wern Fook performing at his debut concert at The Star Theatre. Photo: Ocean Butterflies Music

SINGAPORE — Liang Wern Fook’s For Music, For Life ... concert, which ran for nearly 4.5 hours when we caught the show last Friday evening at The Star Theatre, was one of the longest gigs we have attended. What was more remarkable was the fact that Liang managed to squeeze more than 30 of his best hits and nearly 20 guest performers into the programme. Let’s not forget this is the xinyao’s songwriter’s first concert in his impressive 35-year career.

This first of two concerts (which, by the way, took only six hours to sell out the 5,000 strong capacity) was really more a sharing session. It was clear from the cheers and applause Liang received every time he performed one of his classics, such as Singapore Pie, The Small Stream Flows Forever and Watch The Sunrise With Me, just how much his audiences identified with his compositions and how the lyrics resonated with the thoughts, concerns and preoccupations of his generation.

Throughout the evening, Liang told the audience how he felt about growing older, shared amusing anecdotes about key moments in his career and chatted with his friends and guest performers, who ranged from xinyao veterans such as Jiu Jian, Hong Shao Xuan and Jimmy Ye Liang Jun, to younger singers like Joi Chua, Chriz Tong and Stella Seah. Liang’s major celebrity friends, including Kit Chan, Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin, Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau also had recorded video messages with stories about how Liang’s work has impacted their lives and careers.

However, as Liang reminded us repeatedly during his concert, he is a songwriter and not a singer. Even though I enjoyed listening to Liang and his friends perform such as She Came To My Concert, Too Much and Step By Step, I found it far more interesting to listen to the stories behind these songs, like how he convinced famous songwriter San Mao to allow him to compose the melody for one of her songs and that Sparrow With Twigs was inspired by a Cantonese nursery rhyme that he had been taught as a child.

At the end of the night, I left The Star Theatre feeling numb in the legs and desperate for the loo, but also a tiny bit wistful. Will there be a songwriter like Liang who will be best able to represent my generation, when my friends and I turn 50 in two decades? We can only wait and see. HON JINGYI

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