Concert review: Hebe Tien shows how far she has come

SINGAPORE — Six years ago, Hebe Tien was perhaps best known as a member of popular Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. Pretty, introverted and reticent, she always seemed happy staying out of the limelight, leaving her more extroverted friends and bandmates, Selina Jen and Ella Chen, to crack jokes and tackle difficult interview questions on and off the stage.

Much has changed since then. In 2010, Tien released her debut solo album To Hebe to much fanfare and acclaim. Her first single Leave Me Alone topped radio charts, and became the song du jour at karaoke joints all over the Mandopop world. She went on to release two more solo albums, My Love and Insignificance, and her recent hit, A Little Happiness, garnered more than 64 million views on YouTube.

As a result of her success as a solo artiste, Tien has had to learn how to entertain her fans without the help of her beloved band mates.

This past weekend, she showed us just how far she has come. Standing on stage at the Singapore Indoor Stadium at her sold-out If concert, the 33-year-old proved a formidable songstress, belting out signature ballads such as Devil’s Angel, You Better Not Think About Me, I Didn’t Think I Was In Love With You, My Love and Contradiction, all with power and finesse. While S.H.E’s concerts are usually boisterous affairs with catchy tunes and hilarious banter — as evidenced by their concert at the same venue last November — Tien’s show, by nature of her music and personality, was much calmer. But her audience of 8,000 didn’t seem to mind that there were not as many songs for them to dance to, or that most of the time, she just stood at various points on stage and performed song after song. They sang happily along, particularly to hits like Still In Happiness and Leave Me Alone, and even turned their mobile phone lights on spontaneously when Tien performed A Little Happiness during the encore segment of the show.

“Heaven must have a sense of humour to make an introverted person like me stand in front of so many people,” Tien mused, as she sat on an elevated stage decorated like an elaborate garden towards the end of the performance. “But it is a blessing to be able to do what I love for a living, and to have people appreciate my music.”

“Now I am all the way up here (on this elevated stage), I have no choice but to talk to you. I don’t know how to end this conversation,” she continued, to laughter from the audience. “But I know you know me, and you will accept me for who I am.”

And that is, perhaps all that truly matters.