Crowd Lu Concert Singapore 2011

Grand Theater at Marina Bay Sands

Last Saturday

Forget the movie Happy Feet. The audience at Crowd Lu’s gig was treated instead to the real deal.

The Taiwanese singer-songwriter was so engrossed in his songs that his feet threatened to dance away from him in a burst of exuberance.

Seized by the music, they would bang together to keep time, twist about in a hypnotic manner or tap with an insistent urgency. At times, one leg would be raised or even two as he balanced on the stool.

It laid to rest any fears that the spontaneity of his performance would be compromised in a larger, grander venue with an audience of 1,800 instead of the 800 at his last solo gig here at St James Power Station’s Dragonfly in January last year.

Indeed, Lu proved that he could deliver a compelling show even without the bells and whistles of a slick set-up. He sported his familiar bowl-cut hairstyle, black-rimmed glasses as well as a striped T-shirt, bermudas and canvas shoes.

Instead of changing costumes, he switched guitars. He was supported by just a drummer, a bassist and a trumpet player.

Vocally, the 26-year-old was in excellent form as he took on ballads, breezy folk-pop and raucous rock numbers. He performed all 11 tracks from his third and latest album Slow Soul (2011) and even went all the way back to the first single he released in 2006, Yuan Ming.

Often, he would give a short introduction of the upcoming number. Zai Jian Afadisi (roughly Goodbye Afa-deus) was inspired by his roommate getting a haircut while Rock’n Roll Style came about as the result of a ravenous breakfast episode.

His songs are refreshingly grounded in life and his palpable optimism is infectious. On disc, a song such as Rainbow almost comes across as twee but you cannot help but smile when he says at the performance: “When you feel that you’re going through a rough patch, just turn on the water hose and, wow, rainbow.”

By the time he sang the joyous Goodbye Pinky Swear off 2009’s Seven Days, he had everyone on his feet and dancing along with the entertaining instructional video of him going through the moves.

For the encore, he opened with Slow Soul and then served crowd-favourite Good Morning, Beautiful Dawn! from debut album 100 Ways For Living (2008) as the fans happily chorused along, “Dui a, dui a” (That’s right).

The final song was the whimsically poignant Wu Di Tie Jin Gang (literally Mazinger Z, a robot from the Japanese anime series of the same name), which was performed by Lu alone with his guitar.

While I had a pang of nostalgia for his previous cosier gigs, it is great that his music is reaching a wider audience. In a world that can sometimes be grey and cynical, we could all do with a dose of the antidote that is Crowd Lu.

(ST)