Wu Bai & China Blue Asia Tour 2008
Suntec City Convention Hall 6

Rocker Wu Bai showed little sign of giving up his crown as King of Live Music during his three-hour concert.
The 40-year-old Taiwanese singer now sports well-coiffed hair and is fuller in the face but he could still pull out the stops on his hard-luck tales of life and love such as Wanderer’s Love Song and The End Of Love from a repertoire that spans more than 10 albums.
Having last performed here in September 2006 when he shared billing with Taiwanese singer Chang Chen-yueh, this time he thrilled the crowd of over 4,000 with his rapturous guitar-playing and intense delivery.
Emerging on stage with a black jacket thrown over a white graphic T-shirt and black pants – his dramatic eye make-up obviously inspired by glam rockers Kiss – he got right down to business with Innocent Years from his last studio album.
He then reclaimed Yellow Moon, which he wrote for popster Tarcy Su, for himself.
It wasn’t till a couple more numbers into his show that he greeted the audience. Clearly, he preferred to let his songs do the talking.
Still, beneath the cool, taciturn exterior was someone who could be playful as well and fans got to see this side of him in the dance segment.
Backed by four female dancers in cropped tops and hot pants, he showed off his moves on four tracks, including Flower.
During the second encore, he had everyone in the hall on their feet as they took part in a mass dance led by him and his game band China Blue.
Fans also got to see their idol’s artistic side as his photographic works, comprising poetic and almost abstract images, were flashed on stage to the accompaniment of keyboards and violin.
But the familiar Wu Bai was the one they loved best and Hokkien tracks such as Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird, No. 1 In The World and One Half proved to be crowd-pleasers.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of Wu Bai & China Blue and their long experience in performing together showed in the tight-knit playing.
The set ended on a high note as Wu and the gang gave a spirited rendition of the aptly titled Again, Meet Again in an impressive shower of confetti.
Carried along by the energy, Wu asked for the lights to come on, and stay on, so that he could see the crowd.
After the Flower mass dance, he quipped: “It’s ended, why are you still here? I’ve sung for such a long time, go home, go home.”
Then, for good measure, he sent his fans reeling into the night with the propulsive You’re Drunk, My Dear, high from the invigorating blast of rock ’n’ roll.
(ST)