Li Mao-shan and Lin Shu-jung
Singapore Expo's Max Pavilion/Last Saturday

Time travel does exist.
And last Saturday night, 6,500 people were transported back to the 1980s.
Taiwanese crooners Li Mao-shan, 48, and Lin Shu-jung, 47, turned back the clock with songs from yesteryear complete with vintage musical arrangements, bubble machines and dancers twirling giant feathered fans and prop umbrellas.
The best part: There was not a hint of irony in sight.
The 21/2-hour concert was not about updating past successes. Instead, it was an unabashed and unreserved recreating of a bygone era.
Li took to the stage first in an all-white suit and delivered ballads such as My Eyes Are Raining and I Have A Love.
While he has a pleasant baritone, the eyes-closed, brows-furrowed, fist-clenched style of over-emotive singing of angsty lyrics grew old after a while.
But clearly, it held some appeal for the crowd, mainly in their 40s and older.
It helped that Li had a somewhat cheeky stage persona and he spoke in both Mandarin and Hokkien, cracking self-deprecating jokes.
After an hour, he yielded the stage to Lin, who emerged in a sequinned gold number. Having been away from showbiz for over 10 years, she admitted that she was nervous and excited and had not been sleeping well.
This explained the slightly hoarse voice and the fact that she seemed out of breath when chatting between songs. Still, she was in fine form otherwise.
She performed several upbeat tracks such as Anna and Qiao Qiao Men (Knock Knock), which were a welcome change of pace. She also took on the late Anita Mui's melancholic Woman Flower.
The evening ended with both Li and Lin on stage, bantering lightly and flirting coyly to the amusement of their fans.
Announced by Li as 'the greatest song of the 20th century', the pair proceeded to deliver Wu Yan De Jie Ju (Silent Ending), the monster hit duet that remains a karaoke favourite to this day.
For their encore, the duo performed the classics The Moon Represents My Heart, Applause Swells Up and the Hokkien anthem To Win You Must Fight, and got their fans to wave their hands in the air and sing along spiritedly.
And then it was time to head back - to the future.
(ST)