Eric Moo Moments 2010 Asia Tour

Singapore Expo Hall 8

Last Friday

The concert did not start off promisingly. Malaysia-born and Singapore-bred veteran singer Eric Moo is known for his big emotive voice but he had trouble with the high notes from the get-go.

The 47-year-old kept passing the buck to the 5,500-strong audience during the chorus of songs such as Can’t Forget The Past (Yi Wang Guo Qu) and Love Puppet (Ai Qing Kui Lei).

After a few songs, he explained that his voice was not in tip-top condition because he had been feasting on local delights such as laksa, char kway teow and durians since arriving here from Beijing, where he is now based. The late nights spent watching World Cup matches did not help either.

It did not seem like particularly responsible behaviour, given that his fans were there to hear him sing and not for the staging, which was bare-bones; nor for the costumes, which were kept simple.

They had grown up with his music since the days of xinyao in the 1980s and some had come with children in tow. Moo himself had taken his family along as well. His wife and two young daughters were seated in the front row.

Still, the audience was won over by the chatty entertainer as he reminisced about his salad days and bantered with his daughters from time to time: “Daddy’s working, okay?”

There was also no denying that he has accumulated a large body of work and many of his songs were part of an indelible soundtrack for those who grew up in the 1980s.

It was nice to rediscover some of them, such as Love Hidden Inside My Heart (Qing Yi Cang Xin Di), over the course of the evening.

While his voice was ragged at the edges, it retained its sonorous power in the more forgiving lower registers. And one had to give the man credit for still going through with an almost four- hour-long show.

His vocals gained some strength over the evening, no doubt helped by his many asides and the parade of guests. They included Radio 100.3 deejay Charmaine Yip, the singer’s younger brother and producer of the concert, Allan Moo, and fellow singer-songwriter Roy Loi.

Most incongruously, film-maker Jack Neo, 50, who was mired in scandal earlier this year when it emerged that he had an affair with a 22-year-old woman, also showed up on stage. He bantered with Moo for a bit and then apologised once more for having strayed. The crowd seemed forgiving but really, it was neither the time nor place for it.

Happily, the focus shifted back to the songs after that episode as Moo took on favourite tracks such as Those Days (Na Yi Duan Ri Zi), Life Is But A Dream (Hong Chen Lai Qu Yi Chang Meng) and the Minnan number Call My Name.

The set ended with Too Foolish (Tai Sha), one of Moo’s biggest hits and a track that is notoriously difficult to sing. Once again, he got his obliging fans to sing the difficult parts.

Fittingly, one of the songs during the encore was You Are My Only One (Ni Shi Wo De Wei Yi). The crowd sang with gusto: “Perhaps you don’t believe I am satisfied with this outcome/Although you are my first/Although you are my last/Although you are my only.”

It was a love song from his fans to Moo, ragged voice and all.

(ST)