Eason “Duo” World Tour 2010

Singapore Indoor Stadium

Last Saturday

In the middle of the track Tourbillon, Hong Kong’s Eason Chan paused, wrapped up in the moment. Then the silence, and the mood, was shattered by a shout of “Eason!” by an enthusiastic fan.

The 36-year-old finished the song to a few more attention-grabbing yells and then said softly but audibly in English: “Shut up, I hate you.”

It is one thing for fans to show their love and adulation but it is simply rude to do so when silence is called for.

Chan later made light of the matter, wondering why there was such a culture of people interrupting songs. Even when he performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall, the same thing happened.

And it was always some “geezer or bloke” doing the shouting, never some lovely woman, “that’s what I hate”.

Still, despite the intrusion, he did a fine take of Tourbillon, a highlight from this year’s Time Flies EP, which reflects on the cruel passage of time.

In keeping with the Duo theme of the concert, Chan, who first appeared on stage in a two-toned suit, paired the track with Salon, about people’s attempts to capture moments in time through snapshots.

Lyrically, his songs have always provided food for thought, thanks to wordsmiths such as Lin Xi and Wyman Wong, and the exercise of matching up songs and drawing links makes them even richer in meaning.

Vocally, however, Chan was not at his best. There was a trace of tired gruffness at the edge of his sound and his falsetto range was simply not there.

Even so, an off-his-game Chan is still hands-down one of the best vocalists around.

That timbre, the resonance in his voice and an emotional truthfulness make it a treat to hear him sing live, whether he is tenderly navigating loss and heartbreak on Under Mt Fuji or delivering gothic drama on Flamboyant.

On tracks such as Man And Car and a cover of Jacky Cheung’s Messed Up Hair, the audience got to see his playful side. It also came through in his costumes, including one white outfit that crossed an oversized pyjama T-shirt with baggy hip-hop pants.

That ebullient and child-like side of him was particularly apparent in his banter.

At one point, he excitedly recounted, in a meandering and sometimes difficult-to-understand anecdote, about odd accents and phrases, cracking himself up and leaving guest star Tanya Chua more than a little perplexed.

They shared the stage on How Much, written by the local singer-songwriter and taken off his last Mandarin album, Fifth Floor’s Happiness (2009).

Chua then performed her hit ballad Darwin, a track she said she had written for Chan but which he never sang.

The evening ended with an encore of Chan’s old hits, a reworked rock version of Backpack and the elegiac Next Year Today.

Despite the less-than-perfect voice, it had been an evening filled with memorable moments.

It was as he had promised when he covered a Roman Tam classic – Good Songs For You. Though to be more accurate, it would be Good Singer For You as well.

(ST)