The fiancée and I attended Jay Chou's Opus Jay 2013 concert in KL on 04 August 2013. I've earlier documented our pre-concert experiences here.
All photos and videos were taken with the Olympus SZ-16, which the fiancée got for me. I don't believe in water-marking my photos as I am not a professional (or even an amateur) photographer (and I think doing so is very act-pro and pretentious). I don't mind if you take and reuse my photos, but a credit or two won't hurt ;)
FYI, the song title of the songs performed will be highlighted in red. I will also say which album are the songs are from and they will be in italics and (brackets).
~~
The lights dimmed around 08:30PM which signaled the start of the concert. Which means also means pink light sticks time!
The concert began with a credit montage comprising of images like these:
In the video montage, it shows Jay (the protagonist / hero) fighting some machines before heading into a spaceship looking helicopter of sorts and lands in the middle of a battle zone.
The white screen was removed (with pyrotechnic effects) to unveil the giant spaceship helicopter in the middle of the stage.
[Opening Act]
The helicopter then opens and Jay emerges.
"Peek-a-boo!"
He launched into the song 驚嘆號 (from his 11th album under the same title) as the opening number, followed immediately by 龍拳 (3rd album 八度空間). Both songs are fast paced songs and are good choices to start the concert.
After the second song, Jay interacted with the crowd a bit, promising tonight's show, being the last show in KL, will conclude his Malaysia tour with a bang.
He then sang 最後的戰役 (3rd album 八度空間). He last performed the song in concert during his 2004 無與倫比 "Incomparable To Jay" Tour.
Emo song, so must sit down. Look he so full of emotions!
After the song, a video montage of his latest movie 天台 Rooftop, i.e. shameless movie plug, played on the screens as Jay left the stage for a costume change.
At the same time, a giant screen rolled down to display images of the sets used in his movie.
Taken from Jay's concert in Singapore on 08 June 2013.
Yes, the fiancée and I attended his Singapore concert too. I used the above picture because we had a front view of the stage and so were able to take a photo which shows the set I am referring to.
With that, the concert moved to the next segment.
[Movies Segment]
This segment of the concert comprised of songs from various movies Jay starred and/or directed in.
Starting with a recreation of a string of songs from his latest movie 天台, complete with the same costumes we saw from the movie.
The first song of this segment is 天台 (found on the 天台 OST), which is a duet with 彈頭 from 南拳媽媽. 彈頭 writes lyrics to a number of songs for Jay.
Similar to his previous concert tours, Jay never enlists special guests for his concerts. He prefers to showcase the talents of his friends, as well as artistes under his own production company, JVR Music. This tour is no exception.
Taken from Jay's concert in Singapore on 08 June 2013.
The orientation of the above photo looks different because this was another picture taken during his Singapore concert. I was too engrossed during the KL concert taking super close up photos that I missed taking photos of this song.
This was followed closely with a duet with 袁詠琳 Cindy, another artiste he signed under his company. They sang 天台的月光 (天台 OST).
The next song is the only song in this segment not from any movie, but from his latest album. It is also a duet with Cindy, 比較大的大提琴 (12th album 十二新作).
In it, Jay is projected on the giant screen play a virtual double bass. I don't really know how to describe it, so here is a snippet of the same song performed during his Singapore concert!
Next was a duet between Cindy and 邱凱偉 Darren from 浪花兄弟, another group signed under JVR. They performed 快門慢舞 (天台 OST).
Darren from 浪花兄弟...
... and Cindy
And can I just say, Cindy sings the song so much better than the lead actress in the movie. I have lots of issues with the movie but that is for another day.
For the next song, Jay performed 打架舞 (天台 OST).
With that, the giant screen is rolled up to reveal the full stage again.
There is this interlude where members of the band performed solos on their instruments while they are introduced and taking places on stage.
The last member to be introduced is naturally Jay.
He next perform the song 一路北向 (6th album 十一月的蕭邦 / Initial J - compilation album released in Japan only).
So close!
He then spoke briefly about how he remember coming to KL to promote the film Initial D, which was his first taste of the golden screen, before asking if the crowd watched the first movie he wrote / directed / acted in, 不能說的秘密 Secret.
Naturally, his next song was 不能說的秘密 (不能說的秘密 Secret OST).
No photos for this.. but got video!
The final song of this segment was the high tempo 雙截棍 (2nd album 范特西 / Green Hornet OST). It was the theme song selected for the first Hollywood movie he starred in, The Green Hornet.
He threw two pairs of nunchakus into the crowd. One pair was threw towards the centre of the VVIP block. The second pair was thrown in our direction! It landed one row behind where we were seated! So close!! Another lucky Singaporean couple manage to catch it!
With that, the Movies Segment came to an explosive end.
~After thought for this segment~
Jay did not perform the song 哪裡都是你 (12th album 十二新作 / 天台 OST) in KL, which I thought was a pity because when he performed the song in Singapore, the entire arena "rained".
Again, it's kinda hard to describe this, so... video time!
I wonder if this song was dropped for the Malaysia concert altogether, but I guess I'll never know.
[Piano Segment]
Jay went back stage to change and get prepared for the next segment of the concert.
Meanwhile, the mine player appeared back on stage (he first appeared during the transition to the Movies Segment earlier) to ease the transition to the next segment of the concert.
This is the clearest shot I have of him as the lighting was pretty dark.
He worked the crowd for about 2-3 minutes before Jay emerged on stage with the next song, 明明就 (12th album 十二新作).
I wonder what he was looking at here:
Caught you looking at the lyrics board!
As this was a emo-piano solo piece, cue the picture perfect finish:
This was followed closely by the next song, 世界末日 (范特西 EP).
Jay next performed Mine Mine (11th album 驚嘆號).
He replaced the last line of the song "會艱苦. 會艱苦. 會艱苦. 會艱苦. 會艱苦~" with "馬來西亞~ 我愛你. 我愛你. 我愛你. 我愛你. 我愛你."
(In Singapore, he replaced it with "這裡是新加坡~ 新加坡. 新加坡, 新加坡. 我愛你, 新加坡.")
To end off the piano segment, Jay performed 安靜 (2nd album 范特西).
He started the song with a piano instrumental of 聴媽媽的話 (6th album 依然范特西). I heard that this piano solo intro was unique to the final night of his concert tour in KL. He did not do that in the earlier two nights of concerts, nor did he do that in Singapore.
I recorded the lyric cue board in the video showing the first line of the song 安靜 as the next song. This gave the next song away as all of us who saw the lyrics board knew he wouldn't be singing 聴媽媽的話.
He hardly spoke to the crowd during this segment, choosing to perform the songs in quick succession before moving on to the next segment.
[中國風 Segment]
The mine performer came on stage again to signal the transit into the 中國風 Segment.
The first song Jay performed in this segment is a hilarious song, 公公偏頭痛 (12th album 十二新作).
The song is hilarious because of the lyrics and the music video:
This was followed immediately by 青花瓷 (8th album 我很忙). Jay also performed this song in his previous tour in 2010.
Jay then gave a shout out to the person who wrote the lyrics to this song, 方文山 (Vincent Fang). Jay acknowledge that many of his songs would not have been possible without the contributions and talents of Vincent.
In fact, the 'V' in Jay's company, JVR Music International, stands for 'Vincent'. Jay mentioned that 13 years ago, when he started out in the music industry, he didn't look like the type who could write music, and Vincent didn't look like the type who could write such beautiful lyrics.
Vincent was in KL with his family to catch the concert. And look who we caught a glimpse of! Jay's mama, 葉惠美, whom Jay famously dedicated his 4th album to, by naming her as the title of the album.
Jay Mama is the one seated on the extreme right!
Jay next performed the song, 紅塵客棧 (12th album 十二新作).
That was the last song of the 中國風 segment.
[Vocal and Stripped Down Segment]
The transition to this segment wasn't marked by the mine performer, but a super talented Beat Boxer from China (I didn't get his name), who worked up the crowd with an amazing solo beat boxing.
The back up singers then belted out the songs 鬥牛 (1st album Jay) & 水手怕水 (11th album 驚嘆號) in Acapella, before performing the song 大笨鐘 (12th album 十二新作) with Jay emerging on stage again.
Jay showed very good PR skills again by ending the song with "馬來西亞~ 我愛你!"
Jay then did an impromptu set of 雙截棍 (2nd album 范特西) & 可愛女人 (1st album Jay). We could tell it was an impromptu set because the folks manning the lyrics board went crazy frantically looking for the lyrics to these two songs.
Cheeky smile trying to test how well his band reacts when he decides to sing a song that deviates from the set list.
Yes, we could see them searching their various windows folders for the lyrics. Pity I didn't manage to take a video or photo of that. But I did take a video of the segment!
We first heard Jay perform the rearranged version of 雙截棍 during his 2007 concert tour. It's pretty catchy!
Jay next launched into a medley of his old classics comprising of the following songs:
- 彩虹 (8th album 我很忙)
- 軌跡 (尋找周杰倫 EP)
- 牛仔很忙 (8th album 我很忙)
- 星晴 (1st album Jay)
- 回到過去 (3rd album 八度空間)
I didn't take a video of the medley performed in KL because it was the same set that he performed in Singapore (and I am sure other cities), which can be watched here:
Jay then briefly addressed the fans, saying that the last 13 years in the music industry has been a fantastic ride and that he will continue making music for the fans.
He next performed 完美主義 (1st album Jay) and 喬克叔叔 (9th album 魔杰座).
That shy smile!
晴天 (4th album 葉惠美) is the last song Jay performed before bidding farewell (false alarm one).
I loved the graphics projected onto the stage for this song. It was amazingly detailed and very colorful.
We loved the graphics because we remember very clearly that it was not projected when Jay performed 晴天 in Singapore.
I went back to my archives for a video and I did take a snippet of the song in Singapore. The background was noticeably simpler than the one in KL.
So much nicer right?
Jay's first farewell. It's slightly overexposed because there were pyrotechnics at the time I took this photo.
[Encore]
Jay left the stage for approximately 5 minutes before a giant three-storey tall screen (so I was told) was being set up on stage.
Fans eagerly waiting in the dark for the encore segment.
The following message was then projected on to the screens:
It requested everyone in the audience to switch off the light sticks for the next segment of the show so that the effects could have it's intended effects.
This next song, to me, is the highlight of this entire concert series. 手語 (12th album 十二新作). I didn't take the full video of the performance in KL because I already did that in Singapore, so I wanted to take more photos this time.
Here's the song performed in the last night of the Singapore concert, sorry it was kinda shaky:
It was only when I watch this performance from another angle in KL that I realised the amount of coordination and practice was required for the whole thing to work:
I loved the bit where the words "Hey Girl" were projected across the screen.
Not as clear cos it was a split second thing. Watch the video!
The ending pose for the song was also quite diao:
Jay then left the stage without performing 開不了口. We know this because he performed this song in Singapore right after 手語, and also, we saw the lyrics board skipping the lyrics of 開不了口 shortly after Jay left the stage.
The band's drummer than worked the crowd up a bit before Jay performed the second encore song, 烏克麗麗 (12th album 十二新作).
This segment was when the fans in the VVIP sector went crazy and rushed to any available standing space in front of the stage.
Jay and his dance crew came dressed in Hawaiian costumes too!
There were also giant beach balls being thrown into the audience during this upbeat song:
Jay then thanked the fans for coming and bid farewell once again before leaving the stage.
Jay next emerged to introduce members of the band, many of them had cameos and supporting roles in Jay's latest movie, Rooftop.
Jay's keyboardist perform a well-known cantonese folk song (I don't know the title). Jay then bantered with the crowd in Cantonese because the local Chinese folk speak cantonese.
The same keyboardist also performed a short verse and chorus of 黑色幽默 from Jay's 1st self-titled album. I did not highlight the song in red because Jay did not perform the song.
The last song Jay performed for the night was the very upbeat song 陽光宅男 (8th album 我很忙) before leaving the stage for the last time.
Total concert run time stood at 2 hours 15 minutes.
~ Final Thoughts ~
The fiancée and I definitely enjoyed ourselves in Jay's KL concert as compared to the Singapore one, for several reasons.
For one, Jay was noticeably down with the flu in his final night in Singapore back in June, so his energy level and voice weren't as powerful that night.
Also, we were seated comfortably in the KL concert, as opposed to standing throughout the concert while watching the show in the Premier Sector in Singapore.
Finally, we had a free seat upgrade giving us an unrestricted view of the entire concert! So kudos to Five Star Tours for their excellent service!
~ Set List For 04 August 2013~
[Opening Act]
1. 驚嘆號2. 龍拳
3. 最後的戰役
[Movies Segment]
4. 天台 (duet with 南拳媽媽's 彈頭)
5. 天台的月光 (duet with 袁詠琳 Cindy)
6. 比較大的大提琴 (duet with 袁詠琳)
7. 快門慢舞 (duet by 袁詠琳 Cindy & 浪花兄弟's 邱凱偉 Darren)
8. 打架舞
9. 一路北向
10. 不能說的秘密
11. 雙截棍
[Play Piano Segment]
12. 明明就
13. 世界末日
14. Mine Mine
15. 安靜
[中国风 Segment]
16. 公公偏頭痛
17. 青花瓷
18. 紅塵客棧
[Vocal & Stripped Down Segment]
19. 鬥牛 + 水手怕水 + 大笨鐘
20. 雙截棍 (改版)
21. 可愛女人
22. 彩虹 + 軌跡 + 牛仔很忙 + 星晴 + 回到過去 (Medley)
23. 完美主義 + 喬克叔叔
24. 晴天
23. 完美主義 + 喬克叔叔
24. 晴天
[Encore Segment]
25. 手語
26. 烏克麗麗
27. 陽光宅男
26. 烏克麗麗
27. 陽光宅男
