Superman can't fly - Jay Chou The Era 2011 Live in Guangzhou.. and some rants.
Playlist:
01. Dragon Rider (龙战骑士)
02. The Era (跨時代)
03. Snake Dance (蛇舞)
04. Love In B.C. (爱在西元前)
05. I'm Not Worthy (我不配)
06. Hip Hop Air Hostess (嘻哈空姐)
07. William's Castle (威廉古堡)
08. Mr Magic (魔术先生)
09. Black Humour (黑色幽默)
10. Fragrance of Rice (稻香)
11. Sunshine Homeboy (阳光宅男)
12. Tornado (龙卷风)
13. Fireworks Cool Easily (烟花易冷)
14. Free Instructional Video (免费教学录影带)
15. Love's Flight Diary (爱的飞行日记)
16. Time Machine (时光机)
17. Dad, I Have Come Back (爸我回來了)
18. It Rains All Night (雨下一整晚)
19. Simple Love (简单爱)
20. In The Name Of The Father (以父之名)
21. Cannot Speak (开不了口)
22. Give Me The Time For One Song (给我一首歌的时间)
23. Chinese Flower Pot (青花瓷)
24. East Wind Breaks (东风破)
25. Nun-Chuks (双截棍)
26. Silence (安静)
27. Hero (周大俠)
Took a 6-hour bus ride from Guilin to Guangzhou. Stayed in a rather overpriced and unsatisfactory hostel for two nights. Quite freezing on the concert day in the open football field and my seat was up in the bleachers. And it was one of the best nights of my life ever.
It was grand, the stage act was impressive. He was more charming that I've ever thought. As talented as imagined. I even began to think he's not that bad looking after all. He was energetic throughout the concert, which lasted for about two and a half hours. He kept thanking the fans over and over again, making us felt appreciated, keeping us excited. They screened a montage of his works for the last ten years, and when the screen said "Do you still remember my first song?", they showed 可爱女人 and I teared up. I've been a fan for such a long time and being able to finally see his concert live was very rewarding indeed.
Okay. I'd like to rant, bear with me. I know a lot of his old fans stopped being fans since a few years ago and only have bad things to say about him now. Look, I know how embarrassing it can be to be his admirer. I mean, 嘻哈空姐? Talk about second hand embarrassment. Believe me, I've been a fan for a long time. Believe me when I say you're not the only one that misses the good old Jay, Fantasy and 8 Dimensions days. I became a fan because of his music. I fell in love ever since 安静 and actually never really cared about his looks, MVs, personal life whatsoever. Even now I still don't pay much attention to those things. His music was the reason I fell in love with him and his music will forever be the one aspect of him that I care about the most.
I sang 安静 with a friend at karaoke the other day and it made me think, I sure miss the old Jay Chou. Hoodies. Hats. Minimum hair product. Yeah I miss those days when it felt like all Jay cared about was his music, that's it. I'm not a fan of his present outrageous costumes nor his tacky MVs. I prefer a simpler Jay. But those things didn't make me stop listening to his music. I understand that Fantasy might be a better album than The Era. I understand that 龙卷风 is a better song than 嘻哈空姐. But hey, Jay always has at least one 'unnecessary', what-the-hell-is-this kind of song in each of his album anyway.
His stupid movies, his over-the-top style, his TV show.. Does all this crap mean that he's lost his talent? Does all this crap mean that he's no longer the talented musician that we all fell in love with? I don't think so. I believe he is still the singer songwriter that we all adore. He is still the singer songwriter we fell in love with during our high school days. I find it pitiful, sad, unfortunate that a lot of people think that since Jay is now wearing big ass necklaces, starred in some stupid movies, made a song called Hip-Hop Stewardess, he is now not worth listening to. People should be able to not mind all those crap and just keep listening to his music, like we all always did. Of course he sometimes make lousy songs but that doesn't mean that he stopped making great ones. Hey, 超人不会飞.