Part I - Konsert Jamal & Saleem

My Mom and I had a great time at KL Convention Centre last Saturday, all thanks to my brother who had been very generous to buy us tickets to see Jamal Abdillah and Saleem’s concert.

Who can say no to an opportunity to dress up and be entertained, right? So I got myself a wrap-around shirt from East India and a pair of shiny-black wedges (that I’d been eyeing for weeks) just for the occasion. Talk about finding all the excuses to shop! I’m all with you in this LIN! Peduli ler kalau orang kata hobby kita nie macam Imelda Marcos, kan?

Even though I'm not a huge fan of those two guys, I have to admit that I’m a sucker for late 70’s to early 90’s songs- Jay Jay, Francesca, Sudirman, Alleycats, Sohaimi Meor Hassan, and many more. I love their songs because the singers had this deep penghayatan lagu and the lyrics memang mendalam especially those written by Habsah Hassan. More over, it was somewhat nostalgic to hear the songs that we grew up with (dah tua rupanya!)

So that night, the moment the music started, I found myself thumping my feet to the beat and I sang-along through most of the songs. It was somewhat amazing to find that after all these years, I could still remember the lyrics..kawan-kawan, itu ler manfaat simpan song book masa zaman sekolah dulu kot!

Saleem opened the concert that night with “Hakikat Sebuah Cinta”. I really love that song because of the intro. It was a great start, but our excitement didn’t sustain that long. Saleem couldn’t really tarik suara for most of the songs that he sang afterwards. Just imagine, the orchestra was fabulous, the music arrangement was great, and he started the song very well, but when it reached the chorus- dia senyap jer, not even confident to try, and the backup singers didn’t took that part too, so it left us the audience ‘to fill in the blanks’. Luckily we all ingat lirik dan selamba je nyanyi kuat-kuat ala-ala kat pusat karaoke. Tak kisah ler, janji puas hati!

And I was very distracted with Saleem’s choice of clothing. He wore this all-white suit that was at least two-size bigger, with a matching pair of white shoes! Wearing white all over can be very dangerous if you didn’t put it carefully. It either could make you look stylishly elegant - think Anuar Zain’s perfectly fit white-suit or can do just the opposite. In this case, Saleem looks like a hospital attendant, rather than an entertainer. And the fact that he was also not so good in the communication department, had made me so restless, mengantuk pun ada. And oh yes, I don’t know what the purpose they had these two male dancers yang buat aksi ala-ala ballet di atas pentas.

But it was not all bad. Just when I thought that this concert was hopeless, the legendary Blues Gang came up to the stage. All gear up with blues style, they started their performance with “Ibu” which almost bring tears to my Mom’s eyes (and me too!). In case you’re wondering why, here’s the lyric,

“Ibu, ku tahu kau kesunyian,

Dapat ku rasakan hidupmu penuh kekosongan

Ayah pergi tinggallah kau seorang diri

Perginya ia takkan kembali lagi"

Bro, mama bayangkan you sang the song for her...

Then Saleem joined the Gang on the stage. And this time I had to took back my words about his inability to perform well. I really had to give him the credit (even standing ovation if I had to!) for his great rendition of “Still Got the Blues”. With the legendary Blues Gang as the back-up, great gorengan gitar, he sang the song effortlessly!!! Ni barulah rock!!

Then Aris Ariwatan took up the stage. That was the first time I saw him performing live. Even though I had been expecting him to sing “Cinta tak kenal siapa” or “Lamunan Terhenti” or paling tidak pun “Permaidani”, surprisingly he chose to sing his much earlier song, “Di Kala Asmara Lepaskan Layarnya”.

Even if the song was not so familiar to my ears, I had to say that Aris’ performance was one of the memorable one. The moment he got onto the stage, with his heavily sprayed hair, quite made up face and brown/bronze color-silk suit (which fits him nicely, thank God!), he had captivated me (and most of the audience I bet) with his manly voice the moment he opened his mouth to sing. Even if the showmanship was just toleh kiri-kanan sahaja, he definitely got the stage persona. And when he left the stage just after one song, we were shouting, we want more!

Oh yes, I've resolved not to bore you guys with my lengthy entry, so I shall continue this later. This is ~ End of Part I~