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Wakin 20: "A Night of Love, Passion and
Memories" |
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Encore:
"Don't Let It End" |
The audience had been very supportive of Wakin
throughout the performance. From all around the
arena, the walls had been reverberating all night with
loud cheers and thunderous applause after every song.
By the end of the show, many rowdy fans in the VIP
section started leaving their seats and standing in the
front...blocking my perfect view of the stage! (Humph!
So of course I had to join them...what else can one do,
right? Hahaha...)
When Wakin finished singing "You Make Me Happy and Sad",
and raced off the side of the stage in a blur of bright
green and blue, the encore call was immediate...and
deafening! The drummer egged the crowd on with a
three-beat cadence, and right away everyone started up
the chant..."ZHOU-HUA-JIAN! ZHOU-HUA-JIAN!" Until
it sounded like the whole auditorium must have been on
its feet, shouting and stomping out the rhythm! So
bless his heart, Wakin came back out on stage for an
encore, to absolutely deafening applause, and treated us
all to three more songs! YAY!
It seemed clear that Wakin was really enjoying the
energy of the crowd too, which was totally fun to watch!
After such a long show, I would have expected him to be
at least a little bit tired by that point; but if he
was, he surely didn't show it. If anything, he seemed
energized! He was all over the stage at once, with a
huge smile, waiving and interacting with the crowd, and
punctuating nearly every phrase with such animated
gestures that not even my action shutter could pick up
anything but a blur. The crowd was loving
it--singing along, hands in the air and swaying,
clapping, dancing...with Wakin taking on the role of a
choir director, prompting one side of the arena to sing
and then the other...and the crowd at 110%
participation! It was cool! I kept expecting
to see a giant beach ball appear from nowhere and start
crowd surfing any minute. (Darn...I left mine at
home! I knew there was something I forgot...hahaha...)
We went through a very energetic "Hua Xin" this
way, followed by "Peng You" and then a really
awesome, very fast tempo-ed version of "I Didn't Intend
to Go" as his last song. That song was like a
last, giant burst of exploding confetti to end the
concert! It was just so much fun.
My expectations upon entering the concert hall that
night could do nothing to prepare me for the show that
was to come. Wakin's performance in San Francisco
was way beyond anything I could have anticipated.
I've been a big fan for many years now, and still he has
the ability to completely amaze me and leave me totally
speechless with his abilities and musicianship. He
was absolutely brilliant. Beyond brilliant.
In that rarified air of perfection somewhere.
There is no other performer like him, anywhere.
It has been over a month now, at the time of this writing,
since the event, and still the only word that comes to
mind when I think of this show is, overwhelmingly...WOW. My
heart-felt thanks goes out to Wakin and his musicians
for such a fabulous show, and to the producer,
Q Production, Inc.,
for putting together such a wonderful night of
high-caliber music and entertainment! The night had
everything one could wish for in a concert...it was the
kind of night that should never come to an end!
Next page:
"A
Night to Remember"
by Carole Laberge!
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