Wow, I’m really behind on the news. I had this epiphany last term that I needed to radically restructure how I assign papers so that I didn’t get stuck grading around the clock for the last three weeks of the semester. I did, but something went horribly wrong in the process because I’m still stuck grading around the clock for the last three weeks of the semester. Well, there’s always next term.
Anyway, that is not Mayday/sodagreen/Mandopop-related, just my excuse for why SO MUCH has happened and I haven’t posted anything about it. Now let’s get down to business.
As you are no doubt already aware, Mayday kicked off the DNA tour in Hong Kong last weekend. (I’ll be linking posts following the progress and news about the DNA tour here.) The original plan was for two shows, but the fans snapped up those tickets so quickly they increased it to three; if there hadn’t been other events scheduled for the venue, they could have easily held four. Ashin, naturally, tried to speak some Cantonese for the crowd, noting that he learns one Cantonese phrase a year, so in ten years he should have ten phrases, and in 100 years, perhaps a hundred phrases… so it’d be best for his Cantonese for the band to play more concerts in Hong Kong. Additionally, it was the first time in the history of the venue that a music act performed both the first and last song in Hokkien (okay, that’s not exactly an exciting accomplishment, but, well, we work with what we get) – the opened with “Motor Rock,” and closed the second encore [edit] of one show with “Nobody Else in My Heart” and “Peter and Mary.”
The downside of multiple encores, of course, is that the band got hit with some hefty fines for running over time – at the celebration party afterward, they worried a bit about being blacklisted from future appearances for playing so long and running so late. On the bright side, this article suggests that no matter how many people think the band does not play true “rock” music, clearly they have a “rock” attitude about breaking rules.
Just like with the Jump! tour, this time the band also has an opening video for the concert tour. Last time there was a strong love, peace, and anti-war theme; this time, the focus is on “dreams and ordinary people.” They imagine what the five guys would be doing if they hadn’t formed a band, and so in the film Ashin is a biology teacher, Monster is a businessman, Guanyou is a taxi driver, and Masa works as a promotions guy on the street, dressing up as a bear and handing out balloons. (Stone apparently does not exist is this alternate universe, but bear in mind that it has to be pretty far removed from reality for Ashin to be cast as a biology teacher – that strains credibility perhaps a bit too much!) Determined to change the world, the five guys (or maybe Stone is there but just unemployed?) set off to steal the DNA of people who have already had major impact on the world, setting off a chain reaction that I imagine we all need to go to a concert to see for ourselves, though in the process of filming they apparently smashed eight cars. Boys will be boys and all that.
Okay, I haven’t seen much about special guests at all, but I at least know that on the 22nd 21st, the special guest was Richie Ren (任賢齊). This naturally now has me sitting here humming to myself, “對面的女孩看過來，看過來， 看過來… (duimian de nvhai kan guo lai…)” That naturally led me straight to the dinosaur version (“對面的恐龍別過來…”), which in turn has me thinking about that dinosaur museum in Sichuan Province I’ve always wanted to visit, and realizing that my trip to Chengdu this weekend will not be long enough for that side trip. (*sigh*)
Anyway, beyond special guests, other stars also enjoyed the concert alongside fans, most famously Eason Chan, who almost got more attention than the band when he stood up near the end of one show:
Hey, the man looks like he’s enjoying himself! (He’s on the end in the t-shirt that says,”Music, Drama… Dance.) Ashin joked that he doesn’t know Eason that well, so he’s just like everyone else who admires him (including Masa, who was supposedly the most excited to see him there). The band was sorry not to be able to invite him up on stage, but they’d have been hit with doubled fines for running over had that happened.
Repeatedly asked to dance, the band played a video of them dancing, but was careful to stress that they still place music first. (Lots of pictures at that link.) Facing repeated requests, one night Ashin admonished the crowd, “If you want to watch dancing go see Fahrenheit; if you want to see handsome faces go see F4; but if you want to see terrible dancing then come find us. You guys are crazy for wanting such clumsy people to dance!” Yeah, don’t dance guys. Be strong and stay as far away from the boyband route as you possibly, possibly can. Most of us have not yet recovered fully from the horror that was the Time Machine-era dancing. (My eyes! My eyes!)
The next stop on their world tour will take them to Australia – they play Melbourne tomorrow and Sydney on Friday. I noted this with Jump! and got *no* takers, but if anyone attends one of these concerts and wants to “guest post” a concert review, send me an email!
They sang Peter and Mary and Nobody else in my Heart another night, on the last night the encore songs were Chu Tou Tian+Gong Lang medley. The stage design and the lighting for this tour is amazing – especially the “globe”.
Stone is int he video, but his scene wasn’t as long as the others. He’s a owner (i think? or a worker) at a laundry shop.
They stole John Lennon’s DNA and ashin managed to smash up all the other DNA samples in the process, which lead to them getting chased by police cars. It was pretty hilarious but you have no idea what’s happening in the first section of the video.
Richie Ren went on the 21st not for the 22nd – there were no guests on the 22nd.
I love Eason’s tshirt
It was so funny because during the music stop part in love-ing, Ashin pointed out to Eason and circled him out 
The whole arena was shouting for Eason to get on stage but ashin said he couldn’t use Eason to be more popular 
The dance was actually… quite interesting. They did a para para kind of dance. I was shocked – I think I will laugh until I cry when I see the entire MV [they showed a part of what I think should be the MV in the concert] They actually danced a bit of it on the last night (the 22nd) for 30 seconds before stopping
The whole crowd didn’t want them to stop and we were shouting for them to keep dancing, but Ashin just started to yell “L.O.V.E.” to stop the demands. We demanded a dance quite a lot of times. There was one part in the concert where Ashin and Stone waltzed together.
Can’t wait for the concert DVD. I wonder – will Masa do another tutorial?
Oh thanks, Cat! I’ll make some corrections. I wasn’t finding many articles that differentiated between the nights, so I had some trouble keeping track of what was different!
I suspect that Masa will be considering those clever Hong Kong fans when he decides what to say on the DVD.
UBER AWESOME!!(= Everything is fueling my excitement at the moment, I don’t think I can sleep tonight! I’m going to the Melbourne DNA Concert tomorrow(less than 22 hours to go) so I’ll be happy to share the details, but to be honest I’m not to confident in writing a review because I am terrible at writing and I’ll end up rambling.. U__U’ But if you like, I’ll email you about it after tomorrow night!(=
yes Stone was ironing clothes in a laundry shop in the vid *lolz*
monkee_appelz – You’re worried about rambling? Here? On *this* blog? I’m the girl who just interrupted a concert report to note that I wasn’t going to be able to visit a dinosaur museum in Sichuan! I am the queen of off-topic digressions, and besides, my concert and album “reviews” are always just my random thoughts and impressions anyway. If you’re willing to tell us about it, I’d love to post it.
Thanks for the tour dates! I am seriously looking at the September 25-26th concert date in Taipei unless they’re playing a little closer to HK like Shen Zhen later on…
Do you know how long this tour’s gonna last?
Midori – the tour is suppose to run till 2010. Seems there *may* be a Macau date, but don’t take my word for it
Merry – I’ve finished a tediously long blog entry on my blog, so feel free to sift through it to pick out the details! You’re welcome to post it here, but it is VERY LONG and not very interesting, but let me know if you need any other details on the Melbourne Concert, I’ll be happy to help out!(=
http://monkeeapples.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/28th-of-may-2009-a-memory-that-will-last-a-life-time/
PS: I’m still in concert mode! Now I know why people attend multiple nights for concerts, to relive it all! It’s absolutely AWESOME!!!(=
I found the part where they dance and everyone’s yelling “跳舞！” but Ashin is yelling “L-O-V-E” on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGp5jNoXKow
Is this the part you meant, Cat?
hobie: thats only one of the parts XD We yelled for them to dance for I think at least 3 times.
I forgot to mention in my previous post: Eason’s t-shirt says “Music Drama Poetry Dance” I wonder where he got it from I might go get it
Aww, no summer concert dates in the US? I was saving up just in case they decided to come to the US. Hopefully, they do decide to come, otherwise that would make 3 years since their last concert in LA!
can anyone tell me what is the title of 五月天’s new song for the DNA concert?
I don’t think any of the news articles mentioned this, but I’m pretty sure Ashin forgot the lyrics to “Nobody Else in my Heart” during the encore on the first night in HK. Hahaha. He was singing “da la la la la~” for most of the first and second verses and Masa was totally laughing at him (as was I Haha).
And I would also just like to point out that Mayday obviously has like the most awesome staff ever. The cameramen kept panning over to fanmade signs w/ demands for them to dance on the last night. XD It was pretty hilarious.
Cat: Whoa, did you go all three nights? I orignally only had tickets for the first night, and then was debating whether or not I should go for another night. I almost didn’t (on account of ticket costs) but am glad I did decide to go again in the end, even though I did have to go alone. So worth it.
Merry: I wouldn’t mind doing a concert review, since I already have some stuff typed up. It probably won’t be too in-depth or anything, though, since when I was typing it up I meant for it to be more just for myself so that I’d remember the experience. I’ll attempt to organize my thoughts a bit better and add more details before emailing it to you. =)
I’ve been a big fan of this site for ages and I was @ their Sydney concert last night and had the luck (I mean LUCK) to seen them all in person and get photos/signatures (on a stolen poster) after the concert.
Their concert was MIND-BLOWING but what I’d really like to share is the experience of meeting them. Please drop me an email if something like that is suitable for this site. ^_^ I want to spread the MAYDAY LOVE!!
@LT wow I was at the Sydney concert too…how did you get to meet them in person? Was there an autograph session?
^ It was just alot of good luck. They didn’t have an autograph session but as I was walking home from Space (I was actually really lucky there too) I asked large Chinese restaurants that were open whether they had bookings for 30-40 people and the 3rd one I asked was it. The boss was really nice and let us sit outside drinking free tea while waiting.
Anyway my whole experience was SURREAL and LONG but I just have to say…all our love for Mayday is justified. Fantastic concert and they are so approachable in real life. Such sweethearts.
LT, we have the topic just for you at the MaydayAmericas Forum! Would love to hear about your close encounter!
http://www.maydayamericas.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=7&sid=ad07ad8393fdee764f4edebd04e5a1ce
LT: I heard that the audience was really uncooperative from another recount about the Mayday concert in Sydney… it’s not that bad is it? She said that Mayday was great but only the people in the front were standing up and the Encore only lasted a few minutes and Ashin was sad afterwards.
L: Nop, I only went on the 22nd – I originally couldn’t go at all since the other nights were school days. Wish I went because I’ve never heard Peter and Mary live. Did you go on the 21st or last night for the second time?
LT: Wow, how’d you think to go in to ask the Chinese resturants? Smart-ness. I’m insanely jealous. Haha. Please do share moree. =)
Cat: Haha, it just seemed like you went all three nights since you knew about stuff that happened each night. I went on the last night for my second time. In my opinion the last night was the better one. The timing and everything was better and they didn’t seem to be as pressed for time. Plus I think pretty much everyone was standing and more into it, so the atmosphere was better. The first night not a lot of the people around the area where I was sitting were standing up, and I felt bad about standing up ’cause I was worried I’d block the people behind me.
It was awesome in Sydney…everyone was standing up, even the people in the stands. I remember people were still standing up even during the breaks where they showed the DNA movie clips. Ashin didn’t sad at all lol
LT – 噢買尬! LT you are a genius! I wish I had done that in Melbourne!! Please do share the experience!! My post DNA fever is killing me! LOL(=
( I keep coming back to this site to see if anyone other sydniers have spazzed…)
@Cat: From the recount, only the back not standing is fairly true I think. There are certain constraints with concerts here and alot of kids just aren’t HARDCORE like HK/TW. They are just more mellow and in every asian concert I’ve been to, no one is ever able to get the second floor standing EVER. BUT the back were really good with the ’screaming games’ and encore shouts. Asian concerts @ Entertainment centre, as a rule of thumb, will ever go for 2-2.15hours. NO MORE. Either NO encore or 1-2 songs. Mayday went for 3 and a bit and encored like 4 times? We only left when they started dismantling the stage and big burly security were threatening us. I think the happiest people were the cameramen, they were exhausted after so many encores. =)
I admit I am old and mellow, but I squeezed into the front during the second song and stuck myself onto the railings right in fron of Guai Shou (the DARLING!) so I HAD a BLAST. My calves are about to burst and I’ve lost my voice AND I can’t lift my arm atm. It was a good night. I think Mayday had a blast as well, I could see it in their faces…and I was a metre away mind you! >D
PS. Ashin was VERY VERY tired and SWOLLEN FACED and apparently he’s on a trip in Sydney with his GF. =O
LT: Ahhh same situation here in HK. We refused to leave until they started to pack the stage. Nobody took notice of the security guards haha – we are THAT uncontrollable
But wow, 4 encores? Lucky people! We only had two.
I haven’t heard about Ashin and ddm news for a long time, and I admit I’m really curious =D Mind to share?
L: I read a lot of news – my mayday is flooded with posts about the concerts and their thoughts on it. I was standing with a bunch of mmd fans (I bought my tickets via the forum), so I knew I wouldn’t be blocking anyone – plus the seats are so high up! Have to say that there are advantages for the small arena after all. I guess you were sitting at the 680? I thought everyone at 680 were standing up – must have been hard to see the stage if you weren’t.
Anywayssss Ashin’s given clues that he might be updating his blog tonight so standby for his promised photo of the Sydney Opera House : D
Okay, Aussies need their own thread! I’ll have to take care of that ASAP when I get back from Chengdu. What’s in Chengdu, you ask? Well pandas, tea houses, easy access to Leshan, and today, at least, a certain “Superband.”
terence: The names of the new songs for the tour are “DNA” and “放肆”, in case you haven’t found out already.
Cat: Oh I see. And I was only in the 680 seats on the last night; I was in the 400 seats on the first night, and the majority of the people weren’t standing. I did end up standing for most of the show though, ’cause people in the row in front of me were standing and I couldn’t see the stage otherwise.
IM DYING FOR A BEAR TSHIRT
SAVE ME.
why didn’t they bring any merchandise T_T
LT: fly to Taiwan in September
I envy you actually – they didn’t sell posters in HK
LT: Me too!! But at least they were selling posters In Sydney, I didn’t see any one selling stuff in Melbourne! Unless I missed it! *Cries!*)=