Down to Earth! 2008 Mayday Concert

Just had a shower. Never felt so content before. Only now I know why people will spend so much on concerts...

I got a seat very near to the stage. The original price was $171, but thanks to Ling, I managed to get it for only $80. It was really a nice seat, just behind the arena. I was a bit disappointed at first, cuz the seat was quite far from the stage. Little did I know that there would be a surprise...

Waiting for the concert to start... watching Mayday's mtv on a big screen, adrenaline surging...

Suddenly... the lights went off, and the prologue was played on the giant white sheet which covered the stage.

I was so impressed that the whole concert actually had a theme. The prologue was based at 2057, 50 years from now. At that time, most species on earth has gone extinct, and humans are fighting a violent war against each other. The Mayday team members were seen in rags and dirt, joking around just as usual. Ashin told a little girl about dolphins that once lived in the oceans, she hasn't seen them before. He then gave her a necklace with a dolphin pendulum, saying that dolphins symbolizes hope.

Suddenly, there was an explosion, their village was under attack! Many masked soldiers marched into the compound and a terrible gunfight took place. At this point of time, it really shocked the spirits out of me to notice that a few REAL masked soldiers came down from the ceiling of the indoor stadium "comando" style, and started pointing their guns towards the audience!

One of the soldiers!

In the midst of the gunfight, the girl was shot. Ashin rushed to her just to find that she was gone. His face went blank, and in his grief he let out a loud, painful cry. The big white sheet covering the stage was dropped, and the show began!!!!

Stone playing an amazing guitar solo

Followed by Monster

It was song after song of great music, music that has been with me since I was 15 years old. Music that me and my sister danced to in our living room. Music that my sister said to me, " isn't this very meaningful?" It was my sister who brought me into the magical world of Mayday, and opened up a whole new perspective of life for me.

They even played 一千個世紀 (Romance of a thousand centuries)! It's a song about a love that transcends centuries-- a pair lovers that went through countless cycles of reincarnation, and at the end were joined in heaven while they watched as the sun dies. The song described the love through evolution, from unicellular organisms, to tetrapods, to mammals, to cavemen, to civilization and so on... Mayday is just genius, evolution has never been so sexy and romantic before!



Monster (left) and Stone (right) humming away with their guitar solo on a raised platform.


The songs were just too explosive! Everyone was so high, jumping up and down and swaying their arms in the air (me too!). I managed to capture the fireworks just on time!

Ashin on the giant screen, looking charming as usual =)

I was so happy to see Mayday live, that tears were welling in my eyes all the time. At one point Mayday played the song 小太阳 (Little Sun), it touched me so much that I gave up holding my tears and let them trickle down my cheeks in a cocktail of joy, excitement, pain and most of all, relief. The song brought back memories of granny, because it is about a person who went off in search of his dreams, but has somebody waiting back at home for him. As if every word Ashin sang was about my own story, I couldn't help but screamed my heart out, hoping that the person in the song could make it back home...


The show just kept getting better and better! While I was screaming, swaying my arms and head banging at the same time, I suddenly noticed that there was a platform coming down in front of me!


WTH! What is this?!

Ah!! Now I know what it is for!!! Before I could take a breath to calm myself...

Ashin ran from the stage in front and walked onto the platform!!!!!!!



Followed by Stone...

...And Marsha (left, can't see his face tho)!

...And of course, my all-time favourite drummer, Guanyou!


Not to forget our great guitarist Monster! To show his affection towards Mayday fans in Singapore, Monster had the Chinese words for "Singapore" written on his arm.

Another view of the platform, taken by Yinfong.

Get some guitars onto the platform and let's Rock n Roll again!



It is coincidently Marsha's birthday today. So we all sang the birthday song to him. Marsha joked that Guanyou should lie down and get the candle up for him! =P Haha, never knew Marsha could make dirty jokes too! Well, it was really nice to see Marsha celebrating his birthday on stage with four best friends. A very touching scene.


After they went back to the stage, Stone sang us a song that he just composed for his newborn baby. The title of the song is "Yi Ya Ya" (baby language).



Everyone was so high in "恋爱-ing"! Mayday got the whole crowd wild, spelling "L-O-V-E" in a roar for nearly 5 minutes!


A couple of kickin songs, and the show ended with a blast! =) The end was a very nice touch. It was ended with the song 天使 (Angel), and the screen played the video of the little girl, smiling widely, saying, "You are my angel, You are my first, and my last heaven".

The crowd continued to cheer so Mayday came out for an anchore song.

Their t-shirts said "Make music, not war". That is what I love about Mayday, they are always concerned about what's happening in the world, and its all written in their songs too. (Photo courtesy from Yinfong)





Curtain call! Thank you! (Photo courtesy from Yinfong)

I just had my Tropical Conservation Biology exams this afternoon, and went straight to Mayday's concert. Coincidently, the theme they had was about a future that is becoming more and more bleak for us. There are tragedies happening all around the world that we, living in Singapore, are sheltered from. Towards the end, Mayday advocated the message of hope, inscribed in that innocent smile of the little girl. I can't help but thinking, what more can we ask from music if not to spread the message of peace and love?



Links to other blog post about the concert:
it's lovee
FreedomKeys
清听清诉