Starlight Shining at Westlife’s KL Concert (24 February 2023)

How does it feel to finally meet a long-lost friend from your youth? For sure, it would undeniably be a sweet and memorable one. That’s how my wife and I had felt when we recently went to the Westlife concert at the Axiata Arena Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

The concert, part of the ‘Wild Dreams’ tour, was held two nights in a row. We attended the second one from last Friday night (or was it Saturday night? I could never get the concept right), and it was definitely a moment to remember. The KL traffic was brutal that day, yet we persevered till we reached the venue, and made our hasty steps from the parking lot to the venue, with the Westlife playlist playing inside our head, rent free.

We actually arrived there earlier than expected, yet we had to queue behind a big ocean of people. Honestly speaking, we thought the visitors would be among those from between the Late Gen Xers to the Young Millennials (or Xennials, but the label’s deemed as scandalous and debatable). Surprisingly, there were a lot of youths, so young that I wondered if they first knew about Westlife while lying in their cradle.

Anyway, we had almost an hour to spare, of which the fans totally utilised the time singing to a lot of multigenerational popular songs being played at the indoor venue (My fav was Everybody Wants to Rule the World). It was already a concert on its own.

Then, they came. It was a soft start with a fine montage display, together with the slow instrumental version of their hits, and the crowd was joining the momentum by becoming more excited and restless. With the escalating mood and lights and special effects, Shane, Mark, Kian and Nicky finally made their presence on stage. The crowd was cheering and singing along to their first performance, Starlight, while the fans were shouting excitedly when the two big screens were showcasing the members for the first time. The group looked genuinely happy to see their Malaysian fans too, and that brought passionate cheers from the crowd.

The night was filled with their greatest hits. Uptown Girl was of pure energy, My Love triggered memories of youthful love from their (Correction: our) generation, and If I Let You Go evoked the what-could-have-been moments when you were young.

What’s more rewarding that night is that the band was really showing their appreciation of their Malaysian fans, as they interacted with the crowd a lot between songs. Shane pointed at a baby from the audience, with the display focusing on the youngest spectator of the night, being clueless and all. They also acknowledged and made jokes on them being older and with kids, together with the fanbase, thus the noticeable lack of energy of both as compared to two decades ago. They also funnily made remarks on the lack of fans at the KLIA for their recent arrival, as opposed to what it was when they came for the first time in 1999, much to the amusement and laughter from the crowd.

The concert ended well, not without them making their last group pose on the stage before making their exit, leaving the crowd fully satisfied. Or perhaps, there was an inner wish by the fans for the night to be a little bit longer, before returning to being adults with responsibilities waiting at home and the workplace.

I guess there were mostly true fans who came there that night, as they disregarded all the miniscule shortcomings of the event, but rather appreciate the rich and interactive experience of being transported to when life was positively simpler and brighter. To sum up, the concert was ‘More than Words’ could say (pun intended).

Hope there will be a next tour soon. And Shane, if you’re reading this, we promise we’ll be at the KLIA next time. Be seeing all four of you. Or five, hopefully.

 

 Nazreen 

- We had Joy. We had Fun -

The Trip to Popeye's Loisiana Kitchen and Beauty & the Beast: The Musical

Irtiza and I went to Sunway Lagoon last 29th December; the same day when we went toy-crazy and dropped by at the Mattel Clearance Sale at SSTwo Mall. The journey was due to one solid reason; 4 redemption vouchers to watch the Beauty & the Beast: The Musical that I got from the Hitz Cruisers last 12th December. 

The redemption vouchers

I nearly missed the fine print on the vouchers; they need to be exchanged with real tickets at the Sunway Lagoon counter. As the 31^st was the last day of the month-long performance, I chose the next day (the 30^th)…in order to avoid things like New Year-related traffic jams, satanic cults, and drivers who opt to disagree with the ‘Don’t drink and drive’ motto (Actually, the last two should belong in the same category).

The Sunway Lagoon

A big bird

The redeemed tickets

The next day, after fetching wifey at her workplace, we went straight to the Sunway Pyramid. The visit was a great deal for me, as for years we kept making cancelled plans to go to the shopping complex, especially during Christmas seasons, when the building was filled with beautiful trees, plastic / stuffed winter animals, and politically-correct depiction of Santa Clauses.

The first 10 minutes in the Sunway Pyramid gave a sense of what’s familiar and what’s new. A lot of the Egyptian statues were gone now, and replaced with modern decorations. But what remained the same was the ice-skating rink. It was once a dreamy, memorable place…where I dreamt of becoming a professional skater, while singing to Robbie Williams’ She’s the One, and make noble sacrifices.

"...if there's somebody...calling me on...she's the one..."

The Amphitheatre from afar (the one below the high-rise building at the right side)

After identifying the location of the Amphitheatre from afar, we went to search for food. After avoiding restaurants that may end up using our money to cater missile-buying, illegal occupations and stuffs, we finally chose Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen.

Hmmm....let me see...

My first encounter of the chain goes back to the year 2008; the time when a branch was made available at TTDI, and Starbucks’ only jurisdiction was from within the four walls of a shopping complex. The first memories of the menus were mostly the salty muffins / cookies, and the fried seafood. Then, over the years, it seemed that they made recipe modifications to suit the local taste buds…and it was indeed a profitable business move.

This somehow reminds me of 'True Blood'

What we had that day at Popeye’s was a delish. I ordered the Seafood Meal, while both Irtiza and wifey had Popeyes Bonafide Chicken set each. The fried chicken was tasty, but it seems that nothing can challenge the Colonel’s secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices. The fish was soft, moist, and enjoyably tasty. The mashed potato was a little bit chunky, but it was tasty nonetheless.

A pic before dinner

My Seafood Meal

The Popeye's Bonafide Chicken set

Eating in motion

Seriously, this really reminds me of 'True Blood :O

After dining and etc, we went to the Surf Beach entrance, and did a lot descending actions using the escalators to the Amphitheatre. We were surprised to see a big crowd in front of an entrance to the venue. We were surprised still that we were given free train rides to reach the place. The train ride was brief, but it was an enjoyable one (I think I left my gut at the first train station, when it sped maniacally like the 90’s KL Mini Busses).

The Surf Beach Entrance

One of many escalators, and the big crowd

Expecting to see Dumbledore on board

We finally reached the Amphitheatre, with people filling-up 1/3 of the seats. It was a very big place, no walls, but with a very big canopy-like roof on top. There were very big, rotating fans at the ceiling…and at that time, I kinda regretted watching the Final Destination installments (Hollywood damaged me good).

Tadaa...it's the Amphitheatre!

A pic before the show

Irtiza was bored. Thus, he experimented.

A RM90-worth of ticket seat for the pillow, bag and stroller. Yes, I'm that rich.

The show was almost punctual when they started…which goes to show that only Malaysians follow the Malaysian time. The setting was a combination of simplicity and extravagance. But what captured me the most was the spectacular singing voice of the characters; mainly those of Bella, the Good Witch, and the Evil Witch.

I love it when they did the interactive sessions with the audience…it was creative and entertaining. I love it when Gaston argued funnily with the crowd, and ended the argument by saying “No Lah”. The addition of popular songs in the performance like the Gangnam Style and Born This Way was a fresh approach to facilitate the storytelling.

The Evil Witch was a great and brave acrobat. There was a surprising scene when the Evil Witch ‘flew’ from the top of the amphitheatre to the stage with her broomstick (with the help of a little magic called the ‘Flying Fox’ of course).

Even when the tale was over, the performance team did a little bit of the ‘Christmas spirit’ performance, with the unexpected ‘falling snow’ for those who were patient enough to wait till the very end of the show.

Expensive much?

The journey back was a tiring one, as the entire crowd travelled back to the Surf Beach entrance on foot. We suffered a few aches or more from that. But the night was a memorable and beautiful experience. It was the first musical that we watched as a family…and hopefully, there will be more to come in the future :)

A tiny little video that I did of the day. Enjoy :)