Concert review: Pop diva A-mei charms her mum and fans with encore concert in Singapore

ASMeiR Max 2024 World Tour – Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium
July 27

Taiwanese pop diva A-mei is no stranger to the Singapore Indoor Stadium stage.

It was only in July 2023 when she brought her ASMeiR 2023 World Tour to Singapore, packing the concert venue with a capacity crowd of 15,000 over two nights.

A year on, she returned to Singapore’s shores with a similar-sounding production, the ASMeiR Max 2024 World Tour, on July 27 and 28. Both gigs sold out as well.

The 51-year-old Mandopop queen, who cut her waist-length tresses and now sports a bob, called this an encore to her 2023 shows here.

Referring to her performance on July 27, which featured close to 30 songs over three hours, she told the cheering audience: “This should be our tour’s 60th show. But Singapore is the first place we’re bringing the production back for encore concerts.”

The tour kicked off in Taipei in April 2022 and has since travelled to various cities, including Las Vegas, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, London and Tokyo. It will also be making a repeat visit to Shanghai in September.

Singapore holds a special place in her heart, A-mei added, because her musical muse and influences in the early days often came from here.

A number of her concert tour team members are Singaporeans too.

“I’ve brought my close working partners home again,” she shared before introducing them. They include guitarist Simon Lai, 39; keyboardist Goh Sikai, 32; drummer Teo Jia Rong, 32; programmer Evan Low, 35, and music director Martin Tang, 65.

“Thanks to them, I ate very well the last few days,” she added to laughter from her fans.

The singer was also pumped up to welcome her long-time Taiwanese friends, whom she had not met in a while.

Sitting in the front rows was singer-actress Vivian Hsu, 49, who blew kisses and flashed a heart sign, prompting A-mei to respond: “Love you, love you.”

There was also singer-host Matilda Tao, 54, who waved and made a toast with beer.

Both celebrities’ sons are now studying in Singapore.

There were more surprises: A-mei’s two sisters and mother were in attendance too.

“I didn’t expect that they would want to come, especially my mama. She is afraid of taking flights and has not done so in years,” she said.

A-mei quipped that her mum was more nervous than she was about her performance. “Backstage, mama kept asking me if I was ready.”

She added: “My show is full of life today because mama is here to give me strength.”

Similar to her 2023 Singapore shows, the star opened the concert with high-octane rock bangers Bloody Love Story (2015) and Thinking Of You Secretly (1999).

It was an almost similar set list and many fans could predict her next numbers, shouting their guesses confidently.

Judging from the cheers of the enthused concertgoers, they loved it.

After all, the concert experience would not be complete without A-mei’s emotive ballads, such as Listen To The Sea (1997) and Blue Sky (1998).

She did not shy away from performing the song Rainbow (2009), which caused a stir previously.

During her 2023 Singapore gig, a video was shared on Instagram and TikTok showing a concertgoer waving a pride flag while standing in the front row. He was told to put down the flag by a security guard.

This time around, it appeared that all went well.

A-mei kept the show fresh with new costumes and her latest hairstyle, and amped up the atmosphere with her crew of close to 30 backup singers and musicians.

And once again, she closed the show with party hits Yes Or No (2002) and Three Days And Three Nights (1999).