REVIEW

Date : 28 September, 1999
Place : Hall 3, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Time : 9:20 - 11:15 p.m.

Just like the last 3 gigs here, the band hit the stage soon after the classic Sex Pistol tones faded out in the concert hall.  "Can't Get Enough" kicked off the night and provoked a hysterical atmosphere among the crowd right the way.  "Trash", followed by "She", truly turned the Suedeheads in a frenzy.  The obscene of the dramatic, orchestrated prologue of the latter did disappointed me slightly though.  My (and the remaining ASAHK's ) big time came as  "Metal Mickey" caught us in surprise! I've to admit this old tone from their debut triggered my old Suede nerves and made them alive AGAIN!  Though Brett declared  resolutely  in so many interviews that the band has entered a new era and wanna cut off from the "old dirt"....... well, can we?  AND more important is that, can he?  All I know is that as Brett was swaggering across the stage, hips gyrating,  microphone swinging,  I nearly couldn't hold back my delightful tears anymore.  Another two numbers from "Head Music", "Everything Will Flow" and "Down" came, which immediately created another climax for the night as "EWF" was indeed a big hit in the local stations.  Maggie half- expected that they will swap position just like one of the Tokyo gig,  but ended up in a slight disappointment *g*.  But this disillusionment went very soon as the DMS classic, "The Wild Ones" bewildered us softly, which also recalled the immaculate memories of my first Suede gig (the "Dog Man Star Tour").  Another 3 up beat - tones, "Beautiful Ones", "Elephant Man" and "Filmstar" followed which lined up in a thrilling bombardment and everyone was hopping up and down in the concert hall.  Brett was obviously overwhelmed by the devotion of the crowd and kept screaming and yelling ,  "Louder!" or "Sing it!" in-between the lyrics.  What's more, he even didn't mind too much to show us his "Farewell to my Tummy" physique.   Afterthat our topless-Brett slowed things down again with "He's Gone" and "Lazy".  My lovely little number rose once more as the aggressive yet crispy rhythm of  "Animal Nitrate" rocked the stage, which hypnotised us in the most ferocious way.  Of course, 2 other singles of "Head Music", couldn't be missed.  "Electricity" and "She's in Fashion" wrapped up the pre-encore session with Brett teasing us, "This is the last song we're playing tonite....... unless you SCREAM realllllllyyyy loud!"  Well.... of course we did, Brett *g*.

After about 10-15 minutes, the band returned with "Starcrazy" and "Savoir Faire" (I never realised that it is actually a local fave. until I heard so many guys behind us yelling their heads off.).  At this moment I suddenly noticed something strange on our Lizard-man,   nono...... I don't mean that's bizarre when seeing Neil played the second guitar in "Metal Mickey" and "Animal Nitrate" ;P...... but he really looked a bit stoned in the whole gig and wasn't as dazzling and vigorous as he used to be in the last 2 gigs in 1997.  Seemed that he was still suffering from the nasty flu which didn't wanna leave him alone since some months ago.  "Saturday Night" was the last track in this encore session and Brett even climbed down from the stage and provided us with a close (well..... with several security guards around him *boo*) encounter.  I wasn't too happy cos of the tracklist in this part until Brett said, "See you VERY soon!" before he left the stage, we knew that there would be a great chance for a second encore........
 

Bingo!  Our prediction was proved to be correct as "New Generation" pumped up with Simon's powerful drum, Mat's undulating bass as well as Richard's aggressive guitar.  The band looked so moving yet electric under this tone and it had the same effect on me!  Another amazing moment followed as Neil and Richard swapped places and the delicately beautiful piano intro of "The 2 of Us" bounced off the stage.  Brett's voice soared and so was I! Yes! THIS IS the real encore that I was looking forward to and I was so glad that the band didn't try to bury their old dirt completely......

To sum up my 4th Suede live experience,  the gig is totally fabulous and stirring.  Brett's voice sounded less "over-stretchy" than the last gig here in Kowloon Bay, and the setlist is absolutely another bonus of the night as it is a rich combination of tracks from the 4 albums(thou I was hungry for more Suede/DMS tunes and might probably pass out if they played "So Young" again *g*.) which fascinated everyone no matter you are the the "Old Suedeheads" or the "New Suede-bies".  With such an ON night, what more can I ask for?  Yes..... I just hope that there'll be more experienced and physically reliable security guards in the venue next time so that the audience dun have to worry about their safety too much *g*!

Stay Beautiful,

Yolanda