When a concert advertisement says that it will start at a certain time, always add at least an hour to it. In the case of Dewa 19′s Kota Kinabalu stop, the poster said 7pm, but support act Jinbara made their appearance at 8.37pm. That’s a full 90 minutes overdue! I heard some fans had been waiting outside from 5.30pm but were not allowed to go in until 7.

The backdrop:

Tickets cost RM30, but I was told that to go to the “mosh pit” measuring about 60ft x 60ft one would have to fork out RM50.

There were around 5,000 in the crowd, quite a lot of them Indonesian. I am not sure if it’s a good idea to bring kids to this kind of concert. The smallest kid I saw there must be around 10 years old. Apart from the very high level of volume, there’s the unnerving sight of older kids going crazy during the heavier, more upbeat songs. However, the presence of the 2 big screens showing what’s going on onstage was a very good idea: since it’s a standing-room-only concert, those needing a break from standing up can still follow what’s going on while being seated on the ground.

Jinbara had a surprise for the crowd, when this guy suddenly appeared and sang lead vocals for them:

Around 9.30pm, Dewa 19 finally took to the stage to a thunderous roar. I don’t profess to be a hardcore Dewa 19 fan, I’ve heard most of the songs they performed but not to the level of memorising the lyrics.

Ahmad Dhani’s tshirt making a revolutionary statement – that’s the Star of David right in the middle:

The back of Once’s shirt says: “I am sick of my sickness”:

Of course Dewa 19 are consummate professionals and they performed with aplomb – that should be the case for a band of their stature, however I was expecting a more energetic performance. Perhaps it’s too much to expect them to top Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I was expecting something like what you’d normally expect at Hard Rock Cafe. And aging rockers The Rolling Stones seems able to exude a greater amount of energy. Perhaps this was caused by the lead guitarist and bassist being rooted to their spot for much of the evening.

I read that Ahmad Dhani is not much of a singer, and from what I witnessed, I’d agree that it’s best to leave lead vocals to Once, whose pipes were made for stadium rock.

There were a few things which noticeably dampened the momentum of the concert. One was a lucky draw, where Ahmad Dhani announced 3 winners. One winner was directly behind me and he was delirious: screaming, jumping about and finally sprinting towards the stage. But you don’t do lucky draws at a rock concert!

Second, it was a 1 hour, 40 minutes concert. But wait, the 3rd support act, Dewi-Dewi, a three-member all-girl vocal group, took the stage at 10.15pm, which is 45 minutes after Dewa 19 first appeared. The ladies were on stage for a good half hour. During that time, there’s a distinct dampening in audience enthusiasm. This is not to say they were no good – of course they were. I especially admired 2 of them with their Bonnie Tyler-like raspy vocals. And the first song they performed was really good. But their taking the stage like that seemed like rudely barging in. Reading about them, apparently they were created and managed by Ahmad Dhani, just like Ratu before. So it looks like it’s a case of Ahmad promoting his “latest product.” I think it would’ve been better for Dewi Dewi to take the stage after Jinbara and Ella, not in the middle of Dewa 19′s set.

And there’s no need for an MC to engage the crowd (usually a very tricky task) – why not simply play Dewa 19′s songs in the background and/or play the music videos?

Then there was no encore. Probably Sabah folks are not attuned to this concert culture yet. When Once said: “this is our last song” people simply groaned and simply walked off the moment Dewa 19 bade goodnight at 11.10pm.

The following video was taken starting 10.48pm: Once belting out probably Dewa 19′s best song, Pupus:

One can imagine that the crowd must have been like this as the song was performed:

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