UPDATE 13th December 2009

With the one on the Korg a few feet away belting out songs I’ve sung countless times on the karaoke for 16 years, I was completely mesmerised and the pain of the one that got away 12 years ago completely obliterated.

Back then I was even more of a fan, and would not have hesitated to default on all my college student loans just to ensure I get a front seat.

Add to that mix a barrier-less stage (save for polite RELA members) and a fantastic, perfectly balanced sound system, the only result could be pure, unadulterated music heaven.

This, their last concert for the year started 8pm sharp, there were no supporting acts.

There were about 1,000 in the crowd.

This is a disappointing turnout as compared to their concert in September at Genting which reportedly hosted 6,000. Perhaps it was due to the lack of publicity.

As I mentioned earlier, there’s no barrier at all between the crowd and the band. That, coupled with the relatively small turnout, made for an intimate atmosphere. In fact, the front was almost completely filled with fans taking photographs and videos before they were ushered back to their seats.

The few times Jascha came down from the stage. There’s one memorable image of him right in front of me surrounded by female RELA members.

On the technical side, the concert was a perfect opportunity to experience for myself how an international standard pop/rock concert should sound, and I was not disappointed. Usually the accompaniment, especially the drums would drown out the vocals, but not in this concert – the vocals were the loudest, no matter how hard Kare banged on the skins, and everything was perfectly balanced, no hitches, no wireless screw-ups, no hums, no feedback.

Songs performed included:

Off Michael Learns To Rock (1991):
- The Actor

Off Colours (1993):
- Wild Women

- Sleeping Child
- Complicated Heart

- 25 Minutes

- Out Of The Blue

Off Played On Pepper (1995):
- Someday

- That’s Why (You Go Away)

(video link further down)

- Love Will Never Lie

- How Many Hours
- Naked Like the Moon

Off Nothing To Lose (1997):
- I’m Gonna Be Around

- Something You Should Know
- Animals
- Nothing to Lose

- Paint My Love

- Romantic Balcony
- Breaking My Heart

Off Blue Night (2000):
- You Took My Heart Away

Sung by the bassist

- Blue Night

Off Take Me To Your Heart (2004):
- Take Me To Your Heart

Off Eternity (2008):
- It’s Gonna Make Sense

- Sweetest Surprise (?)

Strange, Foreign Beauty

During the course of the concert, the female bassist Ida Kirstine Nielsen was introduced, and she then played a mean funky bass solo and even sung “You Took My Heart Away”.

There a few minutes during the concert that made me feel I was at a Joe Satriani gig: Jascha was offstage and the remaining trio did an instrumental number, Mikkel with a bluesy solo.

Exactly 2 hours later, Jascha said “we’ve run out of songs” and the band walked out but after repeated calls of “encore! encore!” they came back and performed Paint My Love, Someday and That’s Why (You Go Away).

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Press conference at Shangri-La Tanjug Aru Resort (STAR) on 11th December 2009 presented itself with an unmissable photo opportunity:

They arrived at STAR on a long haul flight about midnight on the same day.

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UPDATE 7th December 2009

Breeze Mag update: ticket booths will be available at:
(i) Centre Point Sabah (4th Floor, Palm Square);
(ii) Wisma Merdeka (Ground Floor) starting today.

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UPDATE 3rd December 2009

Ticket prices, as mentioned by Breeze Mag

Floor Seat: RM 298
Arena Seat: RM 198
Terrace Seat: RM 188
Balcony Seat: RM 78

Call 088-238185 for ticket reservations!

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Back on the 15th of November local magazine Breeze Mag broke the news that Michael Learns To Rock will be back to do a concert in Sabah after 12 years, as part of their Eternity tour.

MLTR, the most successful Danish group of all time will be performing at Dewan Canselor (Chancellor’s Hall), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) on the evening of the 12th of December 2009.

Well, the first thing that came to my mind was whether this is going to go the way of Peter Cetera’s cancelled 27th February 2009 concert or Robbie Fowler’s no-show back in May.

Hopefully not this time. I missed them back in 1997 as I was on the wrong side of the country.

The second thing was that “that’s strange; why didn’t they come straight to Sabah after their 5th September concert at Genting Highlands?”

The third thing was with the concert a mere 2 weeks away, why is there neither a definite confirmation or information on the date from MLTR’s website nor any tickets being sold on websites like Axcess. For an international band this seems rather strange.

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