Evening with four legends

Konsert Legenda, with four giants of Malaysian music, lit up Stadium Merdeka for 2½ hours, writes Dennis Chua

KUALA Lumpur’s Stadium Merdeka last Saturday did not see the 40,000-strong crowd that greeted pop legends Zainal Abidin and Datuk Sheila Majid in 1992.

Nevertheless, the duo, who headlined the Ikhlas Tapi Jauh concert two decades ago, still managed to pull in 10,000 for their Konsert Legenda 2012, together with rock legend Amy of Search and evergreen crooner Jamal Abdillah.

Konsert Legenda, which kept the crowd in Stadium Merdeka spellbound for 2½ hours, was the grand finale of the singers’ four-city tour, which kicked off at Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Kota Kinabalu on
May 5.

Zainal’s company, Afro Zapin Venture, was the concert producer.

Fans gathered in the stadium as early as 7pm, and while they waited, interviews and scenes from the earlier concerts were beamed on to large screens beside the stage. At 8.45pm, a scene of Jamal’s hit movie Azura appeared, showing the crooner singing the title song to Fauziah Ahmad Daud.

Jamal appeared on stage wearing his trademark shades and black jacket, taking up Azura from where his movie character Zek had stopped. The crowd went ecstatic and many sang along with Jamal. Thanking fans, Jamal introduced hip hop star Malique and they had a great time with their duet Aku Maafkan Kamu.

Jamal was in great spirits, and told fans he loved Malaysian women before bursting into Gadis Melayu. He introduced an old friend, saxophonist Jimmy Sax, who was wearing his signature woollen cap.

Jimmy and Jamal jazzed up the evening with Kekasih Awal Dan Akhir, from the movie of the same title. Jamal told fans he would be back, before ending his segment with the moving Seniman Menangis.

Film footage of Sheila gave the audience a signal that she was about to get onstage. Sheila appeared in a glittering silver dress. She performed Warna before asking the crowd “Are you ready, Kuala Lumpur?”

She announced that Warna was dedicated to Malaysian fans. Sheila invited everyone to sing along to her flawless rendition of Pengemis Muda.

She introduced music director Mac Chew, a long-time friend who was with her in Ikhlas Tapi Jauh, before performing Ku Mohon, which they co-wrote. Chew picked up his guitar and Sheila’s husband Acis came onstage to take over the keyboards and lead the 13-member band in Sheila’s next song, Dengarkanlah.

Sheila then asked Tan Sri P. Ramlee fans to raise their hands and what followed was her tribute to the King of Entertainment — a medley of Bunyi Gitar, Bila Larut Malam and Manusia.

Next came Aku Cinta Padamu which she dedicated to “mums and kids” and Lagenda, her labour of love for Ramlee, before delivering Antara Anyer Dan Jakarta.

For her last song, she called on the crowd to loosen up and dance to Sinaran.

Zainal came next, and as he drummed to Pantun, he introduced fans to Indonesian violin maestro Tengku Ryo. Dressed in black, Zainal joked that the four legends were members of the “twice married” club. Joined by the haunting melodies of Ryo’s violin, Zainal sang Suraya and Memori Luka, two songs from his days in Headwind.

He remarked that he had met British pop legend Phil Collins and sang the Bahasa Malaysia version of Collins’ song You’ll Be In My Heart from the Disney animated film Tarzan.

The crowd then sang along with Zainal to Kau Di Hatiku.

After Manis and Orak Arek, Zainal went around the stage introducing the band’s members, with humorous anecdotes.

Besides Ryo and Chew, there was also the evergreen Jenny Chin on the keyboards whose collaboration with Zainal dates back to Ikhlas Tapi Jauh. Zainal thanked composer Ajai for creating his next song, Kamu.

He then introduced fans to Alam, before delivering Puteri and ending his segment with Hijau which made him a household name.

Dressed in a black military uniform, Amy came on stage with Tiada Lagi and Saatku Idamkan before launching into his clarion call “pheweet!”. Thanking fans, he belted out Kau Kepala Sotong, Kerja Gila and Gadisku.

Heralding the arrival of Isi Dan Kulit, Amy then challenged fans to say “yeah”. He gave them Pelesit Kota, and almost everyone got to their feet to rock with him. Amy then spoke about forbidden love, and this made the crowd ecstatic.

They knew he was about to sing Search’s monster hit Isabella, and they were right.

Jamal kept his promise and returned to sing alongside Amy, and their duet earned a standing ovation.

The evening ended with a literal bang, as fireworks filled the moonlit sky, and the four legends wished supporters goodnight with a fantastic delivery of Ikhlas Tapi Jauh.

Actor Afdlin Shauki, who sang with Zainal and Sheila in 1992, was in the audience.

(From left) Sheila, Jamal and Amy in their element

Zainal brings back memories of his Headwind days

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