Indonesian Afgan, who has a huge following here, performed to an almost packed concert hall last weekend
THE recent concert held by Indonesian singer-songwriter Afgansyah Reza marked his fourth solo held in Malaysia.
Like at most of his previous concerts held here, the artiste known as Afgan could always count on his Malaysian fans to pack the concert hall, with almost 2,000 were in the audience at Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre last Saturday.
Besides his Malaysian fans, some even came from as far as Brunei, Singapore and even from his home country Indonesia.
Titled “Konsert DEKADE Live in Kuala Lumpur 2018”, it was part of a tour performance to mark his 10 years in showbiz.
Co-incidentally, KL was the first venue of the tour instead of Jakarta.
“I was supposed to kick off this tour to mark a decade of me being in this industry with a concert in Jakarta in February, which was later brought forward to September.
“But then, the 2018 Asian Games was also happening in Jakarta and Palembang. With many sponsors focusing on that sporting event, I thought, why not I kick off the tour in Kuala Lumpur, seeing that it’s almost like my second home anyway?” he said addressing the audience at the concert.
Afgan also said this would also be a very personal and more intimate evening as he would be sharing some of his personal stories which he had never shared before.
He performed a selection of his hit tunes, from his debut album Confession No. 1 to his latest, DEKADE.
The concert which started at 9pm sharp began with him singing the song Jalan Terus.
Among the song selection for the evening included Pesan Cinta, Dia, Dia, Dia, Bawalah Cintaku, Percayalah, Jodoh Pasti Bertemu, X, Terima Kasih Cinta and Panah Asmara.
He also performed Ku Mohon, a song originally sung by his idol and close friend, our very own Jazz Queen, Datuk Sheila Majid.
Prior to that, he sang Bawalah Cintaku, a song which he recorded as a duet with Sheila in his latest album.
“It’s a little unfortunate that she could not be here to perform this song live with me tonight as she is away on a diving trip in Ambon (Indonesia),” he recounted.
“Isn’t it ironic, I’m here in Malaysia, and she’s in Indonesia?” said Afgan of the songstress whom he admitted is very close to him like part of his family.
As promised, Afgan also shared some of his personal stories, which he said not many were privy to, like how he was discovered at a karaoke centre in Jakarta around 2007.
“Before then, I was an introvert. A shy teenager who liked to keep to myself. Not even my parents knew that I could sing,” he said.
Afgan also went on to share how he was bullied in school for being a timid kid.
Because of that, he had also suffered from depression in the past.
“I’m sure many of you wouldn’t believe this, but I had been depressed at one time, so much so that I thought of quitting singing.
“Fortunately, I sought solace from God and found my strength to rise and get out of that dark place,” shared Afgan who went on to perform the song Heaven, a track from his DEKADE album.
Besides singing his own songs, he also performed several English numbers such as Michael Jackson’s Remember The Time, Tevin Campbell’s Can We Talk and Boyz II Men’s I’ll Make Love To You, which he performed together with his guest for the evening, Ruffedge.
The popular 1990’s band also went on to perform their hit number Bila Rindu, which received huge applause from the audience.
When the concert ended sometime before midnight, the audience screamed for more. This despite Afgan performing the upbeat number Panah Asmara.
Afgan returned to the stage to perform Bukan Cinta Biasa for an encore.
While it was fairly an enjoyable evening, many in the audience compared the concert with his previous one — “Afgan Sides Live In Malaysia 2016” at Putra World Trade Centre — which they said had better song list and sound system.
Some even observed that Afgan was relying too much on the teleprompter. With his 10 years of experience he shouldn’t have had any difficulty interacting with his audience.
Oh well, let’s hope that Afgan will work on these for his next performance.