Touring with A-mei: Upcoming concerts are homecoming shows for her Singaporean musicians
When Taiwanese pop diva A-mei performs at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday and Saturday, the sold-out concerts will also be homecoming shows for some of her band members.
That is because most of the musicians – including drummer Teo Jia Rong, 31; bassist Shaun Seow, 42; and guitarist Simon Lai, 38 – are Singaporeans.
The group, who have performed with A-mei since her ASMeiR World Tour kicked off in April 2022, was assembled by the 50-year-old singer’s long-time Singaporean music director Martin Tang, 64.
The current line-up is the “third generation” of Singapore musicians who have backed A-mei, says Tang, who has worked with her since the beginning of her music career in the 1990s.
Tang is also known as a composer who has won three accolades at Taiwan’s Golden Melody Awards. He has worked with other Mandopop stars such as Hong Kong Heavenly King Jacky Cheung.
The rest of the Singaporeans in the line-up are keyboardists Jordan Wei, 40, and Goh Sikai, 31; as well as programmer Evan Low, 34, who was recently replaced by programmer Gary Leo. The band also include musicians of other nationalities, such as Brazilian guitarist Lari Basilio.
Getting to perform with A-mei on home ground is like a dream come true, the musicians agree. It will be the first Singapore show for the current line-up.
Says Tang: “It’s something that we all should be proud of. Because it’s not just about me, but it’s also about all the other Singaporean musicians around the world who are playing for other stars.”
When the Singaporeans first flew to Taiwan in February 2022, the territory still had strict Covid-19 regulations in place, so they had to serve 21 days of quarantine.
They could not leave their hotel rooms, but this gave them a chance to learn and memorise more than 40 A-mei songs inside out.
Says Teo: “Thank God for the quarantine because we didn’t have anything else to do but play music and rehearse.”
The band then backed A-mei for her record-breaking 12 shows at the Taipei Arena in April 2022, where all 130,000 tickets were snapped up soon after they went on sale a few months earlier.
In December 2022, the musicians reassembled for her United States tour, which comprised five shows in Chicago, Washington, Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
Low, who also performs under the name evanturetime and is a co-writer, co-composer and producer of the 2021 National Day Parade theme song The Road Ahead, says: “The audience size at the US shows were smaller – about 5,000 each – but they were equally chaotic, shouty and very interactive.”
Low also recalls how they had to get used to performing in freezing conditions, as A-mei liked to keep the temperature low on stage.
In April 2023, they were back in Taiwan and played with her for a 10-night series of shows at the Kaohsiung Arena.
One of the biggest challenges for the musicians was keeping up with the wide variety of music styles that make up A-mei’s set list.
Says Tang: “The interesting thing about this particular run of shows is that she sings a lot of songs that she never sang live before. She has different segments, from hardcore rock to funk, ballads and EDM (electronic dance music). That’s why the interaction between her and the band is very important. It’s not like other Mandopop concerts, where the artiste just focuses on a lot of ballads.”
Her grit and determination on stage is inspiring too.
Teo recalls how she pressed on with her final concert in Kaohsiung despite losing her voice several times due to a throat inflammation. “She’s a real fighter. She just went for it because she really did not want to disappoint her fans.”
In person, A-mei is kind and fun, say the musicians. Low adds: “She’s very down-to-earth, a very, very pleasant person, a good hang, actually.”
Teo, who has worked with other regional acts such as Taiwanese singer Show Lo and Singaporean singer Tanya Chua, adds: “She doesn’t make you feel like, ‘Oh, she’s the artiste, and you’re just a band member.’”
Tang says that A-mei has mellowed a lot compared with her younger days. “During the earlier tours, she loved to drink and party, so we would do that. But, as of late, I find that she has become the matriarch of Chinese pop and I guess she carries herself in a very different way. She’s more into the healthy lifestyle now.”
The band are ready to back A-mei up at more shows, and there are plans to continue the tour in Australia and Europe.
They also hope to inspire younger home-grown musicians to dream big and spread their wings outside of Singapore.
Says Teo: “We were influenced and inspired by the generation before us. And, hopefully, we can pass the torch to the next generation of musicians.”
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