Dreams do come true

Fans came from all over to meet up in Hong Kong for the May 5, 2005 Wu Bai & China Blue "Wild Day Out" concert. Doris and Tommy (Hong Kong fans) arrived at my hotel around 3:00 p.m., then we fetched Sharrie, Xiao Sui (both Taiwan fans), and Angela (Singapore fan) at their hotel. First we went for a quick bite and then off to the M1 Lounge to check out the situation. Uh oh, people already in line, but thankfully only three of them, so we joined the queue at the front around 5:00 p.m. One of the gals who was there was a Japanese fan, Yasuyo, who had been queuing since 3:00. The weather was quite hot, very humid, and we sweated profusely as we waited, not very patiently, for the 10:00 show. We chatted, took pictures, kept running across the street for cold drinks and bathroom usage, just enjoying being with other Wu Bai fans and the anticipation of seeing the greatest band on earth. The line slowly grew longer, but never anything like it is in Taiwan (and I do thank the goddess for that!).

At first we were told that we'd be able to go inside at 8:30, but it wasn't until almost 9:30 that they allowed us in. We were given some cool posters, a cold beer, a light stick, and a whistle. Awesome, I love goodies (but I think whistles should be outlawed at concerts). Once inside, we took our places at the stage, amazingly close to the stage, like only inches away from it. There was a plastic line with some flyers hanging from it separating us about at waist level, but since we were sitting on the floor, and the flyers were blocking our view, we took 'em off. We were so close that we put our bags up against the speakers in front of us, and Sharrie even had her camera on the stage itself. The stage was triangular shaped, with Wu Bai's mike at the point, and that's where we were seated. Unfortunately, we were told we'd have to sit through the whole show, because if we stood, the people in the back wouldn't be able to see. What?! SIT at a Wu Bai concert? Boy, that's weird. Lots of grumbling about that, especially since both Sharrie and Xiao Sui were wearing short denim skirts. A little hard to sit gracefully on the ground in those.

When Wu Bai, Da Mao, Xiao Zhu, and Dino walked onto the stage, I just couldn't believe how close they were. And dang, it's Hong Kong, so I can take pictures! Hell, I can take video! Not allowed to do that in Taiwan, no way. I did get some good pix, but honestly, most of the time I was too busy watching and enjoying the show to worry about photos. And because Wu Bai moves around so much, a lot of the shots were blurry.

Wu Bai was in a great mood, and he was speaking Cantonese to the crowd. Now, I don't speak Canto, so I don't know if he was doing a good job at it or not, but at least he was making the effort. The crowd seemed to appreciate it. All the guys were smiling so big (well, OK, I couldn't see Dino, just the top of his head, but I'm sure he was smiling), and when they launched into the first song, the energy in the room just took off. The sound was excellent, even though I was so close to one of the big amplifiers that I couldn't hear out of my right ear after the show.

There were two small speakers right in front of me, and Wu Bai jumped up on them while playing, almost hitting his head on the low ceiling (I wonder if he even knows how close he came to doing so). The speakers wobbled, and for a minute I thought I might end up with a lap full of Wu Bai. Not that that would have been a bad thing.... And then he came right off the stage and stood in front of Angela and me, playing that guitar. I could have touched him if I'd wanted to, but I'm far too well behaved to do that ;) The second time he came down off stage, he stood right over Angela, partially bent over, singing and playing, and dripping sweat right onto her! I think I got some of it, too. Ah, dream come true - because before I went to my first concert, I said I wanted to be close enough for his sweat to drip on me. It finally happened!

So, of course I'm mostly watching Wu Bai, and trying not to drool too much, but I also can see Xiao Zhu very well (Da Mao is hidden behind Wu Bai for almost the whole show, and as I said, the top of Dino's head is all I can see behind the drums). Every now and then, Wu Bai is looking right at me for a second, flashing that big smile. Then came a time when he looked at me and didn't look away. He just kept looking, and singing, and I was afraid I was going to end up in a dead faint on the floor. That man has the most incredible eyes....add that smile into the mix, and who can resist? I must have gotten a five-second long gaze, at least. Doesn't sound like much, but try staring into someone's eyes for five seconds, it's longer than you think. I still get shivers when I think about it.

Wu Bai may look like a grown man, but he's really just a little boy in disguise. He has this thing about water....he likes to throw it on the crowd. There he was, pausing for a drink of water from his bottle, and the next thing I knew, the water was all over us! What a stinker. But, it did feel kinda good, since we were pretty hot and sweaty by this time. I'll get him someday, you just wait.

At the end of "Ni Ai Wo" (U Love Me), the chorus is "ni ai wo, ni ai wo.......ni ai wo, ni ai wo.....ni ai wo, ni ai wo......" and first he sang in Mandarin. Then he sang in Cantonese. Then he was in front of me, looking at me, and sang in English, "You love me." Aiya! Me very happily embarrassed :) Just to clarify a point here: I do love Wu Bai. However, I am not IN LOVE with Wu Bai, kindly note the difference. And I also love Da Mao, Dino, and Xiao Zhu, so there.

So, I guess no one told the poor security guys what to expect at a Wu Bai concert, because when we'd finally decided that we'd had all we could take of sitting on that stone floor, and we all stood up (which caused a HUGE smile to appear on Wu Bai's face), the security guys couldn't figure out how to make us sit down. Oh, they tried. We just ignored them, even the one yanking on Angela's hand. When the song was finished, we finally let them coax us back down again, but they had extremely frightened looks on their faces. And of course, we did it again. There is just no way in hell we're gonna sit when the band is performing "Ai Ni Yi Wan Nian" (Love You 10,000 Years). It's not possible. Not, not, not. This time we jumped, sang at the top of our lungs, and refused to be seated. And we knew that Wu Bai was proud of us, because he doesn't like to see anyone sitting at his shows. The security folks also didn't like it when some of the fans gave Wu Bai flowers and other things they'd brought for him, but too bad, they did it anyway. Neener neener.

All good things come to an end, and so this great concert also ended, much too quickly. As we were milling around with big goofy grins on our faces, so incredibly high, a guy came over to me and asked me if I would come with him and give an interview for a magazine. He had seen me singing along with the songs, and since I'm so obviously not Asian, he wanted to find out who I was and how I knew about Wu Bai. Doris came along to help interpret, and I ended up with an autographed "Two-Faced Man" CD out of the deal. Here are links to the article (page 2 has me): http://gargoile.chiconet.com/WDOPg-1.jpg and http://gargoile.chiconet.com/WDOPg2.jpg

Angela and I got back to our hotel around 1:00 a.m., and although I was completely exhausted, I still found it difficult to fall asleep, because I just kept reliving those moments of eye contact with the most beautiful man on earth. I think I only got around 4 or 5 hours of sleep, which left me in a semi-coma the next day, but it was sooo worth it, and I can't wait for June 11 and the Li Hai concert here in Taipei!