Gwen Stefani’s Sweet Escape
August 22nd, 2007
there is no doubt about it - Gwen Stefani kicked ass last night at Stadium Putra. i exaggerate not when i say it is possibly the best concert i’ve ever been to in KL.
everything was great from start till finish. parking was easy peasy, and surprisingly we didnt have to queue for entrance. we’d originally planned to go a little bit later so we didnt have to sit through all the boring opening acts we had no interest in seeing anyway, but thankfully we didnt do that! BECAUSE! there were NO boring opening acts! no sponsor gimmicks! :O and best of all, there was no wait. it was so unbelievable but true - after a cute opening gambit of a cops-&-robbers chase, Gwen came onstage immediately at 9pm.
dressed in a b&w prison-striped suit and black leggings, she opened with none other than The Sweet Escape, which of course drove everyone wild. everyone leapt out of their overpriced arranged-seating seats and sang along, cameras a-flashing and hands a-flailing. hehe i couldnt contain my excitement either! then she did Rich Girl, after which she reappeared on stage clad in a cute apron outfit - complete with chef-hat - her first wardrobe change of many to come.
Gwen is an awesome live performer. she had so much energy and zest, and her vocals were always intact. i grew up listening to her voice in those obsolete but cherished No Doubt songs, so it was really nice and strangely nostalgic to hear and watch her live, performing all these new songs with her same unique voice. there were times during the concert when i closed my eyes, and it was like i was back in my primary school days listening to Don’t Speak on the radio :)
i really liked that she was so charming and charismatic and sweet to her fans. she interacted with us, blurted some random phrase in Malay before she sang Hollaback Girl (with reference to a placard at the bottom of the stage, haha), thanked us, gave us lots of love, and told us that Gavin Rossdale’s stepmother is Malaysian wtf. at one point during the show, she ran off the stage and around the arena, blowing kisses and slapping hands with overjoyed fans, and then sang Cool right from the bleachers in the midst of the 9000 fans in the stadium. it was awesome lah. i heard she’s been doing this throughout her tour, but i didnt expect that she would do it here, especially with the flimsiness of the barricades and the fact that certain parties have been giving her so much flak and even called for her concert to be canceled.
Gwen running around the arena
also, she gave her 4 Harajuku Girls, 4 male breakdancers and her band their own moments where she introduced them one by one to the crowd. how nice is that lah. i remember when i went to watch Oasis in bangkok, and they were just being such asses to the audience. Gwen Stefani, on the other hand, exudes such a genuine and comfortable vibe, and also recognises that the show is not just about her, but also about her team and her audience as well.
the band, the dancers and Gwen Stefani
the show lasted about 90 minutes, a good deal i think. oh and can i just say that the light engineering was AMAZING!! i think that any concert’s lighting is such a crucial part of the experience; it’s what provides the kick during the chorus climaxes and is what determines the vibe of the crowd. intuitive and varied lighting is so rare in concerts for some reason, so i was pretty pleased that last night’s was actually pretty damn good :) wish there had been a better backdrop though. there was nothing but black and white drapery and a wide-screen telly with random but relevant clips playing throughout the show.
Gwen said that Malaysia’s right up there among the best audiences. hahaha why tell such lies! if anything, the crowd was rather lacklustre last night. we could have been louder, stronger, more excited, but we just weren’t. collectively, we were noisy but reserved. we just held back from going all out and totally crazy. but that’s fine lah, this sorta culture takes time i suppose.
happy fan beside us
Gwen’s wardrobe was pretty cool - nothing too revealing but still sexy sexy sexy at the same time. take that, PAS and National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students -___-
because the theme is black and white Harajuku, i donned a schoolgirl outfit for the concert, haha. i seriously thought lots of people were going to be dressed up, because that was the case for HK and Singapore, but i was sorely disappointed :( also thought ginny was going to turn up in her b&w french maid costume but she didnt!!! wtf lah babe. think of all the camwhore moments we missed!
a few pictures :
with bernard and his pretty gf suet ling who had damn good seats!! better than the media & vip seats -___-
with azlan!
the girls from college
my schoolgirl outfit, haha!
so overall, an excellent concert :) eeeeeexcellent. here’s to hoping more concerts in Malaysia are organized like this one.
38 Comments Add your own
1. ronin | August 22nd, 2007 at 3:25 pm
So sad … I miss it. Malaysians need to learn to ‘let go’ at concerts, otherwise no point paying so much. Might as well listen to CD. Like your spirit girl, all dressed up … way to go!
2. ben | August 22nd, 2007 at 3:37 pm
oo so ur impliedly saying ur outfit was more revealing than Gwen Stefani? not nice lo…. haha also what if PAS and National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students spies went to watch Gwen stefani concert and take photo of you then flak you?
Sad to say, and sad to live with the fact that i missed it.
3. reallybites | August 22nd, 2007 at 3:38 pm
blahhhhhhhhhhh
i wanted to go down to kl for that concert wan! grr
4. kennysia | August 22nd, 2007 at 3:44 pm
WAH! That outfit is like dot dot dot.
5. dawn_1o9 | August 22nd, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I like Gwen, and I liked No Doubt too when I was in my junior-high days. I too listened to “Don’t Speak” on the radio. ^_^ (Now, I don’t feel too bad about the generation gap :P) I read about the fuss with the religious groups. I’m glad that the concert wasn’t canceled, and that you had fun there. :)
6. entwined | August 22nd, 2007 at 4:39 pm
boinq.wordpress was saying how ridiculous it is that they allowed akon (who dry humps underage chicks) in with no protests, but when it’s gwen, everyone started yada-yadaing.
(the video of akon dry humping the chick is damn disgusting. violent and disgusting. urgh)
and your last pic is so saucy! :P how do you do the sexy thing so well? hahaha
7. Cla | August 22nd, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Like her concert’s opening. I even saw ppl crying
8. Michael | August 22nd, 2007 at 5:37 pm
hk one was wayyyyyy better~u should do a “sailormoon” like tie on ur outfit though~HAHA
9. sheon | August 22nd, 2007 at 5:47 pm
cont’d dot dot dot…………hahahahaa
malaysian concert crowds are always soooo err…….. passive one…….very sien lar…… i’ve been to a a few concerts….. disappointed by the crowds…..
10. hw | August 22nd, 2007 at 6:51 pm
yeah the crowd wasn’t loud or crazy enough… I was at the arena and the people around just waved their arms and shouted while my gf and I were going crazy and jumping up and down and screaming/shouting. At least there were these two girls beside me who were dancing and screaming (zomg my ears =( ) so I didn’t feel like a psycho ward patient.
what happeend to the ’sing-alongs’ ???
pinkpau did u get any decent pictures of her on stage? The stage lights seem to make her like a ball of white light on the video and pictures that I took….
Oh, and I was kinda hoping Akon would drop by even though I heard he was dropped from Gwen’s tour, cuz he was in KL like 2 days before…
11. Michelle | August 22nd, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Did you buy that white collared shirt from Seed?
12. Jonathan | August 22nd, 2007 at 10:04 pm
I thought this concert was not going to happen. I’ve been visiting thestar on news going on in Malaysia, and i saw so many disputes with Gwen’s concert in Malaysia. I remember she gave a short interview in which she said she understood that the culture is pretty reserved in Malaysia.
Very very understanding and nice person in my point of view…well thats just looking at her response and her concert. She must have been paid well to come here, but it take guts to not mind all the things against her concert there in Malaysia.
Oh wellz, we’ve got Linkin Park, Switchfoot, Snow Patrol, Fall Out Boy, Paul Van Dyk, NiN, My Chemical Romance, Motorhead and much more doing their performances here in Auz..so…:) :) :)
13. anonymous | August 22nd, 2007 at 11:42 pm
you’re so damn hot
14. ashleighhhh | August 23rd, 2007 at 1:34 am
lurvveee the outfit
15. Gin | August 23rd, 2007 at 2:56 am
I HATE YOU T_T
16. pau | August 23rd, 2007 at 9:16 am
stretchy fletchy … easy-peasy …. lol ^^
looks fun
and looking good
17. amanda | August 23rd, 2007 at 11:17 am
ahhaha. i almost cried myself!
18. IzyClover | August 23rd, 2007 at 12:22 pm
I went there straight after my finals…
picked my cousin at the nearest LRT station from my college
I recorded the whole concert…
thank god for mp3 players…
it manage to compensate my non-existent camera….
I like how it was yesterday
it was very civilized
because I remember the last concerts I went to…
my gosh….animals…
even people fainting just to get to the gate….
do you mind I link this page to my blog?
since I have no pictures…
please and thank you
19. pinkpau | August 23rd, 2007 at 2:49 pm
ronin : i think maybe cos the crowd was mostly girls. girls in skirts and high heels and stuff. so a bit hard to ‘let go’ and jump about i suppose :P
ben : im not implying anything! i just wish more people had dressed up. ben u come bak for justin timberlake
reallybites : come for justin timberlake :D
kennysia : dot what dot -______-
dawn : hey and i read about the sudden petrol price hike in your country. how’s that going? how are people coping?
entwined : maybe cos they didnt know akon was coming.. haha cos i didnt know until yesterday :P i guess gwen on the other hand was going to play to an audience of 10,000 .. that’s why those ppl were a bit daunted and just had to protest
cla : haha i wish it had been grander tho
michael : yeah i heard how good hkg one was =( haha sailormoon! i love sailormoon!
sheon : no actually some of our concerts are pretty enjoyable. im thinking maybe because the crowd at stefani was mostly female
hw : hehe that’s the spirit. and no lah i didnt get good pics of her as well; got the same ball of white light problem
michelle : nope! but it’s a pretty common design anyway :)
jonathan : yeah gwen’s got balls. i think most people woulda just gone oh screw it dont go then dont go lah. haha i’ve watched half of your list live. van dyk is coming to msia again next week. actually in australia you guys have better acts than those. esp this particular rockfest in perth, forgot what it’s called
anonymous : haha why thank u
ashleighh : thank u :) as do i
gin : dont lah :D
pau : it was fun indeed!
amanda : hahaha really?? why you all so emo wan!
izyclover : go ahead :)
20. Jonathan | August 23rd, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Yup, there are those events, like the grand old melbourne shuffle :P and some festival which i forgot the name…i’ll hopefully squeeze sometime out and just attend those events
21. entwined | August 23rd, 2007 at 8:45 pm
when’s JT?i want to go, but i feel like i’m abit too old for JT’s crowd la. hahaha. why can’t blue october or low millions come instead!!!! mika!! audioslave (droooool)!!! death cab for cutie!!! muse (again!!!)
heh.
22. BV | August 23rd, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Ermm….whrz ur bf?
23. Suet Ling | August 23rd, 2007 at 11:35 pm
hi, remember me? gwen concert was so cool, glad to have met u there… can i link u? take care ya! stay cheerful =)
24. george | August 24th, 2007 at 12:18 am
i swear i’ve met that Bernard guy before!
you know everybody i know! stop stealing my friends!
hahaha jk
i’m gonna sit at home and sulk when FFAF go down to spore next month and not kl :(
25. EviL[J]okeR | August 24th, 2007 at 12:26 am
i liked her better when she was in no doubt. With her solo act, seems like she’s trying hard to stand out among the other popstars. Mayne thats why she has those harajuku girls with her all around. Annoying.
26. pinkpau | August 24th, 2007 at 2:18 am
jonathan : pls go! and then tell me all abt it! eh actually, if you hear of any good acts totally worth flying over for, let me know :) esp if its fests rather than just one-show acts!
entwined : if death cab for cutie came, i would be there in a FLASH. i wish dashboard confessional and damien rice would come too. jtimberlake rumoured for year end
bv : why u so curious
suet ling : haha of cos i remember u! it was nice meeting u, even tho i wanna kill u and bernard out of jealousy for such awesome seats :P
george : haha george YOU stop stealing my friends! what, ffaf is in singapore????? why do i not KNOW these things!
eviljoker : i quite like her intepretation of harajuku! and her solo stint is exciting too; different but with traces of her no doubt self.
27. Bernard | August 24th, 2007 at 2:18 am
whatla George.. din see you in YEARS since James farewell man. lol.. FFAF in Singapore? wtf? serious?
28. pinkpau | August 24th, 2007 at 2:39 am
what the.. do you guys really know each other!!
29. Jonathan | August 24th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Worth flying over for….definitely a few here…you can always bribe your martian to pay for all expense
30. vvens | August 24th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
*jealous* i have no life already… (at the moment lar..)
31. hw | August 24th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
wow, pinkpau u like death cab for cutie / damien rice / dashboard confessional too? i love death cab for cutie and damien rice, dashboard confessional ok though not crazy about them. You have good taste =)
Don’t think they play much of their songs on the radio in Msia, always have to tune in to an American radio station (Aliceradio for me) to listen to their new tunes etc.
Anyway, I really hope Gwen does another record with the rest of No Doubt.
32. susu | August 25th, 2007 at 11:52 am
OMG! gwen stefani! Ive been wanting t go there. and im stuck in india. sucks! and suetling… i noe her… =) wat a small world.
33. IzyClover | August 25th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I heard Beyonce maybe coming too
and yes JT is coming later this year
my cousin worked in the Kementerian Kebudayaan
and one of her officer actually met Gwen, Gavin and baby Kingston the day before the concert
gah…envy much!!!
34. TIu | August 25th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
What a vain piece of f*ck…ur blog sux with self-take pics…VAIN POT!!!
35. Sandra | August 26th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
can you see me in your photo??? hahaha..Hopefully there will be more international concert coming up too so that the @#%$* gouverments will not have too much rules and regulations of allowing them to come… as you know Justin Timberlake suppose to come on Nov… but the tour in Malaysia cancel due to the $*#(@ rules and regulations! idiot hack! haiz…
36. miss susan | August 29th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
zomg!!!! she came to perth.. but i didn’t get the tickets! =(.. they sold out within the hour…T_T like the JT tickets that sold out in 15 mins…
37. george | September 2nd, 2007 at 2:29 am
I would kill for FFAF tix to spore :P please contact me to arrange the hit!
hahaha just kidding
but yeah FFAF are going to Spore next week and I’m not going
and yes we do know each other -_- the internet has made the world tiny!
38. Anonymous | July 14th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
gwen is awsome she signed some persons pants.
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