By Ivy Kueh Hon Ai
On December 2 and 3, singer-songwriter Casey Luong, better known as Keshi, tore the roof off the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. His highly anticipated HELL/HEAVEN Tour in Asia for Kuala Lumpur had only one date (December 3), however owing to quick ticket sales, another day was added. Tickets for the December 2 event, like the previous, sold out within 24 hours of being announced.
After years of anticipation, the hall was full with ecstatic fans eager to watch Keshi perform live for the first time in Kuala Lumpur. Many people arrived early to get the best places, and the general admission waiting area was full by 4pm. At 3.30pm, Keshi tour merchandise went on sale. Joshua Tan, a 23-year-old price analyst, expressed his thoughts on the event while waiting in line for the merchandise booth to open.
“It’s my first concert since the pandemic, and getting tickets wasn’t that difficult. It took a few page refreshes, but I was able to get it after 5 minutes the day after the announcement (for ticket sales),” said Joshua.
When asked if the RM188 tickets were worth it, he said that they were because he is a big Keshi fan. He had discovered Keshi through a friend during his pre-university days, and the songs he was looking forward to hearing were “beside you” and “2 soon”.
People queued line by line to enter the venue, and no queue cutting was permitted. To ensure everyone’s safety, the standard security check was conducted. A storage service was also available outside the concert hall for anyone who required it.
Rei Brown, a Japanese-American producer and singer, kicked off the show. Though many in the audience were unfamiliar with him, his opening performance was fantastic and piqued everyone’s interest because his ‘sound’ is similar to Keshi’s. He sang songs such as “Solar”, “Thinking Bout You” (a collaboration with Joji), and “Forever” (a collaboration with Keshi).
While waiting for Keshi to perform, several mainstream pop songs were played, and the crowd sang along. Some people were concerned because the floor was unsteady from people jumping in excitement, but everyone was too excited to watch the main act.
After several rounds of chanting Keshi’s name, the lights dimmed and the show began with the lyrics to one of Keshi’s songs, “blue”. When Keshi finally took the stage, the crowd went crazy, and “blue” transitioned into his opening song, “GET IT”. The bright lights, band, and crowd energy were contagious, as even Keshi got pumped up during his performance.
“I hate to say it, but this crowd sounds better than last night,” Keshi joked before asking how many in the crowd were long-time Keshi fans.
The crowd screamed “YEAH!” as Keshi asked whether we had heard his previous EPs like bandaids & THE REAPER. With that, he segmented into “like I need you”, and the crowd immediately went wild as they sang along.
One of the night’s highlights was when Keshi revealed he couldn’t hear the background vocals in his in-ears because of the crowd.
Keshi said, “So, this happens sometimes, we forget lyrics. But usually, I have background vocals in my ears where I can be like ‘Oh okay, this is gonna be the next line.’ Y’all were so, so loud I couldn’t hear anything!”
This immediately prompted more screams from the crowd, as though his comments amplified the energy of the audience.
“It’s kinda rare when an artiste makes music and they can go back and listen to their old songs and be like ‘Oh wow, I still like this song.’ I feel like I’ve kind of done the impossible where I can still go back and listen to the whole of GABRIEL and just be like ‘Woah, I still like it.’ And this song is my favourite one, so I hope you guys enjoy it,” said Keshi before he starts to sing “TOUCH”.
Keshi performed the songs “drunk” and “skeletons” on his guitar and wowed the audience with his melancholy vocals. After playing “always” on the keyboard, he made the moment feel even more personal by singing a new and unreleased song, “kiss me right”.
“I’ve done a lot of old songs, but you guys wanna hear a new song? This song is pretty hype though, can you guys handle it? Can you guys get on your feet?” Keshi said, giving a quick teaser of the lyrics, asking the crowd to sing “kiss me right” with him.
The final song of the set was “ANGEL”, but the audience screamed for an encore, so Keshi returned to the stage to perform “2 soon”. The concert concluded with the band members handing out their drumsticks and guitar picks, among other items, for the crowd to keep as mementos.
Khairilzaman, 25, a group procurement officer, shared his feelings about the concert afterward. He first revealed his difficulty in obtaining the tickets because he was attending classes at the time, and by the time he was able to do so, the seats had already sold out. Fortunately, he was able to attend with the help of a friend.
“I was willing to pay RM300 or more for the tickets. It was a great concert. My feet hurt, but it was okay. I’ve gone to better concerts, but I didn’t mind because he’s one of my favourite artistes. In 2019, a girl I was dating introduced me to Keshi,” he said.
When asked about his favourite Keshi songs, Khairilzaman said, “My favourite songs are ‘B.Y.S’, ‘skeletons’, and ‘blue’.
“It gave me the chills, like the goosebumps you usually get when you hear a song. It was great,” he said, referring to some of the songs being performed live. ”
Keshi’s show was unforgettable; hearing his incredible vocals live, singing along to our favourite songs, and the overall warm and comfortable vibe. Hopefully, the next time he comes to Malaysia, the venue will be larger because the fans’ support has demonstrated how much he is loved here.
• This article was written by a student from the Strategic Communication Programme at the Faculty of Language and Communication, UNIMAS.
