Harem Diva At Work

Sarah Brightman Harem World Tour CD and Ticket  I have Brian to thank for asking me to go for Sarah Brightman the evening before the concert. I almost missed this incredible show if not for him. No one wanted or could make it to accompany me to watch this concert earlier. We got the cheapest tickets available – RM122. That was still considered expensive by other artiste standard. Mariah Carey cheapest concert ticket was sold at mere RM 68. At the other extreme, a seat near the stage (close enough to see Sarah’s nostrils when she walked by) would set one back RM800 per ticket. I was f**king pissed by the management who printed the dress-code requirement on the ticket. I had to go back all the way to Sunway from PJ to change when I got an SMS from Brian asking me to dress up for the show – no faded/ torn jean round neck T-shirts, short sport attire or slipper. I changed my Bermuda and black round neck Tee to a “smart casual” (who the f**k invented this term anyway?) collared tee with a pair of crisp ironed khaki. Guess in what other people come in with? Slippers and shorts. (Insert eye-rolling ceremony here). Why bother printing something they don’t enforce? Same thing went to the starting time. Printed in italic “Show will start promptly at 0800pm. Patrons are advised to be seated well before then. Latecomers will NOT be admitted into the auditorium until a suitable break”. Guess what now? The show started half an hour late and people still thronging in by then. (Insert Hulk’s angry roar here). The stage was impressive. It was crescent-shaped with a catwalk like extension that led to a star platform at the end. Huge mid-Eastern drapes covered the stage, looking like what else but a HAREM. But what is a HAREM? According to MSN Encarta dictionary, HAREM is defined as 1. women’s part of a house: the separate private quarters reserved for wives and concubines in a Muslim home. (Hmmm..didn't know that Muslims are allowed to have concubines..LOL) 2. group of women: the wives and concubines who live in a HAREM(Insert a loud Hmmmmm...here) 3. zoology group of animals: a group of female animals of the same species associated for breeding purposes with one male (Insert a louder Hmmmmm...here) 4. women followers: any group of women admirers or followers ( humorous ) ( sometimes considered offensive ) The word originated from Mid-17th century via Turkish from, ultimately, Arabic - Haram “prohibited (place), women’s quarters”. I was hooked on Sarah since I first bought her Time to Say Goodbye album featuring her duet with Andrea Brocelli. Contrary to the sad connotation to goodbye, this song is about saying goodbye and to go to new places to be with the one you love. She got a voice that you either love or hate. Some of my friends commented that her voice is too shrilly, like a banshee on ecstasy or like a cat being held by the tail. I beg to differ. She opened her concert with HAREM (What other song could it be? Duh!). Throughout Sarah dominated the stage with voice and a little help from her belly-dancing posse. Truly a great diva with equally great hair extension. I must admit she was damn good. I didn’t understand half of her songs (me no speaking Italian…) but I could feel her emotion dripping over her sultry voice. She did a flawless rendition of her timeless classic – Time to say goodbye. The ambiance was marvelous. I love the part where her dancers walked around the stage, throwing red confetti that looked like roses petals. Then Sarah was lifted up in the air on her swing. She was swung high above the air while singing her mid-eastern tinged “What A Wonderful World”. Then suddenly a shower of millions of red petals started to pour from the top. I was visually stunned. In her final song, she was strung high up on air and then took tumble, 360-degree a few times and at the same time, millions of silver confetti were blown up on air and drowned the audience. I don’t think I have described her act best with my limited vocabulary. You have to be there to experience it. I recognized the tune of Who Wants To Live Forever, It’s A Beautiful Day, The War is Over (a duet with some Arabic dude), Whiter Shade of Pale, Nessum Dorma and Dust in The Wind among the tunes she managed to cramp into her show. After watching her 2 and a half hour show, I could safely conclude that this woman was not afraid of height. She was raised on a high platform a few times. Hung on air, flapping like a pterodactyl. Swung up air in her swing. Did that 360-degree tumbles hanging up on air. And she did all that without breaking her pitch or singing out tune. I was impressed. If you ever taken away all the lights, swing, crescent-stage, costumes, wireworks and belly dancers…I am sure Sarah would still be as captivating as ever with her emotive voice and diva persona. This HAREM, I wanna be in. I brought my Nikon CoolPix 3500 to the concert and here are the results CLICK HERE FOR THE AMAZING SARAH BRIGHTMAN HAREM KL TOUR PICTURES