The Malay Mail - Chow Ee Tan (4th Nov 2004)

Music: Oldies for oldies
Chow Ee-Tan
Nov 4:


Alfred Ho took his mature audience on a pleasurable trip down memory
lane
IT was a rare sight to see the Actors Studio at the Bangsar Shopping
Complex filled with an audience who were above retirement age.

They had come for the Down Memory Lane With Alfred Ho concert last
week.

And they had a good time, singing, clapping and tapping their feet,
with a few brave ones even going on-stage to dance!

This audience came for an evening of evergreens and they found it in
Ho, the talented blind singer and musician whose vigour and energy
would put many younger people to shame.

Indeed, he enjoyed entertaining the audience so much that he didn’t
want to stop!

The show lasted two hours and 40 minutes with an intermission.

From soothing ballads to fast rock numbers and evergreen country
music, Ho – with the help of his rhythm machine – belted out one hit
after another made popular by Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Pat
Boone, Johnny Tillotson, Engelbert Humperdinck and the Platters.

He even covered Cantonese, Japanese and Hokkien numbers.

The crowd was charmed by his deep, resonant voice and his trusty
guitar.

Although Ho could have easily carried the show himself, he roped in
two musician friends to add variety.

In what was what he called the ‘East meets West’ section of the show
when he invited guzheng (Chinese harp) instructor Teresa Ng to duet
with him on a Chinese number, with Ho playing the guitar.

And Ng then proceeded to play a classical Chinese piece that
showcased her dexterity and fluidity on the instrument.

However, it was a little annoying that some in the audience seem
more preoccupied with giving a running commentary on the
proceedings.

The other guest artiste was 20-year-old Amin Shariff Abdullah, a
student from Arden College in Manchester.

The blind young man, a gifted keyboard player, appeared on stage
with dark glasses, looking like a smaller version of Stevie Wonder.

He played some jazz music including a piece which he composed
himself to the audience’s appreciation. But of course, the loudest
applause and cheers were still reserved for Ho, who set the mood
with the bright and sunny Sha-la-la as his opening number.

Then, it was one memorable tune after another.

When he came to songs like Oh! Carol and Save The Last Dance, Ho
urged his friends among the audience to dance. He had purposely left
a big space on stage to serve as the dance floor.

One couple in particular, whom Ho referred to as ‘The Yeohs’, always
took the lead to the dance floor!

Whether it was cha-cha, rock and roll, jive or rhythm (four-step),
they did it with aplomb and won much applause!

Ho also did two medleys which chained together many lively evergreen
hits like Beautiful Sunday, Stand by Me and Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.

Indeed, there seemed to be no songs that Ho couldn’t sing. He
crooned the sentimental Only You, Latin-style La Bamba and even
attempted Chubby Checkers’ The Twist which attracted three couples
to the dancefloor.

For his Chinese numbers, Ho showed his affinity for Sam Hui, singing
a few of the veteran singer’s 1970s hits, and ending with Shanghai
Beach.

Indeed, Ho has quite a fanbase, with some coming from Penang and
Muar, Johor, for the show. Many have probably attended his first
show on Oct 17 as well.

At the end of it, the happy and satisfied faces of the audience said
it all.