2013.12.20 Hebe @ Forro Cafe Concert (News)
This is a translated piece of a fan’s posting, one of the lucky 60pax who made it to Taichung’s session.
*Please credit back to this site if you will like to re post, in part or in full.
Mini Concert at Tai Chung – A Moving Session of Love and Sharing
Apologies everyone, this sharing post came late.
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When I ended class and rushed from Zhongli to Tai Chung’s Forro Cafe, it was already 19:20.
The small cafe in an alley was completely surrounded by human crowd.
Forro’s main entrance had many posters on, HIM also provided hot tea for the fans who waited outside.At 19:30, they started to organize the queue based on the numbers on our tickets, however some people have yet to arrive.
Upon entering, I realized that it is a really small space, the first row is less than a meter away from Hebe.
Everyone had a small little seat to themselves.
There was about 10 rows, I sat at the fifth or sixth row with my friend.
Even the last row was no further than 3 to 4 meters away from Hebe.
Soon after, the crew started handing out drink coupons to everyone, so we could all head to the bar counter to exchange for a drink.
While we waited, the crew started collecting the little notes that fans were giving to Hebe.
At about 20:10, while I was still chatting away with my friend, there was a sudden commotion and it was Hebe who arrived!!
Hebe greeted everyone and then asked who was late just now, because the concert was supposed to start on time, but had to be delayed to wait for those who have yet to arrive.
After which, she started performing the first song, 終身大事 Most Important Thing in Life, just like Kao Hsiung’s mini concert.
Listening to her sing at such a close distance is really impactful.
At the end of the song, she says this venue is really small, so everyone is very fortunate to have managed a ticket.
She also greeted the fans outside the cafe and shouted, “Those outside, can you hear me?!”
To which, the fans outside cheered loudly.
Then Hebe asked if everyone saw the filling on her teeth and told all of us to keep it a secret because she is endorsing XX brand’s toothpaste.
She took a look at all of us and commented that there are a lot of new faces and was quite shocked. While she was talking, she suddenly started laughing, then said she has achieved an all-kill, be it men or women, all of which has been enchanted by her.
The second song of the day followed, to which she said was for all of those who were outside the cafe and the rest who failed to grab a ticket, 你快樂未必我快樂 Your Happiness Doesn’t Equate To Mine.
The live version of this song was really great, she handled the chord changes really well so it felt really great listening to her!
After the song ended, Hebe asked the people in front if she had any pores. (ser side note: other fans at the front rows said she didn’t have any and Hebe told them to remember to tell everyone else that. To which they did and shared on Weibo.)
Perhaps everyone was too quiet and she was a bit awkward so she continued, “When there were 60 students attending a lesson in a classroom, I doubt it would have been this quiet.”
After which she continued singing.
The third song was my personal favourite, 矛盾 Contradicting, the live was very gentle and a tad on the slower side.But when it was the chorus, Hebe used a different method to sing, so it had a different feeling from the CD version, as if there was a never-ending struggle internally, yet contradicting at the same time.
When she ended the scene had a moment of dead air and she got awkward again, asking what should she say.
Then she asked where everyone came from, as there were less than half present that hailed from Taichung.
There was a girl who answered loudly that she rode from Nantou.
Hebe questioned how could her hair and makeup be so complete when she rode so far and said she did not have any pores too.
(She must be the luckiest fan today, Hebe had a lot of interactions with her after this throughout the concert.)
As she continued asking, there were fans from Kao Hsiung and Taichung, also from Taoyuan.
To which she revealed that she once had a Taoyuan boyfriend (ser side note: that was in her high school).
And she said, she thought he was just ok, then she quickly explained that it was because she was young and naive then, not that people from Taoyuan were not good.
Then she concluded that she cannot talk well, so she should just continue singing.
Fourth song was 愛著愛著就永遠 Love On And It’s Forever, this is a really catchy song.
As you listen to it, the brain just keeps repeating 愛著愛著愛著愛著 love on love on love on love on.
After this ended, she continued to the next song 無常 Inconstancy without talking.
Then she said that life is always so unpredictable and inconstant, for example Ella’s granny and her stylist’s mother passed away this week.
So she felt deeply that love has to be said and expressed in time, hence when she was on her way to Taichung earlier on, she sent texts to a lot of people to express her love for them.She shared that her relationship with her family is really good now, to the extent she can sit on her father’s lap.
When she is lost or uncertain, so long as she thinks of her family she will suddenly have an answer to her questions and doubts.
And so she said, she hoped everyone can express their love for their family often, else there may be no chance for regrets in the future.
She continued singing 口袋的溫度 The Pocket’s Warmth, asking everyone to shout out the song’s name.
This song was one that I felt most conservative in the entire album in terms of its melody, but after listening to it live, I realised it was actually not bad.
Then she asked if everyone is willing to share their pocket’s warmth, so she held her mic out to one of the fans in the first row, who responded by saying, “I love you.”
Hebe got a shock and said, this confession came too close that she was feeling the heat.
But she continued to ask if anyone else wanted to share their pocket’s warmth to profess their love within.
The crowd was dead silent and she kind of flustered, saying, “it’s alright, it’s alright” and to take it that she just had nothing better to say.
(Personally I think it is because the distance is too close, so everyone was too shy to say anything.)
After which she shared on the album promotion period she was undergoing earlier on, which was also the period she dislikes the most.
When she was recording the album, she had already said all that she wanted through the songs, so why must she be forced to say them blatantly, so much so that she eventually loses track of what she was saying.
It often goes off-topic and way off to the point that she at times forgets the original intent of the song and what she wanted to express.
So she wrote the lyrics of 要說什麽 What Should I Say? and she was going to sing it now to vent her frustrations.
When she sang this, she used a lot of OS and kind of spoofed the song, it was really cute and cheeky of her.
Then Hebe started to negotiate and discuss with everyone present to remove the window curtains and open the cafe doors for the fans outside to hear her.
She said she hoped to please both sides but she ended up getting bruised everywhere.
In general, everyone outside was very rational, they stood there and listened quietly.
Only a handful of fans knocked on the windows and climbed trees which was quite dangerous, so she hoped everyone will take care of their own safety.
After that she removed her jacket and joked that there’s no NT60,000 in the pockets today and shared that when she wore her jacket today, her assistant was so nervous.
She continued by sharing a short story on the idea of the little notes she prepared, that previously in Kao Hsiung when she read off the projector screen, she ended up crying.
This time round due to the venue constraints, her colleagues told her to write a short paragraph and then print 60 sets of the notes.
But she felt that 60 pieces of the notes should be fine, she can manage to write them all. In the end her muscles were super sour and tired because she did not write for a really long time.
On Monday when she posted on Facebook, she wrote over 10 pieces of the notes, after which she went to bed ’cause she was too tired that day.The next day when she wanted to continue writing the notes after she ended her music video’s filming, she realised the flow of the words she wrote the day before was very weird. And so, she re-wrote them, totaling 75 pieces of notes altogether.
Then she read two of the notes from the fans present and that was when she realised someone had a note bigger than the stated size, to which she joked she was going to tear it away.
After which she shared on the speech, that she also posted on Facebook as well, so I shall not elaborate further here (ser side note: refer to here.)
She also read out a long paragraph off Jeff Bezos’ speech.
“Cleverness is a gift, benevolence is a choice” Hebe said this line especially touches her most, on a daily basis. She also used this sentence to encourage everyone.
As she read, her phone’s screen blanked out, to which she quipped that the phone really saves a lot of battery juice, she’s a true spokesperson. XD
Then she said, perhaps saying all these sounds like preaching and it’s not as if diamonds will fall down.
She continued that this clips is more popular on YouTube than 你就不要想起你 Don’t You Think Of Me (ser side note: the diamond clip is of a female religious figure – Lin Mei Jiang sharing on her religion and anti-lgbt speech).
She jokingly said to drop the little notes in a safe and see if, in two years’ time, it will become 9 pieces of the notes instead.
Then she kept acting and said she was mini-Mei Jiang (the crowd laughed).
After which she used 3D presentation style to share what she wrote on the little notes, her hands kept moving about and it was so animated. (ser side note: video and photo of the note here.)
The note wrote, “Thank you for the choices you made at every crossroad of your life, for that is why we are able to meet here today.
In the future, let us all head towards kindness, perhaps we may meet again somewhere!”
A lot of people shared pictures of the note on Hebe’s Facebook.
And so we ended up at the last song, everyone went, “huh?“.
Hebe said, those outside are the ones who should be exclaiming, and so everyone outside really went, “huh?!”
She said, the next time she will hold the concert at a bigger venue, it need not be too big, perhaps just as big as Taipei Arena, it’s not as if she has never been on that stage before.
(Seems like there may really be a chance to hear Hebe’s concert live at Taipei Arena!!)
The last song was, 你就不要想起我 Don’t You Think Of Me, after which she walked to the back of the cafe to sign autographs and this was the official ending to the mini concert.
Originally I was really looking forth to listening to 渺小 Insignificance, but she did not perform it, so I can only hope for the autograph session.
As the mini concert ended, everyone started to queue up for autographs and the handshake.
It was during this moment where the crew opened up all the exits of the cafe and we realised the cafe had exits everywhere and at every single direction, there were many fans standing.
As I had to catch the last train, I didn’t wait till the end.
Before I left, I saw two police cars and several policemen, I’m not sure if we were too loud so tickets were issued.
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Some afterthoughts:
Throughout the concert, Hebe kept her smiles and looked at everyone present, even during the autographs.
I would like to say, we are not the only ones looking at you intensely, you are similarly watching us and trying hard to remember every single one of us.
Even though I’m a girl, I am almost burned by your gaze.
After personally participating in this mini concert, I understand better why Hebe wants to hold a concert of this scale and nature. I am also able to comprehend her intention of wanting to get to know everyone at a closer distance and interact with everyone, not just as a session between a singer and her fans, but more like a gathering and conversation between friends.
I also felt that her emotions were much calmer this time round, she was quite happy throughout the concert.
And the thing that touched me the most was in regards to sharing.
After this mini concert incident (ser side note: referring to Kao Hsiung), everyone was very willing to share this mini concert with all those who were outside the cafe.
And when I got home and saw Hebe’s Facebook, there were so many fans who were out there, saying their thanks to all the fans inside the cafe, for being willing to share. I was so moved.Indeed, Hebe always wanted to share these kind and good intentions to her fans and hoped that everyone can follow suit, to make the world a better place.
And everyone really did so, this gesture of sharing and showing gratitude is really moving.
I guess, perhaps it is really so, donating the NT500 after Kao Hsiung’s mini concert as an act of charity and hoping to let Hebe be happier.
Perhaps it is this small thought of kindness that allowed us to gather at Taichung’s mini concert, that made me a part of the lucky 60 people.
And now, allow me to share this piece with all of you.
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Source: SAKURAJESSIE for the original post. You can view it here.
Side note: My apologies for having translated this piece so late. It has been sitting in my drafts since 22nd Dec! I am working on Taipei’s sharing from fans in the next few days.