By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Aug 28: Legendary Malaysian rock band Wings brought fans in Sarawak on a nostalgic journey back to the past with a charismatic performance of their evergreen hit songs last night (Aug 27).
The band was in Kuching for their ‘One Night Only’ concert as part of their planned tour in certain locations in Malaysia and Singapore this year.
With the concept ‘Rock & Dine’, guests seated in groups of 10 per dining table enjoyed both eating food and watching the performance at the same time.
Rock legend Datuk Ahmad Azhar Othman or popularly known as ‘Awie’ said the band embarked on this concept since April this year where they had shows in hotels befitting the guidelines provided by National Security Council (NSC) pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We deemed the concept as successful and so we continued such concept for our Wings’ 36th Anniversary especially when we believe that this concept is exclusive for our fans who have been listening to our music for decades.
“We believe that some of our fans who grew up with our music now have become chief executive officers (CEOs), general managers and own companies. So this group of people prefers exclusivity rather than standing with the crowd in front of a stage out in the open.
“However, we will return back to the concept of ‘marhaen’ (commoner) as usual where we will gather our fans from all layers and backgrounds of the society next year insya-Allah,” he told reporters during a press conference after the event.
The band line-up comprised Awie as vocalist, Kamarullizam Kamarudin or ‘Syam’ (guitar), Edrie Hashim (guitar), Samsaidi Ulong Idris or ‘Eddie’ (bass) and Azmi Hashim or ‘Black’ (drums).
This year marks the band’s 36th anniversary ever since their first album ‘Belenggu Irama’ came out in 1987.
Wings will also make history on Sept 30 as the first Southeast Asian act to perform at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix in Singapore, alongside international artists such as Marshmello, Westlife, Black Eyed Peas and The Kid Laroi.
At the ‘One Night Only’ event last night (Aug 27), Wings performed a selection of 16 songs such as ‘Hukum Karma’, ‘Opera Hidup’, ‘Taman Rashidah Utama’, ‘Sayap Ilusi’, ‘Bujang Senang’, ‘Sejati’, ‘Gemuruh’ and ‘Awang Trasher’.
Awie shared that the band had performed at least twice in Kuching, Sarawak and hoped that they could pave the way for other artists to come into Sarawak and elevate the music and entertainment industry.
The event was organised by BMS Event Sdn Bhd in collaboration with National Cancer Society Malaysia Sarawak Branch.
At the end of the show, Wings band also handed over part of proceeds from the event to the National Cancer Society of Malaysia Sarawak Branch to aid the work of the non-profit organisation.
Amongst those present were the BMS Event representative and DAL HCM Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Dzulkarnaen Ahmad as well as event director Bidari Mohamad Suhaili. — DayakDaily
