On the eve of the May bank holiday Monday, emotions were reaching fever pitch with the sell-out crowd at the Royal Albert Hall. No, it wasn't Robbie William or more recently, Lady Gaga (never quite understood her appeals but there we go), it was our very own Eason Chan, the first Hong Kong pop-singer to perform live at London's most glamorous venue since the late Roman Tam. Although he is one of the brightest stars in the far-eastern music scene, there were obvious doubts on whether his appeal is big enough in Europe to stage at such prestigious arena. However, any worries were quickly erased as tickets were sold out within 5 hours of the box office release. As Ian Ashbridge, director of the Wrasse Records, stated in the press conference the day after the concert, ‘to completely sell out the Royal Albert Hall was a major achievement in the current financial climate, and this should opens the door for more Asian artists to come and perform in London'. Expectations are running high after the box office success and the attentions quickly transferred onto Eason's performance and the crowd was not to be disappointed.

  Eason is a special talent, not only his vocals but he also has truly stunning charisma and exceptional stage presence. His performance, supported by MR. an up-and-coming rock band, was electrifying and his energy had transmitted onto every single one in the audience. The concert was divided into two halves with an interval of approximately 15 minutes. The half before the break was like a warm up session underlining what we will get for the rest of the night; it was all building towards the second half, with Eason performing many of his greatest tracks, he had everyone clutching onto the edge of their seats. A series of Mexican waves duly followed and it resulted in the entire audience, including those sitting at the very top, to stand up and danced along the beat. The concert really had everything one would ask for; he was energetic, his vocals were great despite not being 100%, he was amusing with his British humour and he even sang in 5 dialects that included English, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and his native Cantonese (the number of dialects would rise to 6 if we include the brief performance of ‘Amani', a track by Beyond, Hong Kong's legendary rock band, that has a couple of lines in African).

  It all ended with Eason giving the audience around 15 minutes of encore which he sang a few more of his title tracks and a short verse of an Italian opera piece. It was a hugely enjoyable evening out, the performer was great, the venue was stunning, and event arrangements by Orientouch were perfect throughout. The only downside for me came about when MR. was about to take the stage to perform a track of their own. Straight away, the couple sitting behind me came out with the most disrespectful comment directed towards MR. in Mandarin. I understand that people are paying to see the most of Eason but as supporting band, MR. deserves a lot of credit for their work and they certainly deserve their moment in the limelight. Aside from that, it really was an entertaining night at the Royal Albert Hall.