Trip diary - Justin's concert

Didn't expect to see any concerts on my trip, but due to chance and coincidence, I was able to participate in the opening night of the concert of Justin Lo with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO).

The concert was not as great as I expected, due to the following reasons:
1. Excessive use of drums and piano/keyboard - these instruments basically stole the whole show, and the sounds from these intrusments were louder than the orchestra, which results in the concert being like a pop concert without any orchestral resemblence.
2. No respect was given to HKPO by the audience, especially towards the end when they were standing up waiting for applause, but most of the audience have left and are leaving by then.
3. Fans were clapping and yelling at inappropriate times.
4. The arrangments in most songs were not innovative enough and did not cater for the use of the orchestra sound. Furthermore, some songs were not dissimimlar to the original, due to the excessive use of drums and piano/keyboard (see point 1 above). Therefore, the element of surprise is lacking in the concert.
5. There were some problems in the song order. For example, the use of the theme from Stars Wars followed up by a fast song brought atmosphere and liveliness, but this was followed by a slow ballad which dramatically dampened the atmosphere and the mood.

However, despite the above, I was emotionally touched by the concert. I could associate with Justin when he talked about the fact that he needs to love himself and allow others to love him, and needs to have a positive perspective on love. When he said that, I could see myself in that statement, especially with my pessimism on love (see previous blogs). When he sang "I'll be there" and "The greatest love of all", tears were forming in my ears and I realised that even if noone loves me in this world, Jesus still loves me and will always be there for me no matter what happens. It is not until that point that I realised how much comfort this knowledge is for me, and maybe for all the lonely people in the world.

The irony is that a high school kid made a similar comment a few weeks ago. But I did not truly appreciate this until now.

Through this concert I also understand why Justin is so popular in Sydney with the ABCs. Maybe it is because he is also caught between two cultures, like the ABCs. It is evident by his choice of songs for the concert (half of the concert was English songs) and the way he talked (he needed English words here and there in a sentence to describe his feelings). Maybe he is representative of a person who doesn't know where they belong and who needs to be loved, just like each one of us.

We are loved, by Jesus. We are citizens of the future kingdom of God. Let us continue to wait in hope and expectation until that final day.