The Corrs 'In Blue' concert, Some smooth operators

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian singer Krisdayanti and the Irish group The Corrs are, of course, different. The latter, for example, don't try too hard to look good. Well, actually, they don't have to.

And while Krisdayanti works hard at looking good, she also works hard at entertaining her audiences, as demonstrated at her concert on Sept. 20.

The concert might have looked a bit like a fashion show, but it was fully prepared and neatly arranged, resulting in quite an entertaining live performance.

This was something that was missing from The Corrs Jakarta "In Blue" concert at the Jakarta Convention Center on Wednesday night.

Sure, it was nice to see the Corr siblings -- Andrea (vocalist), Sharon (violinist), Caroline (drums) and Jim (keyboard, guitar) -- performing dozens of their hits live.

But they could have at least done something to make the whole experience somewhat more lively.

They could have changed costumes over the course of their 90- minute performance. Maybe done something with the stage lighting to provide some dramatics, or given some of their songs a new twist (a techno version of Runaway, perhaps), or danced, or just moved about a bit.

Anything to make the audience feel like they had not wasted their money. And remember that tickets were quite expensive at Rp 550,000 (US$57.90) and Rp 500,000 for tribune seats, which were sold out, and Rp 300,000 for festival seating.

Especially since The Corrs were meant to come here in February but called off their show because Andrea had an ear infection.

At the end of the day, however, none of this mattered. Those in the audience were so enamored of The Corrs that the group could have come out and played a 10-minute set of polka hits and received a standing ovation.

The concert began at about 8:15 p.m., with the siblings taking the stage and playing Only When I Sleep, Give Me A Reason and Irresistible -- all of them taken from their second album, Talk On Corners.

The Corrs have released five albums, including an unplugged record and a greatest hits compilation, since forming in 1990.

The group's signature sound is catchy pop songs mixed with traditional Celtic music, a combination that has endeared them to fans around the world.

"Selamat malam, Jakarta (Good evening, Jakarta)!" Andrea shouted back at the venue.

"It is absolutely wonderful that we eventually came here," said the vocalist, who wore a burgundy sarong with a matching tank top and no shoes.

Forgiven Not Forgotten, taken from their debut album of the same name, came next, followed by What Can I Do and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's Dreams.

The next song was an instrumental number called Joy of Life, followed by I Never Really Loved You Anyway.

After that, Andrea grabbed a chair and rested while Caroline, wearing a long black skirt and halter top, came out from behind the drums to play the keyboards.

Runaway, The Corrs first hit, had the crowd of some 5,000 people singing along with the band.

"You're great singers, thanks," Andrea said after the song.

More mellow love songs followed, with the band playing Don't Say You Love Me, All The Love In The World off the soundtrack to American Sweethearts, Old Town and Queen of Hollywood.

The rest of the band then moved back, leaving Sharon alone in the center of the stage. Wearing a golden dress, she played a Celtic-infused instrumental number. Another instrumental number, Haste to The Wedding, came next.

They sang five more numbers -- Radio, No More Cry, Breathless, Would You Be Happier and So Young -- before saying good-night. That was, of course, after the cliched shouts of "we want more".

Most of the audience, which had more than its fair share of celebrities like Mayang Sari, Krisdayanti herself, Yana Julio and Tika Panggabean of Project Pop, seemed very happy with the concert.

However, a woman in the audience, Ria, said the show was too short. "Well, I mean, Rp 300,000 for a barely two-hour performance?"

Noted musician Erwin Gutawa said that despite The Corrs' great voices and music, the performance was too simple.

"It's different when they perform in other countries, especially in Europe. It's so typical of foreign artists who come to Asia. They don't really think about any other aspect of their performance besides singing. Unfortunately, people here in Southeast Asia don't really mind that," he said, as quoted by Antara.