Vanessa Mae strings together on entertaining concert

By Hera Diani

JAKARTA (JP): Less than five minutes after watching Singaporean-born violinist Vanessa Mae's concert at the Grand Melia Hotel on Thursday night, we, reporters and photographers, knew that we had learned a lesson.

Next time, just buy the regular ticket instead of watching it for free with a press pass.

The concert organizer only allowed media to enter the ballroom after the concert had started and Mae was in the middle of her first song, Art of War.

As there were no seats provided, we then had to struggle to find a comfortable place in the aisles.

Just as we found the perfect spot to stand and watch, and while guessing the title of the second song Mae was playing, the organizer told us to leave the venue.

They said Mae's manager was very upset and that we would be given the opportunity to go back inside to hear the last four songs.

Excuse me?

For the next 20 minutes, we were stranded outside the ballroom, waiting to see what would happen next, before finally being called back in.

The frustration has already worn off of course, but hey, someone has got to write about this.

Inside, Mae was playing Sebastian Bach's Toccata. Well, she was not actually playing it, more bashing it, but in a forgiving way.

The classical composition was transformed into a rocking instrumental number, with the sprightly musician running from one side of the stage to the other.

Rearranging classical compositions into more contemporary numbers is indeed the 22-year-old violinist's trademark, besides wearing sexy clothes.

Mae learned to play violin at the age of five, after having moved to London a year earlier. Exhibiting a talent for music, at the age of eight she studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

She then returned to London a fully-fledged virtuoso and continued her studies at the Royal College of Music.

After that she performed all over the world with a number of different orchestras. Between the ages of 11 and 13, she recorded three classical albums.

In 1995, Mae's debut pop album was released, where she created her signature sound, combining classical and contemporary music, like pop, rock and fusion.

Despite criticism from some die-hard traditionalists, her style has won her millions of fans worldwide. She has now sold some six million albums and holds 32 international platinum and 17 gold awards.

The 90-minute show was Mae's first appearance in Indonesia. She is apparently quite popular here, with tickets selling out a week prior to the show, despite the relatively expensive prices of Rp 250,000 (US$26.30), Rp 500,000 and Rp 750,000.

The show was aimed at promoting Mae's latest and seventh album, Subject To Change.

Back on stage, Mae was tuning her violin, preparing for the next number for her 1,400 audience members.

"I'm sorry about this. But with new environment, air conditioning and everything, the violins get a little confused," said Mae, who used two violins (one white, one brown) alternately.

She then kicked out Vivaldi's Storm, which was followed by "a little song about love", Love Is Only A Game.

It was a Spanish song taken from Subject, where Mae flaunted another ability, singing. To be honest, her soft, almost inaudible vocals proved that it is not her strongest point.

Two sexy leather-clad backing vocalists accompanied Mae, who was wearing a shiny silver sleeveless top and black hipsters.

She was also backed by a keyboard player, guitarist, drummer and a small orchestra. The latter were members of Indonesia's Yazid Djameen orchestra.

The next number was really hard rock, which made me wonder if the older people making up most of the audience really enjoyed the show.

For the next two songs, Mae put down the violin and sang two numbers from Subject, the French Jamais and White Bird.

Following those two songs, Mae performed her final piece, Destiny, which again came from the album.

Mae then said goodbye and the cliched "We want more!" was screamed out.

She came back, repeating White Bird, said goodbye again and the audience screamed "We want more!" again.

And there she was, back on stage again, and again, repeating Storm, ignoring the fans who shouted "Red Hot! Red Hot!", referring to a hit from her previous album.

At 9.40 p.m., the show finally ended, to a standing ovation. Surprisingly, it was quite an entertaining performance. And I was wrong about the older audience. Anton Warouw, 77, said he enjoyed the show and was amazed by Mae's talent.

"The music got too loud for old people like me, but it was quite refreshing," he said, adding that Mae was really pretty.