Accusefive vocalist Chuan Ching performing at the Yes 933 Hits Fest 2023 concert-cum-awards show on Nov 25.
PHOTO: MEDIACORP
Accusefive vocalist and guitarist Pan Yun-an performing at the Yes 933 Hits Fest 2023 concert-cum-awards show on Nov 25.
PHOTO: MEDIACORP
SINGAPORE – Accusefive? Excuse me, what is that?
That was the reaction I got when I asked friends of a similar vintage if they wanted to go see Taiwanese band Gaowuren – Accusefive in English – when they were slated to perform at the Esplanade as part of Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts in February.
Excuse me, Accusefive are very popular, okay? That gig sold out in hours, as did the Mandopop group’s concerts in Taipei and Kaohsiung this summer.
At the sold-out Yes 933 Hits Fest 2023 held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Nov 25, I finally get to see the trio – made up of vocalists and real-life couple Pan Yun-an and Chuan Ching as well as drummer Richard Lin – at the three-hour concert-cum-awards show organised by local radio station Yes 933 and hosted by its DJs.
Many others in the audience are excited to see them too, going by the loud applause and how most know the lyrics to their hits.
Overseas artistes dominate the show, but Singaporean singer Boon Hui Lu does the heavy lifting in the S-pop segment, performing songs including Till The End (2023), the refreshingly upbeat theme song for the recent Channel 8 drama series of the same name.
My friend and I have aged out of Yes 933’s target audience, but she still listens to it and is familiar with the likes of bubbly Malaysian singer Ivy Lee, winner of the newcomer award along with Taiwanese singer PoLin.
Most of the 7,000-strong crowd have come for Chinese singer-actor Zhang Zhehan, judging by the legions wearing the same light blue T-shirt and holding blue signboards and tote bags that bear a photo of their idol.
We are impressed, but that is not us, we tell each other. We are chill.
Still, when Accusefive take the stage two hours into the show to perform Finally (2021), one of the songs from Taiwanese Netflix drama Light The Night (2021), the two of us start beating the air with our glow sticks, delirious with joy.
The strobe lights go a bit crazy for the next Accusefive hit, the fast and whimsical Somewhere In Time (2019). I feel like jumping up and down to work off the excess energy, but settle for intermittent screaming instead.
The band perform just three songs, but promise they will hold a concert in Singapore in 2024.
Accusefive are a hard act to follow, but guest star Bright Vachirawit – the Thai singer-actor who shot to fame in hit Thai romantic comedy shows such as 2gether: The Series (2020) and F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers (2021 to 2022) – floods the stadium with his megawatt smile as he sings Lost & Found (2022) and UnMovable (2021).
