Dr Ncifi loves Lauryn Hill at Force of Nature
Some lucky SA peeps manage to save their bucks and flit around the world broadening their minds and lapping up new cultures… our local boy Dr Ncifi the Chiropractor was in Kuala Lumpur for last weeks Tsunami concert –
Few people realise the after effects of the tragedy of the tsunami, which although now a distant memory, still linger on in the ravaged areas of Aceh. The island of Sumatra ravag…
ed by a chronic civil war, does not have the tourism dollars, unlike the south of Thailand, which according to a friend of mine who just got back from Phuket, looks as it did before the Wave.
The Force of Nature foundation, a group of multi-national companies and concerned musicians, put on a tsunami benefit concert in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on Friday night. Yours truly cracked the back of an influential businessman and in return cracked the nod for VIP tickets to the charity event in the KL sports precinct. The gala event was a sold out affair with 15 000 malaysian fans packing the indoor stadium, and enjoying an interesting line ups of local and international artistes.
The concert was kicked off by a surprise showing by Paula Abdul, who bizarrely flew 20 hours to say, “welcome to the force of nature concert”- talk about jumping onto the band wagon, although thankfully she didn’t sing ‘Straight up’!
Boyz 2 Men kicked off the first part of the show, with their timeless r n b classic, “I’ll make love to you” proving to be a favourite for a soppy Malaysian crowd. Local artists then took the stage, while I tucked into a complimentary Carlsberg or ten, admiring Carmen Electra‘s frame and checking out ex 007 girl Michelle Yeoh. Next up was the diminutive but vocally powerful Lauren Hill – eat your heart out Editista. The pint sized Diva delivered an impressive performance, to a rather unappreciative crowd. Her solo stuff is not nearly as well known in asia as her Fugees work is.
The more popular and excitable Wyclef Jean then breezed in and got the crowd going with his guitar tricks and his all time classic ‘911’. It was a special moment when he serenaded Lauryn back on stage, to momentarily reform the Fugees, apparently the first time they have played live on stage since their break up. The crowd went absolutely mad, and it was goosebumps all around when they sang the timeless classic, Killing me Softly, which wasn’t the most appropriately titled song for an event mourning 250000 violent deaths, but nevertheless captivated the crowd.
The immensely popular Kung Fu hero Jackie Chan, the Robert de Nero of the east, then came on and entertained the largely Chinese crowd, with some jokes and the odd karate chop.
The Backstreet Boys, more popular than McDonalds in this town, then took the stage in their cheesy yet professional style they can only get away with- the bowler hats, white jackets and white veldskoens causing me to nearly throw up the sushi I had just chased down with a glass of moet n chandon in the VIP area.
The roof of the Putra stadium was then totally blown off by the Black Eyed Peas, making their second visit in 6 months to Kuala Lumpur, with the vocal powers of Stacey Fergeson aka Fergie stamping their authority as act of the evening. Where is the love, Hey Mama, and the classic ‘Shut up’ were belted out at peak volume bringing the end to an awesome event that raised Rm10 million (R17 million) for rebuilding efforts in the disaster region.
PIC COURTESY OF THE STAR ONLINE MALAYSIA
