Dancing up a storm

Proving that great music and truly talented artists never die, the three-and-a-half hours of last weekend’s “6.2.13” concert flew by at an extraordinarily fast speed. Many of the 5,000 odd fans who packed out Royal Paragon Hall were up on the feet and dancing, with the twenty- and thirty-something ladies putting on the best show.

These loyal fans had turned out to cheer on their favourite singers – Christina “Tina” Aguilar, Amita “Tata” Young, Myria “Nat” Benedetti, Jetrin “J” Wattanasin, Patiparn “Mos” Pataweekarn, and the UHT boy band, though one of the six members wasn’t on stage.

Thunderous cheers and loud shrieks from the crowd greeted the 10 singers as soon as the concert started and their images and names appeared on the large screen on stage. 

The crowd became even more excited when the singers took turns to perform – starting with one song each then returning with longer medleys and sets. The latter part of the concert was dedicated to a “dance mix” and the music was simply too irresistible to sit still.

A stage extending into the centre of the hall brought the singers closer to the audience, with several reaching up to try and touch their heroes. Much of the concert was performed on this extended part, which was fitted with multiple elevated platforms and a revolving stage.

Most of the songs performed during the first session were hits from their “6.2.12” album, which was released 17 years ago and sold 2 million copies within one month. A concert of the same name in February 1996 at the Army Stadium drew some 50,000 people, a record for any concert organised by GMM Grammy.

In the latter part of the concert, the singers performed their upbeat numbers. Tata, Tina and Nat performed three consecutive songs together in this session and, for this reviewer at least, that was the most memorable part of the concert.

Nat, who made her singing debut with the original “6.2.12”, mesmerised the audience earlier in the concert with her sweet and charming voice on “Chak Puen Kon Nueng” (“From A Friend”) and “Rak Mai Chuay Arai” (“Love Does Not Help”).

Tata belted out her hits including 2004’s “Dhoom Dhoom”, the soundtrack to the Bollywood movie “Dhoom” and jokingly attempted to repeat some sexy poses from the song’s music video, filmed when she was a whole lot slimmer. 

But the prize for the most energetic dancing went to J Jetrin and even he was panting at the end. The ever-popular J performed a set of fast songs, including “All I Wanna Do”, “Yung Na” (“So Bothersome”), and “Fak Liang” (“Care It For Me”).

A fun part of the show was when Ekachai “Ekky” Uasangkomseth, a more prominent member of UHT, performed with Tina in “Pood Eek Thi” (“Say That Again”). The effeminate Ekky wore a costume and sported a hairdo almost identical to those of the ‘Queen of Dance” and copied her dance steps, but outdid her by wearing black evening gloves.

Will there be another “6.2.13” next year? The enthusiastic response to this five-round concert extravaganza would certainly seem to warrant it.