A night out with Palmy

More than 10,000 fans turned out for Sunday night’s show, which featured three hours of danceable and singalong songs, as well as covers of Palmy’s favourite international artists – the late Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” and Duffy’s “Mercy”. The concert was divided up into several impressive segments, involving multiple costume changes, and reflected the amount of time the singer had put in to perfecting both the lighting and sound system.

The concert kicked off at 8pm when the Thai-Belgian pop-rock singer shouted at the top of her voice in the dark: “Did you miss me?” The audience didn’t need to reply – the answer was plain in their screams. Those screams were even louder when a spotlight picked out a Palmy impersonator among the audience at the amphitheatre then the lady herself on the ground floor and a marching band as the Motown rhythm of “Khid Mak” from her new album played through the speakers.

Surprisingly, Palmy chose not to continue with the new song but swung into “Ga Ga Ga”, the third cut off “Five”. The crowd was up and dancing and stayed up as she segued into “Khid Mak”.

Palmy then switched to a melancholy mood in “Fah Song Chan Ma” with the brass section taking over the melody followed by “Narika Ruan Kao” with a piano accompaniment, as fans sang along. “All the lyrics come from our hearts – both mine and the songwriters,” said Palmy, before going to the foreign covers.

Palmy thanked Groove Rider leader Nattapol “Kor” Srichomkwan, who produced her new album, and sang his song “Chan Wang Wa Chan Phid”, before taking the crowd back to the old days with “Shy Boy”, backed by three male dancers clad in afro wigs. The guitar part took this reviewer even further back in time – to the era of the Shadows.

Again, Palmy switched to poignant ballads “Cry Cry Cry” and “Thung See Dam” as she brought on her first guest Thee Chaiyadej who played an acoustic guitar and sang some parts of “Stay”. Nong T-Bone was next and played the piano on “Butterfly”. “This song was inspired by a butterfly with one wing. It made me go ahead with my musical work after I lost heart,” she explained.

Other guests were Erlend Oye, of Norwegian indie folk duo Kings of Convenience, who jammed on “Crush” before performing the Carpenters’ “Close to You” and Thai artist Hugo Chakrabongse, who performed his self-penned song “Disappear”, originally sung by Beyonce, before performing “99 Problems” and “Bread & Butter” from his latest album “Old Tyme Religion” and Palmy’s “Thob Thuan”. The audience screamed when the handsome artist imitated Palmy’s dancing style.

The last guest was Sena Hoy, whose imitation of a rock guitarist on Palmy’s “Rock Star Syndrome” and impression of Bodyslam’s singer Athiwara “Toon” Khongmalai on “Khon Thi Thook Rak” had the audience screaming with laughter.

Palmy surprised fans with her luk thung look and performed the late Poompuang Duangchan’s hits “Nak Rong Ban Nok” and “Nad Phob Na Amphur” with panache.

However, she drew little reaction with her remixed version “Yak Rong Dang Dang”. Surprised, she threatened not to sing any more rousing tracks but soon relented and had fans back on their feet as she wrapped with “Ooh”, “Yak Rong Dang Dang” and “Tick Tock”.