2010 Malaysian Grand Prix Concert @ Sepang International Circuit

By Ben Liew  •  in Reports
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I’ve never been a fan of fast cars. Speed equals death in my book and I’ve got the eulogies I wrote for former friends to prove it. Not to sound like a party pooper but neither was I into Wyclef Jean, though majority of the crowd that night thought otherwise.Images Sepang International Circuit

Apparently about five to six thousand revelers were present for the ex-Fugee’s performance. After supporting acts Amanda Imani and TAG did their stuff, Wyclef took the stage around 8pm, in a red Ferrari shirt, backed by his posse. He covered fan-favourites like The Fugees’ ‘Ready or Not’, Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman No Cry’, House of Pain’s ‘Jump’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’, and also played his own hits like ‘911’, within the span of his 90-minute set.

Wyclef’s set must have been the highlight of the concert cause when I got there, the crowd barely stood at a few hundred for Fatboy Slim. Walking right in, security told me that “entrance was free.” That must be quite disappointing for people who actually paid to see Fatboy Slim. Sure Wyclef is a great entertainer and it was a Sunday night, but surely Norman Cook, the 46-year old DJ who gave us hits like ‘Weapon of Choice’ and ‘Praise You’, deserved better than this.

What was more of a let down was that highways and roads that led to the Sepang International Circuit – an international circuit, supposedly the pride of our country – had very bad signage and were poorly lit . People who were going there for the first time, at night, must have been going round in circles. It’s no wonder that they set the media ticket collection at 5pm.

Okay. Enough bitchin’. The best thing, for me at least, was watching good ol’ Fatboy do his stuff. All those hyped-up new DJs that I’ve heard in past months just sound like amateurs compared to him. In fact, you’ve got to be comatose not to enjoy his funky mashed-up set. Master improviser that he is, Fatboy sounded as if he was spinning things on the fly, feeding of the energy of the intimate crowd. Among the songs turned out by Fatboy were Blur’s ‘Song 2’, MIA’s ‘Bucky Done Gun’, and of course his own stuff – ‘Praise You’ and ‘Right Here Right Now’. As a pre-closer, he did a spectacular mash up of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’ and ‘The Rockafeller Skank’.

When the final drone of ‘Praise You’ faded out, there were less than 500 people left standing. But they were elated nonetheless. So I bought a can beer to cool off for RM15. Right about now, can I get a Malaysia Boleh?

2010 Malaysian Grand Prix Concert @ Sepang International Circuit went down on Sunday 4 April 2010.