This article is about the Singapore concert (Dec 28, 1993).

 

Cyndi Lauper
Harbour Pavilion
Dec 28, 1993
by Yong Shu Hoong

 

Cyndi Lauper has guts. Though it was her first time in Singapore, she chose to put on a no-frills concert with no dancers, no expensive props or stage effects. Her Sony labelmate, Michael Jackson, would flinch at the thought. Lauper had only one change of costume and an eight-piece band (including a violinist) which provided excellent backup. Throughout her performance, she held every one's attention with not just her music, but also her casual chatting and wise cracks. Her warm personality and her willingness to interact struck the right chord with the 2,000-strong crowd, sweeping off all awkwardness of a half-filled hall. During the first song, That's What I Think, she plunged into the crowd. Talk about stage-diving.

 

 

Though her old songs, She Bops, Time After Time and Money Changes Everything drew the best response, Lauper was quite insistent on basing the bulk of her repertoire on new tracks from her lastest album, Hatful Of Stars, such as Who Let In The Rain and Product Of Misery. After her encores of Girls Just Wanna have Fun (which she sang perched atop the giant speakers) and True Colours, it was quite difficult to let her go. She did what many pop icons would not. She came down to earth as a personal friend to her fans - to hug and to shake hands, to share a joke, and to bare her soul by explaining the meanings behind songs. Yes, even if it meant telling us about her childhood memoeires about a man called Sally and his flock of pigeons up on a rooftop above New York City.