The showcase was scheduled to begin at 7pm, but two long queues started forming outside the Lee Kong Chian Lecture Theatre almost an hour earlier. The organisers had clearly given out more tickets than the venue could accomodate, as could be seen from some students having to sit on the auditorium's staircases.
Emerging on stage with his band Free Night, Zhang Zhen Yue kicked off the concert with the new album's lead single "Si Nian Shi Yi Zhong Bing", a duet with local singer-songwriter Tanya Chua. It was somewhat amusing to hear Tanya's vocals despite her absence, while Zhang Zhen Yue seemed a little more reserved than one would have expected him to be.
Dressed in a white T-Shirt and army print cargo pants, Zhang Zhang Yue stood out from his 3 bandmates, thanks to his signature cap and black-rimmed glasses. He picked up an acoustic guitar on the second song, "Gan Mei Mei", a hit from several years back. This was curiously followed by the familiar "Fen Shou Ba", also a song that is not included in his current album.
93.3FM presenter Pei Fen then came on stage to ask Zhang Zhen Yue a few questions about his collaborations with other artistes on "OK". He talked at length about his admiration for Tanya's individualistic style, as well as the multi-talented Taiwanese celebrity Patty Hou, who surprisingly raps on one of the album's tracks.
The concert then resumed with a couple of intimate ballads from the album, namely "Xiao Yu" and "Lu Kou". Zhang Zhen Yue's casual delivery style was rather endearing, and his reputed disdain for conformity was obvious in how he chose not to censor himself on an arguably vulgar phrase from "Lu Kou".
When Zhang Zhen Yue started rapping on the song "OK", the audience spontaneously got on their feet, a considerably rare sight for campus concerts held within NTU. They then clapped and sang along to "Zai Jian", which aptly seemed like the last song of the evening when Zhang Zhen Yue and Free Night left the stage thereafter.
Thankfully, enthusiastic cheers brought Zhang Zhen Yue and the band back on stage to perform "Ai Wo Bie Zou", a clear crowd favorite that wrapped up the evening on a satisfying note.
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