They often say not to meet your idol, but what about finally seeing a singer/producer you've respected for years live in concert, only to find out he's now a DJ?
Okay. Who was at the Craig David presents TS5 live in Hong Kong show at PMQ? I know a bunch of you were because I was spying on y’all up the back of the gig and you were tagging us on the ‘Gram
I’m a Craig David superfan – deal with it
First thing’s first. It needs to be known that I am a Craig David superfreak. From back in the days when he got his break with Artful Dodger on Re-Rewind, I’m happy to admit that I fell hard for his smooth, dulcet tones and ability to command a mic, even though Garage wasn’t really my jam.
When he dropped Born To Do It in my first year of uni, I had that CD on repeat in my room and totally understand why it’s often called out by music media outlets and critics as one of the best albums of all time.
That album was slick. From the opening track: Fill Me In – that had people in hysterics at the gig, might I add – to the beautiful surprises tucked deeper into the album (my personal favourite being Walking Away, where lyrically he seems to expose himself a little more so we get a small slice of what the real Crayvid is like.) I mean, hell, I even convinced myself that it was okay for me to sing along to his somewhat misogynistic 7 Days anthem because it was an active choice on my part. (“Didn’t she mind?”, “I don’t think so.”)
Yes. I’ve been casually slipping his tunes into inappropriate playlists at parties without shame for years, and will continue to do so.
Craig David presents TS5 live in Hong Kong preparation
So can you imagine my excitement when I heard he was coming to little old Hong Kong? And then when I saw that our music-obsessed Lifestyle Writer was interviewing him nonetheless? I promptly sent through some questions for her to add to her list, you know, important ones like: Scrubs or Creep? And if he’d change the lyrics to 7 Days if he was writing it circa 2019. The kinds of questions us superfans want to know the answers to!
She sent the email, and we waited to hear what the wise and wonderful Craigy D would share with us.
…
The answers never came. He was too busy floating around a pool in Bali – I jest (kinda.)
Look, I know he’s been on tour for pretty much ever, but I still felt personally assaulted with this lack of correspondence, we are one of Hong Kong’s most vocal music media portals afterall; we owed it to our fans; I just needed this info clarified in my heart.
But I was willing to put this aside, if he could live up to the standards I had set for him in my mind since those days back in College.
Main event presented by Your Mum and Collective Minds
As I rocked up late to PMQ for the event – by myself, as it seems none of my friends have the ardent love and respect for this British icon as I do – I got that intense feeling of adrenaline rising when I started to hear the familiar lyrics blasting out of The Qube. It was time for Crayvid. It was our time.
Look, I could bitch about the annoying venue (drinks tickets sold separately to the bar and no staff knowing what brand the actual ‘draught beer’ was), but I was there to see the voice of my generation do his thing, and I wasn’t going to let anything get me down, not even the cleaning women who decided it was a good idea to sweep the dancefloor area just as he dropped one of his biggest hits. Uh, uh.
But honestly, I was just kind of left feeling a bit sad about the whole thing. I get that TS5 is his DJ thing, and I’m not really a DJ gal, unless I’m on vacay, but there’s just something weird about singing your own tracks on repeat over quintessential hip hop tracks that seems a little desperate, and I don’t want to think of my Craig like that.
When I finally got settled with my bourbon and coke (served in a plastic cup, with no recycling at the venue – come on, HONG KONG!) and found a quiet area to enjoy the greatness, what was actually there was this regular guy standing behind a laptop with a TS5 logo on the back of it; it all just looked a bit DIY.
Don’t get me wrong, Craig is as majestic as ever, and not only rapped through a bunch of his hits, but did play some killer tunes for Xennials like me who love a wee bit of R&B and hip hop in their lives. There were just some really strange moments, like when he said: “I’m trying to raise the sun”, which might fly at an all-night Ibiza rave, but just sounded manufactured at a gig in Central, Hong Kong where we got kicked out at 10:30pm on a Thursday.
Here are some re-cap bullet points for those who missed out
Good points
- His Justin Bieber Love Yourself cover was hot, and I had been listening to it on YouTube ahead of the gig, so props to him for that and the tight rap
- Craig’s teeth looked amazing. Like, I need to know who did his veneers
- The random puffs of purple smoke gave some epic Prince vibes which I dug
- Loved the variety of tracks and hooks he was mixing (had previously mixed?): Clean Bandit, Whitney, Ginuwine, DJ Khaled/Rihanna etc.
- Closing with Minnie Ripperton’s Loving You is Easy was a stroke of genius
Points that were less good
- Singing his stuff over classics, yeah maybe once or twice, but this happened more than it should have #chooseyourmashupwisely
- Dropping “Hong Kong” into every other sentence. I get you need to connect with your audience, but it ended up sounding contrived and impersonal
- The set up. I reckon if the same look was done at a beach club in Bali, it would look bangin, but indoors at PMQ, I just couldn’t stop thinking that I was in Craig David’s bedroom and he was behind his laptop playing me some of his fave tracks and trying to prove his passion for music to me
- The lights were kind of offensive, and I think there should have been a warning for epileptics
- The drinks situation previously stated
I don’t want to sound like a whiny whiny-pants because I did have some fun times, shook my ass, threw my hands in the air and sung my little throat out, but my ticket was free. If I’d paid $600 for that 1-hour show, I may feel otherwise.
Big ups to Collective Minds and Your Mum for bringing CD to Hong Kong; us R&B fans don’t get much in the way of live acts, so props to you and I loved your passion for repping such a wonderful musician, as it was contagious 🙂
Right, now it’s totally time to go chill til Sunday.