Venue: KL Live, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Date: 21st May 2016
Promoters: Fat Boys Malaysia, and Midas Promotions
Review by: Sofea A.
Special Thanks: The Fat Boys Malaysia and Midas Promotions teams
Photos by SJ
Fresh out of their show in Manila the night before, the ladies from Little Mix were surprised by their fans, dubbed the Mixers, at the airport giving them a warm Malaysian welcome in the late morning of May 22nd. They were scheduled to play one of Kuala Lumpur’s up-to-the-minute venue, KL Live at Life Centre located at Jalan Sultan Ismail later that evening, which has housed many acts such as M83 and Tame Impala in the recent months.
All gratification and appreciation goes to Fat Boys Malaysia and their main sponsor, Tune Talk, for steering Little Mix’s debut show in conjunction with The Get Weird Tour 2016. Fans were seen lining up at the venue as early as 7am! By late afternoon, the Life Centre was packed with Mixers of all ages. The energy never withered one bit as we were all escorted into the venue and waited for the performance everyone was there for.
At 8pm, the show commenced with Daiyan Trisha, our local singer-songwriter as the opening act. She kicked off the show with a cover of Tori Kelly’s “Hollow”, which had the crowd sing along to the flawless performance. Daiyan then serenaded us with a few of her original pieces which include “Stargazing”, and “Kau Tahu”. She ended her set with another cover of a chart topper track, “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE which had the audience screaming along to every word. Daiyan Trisha performed every one of the songs stunningly aided with only an acoustic guitar.
Not long after, the buzz of the crowd grew as the clock ticks closer until the appearance of the British girl group on stage, comprising of Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock. The quartet came a long way after becoming champions in the eighth season of The X Factor in 2011, becoming the first and only girl group to win the competition. Over the years Little Mix went on to sell millions of records, have three number 1 singles in the British charts, and platinum albums in “DNA”, “Salute”, and “Get Weird”. Moreover, the album DNA earned the highest debut US chart position by a British girl group, breaking the record previously held by the Spice Girls. Other than that, they have been the recipients of both a Cosmo Ultimate Woman Award and a Glamour Women of the Year Award.
On cue, the lights went off and music was waving through the walls of the venue, signalling the intro number and out came Little Mix in matching robes to the centre of the stage where after a few minutes were taken off to reveal sparkly emerald green pieces in different designs before moving on to perform the first song of the night, “Grown”. The high energy portrayed by them got the crowd grooving along to their sharp dance moves and honest-to-God amazing vocals. Accompanied by their back-up dancers, they flowed to the next song, “Move”, a single from their second album, Salute. Even though they have only performed two songs, Perrie announced that the Kuala Lumpur crowd is by far the loudest. Jesy then introduced the next song, “Hair”, the latest single from their third studio album, Get Weird, as Mixers screamed their lungs out.
During “Change Your Life”, fans held signs that read “Little Mix changed our lives” which had Jesy, Leigh-Ann, Perrie and Jade shine with adoration and bliss, telling the crowd that they have changed Little Mix’s life instead. The level of the uproar of the fans went so much higher as Leigh-Anne sang the words to “Wings” as an introduction to the tune, their second single out after winning The X Factor and the first single out of their first album, DNA. The stellar performance was followed by “Lightning” and “DNA”.
As they geared up for the next track, “Secret Love Song”, a single that is climbing up the charts here in Malaysia, Perrie took the time to read the signs fans have made, including on that said “I missed prom for this”. There was not a soul in the venue that did not realize the absence of Jesy as the remaining members of Little Mix carry on with “Secret Love Song” which they then clarified after the performance that Jesy has had an injury and would not be able to continue. Later that night however, Jesy took it to her Instagram with a picture of her swollen ankle, explaining to the fans of the mishap that took place on stage.
Even though they were one girl short, the high energy of their performances did not sway one bit. In fact, I think it went up another notch as the crowd screams out to every word, replacing the vocals of Jesy. They then resume the show with a medley (“Jump On It”, “Crazy In Love”, “Where Are U Now”, “Fester Skank”, “Ring the Alarm”) which flowed to a crowd favourite, “Salute” followed by “Little Me”, “How Ya Doin’?” and “Love Me Like You”. Each and every presentation was perfectly crafted with synchronized choreography and beautifully unified vocals. It was that time of the night when Leigh-Anne announced that it would be the last song of the night as the introduction to “Weird People” started playing in the background. The crowd gave them everything they have got, and cries of sadness filled the air as the girls retracted backstage.
With the help of chants of wanting more from the crowd, Little Mix came out with their encore and performed “Black Magic”, but not before Leigh-Anne had the crowd reciting “When all is lost, and love is tragic, cast a spell, it’s called black magic.” All 3000 attendees went crazy, screaming along to every word. Even the parents! As they exited the stage for the last time, they promised to come back soon. Little Mix was remarkable and their show surpassed all expectations I had of them.