Whichever direction the winds in the month of September were blowing was apparently enough to send five 3D concert films our way, with all but one of them from Asian bands. Not that their respective fans are complaining- from the speed of the advance ticket sales of each one of these concert films, it’s safe to say that the winds will continue to blow in this direction. But we digress- we’re here to talk about ‘Mayday 3DNA’, based on the Mayday DNA Tour which had a sell-out run in Singapore just last year.
‘Mayday 3DNA’ is apparently not just any concert film- rather, it’s been billed as a ‘concept film’, interweaving three fictional stories set around Mayday’s DNA concert stop in Shanghai with footage shot during their tour in different Asian cities like Taipei, Hong Kong and of course, Shanghai. Having seen it firsthand, we have to admit that it is a nifty idea, built as the stories are along three very popular Mayday tunes- namely ‘戀愛ing (Love-ing)’, ‘溫柔 (Tenderness)’ and ‘倔強 (Perseverance)’- to evoke the significance of their lyrics.
The first vignette set in Hong Kong tells of a young girl who tries to persuade her father (Lam Suet), owner of a curry noodle stall, to let her go to Shanghai for the Mayday concert. Thanks to Lam Suet’s comic timing, this short zips by buoyantly and is sure to put a smile on your face by the time Mayday takes over for a live performance of ‘戀愛ing’. The second set in Taipei over one night takes a more melancholic tone, as broken-hearted Ritchie (Ritchie Ren) bonds with kindred spirit Rene (Rene Liu) by allowing her to ventilate her anger at her actor boyfriend through smashing cardboard standees of him. Rene is excellent as ever, and despite the contrived setup, this segment turns out more moving than you would expect.