It won’t just be ‘fools’ rushing in to the perpetually spot-lit KL Live, Life Centre tomorrow night. Thousands of highly sensible and Yoda-wise music paramours will also pour into the ‘boss’ entertainment venue to bask in the still-bright glow of one of the biggest music chart squatters of the 1980s and 90s. British outfit UB40 – ‘copyright owners’ of an as-yet unnamed genre mash-up of reggae, pop, dub and ska; and movers of 70 million albums worldwide is set to devastate the stage with a repertoire of quirky toe-tappers from their three decade-long repertoire (they’re HOW old?!).
The exclusive, one-night-only extravaganza will see UB40 – one of the most commercially successful bands in history (yessiree!), and four-time Grammy nominee – make fans go full retard with performances of chart-inhabiting singles such as their signature, intoxicating “Red Red Wine”; inescapable cover of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” (ruler of Billboard for seven consecutive weeks); “I Got You Babe” (recorded with Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders) and “Rat In The Kitchen” (huh?).
Headlined by three of the original eight members of the band (which proves that grossly over-populated music groups didn’t begin with K-pop troupes) – namely singer Ali Campbell, keyboardist Mickey Virtue and percussionist Astro – the event will also reverberate with tracks from the group’s latest studio album (you can’t even, right?).
Tickets have been cruelly, even inhumanely, limited to just 3,000 by organizer The Livescape Group as a means of providing audiences with an intimate, up-close and personal experience – so fans are encouraged (by me) to step over each other and fight tooth and nail for a seat for tomorrow’s show. The bruises, scratches and broken bones will heal, but the spectacular memories will last a lifetime.
UB40 Live In Malaysia
Venue: KL Live, Life Centre, Jalan Sultan Ismail
Date: Wednesday, 30th March, 8pm (doors open at 7pm)
Ticket purchase: www.TicketPro.com.my; 03 7960 0439
Pricing: RM158 to RM288
Website: www.facebook.com/livescapeasia; www.kl-live.com.my/