WINGS TO SOAR IN SABAH
Legendary group Wings continues to celebrate its 30 th anniversary with a concert biled as the biggest ever in Borneo, writes Tahir Al hamz ah
WHILE fans of Wings in Peninsular Malaysia enjoyed the rock band’s 30th anniversary celebration concerts last year, fans in Sabah w ill soon get to rock as w ell.
The Konsert Wings 30 Tahun Live @ Kota Kinabalu, to be held at Likas Stadium on Dec 24, w ill be the biggest concert ever in Borneo.
Wings has performed many times in the state, the last being in Taw au last May.
It w ill use the same production crew , technical equipment, sound and lighting systems used for its Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru concerts.
“That’s not to say Sabah isn’t able to supply any of these. We just w ant to carry on working with the team that we’ re comfortable with. That way, we can ensure producing a similar, if not better, quality performance for this concert,” says vocalist Aw ie (real name Ahmad Azhar Othman)
“We’re excited to be back in Sabah and Borneo. We hope our fans are happy to see us andthat everyone w ill come and celebrate together with us this December,” says drummer Black (Azmi Hashim).
The members hope to see their fans from Sarawak and Brunei as w ell at attend the concert .
ROAD TOUR
As part of its promotion and ticket sales mechanism, the band will hold another press conference in Kota Kinabalu on Nov 14. The event w ill also launch a promotional road tour around Sabah with Wings. Called Sabah Big Bike Ride, the tour w ill cover 2,000km in 10 days.
From Kota Kinabalu, it w ill headto Labuan, Beaufort, Keningau, Tenom, Taw au, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Kundasang, Kudat and Tuaran before returning to the capital.
Says Awie :“We believe that with such activities, we will be closer to fans. I will represent Wings in the tour, accompanied by 10 riders w ho are part of Wings’ own riding club .” They will be joined by 1,000 riders from Sabah.
“But the Sabah riders won’ t be riding with us the whole way. Smaller groups w ill accompany us to each destination,” he explains.
LOCAL TALENTS
While Wings w ill perform in the evening, there w ill be 10 local groups performing earlier in the day. As a tribute, all of them w ill be singing songs from the band’s various albums.
“During the night performance, Wings w ill also have guests such as Zero, Yazer, Felix Agus andAbu Bakar Ellah. Akim and Aw eera w ill also perform that night. Former bandmembers such as Jojet, Sham and Mel w ill make an appearance. All in all, there w ill be 30 songs for each segment (day and night performances),” says Aw ie.
Song selection w ill be picked by the other three members — Black, Joe (Abdul Zamin Abdul Kadir) and Eddie (Samsaidi Ulong Idris).
Organised by K4 MI Mutiara Global, the concert also receives co-operation from the Sabah Disabled People’s Sports and Recreation Club (Pesron).
A portion of ticket sales w ill be channelled to Pesron. Sabah paralympic athlete Filicia Mikat has also been chosen as the concert icon.
tahir.alhamzah@nst.com.my