Datuk Ahmad Jais - Konsert Bahtera Merdeka

I have always been a huge huge fan of Datuk Ahmad Jais. Always. And Dato’ Sharifah Aini too. And Dato’ Yusni Hamid. See the similarity? No sillies, not the dato’ bit. It is the genre of music. Yes yes, I did buy Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza’s CD, only once – the Cindai album. You see, I am into asli songs. Big time! No surprise since my father’s side are all into ghazals. To me, nothing rocks more than lagu asli.

And so when I heard that DAJ would be performing at Istana Budaya, I immediately called Yamtuan. I said, take me take me – there I mean. And Yamtuan being Yamtuan said, no way. No force on earth could make him be seen at such concert. Never. What would people say? His image would be ruined! End of story. But if I could talk or trick someone else into going with me, by all means, I could go – so he said.

I wouldn’t be such a huge fan if I could not figure out whom to go to the concert with me, right? The timing of the concert was perfect; it was around the birth date of my boss. And so, I bought tickets for her as a birthday present. I couldn’t expect to send her to the hall alone so I HAD to get a ticket for me too. Perfect. She’s a Johorean, from Kuala Sedili no less. How could she say no to DAJ’s concert? How could she turn down a birthday present? Brilliant! Kan? Come to think of it, if I switch on my charm at full blast – how could anyone say no? Mwehehehee…

23rd March. The Bahtera Merdeka concert!

The hall was full, tickets all sold out. And I could see many famous faces. The blue bloods were there, who’s who in the music industry, some politicians, some high-ranked government servants, the famous and the rich – they were all there too.

And then the magic started!

The concert was everything I imagined and hoped it would be. One beautiful song after the other, 3 hours of DAJ at his best LIVE! Liza Aziz and Haziq AF4 coould not steal the night. Dato’ Siti was there. But not even her could steal the show – tried as she did. It was a feast to all my senses. Beautiful music, lyrics, voice and dancers. My heart felt gripped with a thousand and two emotions. But, you know what I felt most? A heart-wrenching rindu. Especially during the song Sri Banang.

S.Atan played the accordion with Pak Ngah. And watching him, I was transported back to when I was a kid watching Abah played the accordion. My heart was tugged relentlessly. I miss you an awful lot, Abah. I looked around the enchanted hall and I saw many daughters with their mothers and I was reminded of my Mak. Those days when she was much stronger, much younger and much easier. Oh Mak, I miss your old self. Her birthday is coming soon. Mak would turn 57 this year. I would have loved to bring her to the concert but she wouldn’t enjoy the travelling. Can someone please build another Panggung Budaya in Kluang? Pretty please? And drag DAJ there by his hair! White platform shoes and all.

The concert lasted longer than it should (because DAJ talked too much to Ali Bakar’s liking (Ali Bakar – Pengarah Persembahan)). Nobody was complaining of course. I for one, wouldn’t mind at all if Datuk wanted to stretch it till the morning. I didn’t want the magic to end.

But it did. After an encore where he sang two more songs, the concert was over. And I reached home half past midnight – melancholic but not sad – just plain rindu and very much in-love.