After his performance at Resorts World’s SUPALAPA Festival this March and a free fanmeet in the heart of KL, eaJ (also known as Jae Park) has finally made his way back to Malaysia for an epic and heartfelt solo show. As the fourth stop on the Asia leg of his tour “when the rain stopped following me”, his fans (dubbed affectionately as “Jars”) came out in droves to Zepp KL, exchanging freebies and dressed in various shades of green.
The air was buzzing with anticipation as the lights dimmed and the concert began. Right away, the crowd exploded with energy as eaJ stepped onto the stage. Opening with two unreleased tracks “voices” and “come over”, the audience quickly obeyed his instructions by jumping along to the infectious beats as the stage lights danced around the venue.
Accompanied by a live drummer and a minus one track, eaJ wow-ed the audience with his incredible live vocals, effortlessly hitting high notes at the climax of every song while jumping around the stage. The fans always made sure to react accordingly, cheering and clapping loudly at every turn.
Interlaced between tracks “burn”, “VISIONS”, and “sober go away” were audio voiceovers of eaJ himself, weaving together the story and theme of the tour and his upcoming EP with the same name.
“Somehow I just don’t know who I’d be without it, but I really don’t know who I am with it either,” says one of the voiceovers. It tells the story of someone who has lived with a rain cloud over his head his entire life, who now has to learn who he is outside of that after the rain has stopped following him. These audio snippets, played between songs for the duration of the concert, made the concert feel even more like a journey as we are pulled through the mind of this character (and eaJ himself).
Bringing us back to the music, the audience made sure to sing along passionately to fan favourites “right where you left me” and “mad”. Combined with eaJ’s magnetic stage presence, the atmosphere became electric and ripe with the emotions of each song.
“I would rather be nowhere else but here,” he tells the crowd.
The concert had no shortage of emotional speeches, as eaJ opened up to his fans about his struggles over the past year and his gratefulness for their support. A particularly heartfelt moment was when he was sharing after his song “traveler”, about not feeling at home no matter where you go. “I hope you guys can find a home here,” to which a fan quickly responded with “My home is you!”
As the audience cheered in agreement, eaJ didn’t miss a beat and sincerely told his fans, “You know what, my home is also actually you.” Moments like these are what makes an eaJ concert special, as his willingness to let his walls down allows his fans to also express a certain vulnerability that can sometimes get lost amidst the noise of having a fanbase.
Wasting no time in hyping the crowd back up after his emotional speech, “enemy”, “lennon”, and “safe in the rain” fill the hall with its hard-hitting bass lines and poignant lyrics. During the next track “LA STARS”, fans stuck yellow stickers on their flashlights and raised them high, dotting the audience with yellow “stars”.
There was plenty of fan interactions outside of just his words, as eaJ passed the umbrellas dotting the stage to the crowd after sets like “friendly fire”. After one of his speeches, he got on his knees and performed a deep bow to the audience, expressing his sincerity and thankfulness for his fans for sticking by him through thick and thin.
This is followed by two of the most emotional songs of the set, “pacman” and “castle in the sky”. Combined with the lilting piano backing track, strong drums and eaJ’s powerful voice, many of the audience members were reduced to tears.
However there wasn’t much time to cry before the bass kicked back up with “in my civic”, as well as another new song “when the rain stops”, a beautiful title from his upcoming EP that encapsulates the entire journey of the concert.
Now in an ordinary show, this would be the artist’s cue to leave for a few minutes, before coming back for an encore, but this show is anything but ordinary. “Should we just do the encore songs right now?” eaJ asks the crowd, who all respond with loud cheers of “Yes!”.
“Independent artist, baby!” he giggles to himself as the tune of yet another new track “forest” kicks in. The energy is palpable as the song ends and shifts into the final song of the night – one of his first singles “Car Crash”, a hype number that was perfect for audience and artist alike to dance, jump, scream and sing their heart out. eaJ wastes no time running into the crowd to bolster up the energy even more, as the concert finally draws to a close.
But wait, the night isn’t over yet! As the crew starts tearing down the stage, eaJ comes back on to thank the audience one more time to the delight of the audience. Little does he know, the fans had a surprise of their own up their sleeve too. With his birthday coming up on the 15th of September, fans pulled together a beautiful surprise, complete with a cake, a birthday banner, a t-shirt signed with all the well wishes of his beloved fans. As the crowd sings “Happy Birthday” in English, Korean and Bahasa Melayu, eaJ puts the shirt on and blows the candles out, marking a beautiful end to the night.
With strong performances, fan interactions and heart to hearts, eaJ’s “when the rain stopped following me” KL stop is not one to be forgotten anytime soon. We hope he will come back soon, with an even bigger and better performance.
Images taken by All Is Amazing.
Amanda Angela Danker contributed to this article.
