Turning fear into a musical dream
Through his seven-year journey, Cantopop star Eason Chan has not only explored artistic boundaries but also confronted personal limits, Wang Xin reports in Shanghai.
Fear and dreams are two universal experiences in life, and Cantonese pop star Eason Chan is no exception. The two words are also the theme of his grand world tour. Officially announced in October 2019, and starting from Hong Kong in December 2022, his Fear and Dreams world tour concluded on a high note in Macao on Aug 10. Spanning nearly seven years, this epic journey included 182 performances worldwide, inspiring the dreams of not only countless audiences but also Chan himself.
As a prominent Chinese singer and actor, Chan has achieved remarkable success in music and was recognized by Time magazine as a front-runner and influencer in the Cantopop scene. Over the 30 years since his musical debut, he released more than 40 albums and won numerous prestigious awards in China and Southeast Asia.
During the Fear and Dreams world tour, Chan and his team intentionally excluded many hit songs from the set list. Instead, they focused on a deeper, more artistic exploration of the human experience, highlighting less popular songs that reflect social issues and personal introspection, underscoring the tour's thematic focus.
The concerts were carefully structured to pair "fear" and "dreams" with visual storytelling. The first segment, evoking fear, featured visuals of ruined, polluted, and distorted imagery, while the second segment shifted to warmth, healing, and hope.
In Chan's view, fear and dreams are two concepts that have not yet unfolded, seemingly opposed yet coexisting. Supported by an elaborate stage design and delicate visual effects, the concerts artfully guided the audiences from the macro to the micro, from free will to destiny, from reflecting on the past to confronting the present.
The tour launched with 27 consecutive shows in Hong Kong and maintained enduring popularity across China and internationally, including stops in Singapore, Malaysia, the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
Notably, Chan set a new record for a Chinese singer with six consecutive concerts in North American sports arenas and became the first Asian artist to perform at San Francisco's Chase Center.
