So getting to the best part of my mini-vacation – watching JJ perform at the Borgata. I had pre-ordered my tickets through his fan club months in advance, so I needed to go pick them up prior to the concert. We took a taxi from our hotel to the Borgata, which was actually quite far away. On the map the hotels seem like they would be walking distance, but it took 15 minutes to get to the Borgata by taxi. Luckily we didn’t attempt to walk. =P

After grabbing our tickets and all the complimentary goodies, we had some time to kill at the casino inside the Borgata. I ended up losing $15 on the slots. Then I got lost inside trying to find the entrance to the venue. Haha. Soon enough, it was time for the show to start. Our seats were in the first row risers, which meant there was ample traffic in front of us right before the show started (and actually more during the show with late arrivals and people leaving).

JJ began the concert with some fast tracks. Even though I didn’t recognize all the songs, I was impressed with his singing from the moment he took to the stage. He sounded exactly the same, if not better, than his recordings. There’s only a handful of people who can perform like that and it’s even rarer that he sounded so good on all his fast tracks. Didn’t sound out of breath at all.

Midway through the concert he moved onto some of his lighter tunes. Along with a small group of guitarists on stage, he gave an acoustic performance to several of his songs. My favourite was his Soy Milk song. =P

Towards the end of the show, he sang some of his ballads while playing the piano. Again, I can’t comprehend the amount of talent he has, because he continued to amaze me. JJ specially prepared some English songs for his U.S. fans. While he sang a Bruno Mars song, I think I preferred his rendition of Billie Jean the most. He pretty much had all the MJ moves down pat.

As the show neared the end, a lot of people started clearing out. JJ already announced his ‘last song’, so people were coming down the aisles ready to leave. Apparently these people have never heard of an encore before (cause you know, they only have them at every single Asian concert). So when JJ came on stage again, all these people ended up standing right in front of our row, completely obscuring our view. Granted some of the staff tried to get people to return to their seats, but it was ultimately a failed attempt. I ended up having to stand (thus blocking the people behind me) just to get a view of him.

JJ ended the night (I should say morning, haha) with Jiang Nan. Again, from beginning to end I was thoroughly impressed by his performance. Even though it was a 1:00 a.m. concert, there was never a moment where I felt an ounce of sleepiness. In fact, I was still on a concert high by the time we got back to our hotel around 4:00 a.m. It’s just too bad that the timing for the AC show sucked in comparison to his Vegas show. Vegas started at 8:00 p.m. and they had an autograph session after the concert. Boooo

For sure JJ was my favourite concert this year. I’ve been going to a whole slew of Taiwanese concerts this year starting with Mayday, then Richie Ren & Magic Power, then Show Luo. I definitely will pay for VIP tickets the next time JJ comes over for a North American show. Thank you for such an amazing night! =)