Millions of Canadians are aware of Cantopop. But on February 24, the soulful Kristin Fung gave some music lovers a rousing introduction to electro Cantofunk at this year’s LunarFest Concert at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver.
Fung and her band ripped through five spirited numbers, all either written or co-written by the star keyboardist. Ably supported by guitarist Alvin Brendan, bassist Ginger Chen Pimenthal, and drummer Trent Otter, their high-energy set offered a fitting welcome to the Year of the Fire Horse.
Just as the horse charges forward and meets challenges head-on, Fung courageously and effortlessly switched from singing in English to Cantonese and Mandarin.
After coming on-stage in a bright Lunar New Year red dress, the former Toronto resident opened with the jazzy “Beauty Is a Wound” from her “Live at the Garden” EP. Her voice was strong enough to fill the Orpheum as she shared the heartache of wasting love on a man who had been dropped by his ex.
To the delight of the audience, her imaginative lyrics were posted in English and Traditional Chinese on screens to the side. This enabled virtually everyone—regardless of whether their first language was English, Mandarin, Cantonese, or Hokkien—to follow along.
With the charisma of an opera diva, Fung commanded everyone in the theatre to look at her, rather than the screen. This elicited more than a few laughs.
Later with a beaming smile, she noted that fire horse women are “unmarriageable”. That was the cue for her to launch into “Straight to the Heart of It”. On Bandcamp, she describes this composition as a “buoyant waltz about the courage it takes to believe you deserve the best in love”.
“Straight to the Heart of It” was more soulful than her opener as she ramped up the passion in English and Cantonese.
One of the highlights of the evening came with her next song, the multilingual “More Than Money 恭喜恭喜 我有你”. Fung co-wrote this Lunar New Year song at last year’s Jade Music Fest with 11 other Canadian musicians with Asian ancestry: Caroline Ding, Chinyi C, Dennis Law, Dr. Holic, Eunice Keitan, James Tseung, Jacq Teh, Shinlok, Sunny Daydream, Tony Choi, and Violet Ziyi Grace.
Because they weren’t on-stage to sing along with her, Fung asked the audience to belt out a key phrase, “Gong xi gong xi gong xi ni”, which comes up on a few occasions. Fung quipped that it’s her goal to hear this bouncy new single playing inside a T&T Supermarket.
Watch the official music video for “More Than Money 恭喜恭喜 我有你”.
Fung revels in Orpheum debut
“More Than Money 恭喜恭喜 我有你” loosened the crowd up for her spectacular single “Why Don’t You Dance”. (JUNO-winning Toronto songwriter Jacq Teh will be one of the producers on the upcoming release.) Many were on their feet, grooving to the hypnotic music and body-moving lyrics. It was clear that Fung was revelling in her Orpheum debut, soaking up the band’s sound as she enjoyed the sight of so many people loving her music.
As the band played on, she went backstage, only to return with a keytar for the closing song, “Massive Stride”. Fung noted beforehand that when she was little she always wanted to perform on Broadway. And “Massive Stride” is her reflection on the ambition of a young and lonely child who was told that her dream would never come true.
It’s an inspirational song of redemption in overcoming racism and discriminatory beauty standards.
“Keep your stride / Nice and wide / Forget your pride / Wipe that mud from your eyes,” Fung sang with so much joy.
It was yet another reminder of the Fire Horse: strong, untamed, and galloping with power and elegance.
The Toronto Spark is on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
