Eric Chou's gigs at Taipei Arena draw 33,000

Mandopop star Eric Chou held his full-scale concerts last Saturday and Sunday. PHOTO: SONY MUSIC TAIWAN

TAIPEI • In what could be a silver lining for the return of concerts, Mandopop star Eric Chou has held the first post-pandemic, full-scale arena shows in Taiwan - drawing 33,000 attendees.

The shows, held at Taipei Arena last Saturday and Sunday, drew 11,000 and 22,000 concertgoers respectively.

The 25-year-old Taiwanese singer performed songs such as That's All, Freedom and At Least I Remember on a revolving stage.

He released his fifth and latest album, When We Were Young, in January.

Ella Chen from girl group S.H.E, was a guest performer at the show, which was attended by celebrities such as Taiwanese singers Ben Wu and Dino Lee.

The show also featured a video message from Hong Kong singer G.E.M, his duet partner on the hit song Don't Force It, as well as an appearance by his pet dog Chopin.

Taiwan has been praised for its highly effective Covid-19 response, with 481 confirmed cases and seven deaths in a population of 23.7 million, according to media reports.

Safety measures observed at the concerts approved by the Taiwanese authorities included mandatory masks for all attendees, access to hand sanitisers and temperature checks, and refusing entry to ticket holders with a temperature higher than 37.5 deg C.

Chou is set to perform two more arena shows on Sept 5 and 6 at the Kaohsiung Arena.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 15, 2020, with the headline Eric Chou's gigs at Taipei Arena draw 33,000. Subscribe