IT was an intoxicating night in more ways than one when singers Bobby Chen and Victor Wong took the stage with Taiwanese rockers Mayday.

For the 7,500-strong audience, ABC's three-hour True Friendship Music Concert on Wednesday night provided a heady brew of energy, excitement and great music.

As for the performers, it was a beery good night thanks to the antics of Taiwanese veteran singer Bobby Chen, 47 - known as the Bacchus (god of drink) of Chinese pop.

The Taiwanese veteran singer opened the show and got the crowd on its feet with hits like Kite and Don't Let Me Cry.

Later, he had the audience roaring with laughter when he took out two cans of stout from a cooler box on stage and said: 'Wong and Mayday are very good kids, so they have no need to drink so much. So one can for Wong, one can for all five members of Mayday, and the rest for me.'

Chen also partnered guest artiste, Taiwanese singer A-Von, for familiar tunes like One Night In Beijing and Summer.

Their energetic showmanship was a tough act to follow for Wong with his mid-tempo love ballads.

Still, fans sang along with the Malaysian balladeer as he performed songs from his new album Love Till Beyond Saving and radio-friendly hits from when he was one-half of duo Wu Yin Liang Pin.

Cheeky Chen popped up again, keeping the vibe bubbling along, by insisting the bespectacled singer down a can of stout.

However, it was Taiwan pop rock band Mayday who really took the cake on the night.

When the five-man group appeared, screams from fans were so loud that even banshees would admit defeat.

Vocalist Ashin quickly took charge with his powerful voice, belting out chart-toppers such as Sun Wukong and End Loneliness with drummer Guan You, bassist Masa and guitarists Monster and Rock.

Like something out of the National Day Parade, Ashin then led the crowd through a mass dance to the band's hit Romance-ING.

Things took a new twist when his bandmates, acting like college kids, ganged up to get the casual drinker to down a drink to celebrate his 31st birthday that very day.

Ashin really got into the spirit of things. He taunted scholarly-looking Guan You, who became a father in October, with: 'You will drink as much as you love your daughter.'

Guan You, usually a teetotaller, obliged, squirming as he poured a can of stout down his throat.

The climax came when the other performers returned on stage for the finale - with a gooey cake.

Chen somehow persuaded Ashin - along with Rock and Monster, whose birthdays are all around the same time - to dunk their faces into the cake.

(海峽時報 (新加坡) 2006/12/08)