Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Unplugged 2015

Background and development

The realisation and execution of the show took around two weeks. The first advertisement for the show happened on 20 March when Siti's personal assistant revealed on her Facebook account that the special concert would be held on 7 April to mark Siti's twenty years in the music industry. Few snippets of Siti training for the show were also shared by Siti on her personal Instagram account. Siti openly admitted that these were fans who were angry and voiced out their dissatisfaction and sadness because they were unable to attend the concert due to the limited number of days, but it cannot be avoided since the concert was created in a short amount of time. Although the concert was planned and organised in about two weeks, all the tickets for the concert sold out days before the show.

Most of the songs performed at the concert were taken from Siti's pop albums, with other songs added to give the show some variations. However, more focus were given to the songs that are included in Fragmen, one of her most recent pop albums to date.

Being an unplugged concert, the vocal side of the performance was given more preparation since the whole set list was performed acoustically. Throughout the set list, only six musicians and four dancers were employed to accompany her, with Aubrey Suwito in charged of composing and arranging the music for the concert. Siti was accompanied by Awi Rafael, Datuk Adnan Abu Hassan and Faizal Tahir for parts of the concert where the songs that were composed and written by them.

Fashion and stage

Keeping up with its minimal concert setting, Siti only changed her wardrobe twice. Both of her outfits were designed by Rizman Ruzaini.

Concert synopsis

The concert began at 8.40 p.m. with Siti performing "Membunuh Benci" while accompanied by Aubrey Suwito on piano, who was the musical director for the concert. This was followed by the first medley of the night, composed of the first two upbeat songs of the night, "Mahligai Asmara" and "Satu Cinta Dua Jiwa" where she started to dance while singing. Between the performances, she shared some of her past experiences including when she first started singing professionally after winning 1995 Bintang Hiburan Minggu Ini (Bintang HMI) at the age of 16. She revealed that "Jawapan di Persimpangan", the first track from her debut album was the first song she recorded when she was under the tutelage of Datuk Adnan Abu Hassan. She resumed her performance by performing the second medley of the night composed of "Jawapan di Persimpangan", "Purnama Merindu" and "Diari Hatimu" and followed by another medley composed of "Aku Cinta Padamu" and "Biarlah Rahsia". For the next performance she invited Awi Rafael, the composer of "Mula dan Akhir," to accompany her on guitar while she sang the tune that he composed for her most recent album, Fragmen.

Siti returned to upbeat songs in a medley of "Intrig Cinta" and "Tanpa Kalian". Prior to the performance of these two songs, she invited a fan from Singapore to join her on the stage. She went performed another medley of her ballads, "Usah Diragui", "Wajah Kekasih" and "Kau Kekasihku". Present in the audience was also invited guests Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia with his wife, Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali. Siti reminisced the moment when she was taken from Subang airport after arriving from Shanghai straight to Langkawi by a helicopter to perform for an event that was attended by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. She was excited she was to meet Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (who was still a prime minister at the time) and break the news personally to him that she just won the Gold Award from the Asia New Singer Competition in Shanghai in 1999.

In the second half of the concert, Siti invited Faizal Tahir to accompany her on guitar while she sang "Aku" and "Warna Dunia", the former of which was composed by Faizal for Fragmen. Later she also invited Datuk Adnan Abu Hassan to accompany her on piano to the songs that were written and composed by him, "Jerat Percintaan" and "Gelora Asmara". During the performance she recalled when Adnan helped her when was beginning her career as a singer. She told the audience, "Abang D (Adnan) is among the individuals that is responsible of taking me into this industry, I actually once stayed at his house back when I was becoming an artist. At the time, he just got married and he is yet to have any children, so I took shelter in an empty room inside his house." She resumed her performance with another three medleys. The first one is a medley of cover songs, "Epilog Cinta dari Bromley" by Sohaimi Mior Hassan and "Suratan Atau Kebetulan" by Kenny, Remy and Martin, followed by a medley of her songs again which was a medley of "Engkau Bagaikan Permata" and "Cahaya Seribu Liku". The final medley was three songs from Fragmen written by Indonesian songwriters and composers — "Sanubari", "Terbaik Bagimu" and "Kau Sangat Bererti". She finished the show by performing all the songs from Fragmen that were released as singles including "Jaga Dia Untukku", "Lebih Indah" and "Seluruh Cinta". Originally a duet, this concert marked the first solo performance of "Seluruh Cinta".

Critical response

Despite the short planning and execution time for the concert, it received positive responses from music critics. Most reviewers agreed that despite the simplistic nature of the acoustic concert, her vocals was the best part of the concert. Izzat Mohd Anuar from MyNewsHub commented on this fact as "Opting to appear simplistic in term of her dresses and stage decorations, Siti does not compromise from her vocals side where she is still able to show her 'fangs' (vocals) that are still potent and unchanged." One reviewer from Kosmo! also shared the same sentiment. The reviewer commented, "For this concert, in accordance to its acoustic theme, Siti does not go over the top. [...] But, the most important fact that the audience should know is how she spellbinds the audience for more than two hours just by listening to her singing her selection of hits that are well-kept in her art (music) portfolio."

Siti's vocals referred as "merdu" (sweet) by Syanty Octavia Amry of Harian Metro, Dhiya Aizat of Tonton Extra, Nurfarhana Mohamed of Utusan Online and Shazryn Mohd. Faizal of The Rakyat Post. Nina Farzuin Md Sharom of Sinar Harian praised Siti's vocal performance even after more than twenty years being in the industry. She wrote, "Even after twenty years have passed, but the sweetness of this singer's voice is still able to make all the audience captivated.", an opinion which is also shared by Shazryn of The Rakyat Post. Che'AZ, reviewer from the English version of The Rakyat Post commented, "Siti not only drowned her audience with her powerful vocals, she also proved to them that she is truly in a league of her own by mesmerising the entire crowd with her melodious arrangements."

A number of reviewers also agree that one of the most poignant moments of the concert was when Siti invited her former mentor, Datuk Adnan Abu Hassan to the stage to accompany her on piano while she is belting songs of his creation - "Jerat Percintaan" and "Gelora Asmara". Shazryn Mohd. Faizal of The Rakyat Post called the moment of the performance as "peak of the concert" and "heart-touching", while reviewer from Murai called it as "heart-wrenching". The reviewer further commented, "Even though Datuk Adnan's health condition is still unstable and it was said he's having a stroke, his spirit to be with Siti Nurhaliza is strong although he had to be helped to get on the stage. That slot managed to make the audience in the hall to feel wistful and melancholic, but with Adnan's fingers playing the piano is proving that he is still able to perform and further beautify "Konsert Unplugged Siti Nurhaliza"."

Critics have noted that Siti has become more comfortable with her communication and interaction skills when she is on the stage, a fact which Siti addressed during the concert. She admitted that during her early years, she was afraid to speak with the media. Rosli Manah of Mangga Online whom Siti personally thanked for being the first journalist to interview her during her early years also noted the same fact. Rosli commented, "I did not expect that I was the first journalist to interview Siti at that time. I'm not asking to be remembered, but Siti is a person who remembers others' deeds and [is] down-to-earth. The utmost important is that she is a person who always tries to improve herself. For me, this is what has brought [her] to her success."

Most reviewers and critics agreed that the one-day concert was a success. Reviewer from Kosmo! concluded the review with, "Ah, Datuk [sic: Dato'] Siti Nurhaliza. No matter how hard we try to undermine or disprove Siti's abilities, with that much hardness this 36 year old woman will continue to prove that she is indeed the best star of the stage for us all."

Commercial performance

Tickets for the concert were made available for online purchase though the concert's official online vendor, AirAsiaRedTix.com. The tickets were also sold on selected outlets for manual pick-ups. Although the concert was planned and executed in two weeks, tickets that were priced from RM 78 to RM 518 and sold in late March. They were sold out at least three days before the day of the concert.

Set list

1. "Membunuh Benci"
2. First Medley
   1. "Mahligai Asmara"
   2. "Satu Cinta Dua Jiwa"
3. Second Medley
   1. "Jawapan di Persimpangan"
   2. "Purnama Merindu"
   3. "Diari Hatimu"
4. Third Medley
   1. "Aku Cinta Padamu"
   2. "Biarlah Rahsia"
5. "Mula dan Akhir"
6. Fourth Medley
   1. "Intrig Cinta"
   2. "Tanpa Kalian"
7. Fifth Medley
   1. "Usah Diragui"
   2. "Wajah Kekasih"
   3. "Kau Kekasihku"
8. Sixth Medley
   1. "Aku"
   2. "Warna Dunia"
9. Seventh Medley
   1. "Jerat Percintaan"
   2. "Gelora Asmara"
10. Eighth Medley
    1. "Epilog Cinta dari Bromley"
    2. "Suratan Atau Kebetulan"
11. Ninth Medley
    1. "Engkau Bagaikan Permata"
    2. "Cahaya Seribu Liku"
12. Tenth Medley
    1. "Sanubari"
    2. "Terbaik Bagimu"
    3. "Kau Sangat Bererti"
13. "Jaga Dia Untukku"
14. "Lebih Indah"
15. "Seluruh Cinta" (Encore)

Source —

Personnel

Credits adapted from Unplugged booklet liner notes.

Istana Budaya workforce