Overall thoughts on Vivian's Reno concert... Vivian was absolutely wonderful, another outstanding performance!! I haven't heard Viv sing on stage since last May at her Macau concert, but she sounded even better this time at Reno than at Macau..and she seemed more relaxed, too. This was a fantastic and very memorable evening that ended all too soon for her fans...really wish the concert could have lasted longer, but as most of us know, overseas concerts usually aren't longer than 2 hours. Thank goodness there were no guest performers, otherwise we would have heard even less Viv songs.

This was my first time going to Reno. I didn't want to take any chances of there possibly being a snow storm in Reno on the day of Vivian's concert and having my flight delayed, so I decided to arrive at Reno one day before the concert. On Friday the day before the show, I had walked by the Tuscany Events Center (Tuscany Ballroom) at the Peppermill casino a few times throughout the day, but didn't hear Viv rehearsing for her concert. Then on Saturday afternoon at around 2:15pm when I went to pick up the tickets at the box office next to the Tuscany Events Center, I could hear Viv rehearsing for her show. The doors to the venue were closed, but if I looked through the crack in the door, I could see a tiny Viv standing on stage (the back doors were really far away from the stage)...other people who heard Viv sing were also going up to the doors to try and take a look. There were several sofas/chairs outside the venue, so if fans wanted, they could just sit there and listen to Viv sing for a couple hours, since it sounded like Viv was rehearsing for her entire concert. I'm pretty sure while I was standing in line to get my tickets that I heard Viv singing the Japanese song "Autumn Cherry Blossoms," but she didn't sing this song during the concert at night. I guess the concert would have gone over the time allowed, so she had to cut out this song.

The concert was scheduled to start at 8:00PM, but since there were still LOTS and LOTS of people outside the venue at 8:05PM and there were still people waiting in line to get their tickets, I thought the concert wouldn't start for at least another 10 minutes, so I quickly went to the restroom...but then when I came out of the restroom, I could see that it was already all dark inside the venue and I could hear the music of "A Long and Lasting Love" starting... I saw from far away that Vivian was already on stage!..oh crap!!!..I'm late! (concert started at about 8:10PM)...so I rushed to get in line to enter the venue. Luckily the doors to the venue were wide open so I could still see Viv from far away and I could hear her singing while waiting to get in. I was finally in my seat halfway through Viv's song "A Long and Lasting Love."

The Tuscany Events Center (Tuscany Ballroom) is much bigger than the Caesars Palace Ballroom that Viv performed at during her 1997 Las Vegas concert. The Tuscany venue has a seating capacity of over 4,000 . Since it was already all dark when I got into the venue and there were still lots of people waiting outside the venue to get in to the show, I couldn't tell how full the venue was, but seeing how many seats were left on the online ticket reservation website and hearing the box office workers say they only had certain seats left in whatever seating area, I'm guessing the venue was at least 90% full.

Viv was wearing a gold/white color dress and big 'cottonball' headpiece when she was singing "A Long and Lasting Love." (same dress she wore at Guangzhou concert) After singing "A Long and Lasting Love," she sang "Wedding of Feelings"..I was finally able to get my camera out to start taking pictures at this time.

Then she talked to the audience, saying it's been 17 years since her last show in the USA (it's been 17 years since her San Francisco concert, and almost 15.5 years since her Las Vegas concert), so she's really happy to be here. While Viv was giving her speech, there were a lot of fans standing in the aisles and even going to the front of the stage trying to take photos..security guards were doing nothing at all about it. Viv said this year was her 27th year in showbiz, but it's her first time doing a world tour. She thanked everyone for her support. She said ever since 2004, she's only been working part-time doing certain jobs in front of the camera. She said nowadays she doesn't really plan ahead on the types of jobs she does, so that she and the audience would have more of a surprise. She talked about why she decided to do a world tour.. then she noticed lots of the fans in front of the stage were taking her photos and she said, "Wah, you're all busy taking photos and not listening to what I have to say...hahaha!" Then she shook hands with some of the fans who were standing at the front of the stage. She said it's so unbelievable that fans are still so passionate and haven't forgotten about her even though she's been in showbiz for 27 years..she thinks it's fate, and after so many years, she's received lots of love. She said although she's not a full-time singer nowadays, but if she can return the favor of everyone supporting her for so many years by performing on stage, she feels it's a blessing. She said she doesn't want to miss the chance of making all the people who like her happy, so that's why she's doing this world tour. Then she said while she's on stage at Reno tonight, how much she enjoys her night would depend on the audience's reaction..and then the fans all screamed loudly. Then she asked the audience which of her songs was the first song that they came to know her as a singer...someone screamed "Rumors"..Viv said "Rumors" is her first Mandarin song, so how about her Cantonese song? Then another fan screamed "A Long and Lasting Love"...and another fan screamed "Crazy Heart Changes to a Deeper Love"...which is wrong..then Viv said the song was "Offstage Leading Actress" and asked the audience if the question was so difficult and if they've heard the song before..haha.. it's easy for some of us die-hard fans, but of course I'm not gonna be screaming out the answer during the show.

Viv then sang "Offstage Leading Actress." The security guards finally got most of the fans to go back to their seats instead of standing in front of the stage or in the aisles. But then there was this one specific security guard who kept on screaming to people who were taking pictures, "No photos!!"..not even with smartphones or pocket-sized cameras. So whenever that security guard was standing in front of us, we had to hide our cameras, but then the minute he walked away, all the fans had their cameras out again and smartphones out recording video/taking photos. It's like how can the security guard expect the audience not to take photos of Viv??...especially since the majority of the audience haven't seen Viv perform on stage for 15+ years, or maybe it's their first time seeing her on stage. The security guard was trying to stop people from taking photos of one of the most photographed idols of the 1990s till now...are you kidding??..that's not gonna happen...haha! ...he's going to have a very busy night walking around the venue telling people "No photos." The other security guards weren't as strict about photo taking..it's as though the security guards don't communicate with each other, because they all don't have the same 'No photos' policy..one other security guard had said photos were ok, just no video. After Viv sang "Offstage Leading Actress," she sang "When the Red Leaf Falls." Unfortunately, when she started singing this song, the security guard was standing right in front of our section again screaming "No photos!" and Viv was standing right in front of us, so we couldn't take photos!!..dang!!..I would have gotten some good photos if that security guard wasn't standing there..ugh. Oh well, if I can't take photos, then I'll just have to enjoy the concert as it should be, by watching Viv with my own eyes and not on a camera's LCD screen.

After Viv sang "When the Red Leaf Falls," she went offstage to change into her next dress. Viv came back on stage a few minutes later dressed in a silver/greenish gray skirt covered in sequins with a feather headpiece (same dress she wore at Macau and Guangzhou concerts). Viv sang and danced to "Sailormoon Theme Song," then "One-sided Love." She did a few of the original dance steps to "One-sided Love," bringing back all those memories from the '90s. Meanwhile, the security guard who kept screaming "No photos!" was still going around to each section telling the people not to take photos. After singing "One-sided Love," Viv talked to the audience. Viv asked the audience if it's common for Chinese people living here to go to karaoke. Then one guy in the audience screamed Viv's song name 留戀 (Keep Love)... and Viv said "Sing 留戀 (Keep Love) so early?..oh you mean you often sing this song?" Then Viv talked about how she really likes to sing karaoke. She said she would seldom sing her own songs at karaoke unless she's practicing her songs. She said she could sing by herself for 8 hours..and the audience screamed "Waahh!" Then Viv asked if anyone could beat her record..and one lady screamed "Yes!"...and Viv asked how many hours she sings.. the lady said she only sings for one hour..and Viv said that's nothing compared to her 8 hours, but if she's singing her songs for one hour then that's ok. Then Viv asked the audience if they wanted to know which songs she usually sings when she goes to karaoke..and the audience screamed "Yes!" Viv said she would be singing a few other singer's songs and perform them in her own style, hoping to give a different flavor to the song. Then the guy in the audience who had screamed the song named 'Keep Love' a few minutes ago screamed "Lau Luen" again twice...I wonder if he was a little drunk (well, they were serving cocktails before the show).. and Viv said, "No need to rush.. we'll have this song later"..haha.

Viv then sang Kit Chan's song "Waited and Waited." (there were no string musicians on stage to perform with her like her Macau and Guangzhou concerts). Then she sang Eason Chan's Mandarin song "Long Time No See" and Chyi Yu's Mandarin song "Walking in the Rain." After Viv sang "Walking in the Rain," she talked a little and mentioned that the songs she just sang really touched her while she was growing up and hoped to share these songs with the audience. She talked about her 1996 album "Hot Kiss" and how she was very happy with this album, because it was the first time she was the producer, and that it was a very good experience for her. Then she sang one of the songs from this album, "For You." After Viv sang "For You," she went backstage to change into her next outfit.

A few minutes later, Viv came back on stage wearing a white corset with black shorts and a black see-through skirt, but this time she changed her headpiece/wig to a different one compared to her Macau and Guangzhou concerts. Instead of the short-hair wig and white hat with a fake gun on it, she had a side ponytail with some curls and a black headpiece. I wonder if they didn't bring the white hat/gun because it might look suspicious in the x-ray machine at the airport?? Honestly, the white corset outfit is my least favorite compared to the others, but WOW, who would have thought a different hairstyle/headpiece could make such a big difference with the overall look?..I like this new look much more than the short hair wig she wore in Macau...hehe. She was singing and dancing to the fast songs medley "Bad Girl" (Anita Mui's song), "Dancing Street," (Priscilla Chan's song), and "Love You Endlessly" (Aaron Kwok's song). While she was singing "Dancing Street," the dancers were throwing a few BIG balloons out to the audience, so the audience could hit the balloons around the venue. I think it would have been a little safer with beach balls...you wouldn't want one of those big balloons to blow up in the audience. During Aaron's song, Viv did the same hand gesture Aaron does for the song part, "dui ni ai ai ai bu wan." I think the security guard who kept on screaming "No photos" finally gave up telling people not to take photos about mid-way through the show..people were taking pictures, but he wasn't stopping them anymore, which is good for us fans...haha.

After Viv finished the song medley, she asked the audience if they knew those songs she just sang.. the audience screamed "Yes!"...then she said she considers those songs as being the classic fast songs. Viv asked the audience the names of the songs she just sang and the audience screamed out the names.. then she said we were quite familiar with the songs, meaning we're about a certain age..haha..well it's true though..we're all not getting any younger. It won't be long before Viv looks younger than us..haha. Viv said the songs "Bad Girl" and "Dancing Street" are from the '80s and she wasn't even in showbiz yet..and she said since we're so familiar with these songs, we were also very 'classic'..and she told us to applaud ourselves, so we all applauded. Then she asked the audience how she first started in showbiz, and some fans screamed "DJ!" and then she said she started out as a DJ, then a TV host, then acted in movies, and finally became a singer, and said that she's had a lot of different experiences during her career. Then she said as she recalled her 27 years in showbiz, what she cherishes the most are the friendships she's made, which includes her supporters/fans..and the audience screamed and applauded. Viv then introduced the next song she was going to sing. She said this song was chosen by her former manager Ambrose Aw to be included in the Journey of Love concert rundown. She said Ambrose left (passed away) their team last month and she would like to sing this song at each of her concert stops to cherish the memory of him and complete their journey of love. Then Viv sang "Love You More Than I Love Him."

After singing "Love You More Than I Love Him," Viv said this song was a side-track on one of her albums, but this song was very popular at the karaoke places back then, so she knows her fans really like this song. Then one of the guys in the audience screamed "very pretty!"..and Viv said, "What's very pretty? Does this look pretty? You like the 'bad girl' kind of look?..ok! Then I'll change my look more...haha. What's most important is you're all happy."

Then Viv said she would be singing some of her other sidetrack songs that her fans really like. She sang a medley of "A Thousand Mornings," "Past Fairy Tale," and "Dance of the Steel Wires." I was really hoping she would sing the full version of "A Thousand Mornings" like she did at her Macau concert, but she only sang half of the song for her Reno concert. After Viv sang "Dance of the Steel Wires," she talked a little, saying she was really happy because she's able to sing to people who really like her..and travelling so far to Reno, she's able to see some fans who she hasn't seen for a very long time, or some fans who have never seen her on stage before, she thinks it's very meaningful. Then she thanked everyone, including the concert organizer, Peppermill casino, her backup singers, her band, music director..etc. as well as thanking the rest of the people who helped arrange the show, and thanked all the audience members who came from many different places to see her show. I think everyone came from out of town to see Viv's show...most people had to spend at least 3.5+ hours to travel to Reno..like SF people had to drive 3.5/4 hours to Reno, or LA people had to drive 8 hours to Reno.. flight time from SF or LA to Reno is one hour, but calculate travel time to the airport and arriving 2 hours before the flight, then that's over 3 hours travel time. A few ladies appeared on stage to give Viv some flowers..one of them gave Viv a kiss on the cheek..and Viv said, "Only females can do this...males can't try this"..and the audience laughed. Then Viv said before she sings her last song for the night, she wanted to hear some sound from the audience..and the audience screamed loudly. Viv asked the audience to scream even louder, so we all screamed 2 more times.. then she thanked everyone and said "I love you!" Then she said she was going to sing her last song and most of the audience screamed "Waahhh!"..kind of like meaning 'wah, the show is already over so fast?' I was thinking Viv would be singing "Keep the Lover" 留住有情人 next, since she sang this song at her Macau and Guangzhou concerts, but she didn't sing this song during her Reno concert .. although I'm almost sure I had heard Viv sing "Keep the Lover" during her rehearsal earlier in the day..I guess they were really under strict orders to end the show on time.

Viv then sang "Lonely Heartache." As she was singing this song, people were getting out of their seats, not to leave, but to rush towards the stage... trying to get a close photo of Viv or trying to get Viv's handshake. I was starting to see flashbacks of her '97 Las Vegas concert when many people gathered near the stage towards the end of the show, but this time at the Reno show, there were A LOT more people in front of the stage.....at least for the '97 Las Vegas show, the fans couldn't gather in the middle aisles..they could only get to the stage coming from the left/right sides. For the Reno show, people were coming from the left/right and down the 2 middle section aisles towards the stage..there were no ropes up to block the people from going down the middle section aisles. The security guards can forget about telling the fans "No photos!"..they had a bigger issue of trying to control the huge mob of people near the stage. There definitely weren't enough security guards. There was one guy standing on the right side of the stage who seemed to be a little drunk...he was screaming out some words but I couldn't understand what he was screaming, but he was definitely trying to get to the middle of the stage..the security guards were trying to hold him back. Meanwhile, as Viv was singing "Lonely Heartache," she was also trying to shake hands with the fans near the edge of the stage..she had to bend down to reach the fans' hands. During the middle of the song, Viv changed the words that she would normally say for this song and said, "During my world tour, this would be my journey to look for love. As I go to each place, I would accumulate the love and support everyone has given me, and then I would set out/embark on to my next location. Tonight this place is filled with love. I believe that in our future 'Journey of Love' [shows], we will experience even more love." The security guards kept screaming to the people, "Back to your seats!"...yeah right...no one was going back to their seats. After "Lonely Heartache," Viv left the stage while the audience was screaming for an encore. The lights in the venue were actually turned on..the guards were again trying to tell the people to go back to their seats, but it wasn't working.. the people were pushing even more to get closer to the stage. Fans were screaming "Encore!"

Viv came back on stage a few minutes later wearing a pretty pink dress with a red feather on her head (not sure if it's a feather..kind of looks like it) . I liked this dress the most. She came back on stage but there was no music playing and she didn't have a mic in her hand, so we were wondering what was happening. Then she sat down at a keyboard..ooh...so she's going to be singing and playing the keyboard.. great!! She didn't play a piano or keyboard during her Macau show, and I wasn't there at her Guangzhou concert to see her do this. While Viv was playing the keyboard, she was singing "Beloved." I couldn't get a clear view of her while she was sitting down at the keyboard, so I had to watch her on the big screen (there were several big screens in the venue, so even people sitting way in the back had a good view of Viv during the show). After Viv sang "Beloved," she asked the audience if they liked this song... and the audience screamed "Yes!" Then Viv said this song allowed her dreams to come true to become a singer, and although she has sung this song numerous times for so many years, she still has strong feelings each time she sings this song..and she said this song is one of her top 3 favorite Cantonese songs. Then some guys were screaming in the audience..kind of sounded like they were screaming "I love you!"..Viv said she couldn't hear what they were saying..then she said "I love you!..is that what he said?"..and the audience laughed. Then Viv said as a singer, she's very happy when she can sing the songs she likes, but she's the happiest when she's able to sing a song she wrote herself. She talked about her Mandarin album "Time" which was released before she stepped away from showbiz in '97 and said she had written 3 songs on the album and was very happy that those 3 songs were main plugged songs. Then she said she wanted to sing one of those songs she had written, and she sang "Time" while playing the keyboard.

After singing "Time," Viv left the keyboard and one of her dancers helped her walk down some stairs. One guy in the audience screamed in Cantonese "Love Vivian the most!" and Vivian replied, "Thank you. I love you all the most!" Viv said she was happy to play the keyboard and sing to her fans..and hoped the fans liked it. She said she hasn't played for a while and was a bit rusty, but she practiced some just for this show..and she asked if she played ok, and the fans screamed "Yes!" Then Viv saw one of the fans holding a stuffed animal and Viv screamed, "Wow your stuffed animal is so cute!" and Viv said, "Don't block her [from giving Viv the stuffed animal]"..not sure who Viv was telling this to, since the security guards can't understand Cantonese, so they wouldn't know what Viv was saying. The fan gave Viv the stuffed animal..and Viv said, "Is this Chow Wai Paau (Pal Chow..her cat who passed away a couple years ago)?"..actually the stuffed animal looked more like a giraffe than a bengal cat. The fan said Viv brought back lots of memories..and Viv said there's a few more songs that will bring back even more memories. Then the fan said she really likes 留戀 (Keep Love) . and then Viv said she'll see if she will sing this song later. If Viv didn't sing "Keep Love," I would have been super disappointed. As Viv was talking, she tried shaking hands with some of the fans who were at the edge of the stage. Viv said choosing the songs to sing for this concert was a real headache, because she could only sing a certain number of songs and she would have to cut some songs, because the show was too long. She mentioned during her 25th anniversary concert, there was one particular song that had to be cut from the rundown because the show would be too long and she later found out many of her fans were disappointed that she didn't sing this one song. She said this particular song's MV was very popular on the web.. and said she wanted to include this song for each of her world tour concert shows. She said she was adamant that this song can't be cut from the rundown.. and said the director had wanted to cut the song for this show, but Viv said she definitely had to sing this song at tonight's show to make up for her regret of not singing it last time. This song was "Crazy Heart Changes to a Deeper Love." ..and the fans screamed loudly when Viv said the name of the song.

After Viv sang "Crazy Heart Changes to a Deeper Love," Viv announced the next song she would be singing, "Keep Love"..fans screamed loudly when they heard Viv was going to sing this song..myself included..hehe. After Viv sang "Keep Love," Viv said she's seen fans posting messages on the Internet about them listening to her songs as they were growing up..and she asked if that was true..and the audience screamed "Yes!" She said every time she hears this, she feels very warm, and feels very lucky to have accompanied her fans while growing up. As she was shaking hands with the fans, she screamed "wah, don't pull me off stage!... help!"..Carmen and a worker came rushing to Viv's side...then the fan let go. Viv said, "Don't scare me and pull me down..otherwise I'll scream." Then Viv said she's very happy to be able to sing for her fans, and when her fans are happy, then that's her biggest satisfaction. She hoped everyone enjoyed this night. Then she said, "I don't know if I will come back here to perform again" ....the audience all screamed..and she said the reason is because during a person's different stages in life, they will have different things they want to pursue and different choices. She said it's fate that everyone is there to watch her show tonight. Then she said she sincerely wanted to thank all of her supporters for these past 27 years.. and she said she felt like she was about to cry..and the audience screamed loudly. Viv then sang her final song for the night "If You Knew My Reason." Viv was still trying to shake hands with the fans while she was singing and before she left the stage. She really appreciates the support of her fans. The concert ended a little before 10:15PM.

I'm hoping Viv will have a "Journey of Love" concert in Las Vegas someday, or in L.A. (she's never performed in L.A. before). I know several fans who couldn't go to the Reno show, but they would definitely go if Viv has a concert in LV or L.A. Until our next Viv and fans reunion.....hopefully we won't have to wait another 15 years for her to come back to the USA.