Hootie and the Blowfish, Academic Community Hall, March 3 Darius Rucker, lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, lifts his cup and tries to propose a toast after storming through another track. 'Yum bui,' he said, trying his hardest to please the crowd in Cantonese.
In the glare of the stage lights he would have had no idea that the humour was obviously lost - since the concert, the first of the group's Southeast Asian tour, had turned into a gathering of American expatriates.
The fact that the full house was void of Chinese may explain why the group lives such a double life: while their sales in the United States push towards 20 million, they have been practically slated by critics everywhere else.
Anyway, the 1,100-strong crowd at the Academic Community Hall were not concerned with criticism. They were duly entertained when the group rolled out all the hits such as Old Man and Me (When I Get to Heaven), Let Her Cry, Hold My Hand and their most popular and catchy Only Wanna Be With You paraded with perfect musical craftsmanship.
However, at the end of the day it was the quality of the songs that counted - and it has to be said that Hootie and the Blowfish's compositions have been a strain on their credibility, with most tracks treading the same old ground of mediocre, safe guitar pop.
Lacking a remarkable frontman, guitarist Mark Bryan tried his best to ignite rock behaviour - culminating in leaping around and headbanging - somewhat unsuccessful considering his short hair.