Concert featuring 33 famous artists to extend run in Hồ Chí Minh City in March

BLAST BACK: Anh trai vượt chông gai D3 concert will return in March 2025

HÀ NỘI — The highly anticipated concert Anh Trai Vượt Ngàn Chông Gai (Call Me By Fire) in Hà Nội on Saturday blocked the highway leading up to the Thanh Trì Bridge across the Red River, but its catchy visual impacts, its iconic and classic tunes and above all, its appeal to a large age group will still resonate on and offline for a long time to come.

It's official now: the show will be extended to a third day in Hồ Chí Minh City next March, as the second day at Vinhomes Ocean Park 3 over the weekend didn't seem to satisfy 30,000 audience members on site and many more online.

People's Artist Tự Long, an ardent advocate for traditional cultural values, said on the stage: "We know that many families bought tickets together to go to this show, two and even three generations in a family bought as many as eight tickets."

Never before has the country seen such a massive show with artists from such a wide range of music genres. Spectators were brought to a beautiful land of folkloric melodies, and all were enthralled. The enchanted crowd sang by heart the iconic tunes of Đào Liễu's traditional chèo singing, the signature performing arts of the Red River Delta, before journeying to the northwestern mountain slopes. The crowd all tuned in to hear 'Rain on streets of Huế' with the team on stage. Last but not least, the melancholic tunes of Dạ cổ hoài lang led by People's Artist Hữu Quốc got everyone to sing along.

Not many shows could have appealed to people of all different age groups and backgrounds, drawing them in with tunes they thought they knew, but adding a new, modern twist for the youth. Rap lyrics were also added to signature wartime songs, not to glorify sacrifices or martyrdom, but to show camaraderie and mutual bonds between people.

The show got together one of the most creative team of stage director Đinh Hà Uyên Thư, music director by SimV, lighting director Long Kenji and Director of Photography Trần Quốc Vương.

The third day of the concert was redesigned with a new concept, yet included songs that have been catching audiences' attention since a television game show over the summer.

Interest has remained high, as fans in the central provinces have called for a concert to be held either in Đà Nẵng or Nha Trang. Hải Phòng fans have also been urging organisers to hold a concert in their city's iconic Lạch Tray stadium.

Hà Nội -- if you don't count Vinhomes Ocean Park 3, which is technically located in Hưng Yên Province -- has not yet had a concert, leaving hundreds of thousands of fans calling for reconsideration. — VNS