‘We Have Been Shrimped’ quipped a fan on social media, after HYBS (short for ‘Have You Been Shrimp?) announced on social media earlier in January that they are disbanding.
The Bangkok-based duo from record-label JUICEY, consisting of Thai-Singaporean singer-songwriter Alyn Wee and model-actor Karn Kasidej, took Asia by storm, when they released their first single Ride in 2021.
Their announcement shook both the industry and the fans, so much so that tickets for their 16 March farewell concert were snapped up almost as soon as they were released.
HYBS subsequently decided to add a second night, and even tickets for those were sold out very quickly.
The two-sessions concert at the MGI Hall, Bravo (Show DC) was a festive affair, as fans queued from early on in the afternoon to snag some of the last few band merch as memorabilia, and snap photos at the HYBS-themed photobooths.
Yet, there was no running away that this would be, for most fans, the last time they would see the duo.
Setting the tone for night, the duo kicked off with the uplifting beats of Fantasy and Run Away, set against a futuristic stage design that’s synonymous to their branding.
The audience cheered when the duo promised that they will be singing all their released songs, and ChaPop believes that they really did.
Throughout the span of the HYBS project, they have collaborated with multiple Asian artistes, including Japanese singer-songwriter SIRUP, who was the first guest artiste for the night. He joined both Alyn and Karn to perform their recently-released single I’m Blessed.
In a seamlessly-coordinated flow, brb., the three-member group from Singapore, was the next guest artiste to join them on stage, to perform sad girl. The song was an original single between brb. and SIRUP themselves.
HYBS and brb. then went on to sing No One, which was an original single between both groups released in 2022.
Indonesian singer-songwriter GANGGA also shared the stage with Alyn and Karn for Let It Rain, with white confetti streaming down the hall that created a magical rain effect.
The three of them commented that a meeting they had at Mutual Bar in Bangkok last year kickstarted their musical collaboration journey.
It was clear from the banter that beyond being just professional collaborators, HYBS and all of their guest artistes were also good friends.
Indeed, there was plenty of banter and light-hearted humour, both between Alyn and Karn, and with the audience, turning the large, packed hall into an intimate, fun setting. At one point, in between a change of sets, the duo admitted to making up small talk – about pouring green tea from the Earth to the moon – to buy time as they got a costume change.
Still, it was all the emotional moments that were probably the ones that hit the heartstrings.
Their performance of Serenity could be mistaken for something out of a Coldplay concert while the acoustic rendition of Prettiest To Me could have been another Ed Sheeran’s concert proposal moment. Beautiful.
Ride was performed twice on the night. The first performance saw Karn flawlessly doing a solo intro on piano, with the audience humming the lyrics “Please don’t you go, I’ll be alone”.
As if the fans’ pleas were not heard the first time round, fans once again serenaded the duo with the same line over and over again at the end of the show, this time louder, to tears and hugs between Alyn and Karn. “No more fancy stuff guys. This is it, we love you all”, says the duo in an emotional farewell.
ChaPop, who was among the many fans, shrimps and T-pop artistes (read story here) at the farewell concert, says thank you for the music.
