Iron Cross headed up by Lay Phyu performs at their 15th anniversary concert last Tuesday.

THOUSANDS of fans attended a concert on August 9 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of legendary local band Iron Cross.

Tickets to the concert at the Myanmar Convention Centre in Mayangone township could not be bought. Everyone who attended either received an invite or won a place in the audience through a lucky draw.

U Ko Ko Lwin, the director of Iron Cross Music Entertainment, explained: “We wanted to celebrate our 15th birthday with our most devoted fans but unfortunately, as space was limited, we could not get as many people in as we wanted, so we came up with the idea of a lucky draw.”

The band chose to go acoustic for the concert, performing all their hits unplugged.

Ange and Lay Phyu

The six permanent singers of Iron Cross, Lay Phyu, Ange, Myo Gyi, Y Wine, Zaw Paing and R Zarni all took a turn on stage.

Heartthrob singer Lay Phyu kicked off with the rock ballad, De Yae De Hlay (Tide and Boat), a cover of the Scorpions’ acoustic version of Taste me, Please me.

After Lay Phyu sand his well-known hit Alawn Myar (Tragedies), R Zarni stepped forward to belt out two rock songs.

The audience screamed as Zaw Paing sang his hit ‘Min Hne Hma Chit Tat Be (I Know Love Only When I’m With You), a cover of Ronan Keating’s When You Say Nothing At All.

Pretty-boy Y Wine, whose set was predominantly made up of covers of Chinese songs, was a favourite with the girls in the crowd. The entire audience went silent when he sang the slow pop hit Ein Lwan Thu (The Boy Who Misses His Home) with only a backing guitar arpeggio.

Then there was a dramatic change of pace when Myo Gyi hit the stage.

Complemented by the smashing bass of Khin Mg Thant and beautiful guitar riffs by Chit San Mg, he worked the crowd into a frenzy with the hard rock song Mae Pyit Lite (Forget It).

Ah Nge came on next, but unfortunately the electricity cut out for nearly 10 minutes during his performance. The hall echoed with the voices of frustrated and disappointed fans during the break.

The concert came to a crescendo when brothers Lay Phyu and Ange performed a duet of the hit Nuu Nyant Te Ameit Taw (Tender Order), a famous local cover of Bryan Adam’s Cloud Number Nine.

Toward the end Lay Phyu said, “We wish to thank all of you for remaining loyal Iron Cross fans over 15 entire years. Now I will end the concert with a song that changed my life.”

The song was none other than his hit Alin Yaung (Light), written by songwriter Thaw Di Way for the singer’s 1995 debut album. The entire audience stood up and sang along with the ultimate Iron Cross anthem.

A boy wearing an Iron Cross T shirt shouted out, “It was great. That is why they are Iron Cross.”

The nearly three hours of power rocking they gave the crowd highlighted why Iron Cross is the most popular live act in Yangon and a national phenomenon.

Of the more than 20 songs performed, about 14 will be released on tape, CD, VCD and DVD by Iron Cross Music Entertainment next year. So fans who missed the concert will be able to buy the VCD and share in the anniversary concert of the year.