The good, the bad and the ugly. Although it’s the title of a classic Western, that’s exactly how I felt reviewing these new releases in the third edition of Round-up-Review.
BoA – “The Shadow”
Korea’s ‘Queen of Pop’ – BoA -has been around the music scene for over a decade. And she’s only 25. Given BoA was only 13 when she debuted, and despite the fact there are K-pop idols older than her, Kwon Boa is still considered a ‘senior’ artist by her peers. Continue reading “K-pop Round-up-Review: BoA, KARA and G-Dragon” »
Well the day has come. The last of the big Korean boybands I have yet to dedicate a review for. Good reason for that – I never liked any of Beast/B2ST’s songs until “Fiction” came out last year. That single was a real game changer for me, as it wasn’t just the first song I liked by Cube’s six-member boyband, it was also – in my opinion – one of 2011’s best K-pop songs!
But their 2012 comeback single… holy @#$%!!!!!!!
It took five mini-albums since their debut for me to write about them
Here’s a track-by-track review:
1. “Midnight Sun” – The album opener is a guitar-tinged up-tempo number that I initially thought was the lead single. More like a ‘buzz single,’ this Shinsadong Tiger-produced track is a serviceable start to the album. It doesn’t sound ‘new’ by any means, and could have made it as a single last year. – 3.5/5
2 “Beautiful Night” – Now this on the other hand:
I’ll just say it right away! This is, hands down, is the best single B2ST have released to date! Right the very start I was smiling, because of just how good the song sounded! Uptempo, fresh and managed to infuse today’s house music-influenced dance pop without sounding like some cheap imitation. Produced by duo Good night, Sleep well – whom I can’t seem to find much info on – but if I were to guess, I’m guessing they are foreign. Because the sound just doesn’t feel like it came from a Korean producer.
Sure the song has a T.O.P-like shout sampled from “Beautiful Hangover” but who cares, the rest of the track is unlike anything you have heard in K-pop recently. I really think this song could have been a global single had the members possessed fluent English pronunciation. It’s that good in my opinion.
There was a time when I used to get really excited about a song at first listen, so much so that I used to have it on constant repeat soon after. Like when I first heard ‘N Sync’s “Tearin’ Up My Heart” or Backstreet Boys’ “Larger Than Life“. I hadn’t had such a feeling about a boyband song in a very long time. So thank you B2ST, for rekindling that young feeling once again! 🙂 – 5/5
“You’re welcome!”
As for the music video — thank god, it’s not shot inside a boxed studio! Again, props to Cube for “thinking out of the box” for this song. Filmed in New York with random white people (and two black men), the party vibe totally suits this summer jam. I’m sure there’s a choreography prepared for their live performances, but not seeing it in the MV also made it feel all the more fresh. And dear haters, just because Beast filmed a music video in New York the same year BIGBANG did, doesn’t mean the concept was “copied”. So give it a rest online!
3. “It’s Not Me” – One of the notable aspects of this album is that member Junhyung wrote and contributed a lot in the production of every track besides “Beautiful Night”. This mid-tempo song about a girlfriend who thinks she saw her guy with another woman is actually lyrically fun as the guy pleads for her trust. Well rapped, and with a Spanish guitar outro, I really liked this track. – 4/5
4. “When I Miss You” – While the rappers dominated the previous track, track 4 is a ballad, meaning the vocalists get their time to shine. A contemporary, mid-tempo ballad and a likeable one at that. – 3/5
5. “The Day You Rest” – Maroon 5’s recent hits seem to have inspired and influenced quite a few K-pop tracks off late. If it was “Moves Like Jagger” for “Trouble Maker,” then Junhyung and Kim Tae Joo surely must have loved Maroon 5’s current single. “One More Night,” when producing this song. It’s not a copy, but the similarities are there. – 2.5/5
6. “Dream Girl” – The last song on the mini-album is another mid-tempo ballad, one I seem to like better than “When I Miss You”. Also written and produced by Junhyung and Kim Tae Joo, if this is quality of music we can expect from Junhyung, the day one of B2ST’s own members writing their lead single isn’t far. Well done! – 4/5
Yet another stellar comeback!
Like I have written a few times before, the evolution of yet another K-pop group continues. Beast have been away from the K-pop scene for over a year. But despite the slew of awesome rookies and the return of many of their superstar peers, B2ST too have moved up a notch in their placing amongst K-pop’s top groups.
I never liked any of their early material because songs like “Shock,” “Breath” and “Beautiful” were just too silly and riddled with bad Engrish. From being referred to as “a group of recycled material” (since the members were all part of other failed boy-groups and other agencies), Beast have come a long way since their formation in 2009. If “Fiction” was a sign B2ST turned a new page in their career, “Beautiful Night” is proof they have cemented their status as a super-group in K-pop. That lead single is sure to be a smash hit and will easily win the group numerous awards, if not expand their fanbase globally even more.
I have a feeling B2ST may return with a re-package album later in the year, but even if they don’t, I think their job for 2012 is done.
My final rating for Beast’s ‘Midnight Sun’: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)
I wanted to put up this post that very night the concert ended. But considering I only got back to Hong Kong around 2am, I was too damn tired to do anything but sleep. To say it was a hectic day would be an understatement — but I’ll write about my Macau experience when I begin my Hong Kong travel series.
This post is going to be all K-pop!
I chose to go to Macau on 2nd July, 2012 (Monday) because the K-pop Nation concert was happening that evening. I got up early and took the ferry from Hong Kong in the hopes of reaching Macau airport before the flight from Incheon (Seoul) landed at 10:40. That didn’t go according to plan for reasons I’ll rather talk about in the Macau post, but long story short, there was no need for me to go to Macau airport. You see, my biggest (K-pop) dream is to see the members of SNSD up close and in person. But as soon as I got past immigration, I saw a bunch of Shawols (SHINee fans) waiting outside. I was wearing my custom-printed SNSD t-shirt when a considerate girl approached me and told me in her limited English that SNSD arrived yesterday night at this very terminal! She told me it would be of no use to stand around if I was hoping to see the girls.
I thanked her for that bit of information, but as disappointed as I was, I thought “what the heck” and waited to at least see SHINee up close.
SHINee fans had been waiting longBut SHINee was to land in Hong Kong only at 2pmThe boys wouldn’t land in Macau for another hourI can see how this is appropriate, ‘cos you know, SHINee are South Korean… and practically everybody is playing Diablo III right now!As it neared 4pm, the screams beganBut as they quickly made their way out of the ferry terminal, there was one tall guy missing: MinhoSorry for the blurry shots, but it all got a bit crazy as you can imagine. I couldn’t use flash either.It got chaotic pretty soon
Despite the hour long wait, my experience of seeing SHINee (or whatever I could see of their faces – I couldn’t even see Taemin’s face), lasted less than a minute. Just like that it was all over. There were sunglasses and other things belonging to fans scattered on the floor in the frenzy as girls ran all over the place to get a glimpse of their idols. But fortunately nobody got hurt, and SHINee’s asshole manager didn’t punch anybody either.
I left the ferry terminal and took the bus to The Venetian Macau to get my tickets to the concert as my return ticket back to Hong Kong was only at 11:45pm. I got the HK$780 (Rs. 5,500/$100/€82) ticket and decided to spend some time sightseeing until sunset.
I headed back to Cotai Arena around 7pm. Although I had to handover my Canon 7D camera and tripod to security, I still managed to keep my Canon 450D in my bagpackThis is Cotai Arena – and my HK$780 seat was in front of the girl in white top
As the clock struck 8pm, a DJ came on stage and started playing some dance music to pump up the crowd.
All the glowsticks up in the air gave a good indication as to many seats were unoccupiedThe concert was far from ‘sold out’. A good 40% of the seats were vacant. The HK$780 I paid was the fourth highest in a six-tier pricing — meaning there were three more ticket prices that cost more.
And then, seven guys walked on stage. Then walked off. Then walked back on again.
U-Kiss!They kicked off their performance with their best song to date, “Neverland”The boys performed “Believe” “0330” “Bingeul Bingeul” and “Man Man Hi”But it was fairly apparent that the boys were lip-syncingWhich was kinda disappointing considering how good they are as live performers
The organziers were pretty strict about anyone recording video, but some people (as always) managed to record fancams.
Next up were a hot rookie groupB.A.P began their set with an R&B ballad behind curtains before unveiling themselvesThey sang all their singles to date: “Warrior,” “Burn It Up,” “Unbreakable,” and “Power”
After two songs or three, every group would take a break to introduce themselves to the audience. The audience had a laugh when one of the B.A.P members said something along the lines of: “… I’m excessive to be here”. He meant “excited” but that’s not how we all heard it 🙂
Despite the fact I’m not a huge fan of them…… B.A.P put on one heck of a performance! I was really impressed!
After B.A.P’s energetic performance, it was now time for the big guns of K-pop. The hugely popular SM Ent. artists were up next. I was a little disappointed to not see Minho since SHINee are not Super Junior — even if one member is missing, their choreography just doesn’t feel right.
But come out as a four-piece SHINee didThey began with with “Lucifer”. I had a blast singing along to the whole song, as it remains my favourite K-pop song!But despite the expected awesomeness that comes with being SHINee… they were lip-synching tooAfter performing “Stranger,” they paused to speak to the audience. Jonghyun also explained why Minho wasn’t here tonight.
Or at least that’s what I assumed he was talking about, because he spoke in Korean and the translator only spoke in Cantonese(?). Maybe Minho was filming his drama.
The crowd went wild when “Sherlock” came onFans were itching to chant/shout “SHINee’s back!”“Oh-I’m-curious yeah…” Love that chorus! 🙂Taemin is such an energetic dancer
After “Sherlock,” I assumed “Hello” or “Replay” was next. But no. The boys looked at each other and awkwardly just walked off stage waving goodbye to the audience. I was like: “huh?”. The deal was that each artists would perform five songs each. I assumed SHINee would do an encore of two more songs later. At least that was the hope.
Anyway, the DJ came back and I got ready for the final actFor it was now time for the pink glow sticks to come out!Because it was now time for the biggest act in the concert line-upThe loudest cheers were for this groupHeck, they’re the main reason I came to Macau todayI spent $780 mainly to see themBecause they’re my absolute favourite group in all of K-popSNSD a.k.a Girls Generation!It was only because I was this far that I could manage to fit all nine of them in one frame 🙂The girls ‘kicked’ off their set with “Genie (Tell Me Your Wish)”I wonder what Yuri found funny“Macau, put it back on!”
And that was song number oneNext up was “Run Devil Run”Poor Sunny – the shortest member right behind the tallest girl in the group 🙂
As impressive as their choreography usually is, it’s funny when you capture such frames. Looks like they’re creepily trying to exit the stage 😀The girls then took a break to introduce themselvesThis Jessica admirer got his message on the big screenSooyoung raises her hand, Sone raises his hand — just when I click. Ugh.Hello dorky leader 🙂The girls introduce the next songTime to “Hoot”! And thanks again Sone’s hand. Ugh!But just before hitting the first chorus…… the music suddenly stops!Best part? Taeyeon goes: “Surprise!!!!”The girls make small talk while the team behind the scenes try to sort out the technical glitchWhen the music began a second time, it was time to go “Down, down, down” againSeohyun was doing her line before the first chorusAnd the music stops again! And Taeyeon went: “Surprise!” – again! LOLBut thoughtful ‘manager’ Tiffany still gave a shout out to the technical team for their efforts. While Yuri checked up on Sooyoung.
It was really funny, but at the same time we all wondered what was going on. Here’s a good fancam of the goof-up(s):
The girls were about to walk off stage…
Just then the song restarts a third time… the girls embarrassingly walk back to their positionsThird time proved to be a charm as it went without a hitchThe girls followed “Hoot” with “The Boys”Which was a moment everybody was waiting for as we finally got to shout “GG!” at the top of our lungsAhh, hair freeze momentsSeems everybody but Tiffany had their hair moment 🙂 LIKE A BOSS!You don’t realize just how cramped for space SNSD’s choreography is until you see them live. How do they not bump into each other? 🙂“Girls bring the boys out!”Confetti began to rain even though we had one more song leftThe girls spoke one last time before getting into their final song (that’s Taeyeon doing a jig)TaeNy is so real, it’s no joke!Everyone was up on their feet and ready to fan-chant like crazy for the final SNSD songFor it’s SNSD’s signature song, and the one that introduced me to the group“Gee, gee, gee, gee, gee, baby baby”Even though I’m tired of hearing “Gee,” seeing it live is another feeling altogetherSunny smile!Confetti marked the end of the girls’ performanceThe crowds were pleased, and so was I!Ignore the empty seats below, the upper sections were fullThe girls cheerfully walked off stage with Yuri giving us all a big “muaahh”!
The DJ came back on again and some of us waited to see if there was going to be a encore. I was hoping for more SHINee, but there was none. The announcer said ‘thanks for coming’ and I left the arena.
I collected my Canon 7D and tripod and made my way outNext up, B2ST and 4Minute!So was it worth it?
Well, kind of. I can now say I saw Girls Generation live in concert. And U-Kiss, B.A.P and SHINee. Add to the fact I’ve seen Jay Park and three-fifths of BIGBANG, I guess I’m lucky to have seen enough K-pop acts compared to most fans back in India. On the other hand, K-pop Nation 2012 wasn’t a well put together concert. For something that promised to be an unique show with the artists interacting with the fans and sharing stories… yeah, there was none of that. Pretty much all the interaction went like this: “We are _______” “Hello Macau, I am _______” “What’s up Macau, how you doing?” “Our next song is _____” “Goodbye Macau, we hope to be back”. That’s it – standard concert talk. In fact, SNSD spoke the most, and it was thanks to technical difficulties.
As much as I loved seeing SNSD, it was B.A.P’s set that I can say was the best without any bias. Their segment was if that’s how they would have done their stand alone concert. From start to finish, their act packed quite a punch. So I appreciate the effort they put in putting on an impressive show for what was a multi-starrer concert.
I’m proud of the fact SNSD were pretty much the only group who didn’t lip-sync! Every other group danced well, but didn’t bother singing live (did B.A.P sing live? some vocals sounded like it did). Girls Generation did both live, and were funny… god, tell me why I love them so much again?
It would have been cool if the venue was sold out as the experience could have been wilder, but that’s what you get when you price a concert out of the reach for most K-pop fans (who are really young). I know K-pop concerts in general are more expensive (heck, I’ve seen world famous David Guetta and Metallica for less!), but I can imagine the cost of bringing down such acts to such a small place like Macau, and that too in an expensive venue. Still, it’s baffling to see how many seats were empty for a concert that had U-Kiss, SHINee and Girls Generation in the line-up! That last group alone could fill up a stadium.
Of course I would have wished I was closer to the stage so I could see the girls better, but in some ways I’m glad I only paid HK$780. SNSD barely came forward to the smaller stage up front, so there was quite a bit of distance even for those who were seated in the most expensive section. It would have been nice if they had like a T-shaped stage, but anyway… I’m saving up and hoping for an SM Town in either Singapore or Bangkok later this year.
Otherwise the concert was alright. Oh yeah, there was one moron who showed up with his girl to the venue and accused me of taking his seat. I didn’t want to argue with him so I just let him sit in my seat. SNSD were just finishing up “Gee” and I wanted to click as much as I could before they left the stage. I don’t know what his problem was.
All-in-all, looking at the above photos, I’m happy I was there. My love for K-pop remains the same and I don’t think my urge to see the SNSD again has died down one bit.
As for the rest of my day, I’ll begin writing about my Hong Kong trip soon.
P.S: I did take a few more photos of U-Kiss and B.A.P, so if any of you fans/clubs want to see those, just ask. I’ll e-mail them to you. I didn’t take any videos as the Canon 450D can’t take videos, plus I didn’t want to get into trouble as the usher was right behind me.
