Hello world.: January 2012

Saturday 28 January 2012

Big Bang Times (VIP Fan Club Mail)

I was cleaning up my apartment when I found these. I totally forgot about these papers. These came from the VIP Fan Club some time ago. I put them aside because I didn't have time to read them. Yay, now that it's too snowy to go out, it's the perfect time to read them!

Other than concert reviews, interviews and picture spreads, I like that they actually have an interview article of the video production team in YG. It was pretty interesting!

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Friday 27 January 2012

YG Family Concert 22 Jan, Saitama Arena

23/01/2012

The last YG Family Concert was held in Saitama Arena. We took the overnight bus to Saitama. We were really fortunate that our hotel allowed us to check in at 6am. So we took a short nap before going to the concert venue.

Hotel room

The queue was horrendously long. It circled Saitama Arena. And I swear it was freezing cold. I was so glad I didn't need to queue for any goods.

Poor things. Waiting in the cold and rain.

I accompanied my friend to the concert venue to buy food to collect big bang spoons.

You'll get a hideous 2NE1 keychain if you buy the corn soup; a spoon if you buy the curry rice; a boring sticker if you buy some chicken rice bowl.

These were all fan-made banner/posters. They were distributing to random fans. My friend helped me to get this one.

Another fan made item which my friend got for me

Getting ready on concert day

View from our seat

Basically, I enjoyed this concert much more than the first. The crowd was better. The artists were more energetic. :D

It was really tiring though. Other than watching the concert, I did some window shopping and sightseeing in Tokyo as well. We caught the overnight bus on Sunday night and arrived in Toyama on Monday morning. I had to rush home to drop my things and go to work. Needless to say, I was in a total daze at work.

But it was really worth it. :) Follow @germanium9

YG Family Concert 7 Jan, Osaka Part 2

09/01/2012
My friend had to get more concert goods for her friends, so we headed back to the concert venue again. We arrived at 11am and behold the queue!!!

Start of the queue...

And it goes on...

and on my friend...

There was a special deal for Big Bang and Coco Curry. If you buy (overpriced) curry rice, you can get a Big Bang spoon for free. And they give a different colored spoon every day.

You can also get a key strap if you get corn soup.

We were just glad we got our concert goods on the first day without queuing! We'll be catching the last day of YG Family Concert at Saitama Arena in two weeks time! Matta ne!

I uploaded some audio clips from the concert.

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YG Family Concert 7 Jan, Osaka Part 1

09/01/2012

Over the long weekend, I headed to Osaka to catch my first concert of 2012. The YG Family Concert received positive reviews in Korea, so I was really looking forward to it! We took the day bus to Osaka. It was a tiring bus ride because neither of us could sleep well. We reached the Osaka Kyocera Dome at about 2pm. We were a little surprised that the queue had cleared by then.

I really how they improvise with the boring concert shirts. Many of the fans brought scissors and cut their concert T-shirts on the spot to make the T-shirts more interesting.

The 2NE1 badges come in multiple fluorescent colors. But you can't choose the colors. Basically, it's tikam (Malay word for "gamble") .

I love these Jeremy Scott Addidas sneakers!!

Damage to my pockets

I bought the concert posters, GD&TOP file folders, 2NE1 scarf, 2NE1 badges, Big Bang muffler/Hoodie, YG pen light, YG concert ring.

Testing out all the pen lights

Dressed and ready to go!

An obasan on the train commented that my badges look very nice!

YG Concert poster spotted in the subway

Our seats were not too bad. Although we couldn't see their faces, we could at least see their figures. I must say Kycoera Dome is a much better concert venue then Makuhari Messe.

When the lights went out, we could see a beautiful sea of lights.

Concert Set list (3hours, 15 minutes)

2NE1

FIRE (2NE1)
CAN’T NOBODY (2NE1)
GO AWAY (2NE1)
2NE1 did a very powerful opening. I was sitting in a very quiet block and it was obvious that most of the fans in that block didn't know 2NE1 very well. So, the only people screaming were my friend and me.

Big Bang

TONIGHT (BIGBANG)
HANDS UP (BIGBANG)
BIGBANG TALK TIME
KOE WO KIKASETE (BIGBANG)
GARA GARA GO (BIGBANG)
The crowd went ballistic when Big Bang came on. GD and Daesung received the loudest cheers (obviously). Everyone was just really happy to see all five of them back on stage.

Gummy

I’M SORRY (GUMMY)

Se7en

DIGITAL BOUNCE (SE7EN FT TOP)
TALK TIME (se7en& Jinu)
HIPHOP GENTLEMEN (GDRAGON, SE7EN, JINUSEAN)
Se7en, Jinu and GD did a very nice and funky number. Everyone had a nice surprise when GD appeared on stage suddenly. *cue scream*

Jinusean

A-YO (JINUSEAN)
TELL ME (JINUSEAN WITH DARA)
Jinusean tried very hard to work the crowd. But the Japanese didn't know them at all, so the crowds weren't too excited.

TABLO

LOVE IS BAD (TABLO FT BOM)
TABLO AND GUMMY STAGE
TOMORROW (TABLO FT TAEYANG)
I love Tablo. He looked really good on stage. But I wished YG prepared a better entrance for him, given the Japanese don't know him at all. Nevertheless, he was really charming when he gave his introductory speech after his songs. He was slightly robotic which made his speech really cute. :P

DAESUNG

IT HURTS (DAESUNG)
Daesung covered 2NE1's "It Hurts". He did such a wonderful job that the song was stuck in my head the entire night. "Apa apa apa..."

Se7en, Daesung, Seungri

LONELY (SE7EN SEUNGRI SE7EN DAESUNG)
This was a nice cover, too.

GD& TOP

OH YEAH (GD & TOP FT BOM)
High High
When they sang High High, (omg) there was so much energy in the concert hall . I could feel the ground rumbling!

PSY

PSY STAGE
SHAKE IT (PSY)
PSY left the deepest impression that night. He's such a great performer, with such a great stage presence. He was dancing, running, and wooing the crowd. Even though the Japanese didn't know him, the crowd loved him!!!
During one of his songs, a huge balloon mascot of Psy appeared. The lights darkened, and the next time we saw the mascot, the mascot was naked! LOL
During one of his slow numbers, he requested for everyone to turned off their pen lights. He sang a Japanese song, about two people together is like being blissful in heaven. The lights darkened completely and towards to the last phrase of the song when everyone was singing along, the lights came out with a golden glow and there were sparklers/bubbles (?) all around the stage. It was so beautiful and moving.
He was so good on stage, the Japanese called encore for him.

Se7en

Seungri (Seungri impersonate Se7en)
Come back to me
SOMEBODY ELSE (SE7EN)
Se7en was really charming here. He sang one of his debut songs, "Come back to me" and it was really moving. He wore his heelies and skated across the stage, drawing screams from the crowds.

2NE1

I AM THE BEST (2NE1)
I DON’T CARE (2NE1)
UGLY (2NE1 FT GUMMY)

Gummy

HEARTBREAKER [BALLAD VER] (GUMMY)
Ayumi Japanese song
Gummy did a jazz cover of Heartbreaker and GD came on towards to the end of the song.
Gummy's cover of Ayumi's song was good. The fans were getting bored but they could sing along to the song. Many of the fans went, "Nazukashii..." (Nostalgic)

Big Bang (Finally!)

HARU HARU [japanese VER] (BIGBANG)
LIES (BIGBANG)
HEAVEN (BIGBANG)
Everyone was waiting for Big Bang to come on again and when they did, the crowd of course went wild! They sang Haru Haru in Japanese. There was a little mic malfunction there and Taeyang was seen on the huge screen looking a little puzzled at his mic.

2NE1 & Gummy

LAST FAREWELL (2NE1) with gummy

Psy

LADY GAGA PARODY
Single Ladies Parody
Psy came on again and did dance parodies of Lady Gaga and Beyonce. He stripped down to leotards during "Single Ladies". *Scream*

Big Bang

I AM THE BEST (BIGBANG)-
This was the song EVERYONE was waiting for! The crowd went wild!!!!!!!!!

YG Family

MALHAEJYO (sung by the whole family + GDYB dance)

(Set List source:@0410rurutic via heyhellohoney.tumblr.com )
(All videos are from YG Concert in Korean 2011)

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2NE1 Fashion at NOLZA Concert

3/10/2011

2NE1 is probably the most fashion forward KPOP groups in Korea. Their fashion is well know for its loud prints, contrasty and bold colors and chunky accessories.