Super epic concert!!! There are just so many words I can use to describe it. Blogging now so I can write down as much as I can remember and carve it down deep deep :) Oho my first fan account ^.^ Support and be kind pls!
There aren't many pictures/videos unfortunately, cuz for one thing, my phone camera can't record bright stuff for some reason, so all the screen recordings turn out like shit. For another, I'm sitting quite forward (3rd row for normal seats to be exact :D) so the stupid annoying ushers keep stopping me from filming -.-
Its SMTown's first time in Singapore! An unbelievable 4hrs with 16k fans and all the SM Artists: SNSD, SuJu, Shinee, TVXQ, Boa, EXO, f(x) and Kangta! Haha I believe it was a $230 (and 4hrs) well spent :) Feeling high even now, a night's sleep away from the performance already, and I slightly pity those who didn't go.
I remember... it was really hot and humid. As usual for Singapore. Arrived at Marina Square at ard 1430 to have lunch meet w my "crew" pau and yalam boy :P Haha they helped me buy some merchandise! The lightstick (super odd lightstick imo :P) and 2 decks of cards! 1 SNSD and 1 Suju for my sis :) Slightly annoyed by the fact that there were supposed to be 20 cards, and each pack only has 10, ie to get all have to buy 2 sets -.- Not that I wouldn't have bought... I only found out on the day itself and it was... kinda too late to queue already. Merc was already running out. :\
The merc was really expensive though! You can have a look at the pricing here.
Major ones:
天啊... haha the lightstick alone i could've fed myself for a day and a half already. And the trading cards... my money T.T Well... I'm really glad I bought tho... For the memories keke. :)
I really wish they had SNSD L-Holders! hmm...
Anyway. There was a press conference at 3pm! I couldn't go in since I wasn't the press -.- haha but it can be watched here and here!
We tried to study (tried :P) up till 5.30pm. Then went for dinner at PepperLunch@Suntec. Apparently Suntec is undergoing renovations hmm. Lots of shops are closing down for that.
At around 4, though I would note that though it was already raining lightly since ard 3, it started pouring. Thunder and lighting and all. We worried if it would be cancelled... but of course it didn't. Otherwise I wouldn't be typing this post. Was a valid concern at the time though.
yalam boy had the sense to take a bunch of tissues from McDonalds to dry our chairs haha. Something I should rmb next time... not to mention a poncho and cap is really important.
By God's blessing though, the rain stopped right at 6! We then went to queue up for entry!
Was really hot in the queue... and especially sweat inducing because of the humidity. Went to entrance 3! Since we were sitting in the light green zone.
Waited till 7, and people were still streaming in. Meanwhile the AV team was trying to fix the screens (cui as usual *rolls eyes* :\) which had some weird blocks/not functioning parts at the moment. Was speculating that it was due to the rain..
And then! It finally starts! Oh the excitement :D
Note: There is no 3G or whatever internet at the venue. At all.
We were first treated with 2 songs by f(x): Hot Summer and Danger(Pinocchio)! Amber was really charismatic, and took charge of speaking to the audience with fluent English between the 2 songs. Luna took a rather alarming fall during Hot Summer though cuz of the wet stage. In response to this, Amber asked the audience to give a shoutout to Luna during their introductions, and was met with an overwhelming response :) Ah... loved being in that atmosphere ^.^ Luna looked slightly embarrassed but warmed by the response ^.^
A Thought: the wet stage problem is really a ridiculous oversight on the crew's part. I was already wondering if they cleaned up the stage properly while I was waiting. If it occurred to me it shouldn't have gone by the pros -.- later they very unprofessionally [read IN-FULL-VIEW-OF-THE-AUDIENCE] wiped the stage every now and then to keep it dry... And this isn't the only problem... I'll reveal more as we go along... haix Singapore's media and AV crew have long ways to go...
Next we had Kangta! Apparently he hasn't been here for 10 years >.< haha Singapore needs more love from these artists. He performed Pine Tree + Polaris, then 爱频率．Haven't much to say about him since I'm not really familiar, but he's got a great voice :) What did leave a really strong impression of him was how he bowed to audience. The other artists were just, intro-bow-get up- translate. Kangta on the other hand, actually maintained his bowed position till his message was delivered. I thought as this moment that, "ah, he really respects his job and his audience." Respect.
Next Victoria and Zhou Mi came up for 今天你要嫁给我 (yes they held hands *rolls eyes* haha... BANMAL SONG!!!), then California Girls by the Jung Sisters! Haha both of them look brilliant, and sang brilliantly.
Funny thing to note here is that, Jessica's voice sounded wayyy more squeaky then usual (she already had that really distinctive sweet, nasal, high pitched voice normally). Thing is... somehow, the audio output for their performance got tuned up. And it wasn't just for this performance either... haha snsd's introductions itself sounded really weird and funny cuz they all half transitted to chipmunk voices. I'd count this as a screw up by the AV, even though it was funny lol. Not really sure if it was the same for the other artists, but I know my GG girls don't sound like that :P
Then, total food for fangirls, Kyu Hyun and Changmin came on stage with Just the Way You Are. And... they sang it not to Taemin, which was what happened previously, but to an actual fan. Haha can you hear the screams? They even gave a hug at the end *more screams galore* lulz.
Next, starting to a seriously roaring welcome, Oppa Oppa by Donghae and Eunhyuk. Here u can seriously hear the fanchants. Sure you could vaguely hear it during Hot Summer and Danger, but here it is seriously like OPPA OPPPA!!!! haha... suju fangirls are powerful.
I... personally wasn't so enthusiastic. After all... Eunhyuk and his weird shit with IU is still fresh on my mind. But meh, I wasn't here to see him, so allow me to ignore him and just enjoy the performance. If anything he is professional though, and delivered a really hyper opening set to jive up the audience.
Next pau's idols, EXO came on! Again... except for MAMA, not really familiar, so not much to comment.
Then, finally, SNSD! Haha. Sorry Jessica. >.< Taeyeon opened up the stage for SNSD with Devil's Cry (which is a song I don't really like cuz there's a lot of unproductive screaming) and fully blew over the venue with her ringing vocals. Then all 9 of them were on stage for Run Devil Run! Feels lucky to be alive to see them in person, though they're really far away and we just see them on screen >\\\\< And haha at the meaning of Devil's Cry - Run Devil Run.
Introductions! Sunny sporting shocking purple hair (O.O my face when I saw). Tifanny and Jessica in cool cool English (sometimes its a relief to hear good English from kpop idols) as well as, much to my surprise, Seobaby!!! Hyoyeon in Chinese, and the rest in Korean. Haha Fany seriously got a roaring response with her "its been awhile Singapore!". And though I didn't quite think so before, Sooyoung is really popular here as well! In any case, SNSD!!! ITS GREAT TO SEE YOU HERE!!! I REGRET PAINFULLY FOR NOT GG TO YOUR CONCERT LAST YR :P
As mentioned, cuz of the audio system's pitching issues the girls all sounded like deep voiced chipmunks. Sunny had the funniest voice, since she's totally in her aegyo mode :P
SNSD then closed off their opening segment with Genie! And the fanchants were awesome! Once again, no regrets haha... Sowoneul Marhaebwa~~~ (MARHAEBWA!!!!) XD
Shinee then followed with Lucifer! Super much screaming! Haha... then Suju with Superman and Don't Don, which I'm also not very familiar with... they did their performance on a rotating stage with water shooting up from around them.
At this point I got kinda annoyed by the suju fan directly behind me. Kept screaming so loud my head rang. And she's been doing it for all the suju performances so far. Scream, but don't scream right into my ear thanks. And there were so many more suju performances to go... T.T
In sequence then after that... Purple Line, Ring Ding Dong (a remix. didn't like it, too much rock/bass/bang bang, original was better), Bonamanna (another weird remix), Rising Sun, Juliette, (followed by Shinee intro + advertising for their concert coming dec. Newb translator got the thing wrong and said Nov *rolls eyes*, and corrected by Onew lol.) then cutely intro-ed by Taemin, Your Love is Like Oxygen.
Ahh so I should mention at this point the screen on the right side of the floating platform screwed up totally and just gave a blue screen. Even the artists noticed... and commented on it... which if I was on the AV team I would feel really ashamed. I mean... where's your professionalism? That's the standard you can give to our foreign guests? As for the fans who were complaining afterwards... I feel their grief, since it happened to the left screen temporarily earlier on.
Oh and the number of Shawols in this concert seems kinda weak eh actually. Might be better if there was better organisation. I'd hate if any of the artists that came felt unwanted.
Fx with Jet, then one of the best sung songs of the night Open Arms, sung as a collab by Chen, Ryeowook, Baekyun and Onew. Their harmony was amazing! So so amazing, the supporting music actually became an interference, and you just want to hear them sing it without all the extra gimmicks.
Then finally, something I was looking forward to the entire night, Twinkle!!!! It was rumoured to be scheduled to be performed on the nearer stage, but it turned out to not be the case :( Still, a song performed perfectly, and again, one of the best songs of the night! All of them, but Taeyeon especially, hit all her notes with unbelievable precision. (I wish I didn't have to consider the case where they were actually lip sync-ing. Kpop is sometimes bad like that.. can't really tell in this case so shall give it benefit of the doubt). Tifanny was leaaaaaking charisma, and she had that bright eye-smile on the entire night. She must be really happy to be in Singapore haha. Come often!! Seohyun's got a tired and strangely mechanical look on her face tho... hope she's ok.
Then, a collab with EXO! DJ's Got Us Falling In Love Again! A rather repetitive song, but totally got the crowd going :D The atmosphere was totally sky high at this point. Extending that, Key, Chris and Amber took over the stage with Like a G6.
The "clubbing segment" then is closed by a rather short and boring (maybe since I don't really care much for dancing in general...) Dance Battle.
And then, finally, Boa!!!!!!!! *screams* haha. I didn't know much about her before (only familiar with Only One >.<), so taking the chance to get to know her now. She starts with Hurricane Venus, follows with My Name and an intro, then ends her segment with No. 1. And I've gotta say, I loved No. 1. Am gonna follow up on this :)
Boa put up a really stunning performance, and her dance moves as well as stage control are really no joke. But from this "first encounter", I like her not just for that. Boa was one of only 2 artists in the whole show, that addressed the fans that were NOT in the moshpits or the vip seats. Despite saying that I'm in the 3rd row, which is usually what would be considered a good seat, the way the floating platform and concert is staged is such that the artists are surrounded by the moshpits and the vip seats, with the "other" seats further to the rear. At some point we actually felt kinda left out, since from our perspective the artists were just finger high figures in the distance. Boa... directly addressed us (though she said "the people in the back side" lulz *sweat*), and we just loved her for that.
Moving on, during the introduction she was kinda funny, and slightly awkward. She talked about the weather (they all did... Singapore's trademark hot weather lol) and how it worried her. See.. the kpop artists seriously don't come to Singapore often enough! They don't know how to interact with us!!! Which is really sad! Since we're really friendly and passionate people! :D
Anyway at one point she was like... "the next song is..." and everyone shouted "Only One!" Haha... then she made a rather strange expression (which i'm a bit mixed on... it looked a bit on the rude side, but I'm not really sure what she's thinking, and what she said after was polite, so shan't go on on that), and said "Only One will be coming on later, so wait a bit ok?" which was kinda cute and got the fans laughing.
Yup, so moving on from there, suju came on with what has got to be the most hyped up moment of the night with their hit Sorry Sorry. I swear the chants were never this loud. Rmb the suju fangirl behind me? Yea I nearly went deaf.
Then, came their talk session! Memorable quotes:
Donghae: 亲爱的宝贝们，我爱你们！
Yesung: I'm... Singapore... I love you!
...
Eunhyuk: Our leader, Leeteuk, is not here because he's in the army. So for now, I am Leader! Are you all ok with that?
... joking dissent within members ...
Yesung: when you are at this kind of place, you talk too much!
...
Eunhyuk: Well its ok. You have no say in the matter.
*Laughs... but (IU in my head) ohh i so wanna kill u* :P
...
Eunhyuk practices Singlish: "I love you lah!"
Kangta: What you just put lah at the back and it becomes Singlish?
End talking session, suju-m finishes up with 太完美 and A-cha，and promotes their album upcoming b4 the end. They're really good singers sia... would like to learn to sing like them.
And again... after that really long wait... Mr Taxi!!!! But it was just that and nothing else happened after :( So just a brief respite for me, before it goes downhill, slightly.
Shinee takes over with Internet War. This is, without a doubt, the lowest point of the concert for me. I hated this song soooooooooo bad. Endless angsty screaming all the way. Noisy, and meaningless. Oh Jonghyun stripped and showed off his toned abs, but that obviously did nothing for me -.- I suppose I should be glad there weren't that many shawols, or the screaming fangirls + the noise on stage would have annoyed me to death.
Following this hate inducing performance, TVXQ came on for the 3rd time, and finally had their talk chance. Albeit being in a slightly sour mood at this point cuz of the perf before, and the long, not-of-interest performances to come, TVXQ came and made things well, much to my surprise. So far, the artists that have appeared before have just gone on about how appreciative they were of passionate fans, and the weather and stuff. There wasn't much caring involved, just exchanging niceties. TVXQ though, talked about how much they really wanted to perform here, and how they truly worried that the weather would cause the concert's cancellation. But then they went on to think about the fans, and worried also that the fans who did come, supposing the concert wasn't cancelled, would get ill from the weather. That thought, along with the awkward way he said it, totally melted the hearts of all the people in the audience.
I cringe when I think how many good artists (artists with good hearts) lose their dreams at the fickle whim of their popularity, while others, perhaps arrogant or self serving artists carry on well.
TVXQ I hope you do well in future, and don't lose that heart.
TVXQ with O.。正。反。和，Mirotic, new song Humanoids and Why.
And then finally the lul is over! Snsd back on with Gee on the special stage. I weep for the fact that they were so close and I couldn't film them properly. Loud fanchants! GEE GEE GEE GEE BABY BABY! Haha... the girls stood on a really unstable moving platform during the performance so they weren't able to perform confidently. I BLAME THE MANAGEMENT! What if they fell???
Then they travelled back to the main stage as they sang Kissing You (a strange song choice considering the other more popular ones?). And here is my greatest regret of the entire concert. Seohyun was what, 10m from me at one point, and I did not take a picture!!!!!! WTF brain?? I chose that time to be totally mesmorised by her stupid me. And let me say, they are really no joke. You think they look beautiful on screen? Wait till you see them in person. Seohyun was like the perfect doll. I seriously just stared.
After that seriously facepalm moment for me, Suju with Dancing out, then the next highlight, ONLY ONE!!!! Boa with Sehun. I'm sad that its not with Taemin! They look better together i think lol. At this point though everyone started getting distracted, because it started raining again and people were pulling out their ponchos. And also, to my shock and horror, people were leaving. So. Unbelievably. Rude.
The rain got heavier by the second, all through Electric Shock at the special stage (which is kinda funny seeing as it was lightning and thunder and stuff once again all around), Sherlock, The Boys (where everyone shouted GG!!! together despite the pouring rain. epic :D), Sexy Free and Single, and Catch Me (another new TVXQ song. At this point a poncho simply wasn't enough and we had to use umbrellas despite the warnings). People were leaving in the droves to escape the rain, and certain parts of the seats were flooded already. Due to the movement and the people blocking our view, we couldn't see much during this part... only looking through the holes. The rain got so bad the major kpop sites who were covering the event couldn't tweet at all.
What wasn't funny to me though was how the artists were getting drenched, even though it was only an hour away from the end. My heart ached :\ First it was hot, then it was cold wind and wetness. Sincerely hope they don't get sick... And then, just when we thought this was how the concert was gonna end, wet and rushed...
The rain stopped right when Hope started. I'm serious. It stopped. *snap* Just like that. No lightening. no slowing to gradual drizzle. Just.. "that's enough", *off*. Troll sky.
Haha this part is perhaps the best for the moshpit people, since the artists were actually sitting on the stages and interacting with their fans. And as people who couldn't experience that, we got to see the artists interact among themselves, so it wasn't too bad.
Well.. that was the end. Concert officially ended 11pm. A great 4 hours! Memorable experience... I wish there were more, and I hope they would come more often, and feel more at home (like Tifanny) and show more love to the fans. Will miss them a lot, and can't wait to see them again!
I reached home at 1230am haha... gosh...
Some thoughts:
- I think if I was organising the concert the lightsticks should be given free. It'll help the atmosphere so much. but I understand SM is recouping from the 5mil it spent to hold it here...
- Singapore really needs to improve ito its AV teams and organising skills...
Side story bonus!!
Side story 1:
SNSD arrived in Singapore on the 22nd Nov, at around 4, then proceeded to their hotel! Me n ZZ waited and watched their rehearsal till it ended at ard 8, then went for dinner at Marina Square. Apparently, at ard that time Hyoyeon went to buy ice cream at 7/11@MarinaSquare! We were super close by but we didn't realise, though we heard screaming outside. What a miss :(
Side Story 2
On the day of the concert in the morning, several other groups such as Shinee were still rehearsing since they arrived in Singapore later. Yuri actually went to watch the rehearsal with the fans, but nobody realised!!
SG Sones CMI leh! Mada mada dane. Korean fans can recognise by legs leh!!
Lastly, for such a memorable experience, there are people to thank.
Thanks so much to ZZ for helping me n my crew tickets!
My crew for coming with me.
Set list provided by KAvenyou. Kudos to them. :D
RITS for setting up this opportunity
SMTown and the artists for this wonderful concert. Keep it up!
