annyong peeps!
after reading tiffany’s Hello Hello shout-out earlier, i kindda felt compelled to wave at everyone reading at her blog, especially at the part where she had mentioned my name.
yes, yes, this is BB who was soooooo lucky to have gotten one of the media passes from tiffany to attend what’s quite possibly the biggest kpop concerts to ever reach our shores. yes, SEVEN exciting acts all in one night, and at the same place too! awesome would have been an understatement.
it’s a pity tiffany who’s been blogging all things korean for so long had to sit out this one coz she’s away. but hey, she’s got KANDACE and yours truly to help cover the event. hee, goes to show how competent SHE is, ya? needing two of us to do what she can normally do alone^^
mianhae, i haven’t yet ‘coughed’ out the kpop night concert post, been literally swamped with work. and oh, i alternated between working and feeling guilty for not blogging yet. decided to ease my own conscience a teeny weeny bit by putting up what i’d call a pseudo-post!
yes, just giving you some frills and fringes from last saturday, wakakaka!
first things first, met up with the delightfully cute and bubbly (and oh, very well-spoken and well-mannered too!) kandace before picking up our media passes from the reception area.
along the way, we saw people queuing to enter the concert hall. oh by the way, i’d read some tweets that some fans who had bought tickets for the standng pits had queued overnight! guess they wanted to be really really really hugging the foot of the stage, keke!
aigoo, it was such a loooooong walk to the reception area to collect our media passes!
along the way, we must have passed something like five to six washrooms? and yup, practically all had snaking queues. guess with some 8,000 peeps attending the concert, most people wanted to make sure they cleared their bladders first (sorry, if you’re eating or doing something nice and really really refined whilst reading this^^)
ZZANG…!! our passes and tickets!
incidentally the organizer PROOF LABEL had also thoughtfully set up a gift collection centre at the reception area. as we were waiting for our media passes, we saw fans popping by to drop gifts for their fave idols. can you see those pink(!) bags behind the counter? yea, each gift was clearly labelled with the idol groups’ names.
but but but… the quick thinking and DSLR-wielding kandace decided to cajole the staff into exchanging her media pass for a photographer pass. you see, that gal loves to shoot. pictures, that is.
we checked out our respective ‘positions’ after picking up our media passes.
you know, this kpop night concert is really a wee bit like the DREAM CONCERT that’s held in may every year in Korea, where some of the most popular artists would come together and perform. but it’s done quite differently in Korea, since they would demarcate sections for the respective fan clubs.
as you all know, each kpop artist or group has his/her/their own fan club colour. actually i believe they call it the balloon colour in Korea, since balloons are very commonly used as support props during performances. so it’s really nice during dream concert to see the fans banding together to show support for their fave stars. it kindda sends goosebumps (the good kind) up my spine when i see sea of green, sea of red, of pink, of… it’s very touching, and totally lovely to watch!
for dream concert, the capacity’s much bigger and they would reserve the upper sections (these are the ‘worse-off’ seats in terms of proximity to the stage) for the fan clubs. if you want better seats that are nearer the stage, then you will have to buy your own tickets individually from Gmarket and not be able to sit with the fan clubs. i feel it’s a rather good system as it allows members of the public (or peeps who like kpop in general but may not have a fave) to attend the concert and get good seats, and it still allows for fan clubs to show unity for their stars. something to learn there…? shrugs, maybe…
nyway, when we were at the reception area, we saw some VIPs and SONEs. (for the uninitiated, big bang fans are called VIPs and SNSD fans are SONEs)
it was great to see the VIPs with their royal yellow crown light sticks and the SONEs with the (mighty cool!) pink light sabers! if only there’re more fans willing to surface to show more visible support. me thinks it adds lots of fun and colours to a concert this way…
what’s really interesting is how the VIPs and SONEs are standing side by side for a photo opportunity! yes, TOGETHER
think it was the organizer who had tried to arrange this in order to take a nice-nice picture showing our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr GEORGE YEO with the fans. yup, yup, he had graced the occasion with his presence!
wanna know how big the turnout was last Saturday at the expo? here are some pics of the crowd inside the hall.
were you there too? were you standing or sitting?
tell me, tell me, tell me, did you enjoy yourselves?
will be back really really really soon for a real concert report. this is BB standing in for tiffany who’s in fish & chips land.
Hi BB, nice sharing, I was at D3 J8, just a couple of rows behind you.
It was a nice concert to sample so many kpop group at one go. I was very disappointed with the sound system as my fav group for that night was FT Island. I could hardly hear Hongki's voice. The screen are just too small. After JYJ and KPOP nite at Expo, I hope no organiser will organise any concert at the EXpo due to the POOR sitting and sound system.
Hey there, may I ask how did you manage to apply for the media pass? What are the prerequisites for it? Thanks 🙂
hi hi marydewitt! haha, feels kindda strange to be 'seeing' you at other people's playground. ahhhh…. so you were just a couple of rows behind me…? aigoo, i didn't see you (i did look around all the time!)
yea, me too quite disappointed with the sound system. i've never heard FT Island live, but everyone keeps telling me how well they sing and how good lee hong ki's vocals are… but, i wasn't too impressed during the concert mostly because of sound system. like you, i could barely hear him! (saw YAB and really like his somewhat husky voice, but but but… none of that magic came out last saturday *sad face*)
yea, the seats were elevated, OMG!
hi reindeer, well in order to obtain a media pass, you would obviously need to prove that you're media. not all organizers are receptive to the new media (i.e. online) though.
wah!!!
from what i could see that the stage and the media area is really quite far away…
or is there any extension stage for it?
however, it's actually a great event to be organised overseas like BB said, sort of like junior dream concert already…hehehe =)
shafilan-arh, with the media pass, you get a seat… (yes, at the back section), but we're allowed to walk around and up to the front of the 'house'. so it's really up to you how near you wanna go to the front ^^ (me lazy, likes to sit, wakaka!)
Thanks so much bb for the 'pseudo' post. It's great & I really wish I could have been there. Kandace has sent me some great photos & I'll upload asap. Can't wait to hear more from everyone.
*waves to tiff* did you hear? the iLoveAsiaPop concerts will be changing venue from Fort Canning to MBS^^ (think the haze and unpredictability of the year end weather made them do it)
i've also blogged about the venue change over at my blog. pali pali come back…! let's work things, keke!
May i ask how to prove that you're a media?? thanks.
Yes disappointed with the sound system. I can hardly hear HongKi's voice. The sound system was the worst among the 3 FTisland performance. (FortCanning and St James is better than this).
we have decided any concert in Expo is out. Sound system is poor.
tiffanyyyyy! glad you like the pictures. come back soon~
awesome post, bb! haha i like the "DSLR-wielding kandace" part. i was laughing in front of my screen like a mad person ^^
hihi anonymous,
i assume you're not media? then there's no (legit) way to prove^^
hi rainy, seems like most of us are kindda 'scarred' by the poor sound system/quality at the expo. but i was told a good sound enginner can work wonders, even if in an exhibition hall that's not exactly concert-friendly. *shrugs* (until someone proves us wrong, i guess^^)
a pity, really… coz would have been swell of FT Island could have opened with a bigger bang with their energetic showing and fab vocals had the sound been better.
and kandace? was great seeing you, and me loves your pics too^^ (till our paths cross again then ^^)
Hi BB, the seat were elevated at kpop nite on the Cat D section, But for JYJ which I bought the CAT A ticket, it was on Flat ground and I was at the B zone which were so far away from the stage. and the Screens were just too small. could hardly see the 3 boys.
Hi BB, regarding the I love asia pops u mention here that the venue was change from fort caning to MBS. May i know MBS u refer to, is it marina bay sand? And oh since u also blog is it possible that i can get your blog address too?
hey juma48,
yup, it's been changed to marina bay sands^^
I blog at http://www.happiebb.com^^ (but it's a personal blog, and not a kpop news portal or Kpop blog like tiffanykimchiland^^