[FAN ACCOUNT] 082011 FT Island Play! Concert
The things I do for love, you guys have no idea how hard it was to get a ticket for their concert. If there was ticket available for August 21, then I would have gone too. Unfortunately, there was a scarcity of tickets.
After getting lost at Seoul subway system, I arrived at the place around 3:40PM. There were only few people there so I was able to line up immediately for the goods. I only bought the T-shirt and buckle band. The good thing with the venue is that there are lockers outside that people can rent so they won’t have to worry about holding their concert goods and bags throughout the concert.
While I was waiting for announcements on where to line up I met Thea, a Pri from Norway, and learned that she translates for happyislandsubs! We chatted and waited for the announcement. Around 5:00PM, Primadonna Japan fans arrived at the venue after their special fan meeting with the boys. May I add, I was burning with jealousy!
I asked the staff and she told me that they would put letters for the standing position at 5:30PM and people would have to line up behind it. We lined up according to number and they gave out a somewhat small envelope wherein Pris would have to put their camera and cellphone and seal it before going inside the event. Picture taking is strictly prohibited.
When I got inside, I got amazed on how small the place was. And how close I was to the stage. The concert was really more of an indie rock concert setup thus making it more intimate. Someone shouted Wonbin was in the area but I didn’t get to see him. I think I caught a glimpse of Jonghun and Minhwan’s parents and also Seunghyun’s brother. I can’t be sure though, it was dark.
When the clock ticked at 7PM and the concert hasn’t started yet, people got impatient. They were shouting ”홍기아~ 나와!” As a Jaejin-biased I was a bit hurt that the crowd was only chanting for Hongki, but that’s given I guess.
The VTR played around 7:15ish and it was just a picture collage about the word Play. The boys came out and sang Hello Hello at first. Man, Hongki was all over the place. You gotta give it up for him! Very strong stage presence. One of my fave song of Return Album is 널 갖겠다 and that was the next song. Hongki was holding on to the three members. And the audience just got wild.
I wasn’t sure when was the time they actually introduced themselves, after the 3rd song I think? Hongki was thanking fan for the support„ that it has been a while and yet fans were still there to support them.
I think before 빙빙빙 started he asked, ”재미있어요(Are you having fun)?” and the crowd was just wild, loud and enthusiastic. He replied that if everyone was having fun, then everyone on the 2nd floor should be up on their seats now. ‘Cause at that time, there were still a good number of people on the 2nd floor seating. They got up from their seats and the next song started. Hongki just got 10X crazier when빙빙빙 started. He was jumping and getting crazy and all, his favorite spot is on the left side with Jaejin and Seunghyun.
The crowd would follow Hongki and so, people would push to get in front of him when he’s on the left side. Being a Jaejin stan, I went against the flow of the crowd and tried to remain rooted at my place. In front of Jaejin. I think Jaejin saw me and he smiled. More like laugh actually, because it was so obvious that the crowd would flock to where Hongki is and the gaze of them would be on Hongki. I, on the other hand, have my eyes fixated on Jaejin. Super love, the first eye contact of the night <3.
I think after the 10th song or so, after the Japanese songs, they took a break. During this time, they showed us a VTR of the boys. Even though I’m living here in Korea for a half a year now, I still have limited Korean skills. I can’t fully tell what the video was supposed to be, plus the fact that the fans were so noisy, but I think the video was about the “other” side of them or something like that presented in a skit-like format.
The first one was Jonghun, he showed that he is also interested in taking pictures. He showed the photos he’s taken. Which is mostly the faces of the other members. HAHAHA. How cute.
Minhwan made everyone scream because his part is about him being진짜 남자, a real man despite being a maknae. And showed clips of him exercising, more like flexing his arms and sweat dripping. Which was insanely hot. Dayuuuummm.
Jaejin’s other side is like he’s actually a hooligan or some sort. He was always the smart one but he’s actually rebellious. He dressed like the Japanese HS students, but sloppily and gangster-ish. He has the most close-ups in the VTR and thus earning loud screams from the fans.
Seunghyun’s other side is he likes to study about foreign things, especially English. The video showed him reading (he was cute w/ eyeglasses btw) English books and watching Discovery and National Geographic channel. There was a girl who called and spoke in English wherein Seunghyun only replied with I’m fine, thank you. Goodbye.
Hongki’s part was consisted of exchanging text to a certain someone. The certain someone turned out to be Heechul. Chocoball love. And at the end, it showed clips of them practicing.
The second half started with the acoustic performance and all the members were seated. Minhwan was beat-boxing at first as solo and the crowd was chanting Choi Minhwan which made him shy and he was just shaking his head. Sunshine Girl, was the first acoustic performance. The other two was First Kiss and I Confess.
During the First Kiss performance, Hongki looked to his left as if dedicating the song to the person. The fans started to panic because they thought that there was a girl standing near the stage at the right side of the stage. The girl whom Hongki is supposedly dedicating the song. But I was in Standing A position so I can see very clearly what’s on the right side of the stage. And there was no one there but the staffs! I was puzzled. It turns out, Hongki was singing it for Jonghun. And Jonghun upon realizing it, had a disbelieving look on his face and laughed. JONGKI JUST GET MARRIED AND STOP CONFUSING THE FANS, OKAY!
On their 21th song, Hongki said that it was their last song, Primadonna. But the fans were saying AWWWW and가지마. But Hongki just playfully responded that what’s the fuss all about since everyone knows there was going to be an Encore. HAHAHA.
After the Primadonna song, they closed all the lights entirely and the boys hurriedly went to the right side of the stage. Seunghyun, being at the left side of the stage got left out. He was somewhat night blind and he hasn’t even reached half of the stage when he started to move his arms like a blind man. Which was funny and cute. A staff rushed to him with a flashlight and guided him. Just adorbs.
After few minutes of fan chants, the boys went out again and this time, wearing the concert t-shirt. Hongki was in a sleeveless while Minhwan’s sleeves was made into a fringe. Good thing they did that because their arms are so big they won’t fit in, I’m sure. Too bad for Jonghun that they just rolled his sleeves, it was too tight on him. You all know how muscular Jonghun is. The only unaltered ones are Jaejin and Seunghyun’s. They thanked the fans and made a final bow. Really heartwarming.
Basically:
Hongki – Hongki’s really a rocker. He enjoys what he’s doing and was all over the stage. I was impressed on how he didn’t seem to be out of breath after singing like 10 songs consecutively. He was just a ball of energy. Jumping and singing his lungs out.
Seunghyun – The barricade from the stage itself and the people from the first line was so small. It isn’t even noticeable in the pictures. Seunghyun would always step at the edge of the stage and bend while playing the music. He’s literally like 10 CM away from the hands of the fan. He was the sweetest, I think, to the fans. He would wave at them, and smile and do whats not if they call him. When Hongki was making speech during the introductions, he was making heart and winking at the fans in front of him. Fans got wild and he got surprised. He put his hands over his lips motioning for the fans to keep quiet, he then pointed to Hongki and ended it with a cute smile. He was so adorable.
Jonghun – Jonghun is no doubt a sex god. He was making the face when he was playing the guitar. Sweat sripping from his toned arms. Crazzzy crazzzy! He was just smoking, and I normally don’t say this because I thought I got immune to his hotness after seeing him perform for the 5th time. His vibes that night was just so overwhelming not to notice though.
Minhwan – No matter how muscular he got, he will forever be my maknae. He was so adorbs. He would look at the audience once in a while ang give his famous eye smile. He would smile at Jaejin and Hongki when they would come to his place. It’s as if the three of them are talking with their eyes. I got an eye contact with Minhwan during the 6th song. FT vs PRI. I was just staring at Jaejin while crying. Yes, I was crying already on the 6th song. I realized Minhwan was staring, it was weird for him to look at our direction because we were mostly Jaejin fans. I realized he was staring at me. My face was tearstained and I was hiccup-ing already. He must have found me strange because I was the only one crying in the crowd. I looked around me and pointed to myself and I just stared back at him. He then shook his head and made a small smile. I would have been irritated at him for laughing but he’s Minhwan after all.
Jaejin – The love of my life for 4 years already. The boy I loved even before they debuted. It was crazy because his hairstyle was the same, the first time I saw him perform live a year ago. And lately he was playing with his red bass but for that night, he used his blue bass. It was de ja vu for me. I was together with other Jaejin fans. They have placards with them, that even though they can’t see the concert as long as Jaejin can see the placard. They can’t push it upwards because that would be rude to other fans, so they keep it to their face thus blocking the view of the concert. So Jaejin would usually go glance at our place. I can’t remember how many times I had eye contact with him. I must be evil but thank you for the placards blocking the other fans faces, because then he would only see my face. I cried so much during the결혼해줘 song because it is one of my fave FT-Island song. I like it because they have a Marry Marry Marry Me part. Being Mary and a delusional fan, I think that song was made for me. So I cried a river at that time. At the end of the song, Jaejin pointed to me and rolled his hand to a fist and held it near his cheeks. As if telling me not to cry. But that made me cry even harder. After I hope song, the last song, he did the same thing again. I looked around me to make sure I was only one crying. And yes, I find it weird but no one else was crying after the last song. So I was so sure it was me.
Thank you FT Island for being worth 4 years of my dream. I am sure to go to your concert again next year. Or if you have encore concert coming up within this year. You never fail to impress me. I am a proud Primadonna ever since. Thank you. Thank you Lee Jaejin for being the reason why I can still smile. This is cheesy but true. Thank you very much.
PS RANDOM:
I still haven’t posted the FT-I in Sukira fan account and Incheon Korean Music Wave 2011 fan account. I will soon. I just need to finish this first while everything was so vivid. I’ll see FT island again in MUSICLYMPICS. And still waiting for encore concert <3