When Big Bang announced they were going to hold only one concert in Europe, people were surprised by that there was nothing more, but after the first tickets sold out so fast the second date was added quickly. On that moment YG Entertainment must have realized how many fans there are in Europe. And that's not surprising at all, as Big Bang has been one of the top acts in the K-Pop business for years now and has gained a huge following overseas as well. It just was a matter of time until they'd come to Europe.
On December 14th, finally the big event that European K-Pop fans had been waiting for, Big Bang's first ever European concert at the Wembley Arena in London took place. At noon fans with special packages were allowed to pick them up, showing up early despite the rain that had colored the whole sky in grey. It has become customary between fans that they organize themselves to keep the people entering the hall in fair order, and even though not all of the security team seemed to agree with this, it worked out and the lines outside were peacefully arranged. Before the actual show, a few hundred were allowed to enter inside to see the soundcheck, but they had to step outside for a line up again for the early access, which started at 5pm. For the luck of the rest of the fans, the rain stopped around 3pm, so the square outside the arena was filling up from fans here and there, who started chanting their favorite songs to keep themselves warm. Also the staff tried to keep everyone in a good mood, handing out light bracelets to fans, answering questions about Big Bang, and even YG Entertainment's Gym Trainer Hwang Ssabu came out to take a picture with the waiting crowd.
Once in the hall, Big Bang didn't keep their fans waiting too long, and after several music videos had been played on the big screens, the lights went off shortly after 7:30pm, signaling the beginning of the show. With only three of their shows taking place outside of Asia, it was noticeable throughout the show that the five men were still surprised by the amount of fans they have around the world and how dedicated they were. The concert started off with a long set of songs including Alive, Tonight and How Gee, and the group was jumping around energetically, going from one side of the stage to the other and greeting their fans.
With Seungri joining Twitter just recently,it was obvious they had prepared well in order to address the crowd in English. After Stupid Liar Big Bang, greeted the fans and introduced themselves. Most of the talking was done by Seungri and Taeyang, who were even trying to speak in a British accent at times, while Daesung kept quiet most of the time and just shyly introduced himself. With small mistakes here and there they managed to get their message across though and get the crowd to laugh with them. Taeyang though scared the crowd during the talk as he started nose bleeding all of a sudden but still kept on going with the show, earning a lot of applause from the crowd. They also wooed fans with a cover of Chris Browns Don't judge me. G-Dragon and T.O.P. had disappeared behind the stage during the talk, leaving the three members in charge of entertaining, and so after this short interlude, Seungri professed his love for their leader and all three of them praised him for being a great friend.
When G-Dragon returned to the stage with his solo song Crayon, the crowd went crazy, but even more so when T.O.P. joined him to get the fans singing along to their hits High High and Bbeokigayo. They went all out to give their fans what they had been waiting for and the crowd went crazy listening to GD&T.O.P. and dancing with them.
Seungri took over afterwards, emerging from under the stage with a laser gun and staging his Strong Baby and Eojjeorago performances in a military style. The group returned as five to the stage next all dressed in black in order to showcase a different side of their repertoire with their Japanese hits Gara Gara Go and Number 1, and finished off with the slower Cafe, standing at the end of the extended stage, where they disappeared underneath after the song.
In order to get everyone into the mood for the next set of songs, some kind of foam started falling from the ceiling, looking like snow, marking the beginning of Blue. Contrasting with the quiet atmosphere, the group stepped out wearing colorful jackets. But it didn't stay quiet long, since the end of this set was marked by their hit Monster and Feeling from their latest album, with which they got the crowd excited once again before the next set of solostages by Taeyang and Daesung started.Taeyang showed off his soulful voice with this previous hit songs Naman Baraboa and Wedding Dress, but also got the girls screaming with his smooth dancing skills. Compared to that, Daesung presented a very artistic performance of his more rock-ish Song Nalgae and wooed the fans with his powerful voice, seeming to have a lot of fun himself as well. Both were obviously enjoying themselves on stage and savoring the screams and applause by the fans.
The last set of songs started with the band being engulfed in blue smoke and sitting on chairs. It was time for the songs that shot them up to the top: Haru Haru, Lies and Majimak Insa. They asked the crowd to sing the chorus of Haru Haru and everyone tried their best to show the group they put a lot of effort into learning the lyrics. Before their last song, they addressed the fans one last time, thanking them for coming and being so supportive. All five of them were visibly moved but looked incredibly happy and proud of the outcome of this night's show, promising to be back soon.
But this wasn't the last farewell and after the fans, conducted by the live band, chanted in unison, the group returned to the stage and extended their set for nearly half an hour. Fantastic Baby and Hands Up were taking the last pit of power the Group still had in them; G-Dragon lay down on stage and didn't seem to feel like getting up and Seungri kept shrugging his shoulders as if asking the fans "how the hell do you still have so much energy?" And still they kept on dancing, getting down to the crowd and singing for their Fans until the last second of the concert.
It was a great concert, for Big Bang and the fans alike. The group was welcomed to Europe, miles away from home by a completely sold out hall with 12,000 fans, eager to sing along to their songs and show them how much K-Pop is enjoyed overseas. But also the fans got to enjoy the concert with a group that visibly enjoys standing on stage and putting all their energy into a good performance. Big Bang showed the crowd the different facets of their musical career with older songs like How Gee, their new hits Fantastic Baby and a softer ones like Cafe. They are a versatile group so the amount of fans they have around the world comes as no surprise. This concert again proved that different languages are not a barrier, but the passion for music connects all kinds of people. Now everyone can hope they'll keep their promise and return to Europe soon again, but visiting more countries next time.
