2009 Sparkling Concert - April 11th

The 2009 Sparkling Concert was held over the weekend of the 11th and 12th of April at the Seoul Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium. I attended the Saturday concert because I was interested in seeing Big Bang, SG Wannabe, Shin HyeSung and FT Island. The concert was held as a presentation of Korea's top stars to foreigners in and around Korea. As a result, there was a large number of Japanese fans, with some Westerners here and there. Unlike other concerts that I've attended, the tickets were somewhat slower to sell out and I was able to get a seat in the frontmost section without any trouble. The Olympic Park itself consists of five venues, including a fencing gymnasium, an indoor swimming pool and the gymnastics arena.

Previously, I had been here to see Big Bang's BIG SHOW concert. The 2009 Sparkling Concert by comparison was very quiet with less than a third of the people present when I arrived. However, like before there were plenty of tents for tickets, events and merchandise. Getting my ticket was quite simple with the ticket tent showing clearly where the foreigners were supposed to go and there was also an event tent for putting your name forward to win special prizes.

There was a very loose theme of 'The Four Seasons' to the concert, but really it was more of an afterthought with some stereotypical imagery on the two big screen either side of the stage. It certainly wasn't as focused as other concerts I've attended and the stage was quite boring apart from the steps leading up to a large screen at the back. The lighting was pretty standard and didn't seem to have any central theme or serve to make it easy for fans to see the artists on stage. That was partly due to the fact that everyone was wearing dark colours and there was very little variation in their wardrobe apart from the occasional pair of pink trousers.

After waiting inside for about fourty five minutes with some generic, 'Pink Panther'-esque music playing, the two hosts, Lee JongSoo and a Japanese translator emerged from the side of the stage and explained briefly what the concert was about, as well as who would be performing. They also discussed the small events that would be taking place and the prizes available. As I found out later, the events were each of the artists picking names out of a box and giving the winners  some goody bags. Some of the winners also requested things such as a hug or a little solo.

Shin HyeSung was the first artist out on stage. The lights dimmed and his backing band was raised from beneath the stage before he walked to the mic and the lights came on. He was dressed all in black with skinny jeans, a shirt and boots. He was looking good and unlike some of the other artists, he didn't look fatigued. He started his set with Awaken which is a good, solid track with a pretty uplifting chorus and with the live backing band it lifted the song still further and the crowd ate it up. He went on to perform Geudaeraseo - a powerful ballad, Wae Jeonhwahaesseo... - a softer ballad, and Jungshim - a more standard, pop track.

Shin HyeSung is not an artist that I've followed in the past but the biggest compliment I can pay his performance is by saying that I will definitely be listening to his latest albums. His vocals were as good as any I've heard live and I thought the addition of the live band and backing dancers made his performances less sparse. There was also a good energy to his performances with him moving freely around the stage during breaks in the song. During one such break between songs, it was requested by one of the event winners that he go and speak to her. He politely obliged and walked to her on the stage and had a short chat before returning to finish his set. Suffice to say, she was beside herself, along with a large portion of the crowd.

After Shin HyeSung had left the stage, we were treated to a special guest. Tainaka Sachi is apparently a little known singer-songwriter in Japan who sings the opening theme for an anime airing at the moment. I didn't catch the name of the anime, or the name of the song, but she sat down with her piano and sang quite well. She was a little nervous but for her second song, she stood up and walked along the stage a little more and her vocals improved with her growing confidence. It was a nice break and many of the fans around me kept talking about how cute she was.

FT Island were the second artists on stage to perform They were all dressed a little differently and carried themselves well on stage considering their age. I found myself looking at the newest member, guitarist Song Seunghyun, most of the time, trying to see how he was coping with the attention. He coped perfectly and was very warmly received by the fans. Sarangalhi from their debut was the first song to be played and was a real treat for the crowd. This was my first seeing them live and I had very high expectations of Hongki's vocals. I was not let down at all. The live instruments were played brilliantly and that hint of huskiness in Hongki's voice gave the songs something extra. Nappeun Yeojaya was next and was an even better display of Hongki's vocals. Love Is... and Missing You followed in what was an energetic performance, without them prancing around the stage.

It seemed that pink was the highlight colour of choice with Hongki sporting pink pants and JongHoon in a pink shirt. JaeJin decided to break the mould with an all white ensemble. Like all the other artists, they pulled names from a box and one of the lucky winners was called onto stage for a hug from the lead man, Hongki. I'm not sure how you deal with something like that but afterwards, she didn't know what to do with herself and must have needed some assistance in returning to her seat. All in all, I was very pleased to have seen them live and will be trying to do so again.

Third to come out was the ballad trio of SG Wannabe. Not artists that I've listened to very much in the past but ones that I was interested to see perform live. As per the reviews I had read online, they did not disappoint and it became apparent to me why they are so incredibly popular in Korea. I'm not a huge fan of ballads myself but just bearing witness to the fans singing along to their performances was quite amazing. They started with La-La-La which was the only song that I recognised from their set, having heard it play on TV when it was released. It didn't stop me from from enjoying Nae Saram, Timeless and Saldaga - all well-known ballad numbers which the fans could sing along to easily.

Style wise, they were dressed in blacks, greys and whites, and looked very handsome. They looked very comfortable on stage and although a little shy at times when being interviewed, they carried themselves well and had a certain presence.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of the Saturday concert was Big Bang, in much the same way as Dong Bang Shin Ki were the most anticipated on Sunday. This is my second time seeing them live after watching the BIG SHOW concert in the same place in February. Their performances on this day were certainly not as energetic or exciting as the previous concert but they do have something that they bring with them when they perform and it was still evident. They all looked tired and even their wardrobe was not as colourful as usual. Seungri looked like he might have slept standing up during the MC breaks with large bags under his eyes. All but G-Dragon were wearing black, with TOP sporting some pink pants along with his black jacket. As mentioned above, the lighting wasn't spectacular and meant that Seungri, Daesung and Taeyang almost faded into the background at times.

They chose a high energy song in Majimak Insa to get things underway, followed by a fan favourite, How Gee, Haru Haru - which always sounds better live, and Sunset Glow. While the beginning was a little slow and their movements around the stage a little sluggish, it heated up finished strongly. After they left the stage, they were almost immediately called back out by Lee JongSoo for an encore. I was hoping that they would perform Wonderful like they had at the BIG SHOW, but instead they performed Geojitmal which had the crowd screaming and chanting and rushing to get closer to the stage. Obviously, this song marked the rise to fame for them so it was understandably well received.

After leaving the stage, the MCs wrapped it up with general thanking of fans for their support and reminding us to be careful when traveling home on the trains. Due to the amount of space in the standing sections, it was far easier to get out and once outside, I walked quickly to the station, hoping to beat the rush and get on one of the first trains.

The crowd was pretty well behaved during the concert and there was a lot of shouting during the MC breaks, with fans calling for their favourite members. There were some Americans behind me who shouted while Big Bang were on stage teling them to stop talking and start performing, but this seemed to be an isolated incident. With a less than full venue, the atmosphere was always going to suffer but I was lucky enough to be right at the front and had people on all sides of me, making the experience a little more rich.

In summary, the concert was a success and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all four performers live. Although the concert felt small in comparison to others, the selection of artists and songs was good and it encouraged me to look up some of the artists in my own time.

Set List

Shin HyeSung
Awaken
Geudaeraseo
Wae Jeonhwahaesseo... 
Jungshim

FT Island
Sarangalhi
Nappeun Yeojaya
Love Is...
Missing You

SG Wannabe
Lalala
Nae Saram
Timeless
Salgada

Big Bang
Majimak Insa
How Gee
Haru Haru
Sunset Glow
Encore - Geojitmal