I remember during the era when Kpop started to penetrate the Philippines. I really don’t know when it began, and how it made its way to the Philippine market. I was oblivious to what is happening to Hallyu wave in the Philippines because 1.) I was not interested and 2.) I don’t patronize something that I don’t understand. When Philippine radio stations started to play “Nobody Nobody but you” by the Wonder Girls, followed by “Sorry Sorry Sorry” by the Super Junior, and then joined by 2NE1’s “I don’t care eh eh eh eh”, I was the first person to cover my ears. It was around year 2007’s and 2008’s up to 2009’s when Kpop suddenly made its way to the spotlight of Philippine music market. I was the Mr. Scrooge of Kpop, until PSY’s Oppa Gangnam Style awakened my interest to Kpop. That song was a hit worldwide. It has a powerful beat and rhythm and charm that despite the incomprehensive lyrics, I was into it.
When I came to Korea to work, I already appreciate Kpop, but I’m not a ‘fan”, I just listen to it, and I’m ok with it. I even listened for the purpose of learning Korean language, and I admit that it did help pretty well. I also got to know some of the hottest Kpop idols in Korea, I listened to their music and even have it saved on my playlist.
Well, I just want to share my first(and probably last) experience watching a Kpop concert. It was not just a simple Kpop concert because it’s star studded event, and by star studded I meant the famous kpop idols in this generation like Rain, Korean girl group T-ara and Korean boy groups GOT7, Seventeen, Day 6, Se7en and the rookie group Day 6. It was actually a fusion of a fashion show and Kpop concert. The Seoul Girl’s Collection (SGC) Super Live was held last March 18, 2017 at the Korea University's Hwajung Gymnasium. The SGC Super live is on its 12th year of entertaining people through music and fashion. Korean fashion artists showcased their creations for the Spring and Summer collections, and alternately, Kpop artists performed every after fashion show.
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| The stage at the SGC Super Live 2017 |
Most of the attendees were teenagers, and most of them were girls. The show started at around 6:00 pm, I arrived at around 5:30 and there were a lot of people lining up at the entrance of the gymnasium. Although the main event was the Fashion Show, I’m 100 percent sure that people went there for the concert, just like us. When the personnel opened the gymnasium, everybody rushed to get inside, and we didn’t even show our tickets. If you go there without the ticket, you probably can still get inside and watch the show for free.
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| Colorful lightings during the performance of Day6 |
The first thing that I noticed was the lightings. It was incredibly awesome. If not for the lightings, the stage would be probably boring and dull. Almost 80 percent of the people inside the gym were holding a led light which they bought from the vendors outside the gym. We didn’t buy any of it because I don’t think we need it. The hardcore fans were so into it because for them, it’s their way to cheer for their Kpop idols. In all fairness, seeing a row of people with LED lights set me on a festive mode.
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| Fans waving their LED lights during the performance of Blanc7 |
The concert did not really run smooth because during GOT 7’s performance, fans started to go out of control. While GOT7 was performing, they started pushing towards the stage until the barricade almost collapsed. Worried for the safety of the fans, GOT7 decided to stop the performance and plead for the fans to move back. Nobody listened. The staffs started to push them back and warned the audience that the show will not push through unless they will move back. We wasted almost 30 minutes just to settle the fans. For us who were sitting on the bleachers, we kept shouting at the stubborn fans to move back, but they were adamant. The staffs forced them to move, after a few minutes, GOT7 repeated their performance.
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| Fans go crazy during the performance of GOT7 |
Fans were so wild during the concert. They danced, shouted and sang along with the performers. Good thing there’s a fashion show every after performance, it’s a good way to pacify the excited fans. But what I also appreciate in the show was the DJ. He played good music especially with the fashion show. It could have not been as classy and elegant as it was without that awesome background music. There were two instances where the DJ got the spotlight for spinning the music while waiting for the next performer. He played Bruno Mars, The Weeknd and some of the Western artists tracks. Apparently, the Korean audience did not appreciate it as much as I do. I feel bad for the DJ.
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| Rain's performance |
The last performer of the night was RAIN. Suffice to say that he was the biggest artist that night, or else, he was not the finale. However, people started to move out when he performed. The lower box was opened, so we decided to move from the bleacher to the lower box so we could see Rain closer as he performs on stage. Sure, Seventeen got the moves, GOT7 got the charm, T-ara’s performance was sexy and hot, but RAIN, you can see how seasoned he is when he performs on stage. The new generation audience may not appreciate him as much as the younger Kpop idols, but performance wise, RAIN still has something to offer.
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| The closest I can get to see Rain performs on stage |
It’s more than 3 hours of treat for the concert goers. I did enjoy the show, at least I experienced how it was to watch a kpop concert. The group with the most fans based on the audience impact was Seventeen, followed by GOT7. But my favorite performance was that of a rookie group called Blanc7. T-ara was the only girl group to perform that night.
