[FAN ACCOUNT] 130627 - AIA K-pop Concert in Malaysia

[FAN ACCOUNT] 130627 - AIA K-pop Concert in Malaysia

I went to K-pop Dream Concert Live in Malaysia in the month of May and I enjoyed it.  One month later, I went to yet another concert!  This time, it was AIA K-pop Concert in Malaysia.  What made this concert extra special was the three performing acts who all came from the same company, Cube Entertainment.  My favourite K-pop company!  The three acts were 4Minute, BEAST, and G.NA.  In January 2011, the same lineups came to Malaysia for DiGi Live K-pop Party and I attended that one too with my dad and younger sister.  This time for AIA K-pop Concert, my dad tagged along again.

My dad and I took a flight to Kuala Lumpur on the same day of the concert.  We arrived at Kuala Lumpur about four hours before the tentative time of the concert.  We made our way to the stadium where the concert was held via Light Rail Transit (LRT).  The concert venue was only two stations away.  When we arrived at the stadium, we wandered around the stadium, which was already filled with fans and AIA (M) Berhad's agents, staffers, policyholders, and family members.  The concert was initially planned as a private concert for those related to AIA (M) Berhad only.  After discussing with Malaysian fanclubs and K-pop concert-goers, the company decided to make the concert open to public.  *cough* /Extra revenue/ *cough*  *cough again* /Nothing wrong with that/ *cough again*  I bought the concert tickets for my dad and I through Malaysian BEAST's fanclub, MYB2UTY.  About fifteen minutes before the concert started, we entered the concert area.  Upon hearing songs (which turned out to be music videos) by the Cube artists being played in the concert area, I felt excited and could not wait to see the performing artists live again, especially BEAST!

G.NA was the first performer.  Even as a solo singer, she did not fail to capture the audience's attention with her powerful yet sweet vocal and her friendly greetings.  Her first song for that evening was 'Supa Solo', one of my all-time favourite songs of hers!  G.NA also performed '2Hot', 'Bananas', and the English version of 'I'll Back Off, So Live Well' (in which, B2UTY went wild when BEAST's Jun Hyung came out to perform his rapping part) before performing a two-song medley of Rihanna's songs, 'Take a Bow' and 'Rude Boy'.  Her remaining performances of 'First Kiss', 'Top Girl', and 'Black and White' kept the crowd cheering.  I especially liked it when G.NA mentioned during her talk time that Malaysian fans have been doing great at supporting the United Cube family and asked for continuous interest and support.

The audience continued to gleefully scream, shout, and sing when 4Minute came on stage.  The girls appeared on the stage with their stylishly sassy performance of 'What's Your Name'.  They also performed 'Mirror Mirror', 'I'm Okay', 'HUH', and 'Muzik'.  I enjoyed every performance but I particularly liked their emotional balladry song 'Pretend'.  Before stepping out of the stage, the girls performed the bubbly 'Heart to Heart' and the catchy 'Hot Issue'.

Then...the most anticipated (for me, personally) act of the evening...the one, the only, the amazing BEAST!  As expected, the audience, including me, went wild when an introductory snippet featuring BEAST's members was played.  The next thing that came up was Gi Kwang's "Byeol-i bit na neun areumdawoon bam-iya-iya~".  The BEAST's members appeared on stage to perform their upbeat 'It's a Beautiful Night'.  What made the audience (at my area) even more hyped up was the members running towards the front part of the stage from the beginning of the song.  So, my eyes were pleasantly treated to the up close view of real life BEAST's members!  Dear God, thank you very much!  I frantically waved my rose-shaped lightstick and sang along while smiling ear-to-ear.  BEAST is known as one of the groups with outstanding fan-service.  That fact was really shown that evening even from their first performance.  The group performed 'Bad Girl' and 'Shock'.  These two songs are their first two title songs.  So, being able to see them perform those songs and dance the choreography meant so much to their B2UTY fans, trust me.  The other songs that BEAST performed so marvelously were 'Special', 'Fiction', 'On Rainy Days', 'I Knew It', and 'Freeze'.  Right after that, a new but familiar tune was played.  I immediately screamed joyfully when I heard the introduction music of one of BEAST's new songs, 'Will You Be Alright'.  I could tell that a few of the audience members who were near me turned their heads to look at me.  They must be wondering why I suddenly shrieked.  It was another special treat for B2UTY in Malaysia because that was the first time the song was performed overseas, and the second time it was ever performed live.  The first time the movingly sad song was performed was during B2UTY Party event at Maru Park, Seoul, South Korea.  Oh yea, now I remember something!  During 'Will You Be Alright', Jun Hyung missed a tempo and ended up giggling while doing his "Stay with me babe, stay with me babe.. Don't go, don't leave me babe.." part.  It was so cute!  Their last performances were 'Beautiful' and the encore song 'VIU'.  The members had lots of fun on stage, running around and making each other wet by splashing drinking water from bottles.  In fact, the members seemed to be in a very good mood from the beginning of their appearance on stage.  That made fans extra happy.  One of the things that the members said that I particularly remember is Dong Woon's "[Translated] Now I know why Malaysia is so hot.  It's because of your passion."  *o*  Smooth move, Son-Nam-Shin!  Another one is in Yo Seob's advice for everyone to take extra care of their health because of the haze, "[Translated] Please stay healthy.  Because you exist, I exist." *o*  Very sleek, Yang-Yo!

That evening is definitely a memorable evening for me.  I am sure many fans think so too.

We will continue to stand by your side, United Cube!

[FAN ACCOUNT] 130524 - K-pop Dream Concert Live in Malaysia (Cube Entertainment's Fan's POV)

[FAN ACCOUNT] 130524 - K-pop Dream Concert Live in Malaysia

(Cube Entertainment's Fan's POV)

The Evening Before (May 23rd)

My family and I arrived at Genting Highlands, Pahang on May 23rd.  Our flight was delayed for about an hour, so my energy was mostly drained by the time we arrived at the lobby of our hotel.  Before entering our hotel room, I had to first meet up with a few Melodies (Melody = Fan Name of BTOB's fan) to pass them their slogan towels and lightsticks.  (For those who did not know, the slogan towels and lightsticks that I am referring to are the official support merchandise produced and sold by the talent management company.)  The first day of the concert was happening on that evening.  The tickets that I bought for my family and I were for the second day. 

From our hotel room, we could hear the songs that the artists were performing.  Our hotel was right next to the main entrance of the concert venue.  I could particularly hear BTOB's 'I Stole Those Lips (Irresistible Lips)', 'Wow', 'Second Confession', and G.NA's 'Oops!' because when those songs were performed, my family and I were walking somewhere outside, looking for a place to eat. 

It was about half an hour past midnight and my family members were already sound asleep but I was still up, watching TV.  I then received a text message from a fellow Melody-and-K-popper.  I was supposed to pass her some slogan towels too but we could not meet up before the concert that evening because of my delay in arrival.  We then made a quick appointment to meet up outside of a coffee house near the lobby of the hotel where the artists were staying at.  There are a number of different hotels at Genting Highlands and those hotels are connected by walking paths and buildings.  So, I just followed the sign boards and some directions from that Melody friend of mine to get to our meet up place.  I finally reached the place and I knew that I was at the right place because I could see a number of people gathering and waiting outside of a coffee shop.  At that time, the artists were having a break after the first day of concert at the coffee house.  I met my Melody friend there and passed the slogan towels to her.  We had a little chat and I met some other K-pop fans.  I was told that BTOB, my favourite group out of the performing line-ups, had already gone back to their rooms.  I decided to wait with the other fans to try my luck at catching a glimpse of the other artists who were going to come out of the coffee house sooner or later.  BTOB's senior label-mate, G.NA (pronounced as "Ji-Na"), came out of the coffee house with a manager from Cube Entertainment and  some security guards.  They walked towards my direction, making me feel more excited but I tried to contain my excitement and I took a step back to give way.  G.NA was literally about one metre away from me.  I blurted out "Hi, G.NA~" and she looked at me while smiling, waving, and saying "Hi!" back.  That made me feel so happy and thankful!  She is not only a very beautiful woman, but she is also kind and genuine towards her fans and others.  Not long after that, 4Minute, also BTOB's senior label-mates, made their way out of the coffee house.  A manager went out first with a cake from 4Minute's fanclub.  The girls followed after that, surrounded by security guards.  The girls were all-smiles as they walked pass fans.  Like G.NA, they really looked like porcelain dolls up close.  Apart from BTOB, G.NA, and 4Minute, the other artists in the line-ups of K-pop Dream Concert Live in Malaysia were Sistar and Brown Eyed Girls.  I was not sure if Sistar and Brown Eyed Girls had already gone back to their rooms earlier on or not, but I decided not to wait any longer and walked back to my room. 

G.NA coming out of the coffee house and walking towards my direction(!)

4Minute coming out of the coffee house and walking towards my direction too(!)

The Concert Day (May 24th)

From the afternoon, I joined the other fans lobby-stanning (Lobby-stanning, a.k.a. hotel-stanning, is a term used to refer to fans waiting at the hotel lobby where their favourite artists are staying at, hoping for a chance to see the artists with their own eyes when the artists go out to have a meal, walk somewhere else, or off to a rehearsal or show.)  Of course, security guards were there to make sure that fans did not go overboard and that the other guests of the hotel would not go through too much of a difficult time because of the hoarding of fans.  I felt bad for the other guests because there were times when they had to squeeze their way through the fans to get to the hotel lobby.  Fans were kind enough to make way when necessary but still, the overwhelming number of gathered fans at a hotel lobby can be quite frightening to anyone who is not used to that.  Nobody got hurt, though.  We patiently waited and queued at the hotel lobby for hours.  Our biggest 'enemy' at that time was not the long hours of standing but the cold highland wind that occasionally blew in from the front entrance of the hotel. 

The concert was about to start in a couple of hours, so G.NA walked out to the hotel lobby first, surrounded by an entourage of staff members and security guards.  Sistar and 4Minute then came out one after the other.  My Melody friends and I were anticipating BTOB the most.  We kept waiting.  The authority at the hotel lobby announced that BTOB (and Brown Eyed Girls) would not be coming out soon.  Some even claimed that they were already at the concert venue since rehearsal, but fans knew better that they were not at the venue yet because some fans really waited at the hotel lobby since morning.  Nice try but you cannot easily fool fans, okay?  Fans are extra alert, extra attentive, and extra informative.  Most fans were already on their way back or to the concert venue but a number of fans remained at the hotel lobby area.  I even had some time to briefly followed and 'stalked' managers from the talent management companies, especially Cube Entertainment, when they wandered at the lobby area.  My Melody friends and I wanted to stay at the hotel lobby until BTOB came out but it was already ten minutes before showtime.  We did not want to miss the start of the concert, so we decided to make our way to the concert venue, which was about fifteen minutes away by foot.

The managers

On the first day, the order of performing artists was BTOB-G.NA-4Minute-Brown Eyed Girls-Sistar.  I expected the order to be the same for the second day but it turned out that Sistar was the first performing act.  My seat was at the front row and the two seats on my right as well as the two seats on my left belonged to fanboys.  So, I was surrounded by fanboys!  I enjoyed Sistar's performances since I knew some of their songs.  In fact, I was familiar with all of the songs that the group performed that evening.  After Sistar, it was G.NA's turn to perform.  I screamed my lungs out especially when BTOB's Il Hoon came out to perform his part in G.NA's 'Oops!'.  G.NA also performed the English version of her debut song, 'I'll Back Off, So Live Well', among other songs.  Then, 4Minute went on stage to perform their songs.  4Minute is one of my top K-pop acts.  The second last performing act was BTOB!  Woohoo~~!  As expected, I went insane when BTOB came out.  From the first song, 'I Only Know Love', to 'Secret (Insane)', to 'Second Confession', to 'Wow', I gleefully sang along and followed some of the dance moves.  The guy sitting next to me was surprised and asked me, "Waa... You even know all their dance moves?".  I smilingly nodded and continued cheering.  Brown Eyed Girls was the last performing act.  I was not very familiar with some of their songs but I still enjoyed their performances.  During Brown Eyed Girl's turn to perform, the group's manager came to the front of the stage area among the security guards and stood near my seating area.  At one point, he briefly scanned the seating audience area and I happily waved at him.  He saw me and nodded.  

Sistar

G.NA

4Minute

BTOB

Brown Eyed Girls

When the concert was over, I walked to my hotel room, feeling tired but happy.  I simply love it when I can smile after a concert no matter how exhausting the day has been.