IT was only last July when one of South Korea’s most successful boybands, BigBang, held its MADE World Tour show. Its previous concert was the 2012’s Big Bang Alive Galaxy Tour.
So when the BigBang MADE (V.I.P) Tour in Kuala Lumpur was announced late August, it was a surprise to most BigBang fans here who did not think the group would return so soon. Nevertheless, they were over the moon.
The show, organised by IME Malaysia, was held on Oct 1 at Stadium Merdeka and attracted more than 10,000 fans. It was more of a fan event than the regular full-fledged concert.
So it was no wonder when one of the members, T.O.P, was excused from participating, as he had other prior engagements.
BigBang held a similar event in March 2014 but the Thinking Of You Fan Meeting in Kuala Lumpur only involved G-Dragon, Taeyang and Seungri. Several fans were invited on stage to play games with their three idols.
For the MADE (V.I.P) Tour however, G-Dragon, Taeyang, Seungri and Daesung did play some games, but only among themselves while fans watched.
The humour that evening fell flat, but the fanatic fans loved it nonetheless.
PLAYFUL SIDE
Unlike their usual stylish outfits, BigBang members were in casual shirts and cardigans, jeans and slacks.
“It’s been a year since we came here for our last tour. It’s really great to see you guys again. Let’s have a good time tonight,” Taeyang told the screaming crowd.
For the game segment, the four members were divided into two groups: Taeyang with Daesung, and Seungri with G-Dragon.
The first game was Move Ping Pong Ball. Each had to use a straw to transfer a table-tennis ball from one bowl to another. The fastest won.
Daesung was moving slowly towards the bowl, when G-Dragon cheated by blowing the ball away.
The second game was called Rescue The Bottle. Plastic bottles filled with sand were placed on top of ribbons. Players had to pull out the ribbons without toppling the bottles.
Before Round 2 between Daesung and Seungri began, the latter confidently said: “This is easy for me. I’ll show you.”
Unfortunately, his first bottle fell. Looking at it in shock, he whined: “But... I’m not ready!” When the second bottle also fell, he moaned: “Why?”
“Seungri, you said it was easy. What do you call that?” Taeyang said, pointing to the former’s bottles and making the fans laugh.
Sighing forlornly, Seungri commented: “Life is not that easy.”
Daesung won the round and danced in victory.
The third game was Cheek X Cheek. G-Dragon and Seungri were blindfolded while an item, tied to a string held by Taeyang, hung between them. The duo had to guess the item with their cheeks.
Among the items were dragon fruit, kiwi fruit, hairbrush and broccoli. G-Dragon and Seungri recoiled in horror on contact with the dragon fruit.
The audience couldn’t help but to laugh and cheer when the boys moved too close and their cheeks collided. Making things even funnier was the sleazy romantic song that was played to accompany the session.
For each game’s winning, the four members gave away prizes to fans whom they chose randomly by drawing lots. The prizes include official BigBang T-shirts and raincoats, and signed BigBang plushies.
The emcee then said: “Let’s bring out our special guest!” Fans screamed, thinking that it would be T.O.P. Instead, T.O.P’s cardboard standee was brought on stage.
The final game saw on screen three photographs of fans who came dressed as BigBang members. The BigBang members had to select their favourite.
The winner was a young man who dressed as Daesung’s character from the parody video the group had made of the popular K-drama Secret Garden.
THE SHOW
In the second part of the show, the four sang Loser, Bang Bang Bang, If You and Bad Boy. Fans sang along wholeheartedly. Each member also performed his solo tracks. Seungri performed Strong Baby, G-Dragon sang Crooked while Taeyang gave his award-winning ballad Eyes, Nose, Lips.
Daesung showcased his funny side by singing Look At Me Gwisoon, his upbeat trot (recognised as the oldest form of Korean pop music genre) single.
Then G-Dragon and Taeyang performed their collaboration hit Good Boy. Soon came Sober, Bae Bae, We Like 2 Party and Fantastic Baby, performed by the group.
These performances were just like those in BigBang’s full concert, with fancy lighting, superb sound system and energetic showmanship.
“KL! This is an amazing city, and you guys are fantastic people. Saya cinta kamu!” Seungri screamed to the crowd’s delight.
“We’ll come back soon with our new album,” said G-Dragon. “We’re still working on it. Until then, please keep supporting us, okay? Thank you. You’re amazing. We love you.”
Taeyang then took over addressing the audiences, saying: “We’re having a fantastic time because of you. We always appreciate your love and support. Thank you for coming out today.
“I don’t want to say goodbye but like what G-Dragon said, we’ll come back with a new album. It’s almost done so please wait for it. We can’t wait to show it to you. You guys excited?”
The fans screamed in frenzy and cheered them on. Taeyang smiled and said: “We love you from the bottom of our hearts.”
News have been circulating that the BigBang members will be going for their military enlistment next year.
Well, they’d better release that album quick!