#11.08.12

Lord that was fun. So much to say, so much to remember. I'm sad about a few things though. And I'm pretty sure that those who go tomorrow will have even more fun.

Anyway, Sad things first. I didn't get my light stick until after the concert. Apparently, there was some delay on their delivery from the airport to the Prudential Center so if you didn't already have one you didn't get to buy or use it until after the concert was over. There were however the Alive concert light sticks but its just not the same as the official BB crown light stick of doom (as I call it). Also sad that the concert was so short. It started at about 8:10pm but finished, encore and all, at 10:30pm. Plus, I overheard someone say that tomorrow they would do the full set list. What kind of nonsense is that? If its true. Also sadness that I wound up going by myself. I think I would have enjoyed it more and let loose more if I had a friend or at least a friendly acquaintance.

So, I pretended to be sick and did not go to work today so that I could attend this concert (don't ask its complicated). I took the NJ Transit 108 bus since last I checked the PATH train wasn't running. I had to get on a super long line but then they separated us out from most of the people getting on another bus. So my bus left at 5:30pm and hit no traffic so I got to the Prudential Center at 6:30pm. Then I had to go stand in the box office area and hurriedly choke down my dinner since they allowed no food inside at all. So I ate my sushi and cheese cake really quick and gave my Auntie Anne's pretzel to the security guy. I hope he ate it. Those are good and they weren't open when I got back to NYBT.

Then I went upstairs and saw the merchandise. I walked around to locate my section and seat but it was too early so I couldn't go into the theater yet. I saw the photo area where you could take picture with a BB backdrop of them in their capsules. There was an empty one where you could stand too. Also a Samsung Galaxy area where they let you play with the phones, did some prize drawings and gave out blue light up wristbands. Tip for those doing the BLUE thing tomorrow, you can use these if you don't have a blue glow stick. Merchandise was all Tour stuff. The usual t-shirts, hoodies, light stick, towel/scarf (I got one as you can see), posters, stickers, buttons, etc. But like I said, at the time they had not yet received the official BB crown light sticks.

I bought some water and then found an open outlet to charge my phone on since it was about to die. At about 7:30pm I used the facilities and then headed to my seat. Now, the ticket I got was super cheap for the section I was in. I only paid $45 for this ticket at stubhub, this morning mind you, and my seat was in section 4, the back row. So I could see everything clearly and from the almost center without having to stand or be right up under them. These are the kind of seats I prefer.

On to the show. They played their music videos instead of having an opening artist. Then they turned up the volume way high when Fantastic Baby came on. After that the intro. Which was this kind of description of how the earth came into being but also how they (BB) landed there. And when they did they appeared in their capsules. All white outfits this time. I was hoping for the colorful military style jackets they had been wearing but this was okay.

They came out with Tonight, followed by Fantastic Baby and it went on from there. Don't really remember the set list order but I'm sure you;ll find that somewhere else. I legit saw this girl next to me pausing at the start of each song to type down the name in her phone notes, lol. But they performed, Heaven, Stupid Liar, Haru Haru, Bad Boy, Blue, Lies, Number 1, How Gee, Gara Gara Go (an odd choice being the only Japanese song but okay cause I love it), Monster, Feeling, Love Song, Last Farewell, Hands Up, Cafe, and then the solos. GD went first with Crayon with which he had an English freestyle/remix he added on to the end of it. That swung into Knock Out and then High High with TOP (so no TOP solo just the GD & TOP duet stuff for him). The n Seungri did his army version of Strong Baby and then shuffled through What Can I Do. Next solo was Taeyang who did Only Look At Me and Wedding Dress, then ripped his shirt like a good boy and left the stage. Daesung is the only one who sand one whole song, which was of course his most recent song Wings. 

The encore was literally an encore of Bad Boy, Fantastic Baby and Feeling. So I was a bit disappointed by that. Too used to the dvds I guess, where they come out and do other songs in the "encore."

Okay so now the details. Wow it was colorful and loud. A lot of empty seats but I think this is because this was the second show to be added and it was on a Thursday night. I now tomorrow was sold out so it will be rockin'. Because even without a full house it was insane. Plus people moved up as close as they could get once they realized there were so many empty seats up closer. Also, tons of pics and fancams were taken. I even saw what I believe to be "the professionals" as I call them. You know their names because they pop up at every venue with tons of pics and fancams of your favorites; always so well taken and their names are recognizable like they do this for a living. Security did check bags and stuff but they didn't take anything away except food and drinks. And staff inside the theater didn't pay anyone any mind. I told you in the US this is not that big of a deal. Mind you fancams and stuff is not something that's done to the degree that it happens in SK either. It was amazing to be apart of the yellow ocean.

So the guys, they looked amazing. And tired poor babies. They came out with high energy but only Taeyang and Daesung were able to keep it up the whole night. GD basically just sat close to the standing fans for the last two songs and the entire encore. TOP was his usual self so I don't think he ran out of steam but just kept up the slow steady pace throughout the whole program. They all spoke English at least twice, saying hello and goodbye. Well more than that but that's the jist. Except for Tae and Seungri. Tae because he was the designated speaker and Ri  just because he can't help himself. At one point during Haru Haru hey asked the audience to sing so we did, and Ri says you guys sound so good, better then me, lol. He got a laugh and a pat on the ass from GD for that. He also kept telling GD that he loved him and thought he was a genius after GD's solo performance. Then he said he was sad because he really wanted to hear One of A Kind, so GD kindly obliged while TOP beat boxed and Dae sang the long Hello part for him. That was nice so I'm glad that happened.

Taeyang said they had to switch planes 3 times just to get here so he was glad everything turned out okay. Tae also did an amazing amount of flips the whole night. Boy has so much energy. He kept singing Empire State of Mind and another Jay-Z song. Daesung was wild all over the place. Having the time of his life. During the encore he kept flinging water everywhere, on himself and on the fans around the stage. TOP, oh boy, he gave me the best laughs of the night. ChoomTOP in person was excellent. First it started during his duet stage with GD. At one point they had a little eye conversation about who was going to dance during one part of High High. TOP pointed at GD but GD wasn't havin' it so he turned away and said shake that ass, so TOP did. I almost fell out of my chair. Also during another part of High High while the female dancers were walking into place he did the runway walk that they were doing shaking his hair and all.Then later during Fantastic baby he was doing all these weird dances all by himself without anyone noticing. When Tae was introducing Crazy, the female dancers, TOP went behind them and made faces. Seungri was off doing weirdness during the encore too. He seemed tired but wanting to keep going despite that. He just started doing random dances from other peoples songs like Beyonce's Single Ladies dance while they were singing Bad Boy. He was also very flirtatious, with his engrish. At one point he couldn't get the word out so he laughed and we laughed with him. Then he said its okay, that's what I'm here for the be the funny one. And I will never forget "da woof. da woof. da woof is on fire" We were all like what is he saying? HE siad it three times before we got it, lol. At the supposed "end" of the concert as they were walking off stage he sang "Nananana, nananana, hey hey hey goodbye" Taeyang kept asking what was he singing? And he kept saying I Love Jerse. So glad to be in Jerse, lol, and all kinds of old-fashioned slang.  Daesung was just rocking out the whole time. Jumping up and down, swinging his hair around and yelling his head off. He only got subdued when it was his turn to talk. You could tell he wasn't confident in his English so he jsut rushed through it, which actually made him sound better then the rest, in my opinion.

Truth time. They sound exactly the same, exactly like the cds and dvds. Which is awesome, that being said, Tae definitely needs to work on his breathing still. Either that or take out some of the dancing. Its one or the other baby but clearly your body can not get enough breath for both. Also too many times he was not loud enough to be heard over the band. Seungri's dancing has become so sub-par. What happened to the groups best dancer? the kid who asked to be in the group so that he can bring them up with his dancing skills. Tae has overtaken him big time. Even in his solos, Ri's moves are not sharp or clear. It just looks worse when its him and the dancers only. Singing-wise Dae stole the show. No contest. No need to say anymore. Gd was so obviously tired the whole night. He brought his swagger and did very good but the minute the spotlight was not on him you could see him slow down just a bit. Poor guy. TOP..... I don't know but I'm leaning more and more towards laziness due to popularity. When he dances their older songs he's perfectly fine and fluid. The newer ones he gets stiff and moves just barely enough just to say he did something. Its like the more popular BB gets the less dancing he decides he needs to do. He's not the worlds best dancer but he is okay. Look at all his silliness on stage, he moves just fine if ridiculously and older songs show how well he could move when he puts in the effort.

Anyways, one last thing before I pass out. TOP was definitely the crowd favorite. Every time and I mean every single time he was on stage, doing his part or not the screams became deafening. Not that the other didn't get any love but nothing compared to the TOP love tonight. I hope he enjoyed it, shy though he is. I'm going to go out on a limb and say TOP is the most popular member here in the US.

Lastly, the band was a-maz-ing. They killed each and every song. I love live bands they make concerts that much more wonderful. The backup dnacers wee killin' it too. Crazy, Hi-tech and the Bboys were awesome. YG dancers are my favorites in kpop hands down. They always look cool and like they're having fun.

Some little anecdotes from last night. After the concert my phone was running down again so I hid in a corner to charge it until security came around to kick out the stragglers. Then I raced back over the Newark Penn Station to catch my bus, only to have to stand in a long line andmiss it because there were too many people. So we had to wait another hour for the next bus at 12:11am. That was a long time but I got to watch and listen to these fangirls. One girl and her mom were from the midwest somewhere and had went to both LA concerts and were planning on going to the 2nd NJ show. The mom said she probably spent about $5,000.00 on airfare, hotels, tickets, merchandise, food, and rental cars. That is insanity. The others were all local college girls from NYC. All in their upper teens. They talked all about the show and their experiences, kpop in general and other stuff. It was nice listening to them fangirl. Most had come by themselves because they didn't know anybody else into kpop. I felt old and tired listening to them not too mention too introverted to just join in but it was nice hearing them talk. :)

It's odd though... although I find myself disgusted by them, I can't help but be drawn to a few individuals. Perhaps I've learnt how to care. Metal caring. Ha! How preposterous. But if it weren't for them I wouldn't be around anymore.

Maybe this is all just in my head. Perhaps I'm assuming too much just because I've observed them. Some people wear bright smiles on their faces, laughs at the tips of their tongues, and an approachable demeanor... but that's all a facade as I come to realize. In reality, he's more afraid of being alone than anything else, needing to be entertained all the time, looses interest quickly and once that happens some sort of anxiety sets in as he sets off once more to find somewhere he can be at ease once more.

Humans are far too fond of physical contact. Fingers brushing against her arm, a head leaning against a head and shoulders touch. I wonder if those are acts of love and not just friendship. Then again wasn't she the one who laughed at the mere idea of 'dating'? Hypocrites. Reminds me why I dislike this place so much I suppose.