It’s been 4 years since JYJ’s Thanksgiving Live in Tokyo Dome last June 2010. The thought of meeting their fans after a long time is really exciting for them. For the fans who have waited for four years, JYJ is going to show them the best stage.
Kim Jaejoong started his Asia Tour in Bitec Hall, Bangkok, Thailand last February 17 and will continue to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Nanjing, etc. Through Naver star column, let’s reveal Kim Jaejoong’s many thoughts.
- Editor
Date: 17th February, 2013
Venue: BITEC Event Hall
Here comes a review that I originally didn’t intend to write. I have to admit that I assumed I wouldn’t be writing this when I found out that I got a ticket. I usually prefer to write review on concerts, but this time it seems to lean heavily toward fan meeting-themed activities. Fan Meeting just isn’t my thing.
This is how the story went. My sisters were asking me if I would go to the event or not when the tickets were opened for sale. I replied off the top of my head that I probably won’t be going. I didn’t attending Joongie’s fan meeting last October, so I easily made my decision this time that I won’t be going either. The two main reasons are, first, I’m not too familiar with this type of event and second, I’m broke. The latter was a bigger deal.
Finally, one day before the event will be held, I was chatting with my friend on Facebook. She happens to be an Asian entertainment journalist (Korean, to be more specific). When she found out that I (who have been a fan of Jaejoong for a long time) is not going, she asked why. I explained the reason mentioned above and she offered me one of her press passes. I was reluctant at first, asking her whether it’ll be a bother or not. She insisted that I take it and I did. Thank you to my friend, Golf, who’s always thinking about me. We’ve been friends for over a decade. Even though we lead a different career path, we’re still kind of the same when it comes to how rough our paths had been.
I arrived at the BITEC event hall pretty early because a sister who was going with me had some sort of gift trading to attend to. We got there around 2.30 pm. I waited in front of the event hall where it was air-conditioned – just nice and chilly. While I was waiting, a familiar voice and music came from inside the hall, loud enough to penetrate through the doors. We understood that the artist was probably having a sound-check. Many were wondering… was it live singing or pre-recorded sound being played to tease us? From my experience, it seemed to be the actual artist having a sound-check.
During that time, many close friends and sisters were begging and pressuring me to write review (please, please, PLEASE). Umm, writing review is tiring, you know? Plus, this is a fan meeting. There will probably be an hour of singing with 9 to 10 songs at the most. However, they wouldn’t back down. I was too lazy to remember every detail… but, as you can see, here it is. Hence, I want to state right here that I might not remember every single detail. This is a review based solely on my memory and a little more scribbling that I wrote down during the live concert. Don’t scold me if I accidentally forgot something…
This is one of those times when I feel like I attend an event full of kids. Felt a bit old, but I didn’t care. Another thing I noticed was a lot of fans came from abroad. There were definitely Japanese fans, including Chinese and Korean. Some came from neighboring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. Even European fans were seen. Quite an international fan meeting we have here.
My sisters and I slowly made our way inside the hall around 4.30 pm. because the actual event was going to start at 5. Fans were pretty orderly. The facial expression of staff was bright and smiley, showing that not much was to be concerned even though there were like gazillions of fans who attended. At first, I heard that the tickets weren’t sold out, but I noticed that a lot of people were buying their tickets in front of the venue. I’m pleased for Jaejoong because I’ve been told of how demanding he was. He wanted this to be the next event after the Korean fan meeting. He didn’t care that it had been on such a short notice. He wanted it to be as close to Valentine’s Day as possible, too. I guess the artist got his wish.
My seat was in B2 zone, way back on the right side of the stage. I think it was good. I got to see a lot of things and clearly saw everything on screen because no one was blocking my view. The royal anthem was played at 5 pm. on the dot. There was a brief quiet moment after the song ended, but it wasn’t too long.
Although struggling from a cold, JYJ’s Kim Jae Joong successfully started off his Asia tour.
On February 17, Kim Jae Joong met with 5,000 fans at Bangkok’s Bitect Hall for his Your, My, and Mine in Thailand concert.
The special mini-concert and fanmeeting in one had fans excited to experience both performances as well as fan interaction, which included a quiz show, a variety of games, and a cooking show. A lucky fan was even given the chance to personally feed Kim Jae Joong some tteokboki (spicy rice cakes).
Kim Jae Joong later went into singer mode to deliver the songs from his first solo album, I. Singing several of his songs, including One Kiss, Although I Loved You, I Will Always, and Mine, Kim Jae Joong rocked on the stage with fans singing and cheering loudly.
