I was catching up with all my ‘to watch’ queue on YouTube which at some point had been inundated with Shiina Ringo thumbnails. After her split from Tokyo Jihen and the celebration of her debut 15 years ago, she’s releasing this gorgeous (and pricey) concert.
I was just marveling myself with the palest of pale queens and thought to myself that if I ever get to see her show live, I would probably cry. When Bjork was here for the first and only time, I remember tearing up a bit- the others I would tear up/cry for would be Shiina Ringo, Faye Wong… and BiBi, for sure.
It’s been ages since I last bought anything on HMV Japan.
A little bit more than ten years ago, Anita Mui passed away leaving a legacy of music and movies that will be remembered. Even my dad knew Anita Mui (besides from Jackie Chan movies), he told me he knew her from her singing the Song of Sunset (夕陽之歌) [1][2], which he loved both in this version and its Japanese original.
Ten years after her passing, her (very famous) friends got together to put something really special… a super performance to remember her by. Titled Anita Mui. 10. Longing. Music. Concert (梅艷芳。10。思念。音樂。會), the event garnered an array of Hong Kong (and overall Chinese) best — of the best for a night of music and memories.
Jacky Cheng, A-Mei, HOCC was there, Miriam Yeung, Sammi Cheng. Eric Tsang being melancholic, Jackie Chan throwing a joke… Eason Chan with his hair~ Maggie Cheung was freaking there, Aaron Kwok swung his hips, and Carina Lau introduced her hubby Tony Leung, and Tony SANG! People cheered. At a point in the concert, I told my mom “the only one missing here is Andy Lau.” Lo and behold, who turns up for one of the last numbers~
The only one I missed was Faye Wong. Just coz.
Anyway, my dad would’ve been happy with this show. I hope he and Anita are sharing a drink together up above.
Well, Hyori has earned her “Comeback” title alright- she’s been absent for… like, what? Four or three years maybe? Since her 4th bad luck album was such a bust, she’s been sort of hovering on our lives as Kpop seemed to rise and leak into the worldwide pop culture subconscious.
Since those days, LOADS of rookie groups have debuted — all trained vocally and in dance ability, which puts them ahead of Hyori. But you know what? Who cares. Hyori is what I wanted Britney to be at some point. I wanted Brit to be well adjusted and charismatic, even if she had gradually lost her voice and, ultimately, her dance ability. One thing I never wanted her to lose was her ability to engage.
Hyori engages with her audience. At the end of her celebratory comeback presentation, she brings back 10 Minutes, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and then she performs U-Go-Girl, with no post at ALL O_O You can hear her laugh while singing through the almost-bare and casual arrangements of the song, while she’s been squirted with water guns. And she tells them (and us) that she’s missed us. Or that’s how I’ve interpreted her bogoshippoyo.
The water gun squirts borders on a wet t-shirt contest, but Hyori is wearing silver leggins throughout the whole show, which really surprises me — I mean, she could’ve been wearing black hot pants like her over-exposed back-up dancers, but she isn’t. She’s actually quite casual through the whole segment until the water squirting gets ridiculous and she laughs. I love that.
BiBi’s doing a concert in Beijing (if she hasn’t done it by now, it’s one of these days), and my pal is attending. And even though I doesn’t feel like I’ve been an ardent BiBi fan for a bit, this rehearsal has made me giddy (and slightly jealous) to be there.
I would never… in a million years — or five years, give or take — would have ever imagined that I would see the day of Kpop groups performing specifically for a Latin American audience. So the musical event known as Music Bank was held in Chile last month [1], featuring Super Junior, Afterschool, MBLAQ, Davichi, CNBLUE, and Rani and…
Sure, they did the mandatory Livin’ La Vida Loca performance and the mandatory Kpop Gangnam Style, but they also did Lambada — which is in itself quite impressive, even if~~~ a little clumsy with that stage — and then they went on singing El Hombre Que Yo Amo, and Gracias a la Vida, at which point they had already delivered. I mean, they didn’t need to, but they did.
Music acts in other places, other than Japan (and maybe China), are not required to perform in other languages. We’re all accustomed to sing in English when Aerosmith comes over, and we sure as hell don’t expect Justin Bieber to sing in Spanish, even if pop groups in America used to have one or two tracks in Spanish (or other languages). No, it seems now other language versions are left to the fans and their covers, which aren’t half bad – just check out the Spanish version of Call Me Maybe [YouTube] or G-Dragon’s Spanish version of Heartbreaker [YouTube] or Big Bang’s Love Song [YouTube] or GD&TOP’s Knock Out [YouTube] — or just check out Seba Dupont’s YouTube channel, they have LOADS of covers.
So for the groups to have learned these Spanish songs to perform for this show in specific, it takes dedication and a respect.
It feels good to dish your money when that happens.
Title: 2012 Brown Eyed Girls Tonight 37.2°C Concert – in Seoul Date: 9PM, December 24th & 25th, 2012 Venue: Millennium Hall, Central City Ticket Price: \110,000 (VAT included) / All standing Age rate: 19 and older Ticket Open: 6th November, 2012
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I am mad excited about this concert, and mad jealous about it, because 1. Dude, it’s in Korea. I don’t do that type of tourism. xD 2. Chances of BEG actually stopping by Peru are close to null.
There are a number of reasons I’m excited for this… the main one being: it’s Brown Eyed Girls. Now, they’re all grown up and comfortable with themselves and this whole concert concept centers on the temperature of 37.2C which is the temperature the body reaches during the loveeeeee motion. I’m glad for them, that they get to play around with that.
The next best thing to actually being there for the Seoul concert, other than a concert in Lima of course ;P, would be a Blu-ray release (preferably) but I would settle for a DVD if they must.
Yes, please. Someone should make this happen in Peru~~~ like, cough~ Noizu Producciones. Cough. I would pay $300 bucks to watch an intimate unplugged with Brown Eyed Girls and to be up close. LOL And you know I’m cheap ass for concerts, but I’ll do it for BEG.
Li Yuchun, you’re doing a world tour? I suspect you’re not including me… but, oh well. Your promo poster is flawless. I mean, nothing out of the design-ordinary, but you look like pure gloss.
You know when BiBi had her make-over [1], I was flabbergasted? I don’t think it ever happened between you and me. I’ve been more interested in your film career than music, to be honest. You weren’t bad in Bodyguards and Assassins, and you definitely had your scenes in The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. xD
I’m just guessing this is Sony’s fault because Dixie Chicks are signed under Columbia which is part of Sony, which makes it part of this whole SME Content region restriction issue. The Dixie Chicks Vevo channel is half locked for me, and I hate it. I’m sorry for the Dixie Chicks, but I fucking hate their channel.
Unlike Bjork’s concert [1], which I couldn’t photograph… to even have a faint memory of it. I did get the chance to shoot Miyavi with my good gear, without having to sneak it in… which is good, because this new lens is super huge.
