11.26am
if you are fans of big bang, which is one of the hottest kpop groups in korea (and probably around the world too), you would know that one of their band members, taeyang (that's his stage name by the way and his real name is dong young-bae or youngbae. taeyang means sun in korean), came to singapore recently (just over the weekend which was on the 8th of february) for his solo concert called RISE. and from what i have been reading online, twitter and from other social media outlets, his concerts in malaysia and in singapore were sold out. he performed to almost 10,000 fans from both countries.
now i know what you must be thinking. since im such a huge fan of big bang's, the million dollar question is, did i go for the concert or not. well my answer is no i didnt go for it. coz not all the songs of his i liked and plus the tickets were a tad bit expensive. hey, im on an austerity drive here ok. housewife remember. im not just going to put my hand out and ask the hubby for money to watch a concert. well not unless its bigbang themselves (all 5 of them or just TOP or GD, then i will definately give it a serious thought).
just like the YG family concert, not all 5 of them came although TOP and GD did come (but you know its just not the same). on hindsight i wish i'd gone for it. ooh hey remember, i did go to the airport to see them (which technically, i did!) but oh well..no use crying over spilt milk. right, moving along with my story.
this photo that i took was for taeyang's fan gathering at bugis junction here in singapore. as i recall it was a saturday evening when my husband and i were there for dinner and i happen to chance upon this gathering at the courtyard. unfortunately though, taeyang wasnt there coz this was his fans gathering and the organizers for the event i think was doing this to create the hype and get the fans fired up before his concert. oh all this happened like a couple of weeks before concert day. kinda like a prelude, if you know what i mean, a teaser (as we like to call it in the advertising industry hahaha) and fans can win gifts during Q&A...stuff like that.
now 8 february was a sunday, so the night before i told my husband to follow me to changi city point mall (expo was just next door, where the concert was being held) so that he can hang out there for a bit whilst i go and snoop around at expo and check out what's going on there. plus i wanted to check out the merchandise booth too. oh prior to that, i'd already checked with the organizers what time they would be setting up the merchandise stall and they told me it was around 1pm. anyways, thankfully, my husband was a sport and agreed to go with me. off we went on sunday as planned.
we had lunch at changi point and then i left him at starbucks while i walked over to expo. found the hall (hall 3) where the merchandise tables were being set up as well as the concert hall.
see they were just setting up their stuff and that was probably around 12.45pm. they werent ready yet so i had to wait outside the hall. lucky it was indoor and air conditioned.
there were some fans/vips (as we bigbang followers are called) that were already waiting patiently. im telling you, some of these fans really are die hard followers. i dont know if they normally dress up that way or just for the concert day. i dont know man. you will soon see what i mean.
standee and signages set up just outside of the hall so that people will know where to go. pretty clear directions and organized i think. then, i decided to take a walk outside of the hall to see what was going on there. (coz i could see yellow iron barriers set up outside and i know definately that that was for the concert).
fans sitting and waiting for the soundcheck party. im not quite sure how the organizers are doing it, first come first served basis (meaning those who are first in line will get to stand closer to the stage or whatever, i have no clue as i've never been to a soundcheck party (which i would love to go if it was for big bang) and i think those ticket holders were VVIPs (which cost damn alot!). but hey, dont quote me on all this ok. im just speculating. but those people sitting in line are there for the soundcheck party and later on, watching the concert as well. i wish there was tickets sold just for the soundcheck party only, then at least if dont attend the concert it will be ok, you know what i mean?
this is what i mean when i say die hard fan. i've seen kpop idols dressing like that when they are performing or doing some kind of promotion etc. but this guy, wow..i give him 2 thumbs up. very bold of him. bravo! kudos to him, coz he stood out.
soon it was time to get in line coz suddenly a line started to form in front of the entrance to the hall and everybody got up and started queing ( but not those who were sitting outside). thankfully line wasnt long at all. they finally let us in around 1.35pm.
pretty organized as i said and not that many people yet coz we were all early and being "kiasu" ( its a hokkien and singlish word used to describe people who are anxious, selfish behaviour characterised by a fear of missing out) hahahahaha. the organizers set up a few tables and arranged the merchandise nicely so that everyone can see all the stuff and some fans i noticed had pre ordered their merchandise. wow.
there was a standee with images of all merchandise that was being sold and also each of us were given a piece of paper with the price list too so that we can tick/check what we wanted to buy and then pass this paper to the organizers mending the merchandise. easy process and fast too.
the merchandise table up close.
finally this was a huge hall. black huge curtains surrounded the hall area. i thought it was because there were not many fans attending this concert but i read that at least 4,000 came! wow. again, there were lots of barriers to guide fans where to go ie soundcheck party or standing queue (which if im not mistaken was for the mosh pit area).
so that was that. my sunday afternoon. i didnt spend alot of time there like i did at the yg family concert. took me about an hour in total. didnt buy any merchandise either. not worth it. actually there were only 2 reasons why i went there -
1) for my blog so that i can share with you guys the prelude to the concert and
2) to have a look see and maybe try and score some freebies (like how i did at the ygfamily concert here last year hahahahaha )
right, i've come to the end of my blog and hope you've enjoyed my storytelling. until next time, stay safe and be kind to one another! (even to animals!)
ttfn
1.02pm
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