"Alive"

I was at work on Friday and Sarah messaged me out of the blue: "Do you want to go to the Big Bang concert tonight?" I had totally forgotten about the concert after we failed at getting tickets when they first went up for sale (sold out in 5 minutes!). My first thought was: Friday is yoga day and I feel fat. I thought again and decided a Big Bang concert is not something I can go to anytime. So after work, I rushed home, changed, and got on a bus to Seoul.
I don't consider myself a Big Bang fan. I like their music though and feel that they're one of the few musicians in the K pop industry. They're also really good performers, so I was excited to see them perform live! My friend and I got to the stadium and looked out for "the ahjussis." They're at every performance to sell tickets and to buy leftover ones from you. I knew we couldn't talk to them too early because they'll just overcharge us. If timed right, I can usually get tickets for the original price or even less. We got lucky because we ended up by the ticket booth and they had tickets left. We bought standing tickets and were really excited for a full concert experience.
The concert was so much fun! Everyone stood up to dance throughout the whole concert (even people who had seats). Big Bang fans are cool and know how to enjoy music by their favorite singers. I had a good time dancing, jumping, and watching Taeyang take his shirt off- twice. My friend and I are the only ones who didn't have an official yellow Big Bang flash light, but it's cool. I like to think we stood out with our multi-colored glow stars. They performed a lot of their new songs, but also some of their classics. (I wish JYJ could perform some old songs....) During "거짓말" and "하루하루," Big Bang asked the fans to sing with them. They wanted "거짓말" to be the fans' love song to them. And fans sang "하루하루" because at an old concert, the sound wasn't working, but fans improvised and sang along with them. Big Bang wanted to thank them for that; Fan-singer interaction is pretty awesome.
As usual, Seungri had fun hogging the mic and doing most of the talking. Taeyang was the shy one and only talked twice: once when he introduced himself and the second when the members made him. G-Dragon is a funny guy! When he introduced himself, he said that it was just in case some people didn't know who he was (like anyone who was there wouldn't know). Everyone giggled. TOP apologized because his condition wasn't good. Daesung flew through the stadium with angel wings during his solo. That was pretty awesome. I bet he got cool photos.
Overall, I had a good time. I like JYJ, but I'd like more Big Bang-type fans to go to JYJ concerts. Our favorite singers are on stage! Let's party with them, ya know?

"Tears of Heaven" Musical

I spent the Lunar New Year's holiday with my grandmother in Geochang. As expected, I ate lots of good homecooked food, but was fed too much food, gained weight, didn't go outside much, bonded with my grandmother, and...watched a lot of TV. But Lunar New Year holiday isn't what inspired me to blog. On Saturday, I hurried up back home so I could unpack, get ready, and head into Seoul to watch the musical "Tears of Heaven!" To be honest, after attending the "Tears of Heaven" preview concert, I was not impressed with the acting nor the singing. I had my doubts about the quality of the musical, but I watched it anyways because as a fan, I still wanted to see Kim Junsu perform and to support him. But, on Saturday, I was thoroughly impressed. I fell in love with the musical and became a Kim Junsu fan all over again. The thrilling reviews this musical is receiving are deserved.
The musical told the story of a love triangle between a Korean soldier, a U.S. Colonel, and a Vietnamese show girl. The setting was Saigon during the Vietnam War. The events seemed almost predictable, but they' weren't! There was a continual unexpected turn of events throughout the entire story. I enjoyed it because it included a little bit of everything: family love, betrayal, true love, convenient love, deceit, action, and an epilogue (I always love it when theres an epilogue, and we get to find out what happens to the characteres). There was also a little comedy in the musical: I may have been laughing because it was Junsu saying those lines, but nonetheless, it had the whole audience laughing!
The choreography and the lights were impressively artistic. There was one dance which depicted the death that haunted anyone, anytime, anywhere so well. It's not a history to get excited about, but the choreography with the actors falling slowly one by one, in tempo with the music was genius. The lights were colorfully, well-synced with the tempo and mood of the music, so the musical was a delight to my eyes too!
Brad Little is a world-renown musical actor who plays the part of the U.S. Colonel, and his voice gave me the chills. He has a deep, resounding voice and charismatic acting that adds to the seriousness of the musical.
The music was wonderful. The songs were all newly composed (by the Frank Wildhorn). The musical pieces and lyrics help to tell this beautiful love story. My favorite song is "Can You Hear Me?" It was sung a few times throughout the musical, but I didn't tire of hearing it. Another one of my favorites is "The Tiger and the Dove." Remember to listen carefully to this one because it's an important, concluding puzzle piece to this musical.
One added bonus of this musical is that all of the dialogue and the lyrics were translated: Korean dialogue was translated to English and English dialogue was translated to Korean. It was very foreigner friendly!
I wish everybody could watch this musical. I wish everybody could watch Kim Junsu perform. His acting was remarkable. This was a very emotional drama, and he personified his character so well. The performance I watched had him acting with Yoong Gong Ju: I give her high praise as a musical actress. She and Junsu had a believable romantic chemistry, and it takes two superb actors to achieve that. I definitely don't mind watching this again...