8 replies to this topic

[CityRabbit]

Warning.. long ranting and probably boring..

This 2 concerts were actually my 6th and 7th of 1st Tour concerts I've seen. After seeing it for the 7th time, it was still as awesome as the 1st. Sones were very kind, I was always feel welcomed and enjoyed experience going to concerts and performances oversea.
I'd made friends with several Taiwanese sones; some during the concerts and other performances in Seoul, one in Shanghai concert and many more during Japanese showcases, so when the news about Taiwanese concert were out, I know I'll have a great time there.

Before the concert my best sone pals in Seoul invited me to go see the kids perform at Yoido event before heading off to Taipei together on Friday, so I took a detour to Korea. Tiffany's cute mistake and the girls' performance were worth it. It's a nice warn up since it's been a long time since I was last seen the girls in Japan.

The Taipei concert wan't happened without problem; but in the end, everything work out just fine. From the start, before the 1st show tickets went on sell the venue tested run the system twice, both had failed. However, they decided to put the show on sell without another test run and their servers were crashed in matter of minutes. In the end, they have to open the sell at counter services. It's quite a chaos. A lot of fans complained and it created quite an issue. I must say Superdome dealed with it quite well. Few days later, it announced that it has successfully added another show on Sunday. Superdome also let the people who couldn't get tickets on the first show and complained to the website, get priority on the 2nd show selling.

The 2nd show selling happened few days later, this time they prepared a bit more. The selling divided into 3 rounds, first was for only for those who couldn't get tickets to the first show. The 2nd was internet selling and what were left went to the 3 rd round selling at Superdome head office.

With all the news and complication, I was worried about the tickets. It's quite frustrated that I couldn't do anything to help. But my friends in PTT were able to get tickets for me and my friends, good ones also. Taiwanese sones were so generous. I'm glad I am a Sone and friends with them. It's such a great communities filled with great people.

On Friday, me and two other Thai friends flew off to Taipei arrived Taipei around the same time as the girls. The arrival at Taipei airport was pretty interesting. There're a lot of fans waiting to welcome the girls, pretty much like in Shanghai. However, the interesting things were that some fans actually waited at the airport a night before the girls arrived; eventhough the organizer released the exact flight and time of the girls arrival few days ahead. It show how excited Taiwanese fans were since it was the 1st time the girls went to Taiwan. Couple of my friends slept at the airport just so they can get a good spot when the girls arrive. I learned later that it's quite usual in Taiwan for people to camped in the airport waiting for their idol. I've never seen it happened anywhere else. There're a lot of reporter covered the girls stories. It's one of the top news in Taiwan during our stay.

On the first days the girls went to practice at superdome at night while my Taiwanese friends took me out and about Taipei. Food was great and night market was very interesting.
Superdome has announced the detail of official goods will be selling at the concert, some goods were really limited. Once again some of my friends lined up overnight outside superdome to get the goods. Taiwanese fans seem to have incredible patience. I visited them at night bringing food and drink for people on the line; there seem to be over 100 people before midnight. My friends offered to buy me the good so that I wouldn't have to line up as I was not feeling well from all the traveling and the change of weather in the past week. The 1st queuing number was given at 7 a.m. and the limited goods were sold out very fast.

On the concert day, it's quite an experience. Unlike in Seoul where you line up in range of number, 1-200, 201-400 and so on for the standing section, each standing tickets in Taipei were numbered. People queued up by their tickets' numbers and enter in that order. Everything was organized, so we don't have to go queue up before the concert for too long. The atmosphere outside the concert were somewhere between Seoul and Shanghai. While it's a bit more lively than Seoul with sellers and fanclubs were out to sell fans goods and meet and also having some cover dances It wasn't as lively as Shanghai where so many websites and fanclubs were out selling goods, putting out banners and gather before concert.

With courteously of my lovely friends at PTT who gave me one of the best tickets of their group, I was able to get good spots in both shows. I was actually the first one in the section during the the2 nd show as my friends gave me the ticket number '009'. I was surrounded with friends from PTT. There wasn't much pushing around me on both days. I think it's the most comfortable standing concerts I've ever been to.

There're only few different between Taipei concerts and others. Also there're few interesting moments in the concerts. I'll try to talk about all that I remembered together without bored you guys too much with the detail of the whole concerts. At first I was worried a bit when I heard that both Jessica and Taeyeon were not well before the concert and also a rumor that Hyoyeon didn't seem to be in her normal cheerful self the day before; however, once the concert start; bit by bit, the worry disappeared. The girls were in their lively self. The concert started out strong and continued that way. We're first worried that Taeyeon maynot be able to sing as great but it turned out just fine though she seemed to struggle a bit in some part of the songs that required a lot of vocal strength, during few high note but overall her performance has still good and the concert was just excellent. There're few mistakes in the concert. Of course there will be some dance or singing mistakes when you perform a concert this long, but I think fans found it's cute. I heard Taiwanese media made an issue out of it. But I've been in several concerts when I was back in the US and even an artist with years of experince like Cheer still made mistake. Everyone did, so I'm not sure why they made an issue out of it. There's also a technical mistake. During Tiffany's solo on the 1st show, the music just stopped for a bit, but she handled it well continuing with performance so it flew nicely. Maknae almost dropped her umbrella during the umbrella trick in 'Singing in the rain', but she caught it just in time. On the same song next day, Jessica's umbrella didn't open once she pulled it off. However, Jessica dealed with it well by looking at her umbrella confusingly with her cute expression until it open. I think little mistakes like these just make each concert unique and interesting.
Here are some difference;
For both days, One year later was replaced by Coffee caramel like one of the encore concert since Onew wasn’t there. I love the song. I think their voice really compliment each other. Still I think Tiffany should sing this song a bit more often. : p
Tiffany changed her outfit in her solo. Also she the umbrella was handed to her instead of thrown to her like previous concerts, probably because she dropped on the last show. Other than that and music problem I mentioned before it’s pretty much the same.
Taeyeon was still as sexy in Hush Hush. Despite the rumor that wasn’t well, I believe she sing it live in the concert and it was good performance.
Yoona did her song with Donhae and Leetuk this time. She’s still cute as ever. Every fan was envy of the boy she took the picture with at the end of the song.
Jessica performed Barbie Girl with Donghae. I loved the performance. Althought Donghae was not as entertaining as Heechul in the encore concert (I think it’s kinda hard to be more entertaining than him. Hehehe), they both were really cute in this performance.
Maknae still performed Sixteen going on Seventeen. Everything was the same but somehow it seemed to me like Seohyun got more and more beautiful everytime I saw her.
Sunny still did Boney M’s (Original Bobby Hebb’s) Sunny but in both shows she did not do the flip, instead she was twirled around by one of the dancer. It’s probably for her safety since she lost her balance last time. I was glad she wasn’t hurt then. It’s amazed me that a 21 year-old Asian girl can performed an 80’s disco song so great. I think the song suit her. When she threw the towel on the 2nd day, it was actually landed in my hands but since there’re so many tall guys behind me pulling on it, I wasn’t able to hold it. It’s still great.
Sooyoung did “If you seek Amy.” like in Shanghai concert. I was glad as I like it a bit more than Santa baby. She was so amazing. She got to show off her gorgeous body, great balance and beautiful dance line.
Yuri still did 1-2 step but with Tiffany rapping with her in stead of Amber. They both were great. Yuri show us her flexibility and dance skill again while Tiffany was on fired with her English rap. It’s awesome to see Tiffany in it with Yuri and her outfit was really cool.
Hyoyeon solo thought disappointingly cut. All the fans especially Hyoyeon fans were really disappointed with the change and more than that we’re all worried that Hyoyeon maynot feel well or injured. However, she seemed to be full of energy during both concerts and seem really happy at the airport. I hope it won’t happen again.
Couple members was in tears during Dear Mom. If I remembered correctly it was Seohyun and Jessica, while Tiffany seemed to be on verse of crying also.

The girls seemed to have some funs at the concert, a lot of teasing; especially during encore. Here are some cute moments I remembered;
When Tiffany got a Tororo from a fan and some members were chasing her around trying to steal it.
A fan throw a towel and it landed right in Jessica's hand and she just throw it right back to fans.
When Jessica received a artificial flower from a fans, she kissed it then threw it back to the fans. Whoever got it must went crazy~
Another cute moment was when Taeyeon stand in the middle of the stage and Yoona and maknae put their arms out and running toward her from each side like they're going to her, but then they both raised their arms over Taeyeon's head and hugged each other instead before walked away together. Taeyeon was cutely pout to the maknaes. Poor Taeyeon, maybe if she's a little talker the maknaes won't be able to tease her this way. Hehehe..
Sunny played with fans a lot and when she did that she stood so close to the edge that I was afraid she’s gonna fall off the stage.
The cutest moment in the first day; in my opinion, happened after 'Complete'. Yuri picked up lots of little pieces of papers that was let down during complete and dropped them over Jessica's head while Jessica twirled herself round 'n' round. It's sooo cute.
Hyoyeon was really nice, she picked up about 3 towels from fans even before NaengMyung ended. And by the time the concert finished, she has 3 different towels, a hat on her belt, a hair band and also a little pink thing that curl around you waist once you hit it. (I really don't know what it's called.)
Jessica also picked up 3 towels but only choose one to wear around her neck. Yuri was running around towels hanging off her jeans.
During encore Jessica made a heart shape sign with her hand while mounting 'Woah Ai nii', then asked fans if she did ok?
Sooyoung also did the same thing saying 'Woah-ai-nii' while the fans around cheered like crazy.

On the 2nd days, a friend of mind made a sign in Korean that said ‘Please give me a Wink’. Yuri and Sunny saw it, pointed at the sign then her eye and winked for her. Taeyeon also winked for her and startled a bit with the fans' response.
Hyoyeon also play a lot with fans from the start of the concert. Her green towels were really stood out in the cons and it seemed like she tried to stop and acknowledge all of them.


As you guys may already seen, Taiwanese sones came up with couple projects. One was a message for the girls created from white penlights saying 소시 (heart) 대박 on the first day and 대만 (heart)소시 on the second. The first day project was a bit off, instead of starting from Girl’s Diary VTR like planned fans got confused and started it from the 1st VTR (I think it called ‘Success of Efforts’). So instead of holding it up for 10+ songs, I think they ended up holding it for like 20 songs. It went as planned on the next day.

On the 2nd day another project was added. Pink ribbons were left at the seats and also some in standing section. It was thrown up after the last ‘Oh!’ at the end of the Oh!’s code. It was really beautiful; however, not all unrole neatly and one hit me right on my head. LOL.. some of my friends got hit too, but it's totally worth it. The girls seemed to be surprised by it, especially Sunny who just stood there in awe covered her mount crying with joy. Most of the girls were in tears after that. It was really beautiful. Many Taiwanese fanclubs had worked together to achieve this and it turned out to be one of many memorable moments of the 1st tour.

In my personal experience, I enjoyed Taipei concert the most. It wasn't that Taipei's were the best concerts, each concert was different and they're all great. But this was actually the 1st time I was in the concert surrounded with friends, many Taiwanese and few Thai. At the 1st concerts there weren't many Thai sones participated, so I was pretty much alone on those 2 concerts. By the time encore concerts was held, I already know many more international sones, but since we bought our tickets separately, I only together with few of them. The Shanghai concert didn't have many foreigners coming, especially non-Chinese speakers (I actually met none non-Chinese speaking fan like me, but everyone was so nice to me there.), so even I met many fans, I was only able talked to few of them. And most of all, it's the 1st time I was in the concert with my 2 best pals as these were the 1st time they've been in the 1st tour concert. Having your pals around made the concert much more enjoyable. We'll sure be in the next ones together.

In the end, I owed my friends so much for the great trip. I was lucky to meet so many kind sones all over the world. Taiwanese fans helped us a lot. They took care of the hotel and transportation. When they went following the girls out to practice or celebrate, me and my friends decided not to follow. My Taiwanese friends sent her non-sone friend to show us around and took us to great restaurants. I was sad that the Bangkok concert doesn't seem to work out, so I won't have opportunity to return their favor soon. The only thing I could do was to help spread the words about the project and asked Thai and other international fans I'd known to participate before the concert. I hope the girls will stop at Bangkok for the second tour, so I can be as great host as my Taiwanese friends. To sones all over the world, thanks for creating such a great community~

This trip actually concluded the 10 trips in 10 months I flew to see the kids. At first I thought this would be the last fan account for this year, but the girls surprised us with their comeback. So I guess there will be the 11th and maybe even 12th later, so until then... Thanks for reading and please take care.

Another non-related story; I was back in Seoul for a night before flying back to Bangkok. That night I went out with some friends having BBQ in.. Chongdam??. An old lazy at the restaurant asked me whether I was Beast or 4 Minute fans (as I hanged with Beast fans at their usual restaurant.). I told her no, I was SNSD fans. She was really interested and asked me who do I like. When I told her I love them all but Jessica and Hyoyeon were my favorite. She told me she like Jessica and Hyoyeon too, then she went in the back. The old lady came back with a set of Goobne posters and she show me Hyoyeon poster telling how pretty she was then she gave me the whole set of posters. It's nice to meet another female older than me once in awhile.. LOL.. I guess you can really find an SNSD fans everywhere you go.

Taiwanese fans seemed to be good at designing. I got several fan towels from my friends. I’ll show them off sometime as I was busy with work and haven’t had time to take the pictures yet.
Also, my Taiwanese friends made a set of towels one for each girl. Only one of each was made for the girl, and they're so cute. Jessica’s towel has a cucumber on it saying ‘You don’t like me.’. Tiffany’s has a fish saying ‘Why are you afraid of me?’, Seohyun’s has sweet potato on while Yoona's has alligator. I'm sorry I didn't remember what all of them say, but each member has cute towel. I’ll post its pic sometime. Two of these two were given to its owner at the concert, while I delivered the rest later at the airport. I hope the girls like them.

Tang – a Thai Sone

P.S. There seemed to be some argument regarding Hyoyeon solo. I had a chance to speak few words with her at the airport. When I told Hyoyeon the concerts were really awesome, but we're all waiting to her solo. Hyoyeon told me to see it 'next time'. And when I told her how much I love her solo in Shanghai concert, she again told me to wait for next time. Therefore, I stopped being disappointed and just wait to cheer her when 'Next time' come as promised. I hope it'll be soon.

[wooritaetae]

thank you so much for sharing your experience!
it is one hell long of fan account! haha
thank you for spending such a long time to write all of them down.
really happy to know what is going on during the concert as i couldn't attend it. sigh
love how the girls playing and teasing each other <3

THANKS again

Edited by pandaEC, 22 October 2010 - 04:20 PM.

[syahirvs]

You sure have alot to say about them haha. Really glad that you had a great ttime. I myself did too watching them. But I really hope the taiwan media will show them some mercy during interviews, they are way too mean...

[CityRabbit]

Hello, syahirvs.
Yeah. It seemed to me Taiwanese press a bit vicious, yet they did cover lots about the girls during my stay. I heard that the media tried to blame sones for the chaos at the airport while it's the press who fight each other to get the footage. - -"

[yicing]

I hope that I could make it to the concert . But I had examination at school . Haiz . Hope that next time Girls 's Generation could come and having a concert again lo . Really hope~

[KevinFany]

thanks for sharing your fan account
wow! so basically you have been to all of SNSD's Asia Tour Concert already! *oh my god, so envious* =X
poor Hyoyeon, she must have been waiting for her solo but she can't perform. i think she must be really sad.
love SNSD <3
SNSD hwaiting!

[Vanessica]

That was quite descriptive. I could almost picture it. I WISH I was that fan who got the flower. xD Unfortunately, I could not attend it. But one day, maybe I will.
By the way, that thing that curls when you slap it on your wrist is called a "slap band".

[jasonrocky88]

The concert look so good..Wish i was there..

I hope they also would hold a concert in Singapore or nearby countries..i dun mind flying just to meet snsd!

[residentbenchwarmer]

Wow, ten trips in ten months. That's amazing. How were you able to do that?

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the Taipei concert the most, especially since my family's from Taiwan (so I'm biased)