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[tgd]

Hmm. Sooo I don't know if this actually goes in here, but I was bored on the way back and when I'm bored I write. Since it's mildly related to Soshified I then post it here and in the morning I'll be back to look over all the typos I missed with a horrified look on my face. I didn't personally meet any of the girls, but that's probably for the best as I did make eye contact with Sunny, Sooyoung and Jessica a few times and my heart just stopped, had noooo idea what to do then >< Previously my next goal was attending a signing event or the likes, but perhaps I should go for a full concert (from a safe distance) first, for my health's sake. I definitely do want that though, because SM Town was pretty great, as I hope below will convey.

..

My room smells. And don't get me started about the sanitary arrangements, seriously, I'm paying this much for this? Oh right, I'm not, in fact this hotel was distinctly in the not-much-a-night-at-all category. Note to self: the a-little-more-a-night category may be worth checking out next time. Well, at least the walls are pink, that's a good start!

Thus muttering to myself I wrestle out of the very crowded metro car at Porte de Pantin station (the VERY crowded metro car, Amsterdam all is forgiven for at least a week). Up the stairs and out of the station it's not quite a sea of pink that greets me, but splashes of it can be seen everywhere and it's clear something's going on here. That something is of course the SM Town concerts, finally brought to the European shores this year and not a moment too soon by the looks of it. I look around for the Soshified banner but can't find it (I learn later that they'd relocated but I wasn't quite hooked into the Twitters right then), so I just wander around for a bit. The fans for all groups performing tonight are out in force, so I meet a lot of nice people. Also a lot of (we shall presume nice) ticket scalpers, but I already own a precious ticket with which I eventually join The Line.

And trust me on this, the caps are warranted, oh boy, what a line it was. The venue staff used a system where groups of people were led up the cordonned off path leading towards the venue in phases, leaving spaces in between the groups. To allow for this the line in turn was covering an impressive amount of ground. So much so in fact that the guys doing security couldn't help themselves but occassionally look out over it and grin and when someone asked me who I'd come to see I couldn't help but jokingly reply "The line. Ýeah I heard they had the longest in the world and I just had to see" before professing my love for our Nine Angels from the East.

However, line or no, the atmosphere was great and kept getting better the closer we got to the gates, especially when people noticed the occassional camera. I do hope those poor camera chaps were wearing ear plugs or the screams with which they were met will still be ring a ding donging in their ears. And then we were there, inside Le Zenith and ready for the concert of the year.

The first thing I noticed was the stage, which wasn't just a rectangle against the back wall but extended out into a smaller stage in the middle of the crowd. Now, having watched plenty of YouTube, I knew this was par for the course for SM, but it still was a pleasant discovery as it adds so much in terms of interaction with the performers. The second thing I noticed was "Wow, I hope they have good speakers because there's a LOT of noise in here." People were PSYCHED. A wave was rolling across the venue, round and round, chants were chanted, screams were screamed. Madness? This. Is. SM Town. The staff had noticed as well and didn't at all mind egging the crowd on and when performers (supposedly, I missed who it was because I'm slow) started peeking out of a window located above us it reached fever pitch. We were so ready.

Then the lights dimmed and off we went, with a cute little introductory video in which a literal SM Town was being deposited in the middle of a stadium by the various performers. Throughout the night a lot of similar videos would follow, creating a nice atmosphere of familiarity which seemed fitting considering a large part of these concerts is fan service. After this, the night was opened by f(x).

Now I don't mean this condescendingly in any way, shape or form, but as someone whose K-Pop intake generally consists of SNSD and BoA with a sprinkling of other groups' hits on the side, f(x) was mostly "Jessica's little sister's group" to me. I've had to adjust my opinion though, these girls can stand their own and even with the least stage time managed to leave a lasting impression, I'm a fan.

After f(x)'s first song their introductions were done, or so I assume because my French isn't what you'd call.. good? Decent? Barely passable? This may be one of the very few peeves I have about the evening. All translating for the groups was done in French. Now we were in France and all so I can get that part of it but, I don't know, it didn't feel like the crowd was tied to any country really so.. I don't know. I will say one thing for it however, it did lead to some hilarious moments when the performers had a go at the language, from the "Je suis Yuri (sic), ca va?" *insert loud roar from the public here* to different members of the male groups reading from notes they'd brought, which was very cute.

Then all of a sudden it was Krystal's turn to speak, who in English announced she'd be singing a song with her sister now. Wait what, Jessica is singing? Right now? I can't really tell you much about their rendition of Tick Tock I'm afraid, mostly because I spent all of it going "omg omg omg it's Jessica omg omg omg". Another f(x) song followed (I wish I could tell you more but I'd just seen, you know, Jessica) and then the gents from SHINee hit the stage, accompanied by enough shrieks from the female part of the audience to instantly deafen every dog in a ten mile radius.

Now these guys I knew a bit better already. In fact, I don't think I know the names of all members of even western boybands unless we go seriously back in time, but I did in this case. This is mostly due to their various show appearances with SNSD of course but also because they've got some nice songs and some pretty slick moves. And they brought them to Paris alright, together with several truckloads of energy. They know how to work a crowd, whether it's on stage, popping up in the middle of the seats or dangling from wires.

SHINee was followed by Super Junior, who kicked off with Sorry Sorry Answer and then we were treated to "Lady Gaga" and 3 "Beyonces". I'm not sure what left the bigger impression, Shindong in that tight a suit or the fact that the others kind of pulled the look off, but it was an experience! And it's a side of them that I rather enjoy I must say, they can be just as badass as the SHINee or DBSK, but they can laugh about themselves too which is pretty special.

And then Seohyun and Kyuhyun were on stage singing their duet. Seohyun is even more of an angel live is all I have to say about that really. I was still not entirely adjusted at this point so all I could do really was watch, listen and cheer like crazy when it was over.

I think it was after this song that the different male groups started collaborating aside from their own material which, together with background dancers, made things a little hard to keep track of for poor outdated old me. The more so because together they had the most (not all familiar to me) material and accompanying stage-time. Especially when DBSK would join in later there were many "wow Super Junior really rocked that song I wonder who's ne.. hey wait, that's a lot of guys, is that SuJu? How did they get there and in different outfits so quickly? Oh wait that's not them that's.." moments. That said, much like f(x) the various performances did leave such an impression that I shall have to get more familiar with them, again demonstrating the effectiveness of these concerts and how hard everyone worked.

And then it didn't matter at all anymore, because THOSE nine girls on stage I'd know anywhere..

Looking back now, I think the thing that struck me most is how much of their character and familiar mannerisms and the like they actually display in their performances. They really are like you see them in the videos, be it even prettier. From playful Yuri to ray of sunshine Tiffany, from I-see-a-joke-everywhere Taeyeon to cute but looking after everyone Sunny (who I'm pretty sure waved to every single person in the crowd at least once), well I could go on, it was all there.

They ended up not performing all of the songs I'd have liked them to (including the new single), but then I appreciate them thinking that having a break between the two concerts would be nice and that would not have happened if I'd had my way. It wasn't what I was there for anyways, I just wanted to see them live and it was well worth it. I think there were some mic issues, but those seemed to rotate as the night went on so we got to hear everyone sing at least once and SPOILER ALERT: they're pretty great.

It would later turn out that when SNSD hit the stage for the first time we weren't even halfway into the show and there were too many performances for my tired brain to remember them all, though others that stood out were Onew's Nessum Dorma and the dance break which, yeah we've all seen it from other SM Towns, but you really haven't seen Hyoyeon locking and popping until you've seen Hyoyeon locking and popping live let me tell you.

With a few more performances by the girl groups in between it would eventually be the boys who would sweep up the crowd more and more with rocking versions of their songs, wire work, laser gloves and crazy dances until suddenly it was over. When I say suddenly however I don't mean to imply it was a short show, for it was quite the opposite, but I still had to swallow hard a few times when everyone came onto the stage to say goodbye for the last time. We'd just gotten to know each other and while I was glad for the time spent, I can only hope SM won't take too long to come back to us. As is, they can be very proud of their artists, everyone worked really hard and put on a great show.

I can really only agree with the chants that'd started off the proceedings hours earlier. SM jjang. SM jjang indeed.

[taengbear]

wow, lol you're a great writer! XD i enjoyed reading your fanaccount, thank you!
and i wish i could be watching hyoyeon locking and popping live

[tgd]

wow, lol you're a great writer! XD i enjoyed reading your fanaccount, thank you!
and i wish i could be watching hyoyeon locking and popping live

Hehe thanks! And she was awesome <3 Then again, they all were. I'm in serious withdrawal atm ><

[Thommas]

Now I don't mean this condescendingly in any way, shape or form, but as someone whose K-Pop intake generally consists of SNSD and BoA with a sprinkling of other groups' hits on the side, f(x) was mostly "Jessica's little sister's group" to me. I've had to adjust my opinion though, these girls can stand their own and even with the least stage time managed to leave a lasting impression, I'm a fan.

I'm glad you feel the same way as me as regards the quality of their performance, they really standed out in this SM Town.

[tgd]

I'm glad you feel the same way as me as regards the quality of their performance, they really standed out in this SM Town.

Yeah I agree. I'd seen their videos before of course, but they never really caught me. Their performance this weekend however was pretty great, definitely seeing them in a new light. SM should have come over way sooner tbh.

Oh for those wondering about Gaga and the Beyonces, from Shindong's Twitter: http://yfrog.com/gzs51nsj