super show III in seoul
I feel like I should be posting my fan-report from Saturday night's SSIII but I'm not sure I have the brain to do it, yet. I probably have to use a couple others that have been going around as cheat-sheets to remember what happened when, even the first one that got spread around got some weird details wrong.
so we got to Olympic Park at tits o'clock in the morning (a.k.a. 6 AM) on about 3 hours of sleep. it was cool and cloudy and altogether not bad weather for standing around in line. I was number 96, which wasn't too bad.
then it started sprinkling. then it poured. then it sprinkled. then it dried up for awhile. then it poured. the whole day never got sunny, but I still got a sunburn somehow, lol. my shoes are still wet tonight.
anyway, the merch line started at 10, but they didn't have the super cute character shirts or anything this year. I was mostly hoping for t-shirts of any variety but they just had like pillows and towels and sets of pictures from the repackage photoshoot, some buttons, etc. didn't buy anything.
ticketing was supposed to start at 11, but around 11:30ish, one of the staff guys came around and announced it was going to be delayed for 3 hours, because of a traffic jam or something. the line atmosphere got a little frostier, after that.
it finally started a bit after 2 PM. I actually hate line jumpers, especially after everyone in line has been waiting since 5 or 6 AM, and someone who shows up at 10 thinks that speaking English will get them a magical line-jumping card to stand with any group of obvious white kids they see. I actually booted a girl out of line because she tried asking us first, we were like "err, sorry, no, you need a number"... then she proceeded to wait around watching the line until it started to move, and tried to cut in 'stealthily' ahead of us, amongst some Chinese girls. are you stupid, honey? do you think we don't know each other's faces after some 6 hours of sitting around together? do you think we're going to believe you're hiding a secret number on the hand you refuse to show anyone? I told her to get out and she slunk off further back in the line, glaring at me, then proceeded to cut in about 20 people back. seriously hate people who have no respect for others like that, and I wish the ajusshis had been checking our numbers to make sure there weren't jumpers like her.
blah blah blah we wandered around once we got our tix and there were lots of nice and friendly fans who get really excited to see foreigners. I got hugged by a mask-Shindong in an animal suit at one point. she told me she loved me.
anyway, on to the actual concert.
because of the layout of the stadium, this year, there wasn't really a good way for foreign fans who can't use g-market to get awesome standing ticket numbers, sadly--they started us around #800 in every section of standing, which meant eeeeeverybody else went in first. despite that, the standing sections were big, not too crowded except right at the rails in the best corner, and had a fairly good view of the stage (minus the boom camera that kept swinging down and blocking everything at our corner, and the camera guy on a platform that kept blocking the main screen when he was filming stuff).
it began a little late, maybe 7:30? but fortunately we didn't have to stand around inside for too long before the lights were going down and announcements went up.
there were these big metal rings stacked to block a ring of the center stage, and I wondered what they were for, initially. the opening video started, announced everyone (I don't even really remember what it showed, this time), and I saw a couple of mics being lowered on wires into the center rings, and some people crouched in white inside. then Donghae (I think) came up on a harness to fly over the top of the rings, lowered back down as the top ring came up, then the bottom ring was raised up as well to reveal suju crouching there.
they started with Sorry Sorry (remix version), all wearing white suits and looking very fine. Yesung and Ryeowook immediately ended up out along our side of the stage. both looked lovely--Yesung's pants were very tight and he had a lot of eyeliner, and Ryeowook just looks fierce as hell when he's in concert mode.
it segued immediately into Super Girl, in Korean, at the end of the song, and I kind of freaked out a little, then my heart sank as I realized neither of the SJM-only members were there. I don't know, I still have mixed feelings about SJ proper covering that song, and was hoping SJM would be here for the Korean leg of the tour this time, too. then again I'd have missed Geng like crazy if they were, so I suppose it was kind of going to be a disappointing/weird moment no matter what.
Super Girl segued into Don't Don, all without a pause. for Don't Don, the dance break (instead of being Henry on violin) was fucking TRAX being all hardcore on center stage... WITH HEECHUL ON DRUMS! eeeee it was like a dream come true, seeing that! Jungmo's hair was bleach blond and really hot, Jay was just insanely attractive with his rocker face on, and Heechul was playing his heart out, not just screwing around like on Band of Brothers. it was beautiful and everyone ate it up.
Don't Don might have segued into No Other, as well, but I actually don't recollect anything that happened during that song.
the first VCR was them being... well, kind of incredibly racist in that clueless, confused way that just makes you not know whether to shake your head or pat them on the head and shrug. they proceeded to assign each member a country, dress up in some "costume" from that country, and then do something stereotypically representative of that country. it started with Heechul, in this wacky white wig and like... baroque costume? I don't even know. he came out on stage, danced like a lunatic, then the screen video morphed his face into Siwon's, in a matador costume with a ridiculous "mustache" on his upper lip. Siwon came out to join him, they freak-danced at each other, and Siwon waved his red cape around excitedly. after them (in no particular order) came Yesung, as a feather-bonnet wearing Native American (facepalm) in warpaint, doing what I suppose he imagined was a very Native little war dance, Kyuhyun in a ridiculous Egyptian pharoah headdress, Ryeowook in some kind of turban and 'snake-charmer' dance, Eunhyuk (naked in the video but not on stage) wearing a... paper thing on his chin, I still don't know what he was representing (cavemen? cavemen with pointy white beards?), and Shindong in traditional Chinese silk clothes and the little hat. presumably Donghae came out as well but I don't recall what he looked like. Eeteuk was last, and another face-palmer, in a confused approximation of middle-eastern dress, with the head-cloth and black cord wrapped around over the top of it, long robes, and inexplicable white satin gloves, as he pronounced himself to be Arabian and wiggled his hands around vaguely. they all cavorted around on stage, Donghae said Eeteuk looked like his mother or something, and I just hung my head and told myself at least no one had the bright idea to come out in blackface.
after that, most of them ditched the clothes (thankfully) to stick to their white costumes and they did another adapted M song, Confession. I didn't even recognize it in Korean and being sung by the wrong people, idk. Good Person was next, again, I have no memory of it.
로꾸거! was next, lots of high energy and everyone singing along in whatever language they knew it. I still love that song a lot and it was fun, but it's weird seeing it without Kangin and his watermelon claps ._. Heechul can still hit his falsetto notes!
there was a VCR (another fan report says it was about an older ELF who passed away but I have no recollection of seeing anything about that, myself) I can't remember the content of, then they moved into solo songs.
Ryeowook did 봄날 on the center stage as it spun slowly, while Sungmin played guitar. both were seated. Ryeowook's voice, as always, is flawless and amazing in lives, and it was really a gorgeous performance. Sungmin's guitar skills have improved, I think, he did some nice ornamentation there, a very pretty version.
Kyuhyun soloed next, with 내가 너의 곁에 잠시 살았다는 걸 (I temporarily lived by your side). his was also good but Ryeowook's song was prettier and Ryeowook has the stronger voice of the two of them. just more emotion, I guess? Kyuhyun sweated up a storm again, in his black suit, and I watched most of it on the big screen because he was off somewhere behind us.
Sungmin danced to a song next (Google says "If U Leave"), but wow, nobody was listening to the song. this is because he came out in tight black ripped jeans and a shoulder-baring black vest, then proceeded to get his groove on. he got his groove on ALL OVER his backup dancers (all girls). repeatedly! it was seriously hot, and I don't usually have a thing for Sungmin. he was ON last night, let me tell you. there was humping, and pelvic thrusting, and hands sliding over bodies, and sexy-face, and dipping of girls, and body rolls (oh my that boy can body roll, he can), and then Sungmin ripped his shirt right open and showed that he's clearly been working out and it's working out quite well for him. at this point in the show, my heart palpitations started (*this is not a joke or an exaggeration, they actually did) the girls also tore their white shirts open to expose black bras, idk. then he humped them some more, did some grinding and real filthy dancing between them all, and I concentrated on staring, breathing and not getting faint again like last year! I didn't, yay!
Siwon was next, in a plain t-shirt and stonewashed jeans. he sang another praise song, but it wasn't as pretty or as strong as the one he chose last year. in fact, it was completely forgettable, mostly because everyone in the audience and their panties were still thinking about Sungmin's filthy dance. it was literally the worst place in the concert they could have put his solo, poor boy. I felt vaguely sorry for him.
then it was Eunhyuk's turn to come out, with the song Chance composed for him and Donghae. he danced around with some backup dancers and a girl for awhile, flashed his abs, then Donghae came out to rap (I thought, but another account says he did the singing) and dance with the girl instead. they played ~jealousy~ over the girl dancer, which went back and forth for awhile, then both of them ripped their shirts off/open and stood around smoldering at each other/the girl, and she put a hand on each of their chests. the moral of that story was apparently that threesomes are hot.
Heechul's solo was next, and it began with Sulli appearing in a short black dress, looking very tall and pretty, and covering "The Way Rappers Break Up" as "The Way Idols Break Up". Heechul popped up to do the rapping parts, in a black suit. she's seriously almost the same height as him, even in his stage heels lol. anyway, his performance was... kind of weird because he never has any chemistry with girls. this was spotlighted spectacularly when he and Sulli were supposed to share a ~deep and meaningful~ look and Heechul lost control of his face and cracked up. he had to look away from her and fight to stop giggling as she continued on singing. anyway it was cute to see them together and I don't know what he thought he was doing, trying to sing a (broken) love-song with one of his pet little sisters.
Shindong was next, doing some Psy song with backup dancers in crazy costumes and wrestling belts.
next was a VCR for SJ-T in which Siwon was some sort of alien cyborg protector and Shindong was a ravenous monster eating everything. Siwon ran around scanning various SJ-T members with his special gleaming cyborg eye, which included Eunhyuk doing something, Heechul wearing a traditional robe/dress and flailing like a maniac, Eeteuk doing something, etc. so Siwon plans a way to take him down, which involved Heechul riding him around like a horse as they ran away from rampaging Shindong. Shindong kept turning all weapons to food and eating them, but then Siwon defeated him by playing a boom box which transformed them all into trot singers.
then SJ-T (sans Kangin, plus Donghae) performed some different trot song in their shiny sequined jackets. I didn't know the song so it wasn't quite as exciting as the ones off the album.
they performed SJ-H's 둘이 next. could care less about the song, but every member ever decided they had to carry or be carried by someone. it started with Kyuhyun jumping on Teuk's back and being carried halfway around the whole stage by him, somehow. then Yesung had to get in on the fun and jumped on Hyuk's back. then Hae mounted Siwon (naturally), which left Sungmin, Ryeowook, and Shindong standing and looking at each other resignedly. then Shindong hung his head and turned around and braced himself, and MinWook jumped on his back.
아주 먼 옛날 (Song for you) was next I guess, I have no recollection of it.
TRAX did their medley in here~ I had managed to get a hand on the rail so I didn't run over to jump up and down with some of the others, though u.u; I'd claimed that rail despite an hour of armpit sweat from the girl who kept putting it squarely on my hand in the hopes I'd move, I wasn't going to do all that for nothing!
next was a clip of Lady Gaga and Beyonce's MV opening on the screen, up to the title, then it cut off and everything went dark and we made confused as hell noises and freaked out a little. part of me was hoping Zhou Mi was miraculously going to show up and Gaga the fuck out.
so the lights come back up on a reclining figure lifting up from beneath the stage, in a black vinyl minidress, wearing a blonde Gaga wig, leather jacket, and RED ANKLE-HIGH STILETTO HEELED BOOTS. FILTHY FUCK-ME BOOTS. also, I am pretty sure there were fishnet stockings involved. this figure has their back to the audience and the stage is still rising so it's hard to tell who it is, until it lifts high enough to see "LADY 希希" in silver glitter/sequence blazoned across the back. I flipped my shit and just screamed.
you do not understand how much leg he was showing. I had no idea any power on earth could convince Heechul to shave off his 'manly' leg hair and work a pair of heels and fishnets and a dress that was literally ass-length at MOST. and it was a dress, not booty-shorts. he was working that shit like no other, just writhing around on the floor and lifting his legs and showing it off, then got up and cat-walk strutted to the center stage, where he disappeared into the floor again at the end of a few lines of Poker Face.
then the main stage lit up to reveal none other than Shindong, flanked by Donghae and Eunhyuk, all wearing wigs and the same black vinyl minidresses (which were one-shouldered), dancing to Single Ladies. first of all, black vinyl outlined every muscle Donghae and Hyuk now possess. Donghae possesses a fair number of them. secondly, Donghae loves attention. Hyukjae was kind of embarrassed to death, and Shindong actually sold his soul to be an entertainer, or is just very philosophical about it. thirdly, black vinyl outlined parts of Shindong I did not want to see, and they wobbled and wiggled like jello. fourthly, minidresses are really short. the audience discovered this when ShinHyukHae kept doing dance moves that involved dropping to their knees, which in turn gave every camera trained on them a clear view up their skirts to their black vinyl underpants/codpieces. ouch. Hyuk realized this at one point and sort of curled in on himself in a fetal position in an attempt to shield his black vinyl-coated bits from the camera. Donghae was just like "yayyyyyy cameras! :D" and Shindong was like "I'm already wobbling like jello and performing in drag, I actually don't care anymore! :D"
then a third song clip started, female dancers sauntered in from the side stages, and Heechul popped back out of the middle stage for everyone to dance together. I don't even remember the song, because I was too busy watching Heechul slut-dance, body-roll, and grind in his minidress and heels like he was born to it. he'd shed his jacket so was in the same one-shoulder-baring thing as the rest. guh.
I think I actually lost the ability to speak for a few minutes there.
then there was a VCR featuring Shindong, Hyuk, Hae, Sungmin, and Eeteuk (I think) being badass gangsta and fighting off a whole crows of Bad Guys with their fists, swords, and some guns, very dramatically. this led, somehow, into everyone performing Shake It Up (remix version) after they managed to peel (cut?) the vinyl minidresses off and get into real clothing again. Heechul didn't come out for this part, I am pretty sure he was having wild sex with someone backstage. probably Jay. and Jungmo. at the same time.
Twins came up next, a remixed version, and fireworks went off on stage. another report says Donghae got some sparks in his eye, but I thought it was Sungmin at the time, whoever it was was clutching their face but kept on dancing without a fumble. he was fine later, anyway.
Hate U, Love U was next... I don't remember anything about it...
Coagulation was next, with 8 of the members back in white costumes sitting on stepped platforms and swapping seats as the song progressed. it was pretty but I was real tired and needed to move around and recuperate a little.
SJ-KRYDSSFDLFKJ performed 잠들고 싶어 (In My Dream), I was still squatting on the floor and trying not to just sit down and be useless for awhile. I'm not good with slow songs on that little sleep unless I really like them. they had a cute VCR of a little girl in the hospital celebrating a birthday and SJ playing the birthday fairy game. apparently she liked fish so they gave her a projector that made her whole room look like it was underwater with fish swimming around it, then they played with her wearing fish hats and Siwon basically dadded out all over her and probably had to be forcibly removed from her after filming.
then some stage hands were setting up these big transparent screens in front of the main stage, and a VCR started playing Handel's Rinaldo (?) with one member at a time appearing to the sound of a single orchestra instrument and pretending to play the (invisible) instrument. I am pretty sure Kyuhyun was playing a trumpet like a saxophone, but my ears were ringing so maybe I misheard the instrument. anyway, as this continued, more and more members walked onto the stage, and Kangin started flashing onto the special invisible screens, standing over them or close to them. it was really sad and sweet. at the end, all of them were there miming playing as the full orchestra version played, including Kangin's image on the screens with them. ;-; white confetti was showered down on the audience.
another VCR came next, I think, with the members just dicking around boredly at home until Siwon gets the bright idea to play basketball and they romp happily at an outdoor court (including Heechul, who I am fairly sure wouldn't touch a basketball by choice) then flop down on the court to lie all over each other and beam at the sky. other reports said Kibum and Hangeng were in this VCR somehow but I didn't see a sign of either of them. maybe wishful thinking, unless Geng's album got a cameo in a shot or something, which I can't see SM being wild about. at the end, Kangin's face appeared and blew a kiss, and these heart-shaped paper planes floated all over the whole stadium. I didn't manage to catch one for my scrapbook, sadface :(
other report says 진심 (All My Heart) was next, I don't remember a thing!
Yesung did his solo from the Cinderella's Sister OST, finally--he looked so good in his white suit with his hair up in the floofy little ponytail and tons of eyeliner all night. he sang, I chilled out. there was a sea of blue, really pretty, he's gained a ton of fans in the last six months or so, so proud of him~ by the end of his solo, he was looking pretty emotional and like he was starting to tear up, as the stage began to lower. everyone in the crowd began to chant "KIM JONGWOON! KIM JONGWOON! KIM JONGWOON!" and he bowed his head, then disappeared into the stage with the whole stadium chanting his name, it was awesome.
another VCR came here with Hyuk dancing, but I don't really remember what else happened in it.
Bonamana came on, the dance version, and everyone was in black outfits now. Siwon was down to black leather pants and a filthy little stripper vest and nothing else. anyone who says he doesn't have the best body in suju anymore is blind and/or deluded, he has more muscles than TeukHyukHae put together, and they were all oiled up and gleaming. I counted. *__*
갈증 came next, immediately, and they seemed to have forgotten some of the choreography but I didn't care, Siwon was still dressed like a stripper and flashing skin everywhere.
U and Dancing Out were after that. Heechul flashed his shoulder, a little, I think. somehow rumors have started around saying Ryeowook, Yesung, Kyuhyun, Billy Bob, the dog, and Uncle Fester all took off their shirts during these couple of songs, but I really don't know what people are talking about and don't think it happened without my noticing unless it was just a quick flash of abs or something on the other side of the stage.
the concert "ended", everyon sang a little bit of Marry U, and a VCR came back up in record time. it was of a bunch of cartoon vegetables with emo suju faces straggling up to be surveyed by a baby, who apparently didn't want to eat any emo vegetables. so, the vegetables engaged in a wild training regimen until they were no longer emo, but happy, strong, and... plump? then, the baby got really excited and the vegetables got eaten. ....yay? these are mixed messages here...
the boys came back out then WEARING giant vegetable costumes. Ryeowook couldn't navigate stairs, as a tomato, and had to peek down through his costume to see what his feet were doing. a couple of them kept almost falling over or off of things. they all milled around to Cooking? Cooking! until the end, when they made a giant dogpile in the center stage and almost killed Siwon piling 9 boys on top of him. poor Heechul was pretty near the bottom, too. several of them needed a lot of help to get up afterward, let alone to get out of their costumes. Heechul just stayed in his, probably because he had to be forcibly pulled out of his chili pepper suit to get free.
they did 차근 차근 after that, just roaming freely around the stages, and I was more paying attention to whoever walked nearest than listening. Donghae came over on our side, someone tossed him a towel that he picked up and inspected, so naturally 204823048 more girls all threw their shit at him and he tried to wave them off to get them to stop, but just had to step back and ignore stuff bouncing off his legs.
someone stole a child from the other side of the stadium during this time, they brought him up on stage and fussed over him (Siwon clearly wanted to take him home and love him forever) but the song ended and they finally made Siwon take him back to his family.
they had another short ment on the main stage, talking in other languages. there was no English shout-out, bad Siwon :( someone told Donghae to speak in Chinese, so he turned to Siwon and told him to speak in Chinese. Siwon looked kind of deer-in-headlights, then said a little bit. Sungmin spoke some halting Japanese, Teuk said something, Eunhyuk said hello in Thai and counted from 1 to 10 really fast before giving up. Teuk said something about 10th super show and 20th super show (or album?), in Korean.
finally they did You Are the One, which I don't remember, and Wonder Boy, which I do. during Wonder Boy they all played again, with these mist-gun things. there was one that was a backpack mount, so Donghae and some other people ran around with it shooting the others, and another was fixed to the stage, so Heechul and Siwon grabbed the hose and then sprayed Kyuhyun approximately 23048234 times with it. Heechul passed by my area, and finally deigned to look down for a moment, I think there was maybe a split second of brief eye contact, but he really doesn't care by the time he gets out to that corner, lol. Kyuhyun also ran past me at the final bow and he definitely spotted us and smiled and waved really big. I wonder if he recognized me from the fanmeet, because he got kind of excited then, too. it was really the only interaction I had with any of the members all concert, haha. SSII was a lot more gratifying in that sense, I think I was just in a bad spot standing, where the stage was too far from the rail to really be within touching distance, and there was the camera boom blocking some of us from view.
the boys all said their goodbyes and we left. bag check was a million miles long, and inside, you could hear them rehearsing some stuff again after everyone cleared out at last.
then I decided not to go to Sunday's show because I was actually dead on my feet, hurt everywhere, and wanted a day to breathe and recuperate before teaching tomorrow! so I came home at like 2 AM and slept 6 hours instead. such is my life!
this picture actually sums up my weekend.
so we got to Olympic Park at tits o'clock in the morning (a.k.a. 6 AM) on about 3 hours of sleep. it was cool and cloudy and altogether not bad weather for standing around in line. I was number 96, which wasn't too bad.
then it started sprinkling. then it poured. then it sprinkled. then it dried up for awhile. then it poured. the whole day never got sunny, but I still got a sunburn somehow, lol. my shoes are still wet tonight.
anyway, the merch line started at 10, but they didn't have the super cute character shirts or anything this year. I was mostly hoping for t-shirts of any variety but they just had like pillows and towels and sets of pictures from the repackage photoshoot, some buttons, etc. didn't buy anything.
ticketing was supposed to start at 11, but around 11:30ish, one of the staff guys came around and announced it was going to be delayed for 3 hours, because of a traffic jam or something. the line atmosphere got a little frostier, after that.
it finally started a bit after 2 PM. I actually hate line jumpers, especially after everyone in line has been waiting since 5 or 6 AM, and someone who shows up at 10 thinks that speaking English will get them a magical line-jumping card to stand with any group of obvious white kids they see. I actually booted a girl out of line because she tried asking us first, we were like "err, sorry, no, you need a number"... then she proceeded to wait around watching the line until it started to move, and tried to cut in 'stealthily' ahead of us, amongst some Chinese girls. are you stupid, honey? do you think we don't know each other's faces after some 6 hours of sitting around together? do you think we're going to believe you're hiding a secret number on the hand you refuse to show anyone? I told her to get out and she slunk off further back in the line, glaring at me, then proceeded to cut in about 20 people back. seriously hate people who have no respect for others like that, and I wish the ajusshis had been checking our numbers to make sure there weren't jumpers like her.
blah blah blah we wandered around once we got our tix and there were lots of nice and friendly fans who get really excited to see foreigners. I got hugged by a mask-Shindong in an animal suit at one point. she told me she loved me.
anyway, on to the actual concert.
because of the layout of the stadium, this year, there wasn't really a good way for foreign fans who can't use g-market to get awesome standing ticket numbers, sadly--they started us around #800 in every section of standing, which meant eeeeeverybody else went in first. despite that, the standing sections were big, not too crowded except right at the rails in the best corner, and had a fairly good view of the stage (minus the boom camera that kept swinging down and blocking everything at our corner, and the camera guy on a platform that kept blocking the main screen when he was filming stuff).
it began a little late, maybe 7:30? but fortunately we didn't have to stand around inside for too long before the lights were going down and announcements went up.
there were these big metal rings stacked to block a ring of the center stage, and I wondered what they were for, initially. the opening video started, announced everyone (I don't even really remember what it showed, this time), and I saw a couple of mics being lowered on wires into the center rings, and some people crouched in white inside. then Donghae (I think) came up on a harness to fly over the top of the rings, lowered back down as the top ring came up, then the bottom ring was raised up as well to reveal suju crouching there.
they started with Sorry Sorry (remix version), all wearing white suits and looking very fine. Yesung and Ryeowook immediately ended up out along our side of the stage. both looked lovely--Yesung's pants were very tight and he had a lot of eyeliner, and Ryeowook just looks fierce as hell when he's in concert mode.
it segued immediately into Super Girl, in Korean, at the end of the song, and I kind of freaked out a little, then my heart sank as I realized neither of the SJM-only members were there. I don't know, I still have mixed feelings about SJ proper covering that song, and was hoping SJM would be here for the Korean leg of the tour this time, too. then again I'd have missed Geng like crazy if they were, so I suppose it was kind of going to be a disappointing/weird moment no matter what.
Super Girl segued into Don't Don, all without a pause. for Don't Don, the dance break (instead of being Henry on violin) was fucking TRAX being all hardcore on center stage... WITH HEECHUL ON DRUMS! eeeee it was like a dream come true, seeing that! Jungmo's hair was bleach blond and really hot, Jay was just insanely attractive with his rocker face on, and Heechul was playing his heart out, not just screwing around like on Band of Brothers. it was beautiful and everyone ate it up.
Don't Don might have segued into No Other, as well, but I actually don't recollect anything that happened during that song.
the first VCR was them being... well, kind of incredibly racist in that clueless, confused way that just makes you not know whether to shake your head or pat them on the head and shrug. they proceeded to assign each member a country, dress up in some "costume" from that country, and then do something stereotypically representative of that country. it started with Heechul, in this wacky white wig and like... baroque costume? I don't even know. he came out on stage, danced like a lunatic, then the screen video morphed his face into Siwon's, in a matador costume with a ridiculous "mustache" on his upper lip. Siwon came out to join him, they freak-danced at each other, and Siwon waved his red cape around excitedly. after them (in no particular order) came Yesung, as a feather-bonnet wearing Native American (facepalm) in warpaint, doing what I suppose he imagined was a very Native little war dance, Kyuhyun in a ridiculous Egyptian pharoah headdress, Ryeowook in some kind of turban and 'snake-charmer' dance, Eunhyuk (naked in the video but not on stage) wearing a... paper thing on his chin, I still don't know what he was representing (cavemen? cavemen with pointy white beards?), and Shindong in traditional Chinese silk clothes and the little hat. presumably Donghae came out as well but I don't recall what he looked like. Eeteuk was last, and another face-palmer, in a confused approximation of middle-eastern dress, with the head-cloth and black cord wrapped around over the top of it, long robes, and inexplicable white satin gloves, as he pronounced himself to be Arabian and wiggled his hands around vaguely. they all cavorted around on stage, Donghae said Eeteuk looked like his mother or something, and I just hung my head and told myself at least no one had the bright idea to come out in blackface.
after that, most of them ditched the clothes (thankfully) to stick to their white costumes and they did another adapted M song, Confession. I didn't even recognize it in Korean and being sung by the wrong people, idk. Good Person was next, again, I have no memory of it.
로꾸거! was next, lots of high energy and everyone singing along in whatever language they knew it. I still love that song a lot and it was fun, but it's weird seeing it without Kangin and his watermelon claps ._. Heechul can still hit his falsetto notes!
there was a VCR (another fan report says it was about an older ELF who passed away but I have no recollection of seeing anything about that, myself) I can't remember the content of, then they moved into solo songs.
Ryeowook did 봄날 on the center stage as it spun slowly, while Sungmin played guitar. both were seated. Ryeowook's voice, as always, is flawless and amazing in lives, and it was really a gorgeous performance. Sungmin's guitar skills have improved, I think, he did some nice ornamentation there, a very pretty version.
Kyuhyun soloed next, with 내가 너의 곁에 잠시 살았다는 걸 (I temporarily lived by your side). his was also good but Ryeowook's song was prettier and Ryeowook has the stronger voice of the two of them. just more emotion, I guess? Kyuhyun sweated up a storm again, in his black suit, and I watched most of it on the big screen because he was off somewhere behind us.
Sungmin danced to a song next (Google says "If U Leave"), but wow, nobody was listening to the song. this is because he came out in tight black ripped jeans and a shoulder-baring black vest, then proceeded to get his groove on. he got his groove on ALL OVER his backup dancers (all girls). repeatedly! it was seriously hot, and I don't usually have a thing for Sungmin. he was ON last night, let me tell you. there was humping, and pelvic thrusting, and hands sliding over bodies, and sexy-face, and dipping of girls, and body rolls (oh my that boy can body roll, he can), and then Sungmin ripped his shirt right open and showed that he's clearly been working out and it's working out quite well for him. at this point in the show, my heart palpitations started (*this is not a joke or an exaggeration, they actually did) the girls also tore their white shirts open to expose black bras, idk. then he humped them some more, did some grinding and real filthy dancing between them all, and I concentrated on staring, breathing and not getting faint again like last year! I didn't, yay!
Siwon was next, in a plain t-shirt and stonewashed jeans. he sang another praise song, but it wasn't as pretty or as strong as the one he chose last year. in fact, it was completely forgettable, mostly because everyone in the audience and their panties were still thinking about Sungmin's filthy dance. it was literally the worst place in the concert they could have put his solo, poor boy. I felt vaguely sorry for him.
then it was Eunhyuk's turn to come out, with the song Chance composed for him and Donghae. he danced around with some backup dancers and a girl for awhile, flashed his abs, then Donghae came out to rap (I thought, but another account says he did the singing) and dance with the girl instead. they played ~jealousy~ over the girl dancer, which went back and forth for awhile, then both of them ripped their shirts off/open and stood around smoldering at each other/the girl, and she put a hand on each of their chests. the moral of that story was apparently that threesomes are hot.
Heechul's solo was next, and it began with Sulli appearing in a short black dress, looking very tall and pretty, and covering "The Way Rappers Break Up" as "The Way Idols Break Up". Heechul popped up to do the rapping parts, in a black suit. she's seriously almost the same height as him, even in his stage heels lol. anyway, his performance was... kind of weird because he never has any chemistry with girls. this was spotlighted spectacularly when he and Sulli were supposed to share a ~deep and meaningful~ look and Heechul lost control of his face and cracked up. he had to look away from her and fight to stop giggling as she continued on singing. anyway it was cute to see them together and I don't know what he thought he was doing, trying to sing a (broken) love-song with one of his pet little sisters.
Shindong was next, doing some Psy song with backup dancers in crazy costumes and wrestling belts.
next was a VCR for SJ-T in which Siwon was some sort of alien cyborg protector and Shindong was a ravenous monster eating everything. Siwon ran around scanning various SJ-T members with his special gleaming cyborg eye, which included Eunhyuk doing something, Heechul wearing a traditional robe/dress and flailing like a maniac, Eeteuk doing something, etc. so Siwon plans a way to take him down, which involved Heechul riding him around like a horse as they ran away from rampaging Shindong. Shindong kept turning all weapons to food and eating them, but then Siwon defeated him by playing a boom box which transformed them all into trot singers.
then SJ-T (sans Kangin, plus Donghae) performed some different trot song in their shiny sequined jackets. I didn't know the song so it wasn't quite as exciting as the ones off the album.
they performed SJ-H's 둘이 next. could care less about the song, but every member ever decided they had to carry or be carried by someone. it started with Kyuhyun jumping on Teuk's back and being carried halfway around the whole stage by him, somehow. then Yesung had to get in on the fun and jumped on Hyuk's back. then Hae mounted Siwon (naturally), which left Sungmin, Ryeowook, and Shindong standing and looking at each other resignedly. then Shindong hung his head and turned around and braced himself, and MinWook jumped on his back.
아주 먼 옛날 (Song for you) was next I guess, I have no recollection of it.
TRAX did their medley in here~ I had managed to get a hand on the rail so I didn't run over to jump up and down with some of the others, though u.u; I'd claimed that rail despite an hour of armpit sweat from the girl who kept putting it squarely on my hand in the hopes I'd move, I wasn't going to do all that for nothing!
next was a clip of Lady Gaga and Beyonce's MV opening on the screen, up to the title, then it cut off and everything went dark and we made confused as hell noises and freaked out a little. part of me was hoping Zhou Mi was miraculously going to show up and Gaga the fuck out.
so the lights come back up on a reclining figure lifting up from beneath the stage, in a black vinyl minidress, wearing a blonde Gaga wig, leather jacket, and RED ANKLE-HIGH STILETTO HEELED BOOTS. FILTHY FUCK-ME BOOTS. also, I am pretty sure there were fishnet stockings involved. this figure has their back to the audience and the stage is still rising so it's hard to tell who it is, until it lifts high enough to see "LADY 希希" in silver glitter/sequence blazoned across the back. I flipped my shit and just screamed.
you do not understand how much leg he was showing. I had no idea any power on earth could convince Heechul to shave off his 'manly' leg hair and work a pair of heels and fishnets and a dress that was literally ass-length at MOST. and it was a dress, not booty-shorts. he was working that shit like no other, just writhing around on the floor and lifting his legs and showing it off, then got up and cat-walk strutted to the center stage, where he disappeared into the floor again at the end of a few lines of Poker Face.
then the main stage lit up to reveal none other than Shindong, flanked by Donghae and Eunhyuk, all wearing wigs and the same black vinyl minidresses (which were one-shouldered), dancing to Single Ladies. first of all, black vinyl outlined every muscle Donghae and Hyuk now possess. Donghae possesses a fair number of them. secondly, Donghae loves attention. Hyukjae was kind of embarrassed to death, and Shindong actually sold his soul to be an entertainer, or is just very philosophical about it. thirdly, black vinyl outlined parts of Shindong I did not want to see, and they wobbled and wiggled like jello. fourthly, minidresses are really short. the audience discovered this when ShinHyukHae kept doing dance moves that involved dropping to their knees, which in turn gave every camera trained on them a clear view up their skirts to their black vinyl underpants/codpieces. ouch. Hyuk realized this at one point and sort of curled in on himself in a fetal position in an attempt to shield his black vinyl-coated bits from the camera. Donghae was just like "yayyyyyy cameras! :D" and Shindong was like "I'm already wobbling like jello and performing in drag, I actually don't care anymore! :D"
then a third song clip started, female dancers sauntered in from the side stages, and Heechul popped back out of the middle stage for everyone to dance together. I don't even remember the song, because I was too busy watching Heechul slut-dance, body-roll, and grind in his minidress and heels like he was born to it. he'd shed his jacket so was in the same one-shoulder-baring thing as the rest. guh.
I think I actually lost the ability to speak for a few minutes there.
then there was a VCR featuring Shindong, Hyuk, Hae, Sungmin, and Eeteuk (I think) being badass gangsta and fighting off a whole crows of Bad Guys with their fists, swords, and some guns, very dramatically. this led, somehow, into everyone performing Shake It Up (remix version) after they managed to peel (cut?) the vinyl minidresses off and get into real clothing again. Heechul didn't come out for this part, I am pretty sure he was having wild sex with someone backstage. probably Jay. and Jungmo. at the same time.
Twins came up next, a remixed version, and fireworks went off on stage. another report says Donghae got some sparks in his eye, but I thought it was Sungmin at the time, whoever it was was clutching their face but kept on dancing without a fumble. he was fine later, anyway.
Hate U, Love U was next... I don't remember anything about it...
Coagulation was next, with 8 of the members back in white costumes sitting on stepped platforms and swapping seats as the song progressed. it was pretty but I was real tired and needed to move around and recuperate a little.
SJ-KRYDSSFDLFKJ performed 잠들고 싶어 (In My Dream), I was still squatting on the floor and trying not to just sit down and be useless for awhile. I'm not good with slow songs on that little sleep unless I really like them. they had a cute VCR of a little girl in the hospital celebrating a birthday and SJ playing the birthday fairy game. apparently she liked fish so they gave her a projector that made her whole room look like it was underwater with fish swimming around it, then they played with her wearing fish hats and Siwon basically dadded out all over her and probably had to be forcibly removed from her after filming.
then some stage hands were setting up these big transparent screens in front of the main stage, and a VCR started playing Handel's Rinaldo (?) with one member at a time appearing to the sound of a single orchestra instrument and pretending to play the (invisible) instrument. I am pretty sure Kyuhyun was playing a trumpet like a saxophone, but my ears were ringing so maybe I misheard the instrument. anyway, as this continued, more and more members walked onto the stage, and Kangin started flashing onto the special invisible screens, standing over them or close to them. it was really sad and sweet. at the end, all of them were there miming playing as the full orchestra version played, including Kangin's image on the screens with them. ;-; white confetti was showered down on the audience.
another VCR came next, I think, with the members just dicking around boredly at home until Siwon gets the bright idea to play basketball and they romp happily at an outdoor court (including Heechul, who I am fairly sure wouldn't touch a basketball by choice) then flop down on the court to lie all over each other and beam at the sky. other reports said Kibum and Hangeng were in this VCR somehow but I didn't see a sign of either of them. maybe wishful thinking, unless Geng's album got a cameo in a shot or something, which I can't see SM being wild about. at the end, Kangin's face appeared and blew a kiss, and these heart-shaped paper planes floated all over the whole stadium. I didn't manage to catch one for my scrapbook, sadface :(
other report says 진심 (All My Heart) was next, I don't remember a thing!
Yesung did his solo from the Cinderella's Sister OST, finally--he looked so good in his white suit with his hair up in the floofy little ponytail and tons of eyeliner all night. he sang, I chilled out. there was a sea of blue, really pretty, he's gained a ton of fans in the last six months or so, so proud of him~ by the end of his solo, he was looking pretty emotional and like he was starting to tear up, as the stage began to lower. everyone in the crowd began to chant "KIM JONGWOON! KIM JONGWOON! KIM JONGWOON!" and he bowed his head, then disappeared into the stage with the whole stadium chanting his name, it was awesome.
another VCR came here with Hyuk dancing, but I don't really remember what else happened in it.
Bonamana came on, the dance version, and everyone was in black outfits now. Siwon was down to black leather pants and a filthy little stripper vest and nothing else. anyone who says he doesn't have the best body in suju anymore is blind and/or deluded, he has more muscles than TeukHyukHae put together, and they were all oiled up and gleaming. I counted. *__*
갈증 came next, immediately, and they seemed to have forgotten some of the choreography but I didn't care, Siwon was still dressed like a stripper and flashing skin everywhere.
U and Dancing Out were after that. Heechul flashed his shoulder, a little, I think. somehow rumors have started around saying Ryeowook, Yesung, Kyuhyun, Billy Bob, the dog, and Uncle Fester all took off their shirts during these couple of songs, but I really don't know what people are talking about and don't think it happened without my noticing unless it was just a quick flash of abs or something on the other side of the stage.
the concert "ended", everyon sang a little bit of Marry U, and a VCR came back up in record time. it was of a bunch of cartoon vegetables with emo suju faces straggling up to be surveyed by a baby, who apparently didn't want to eat any emo vegetables. so, the vegetables engaged in a wild training regimen until they were no longer emo, but happy, strong, and... plump? then, the baby got really excited and the vegetables got eaten. ....yay? these are mixed messages here...
the boys came back out then WEARING giant vegetable costumes. Ryeowook couldn't navigate stairs, as a tomato, and had to peek down through his costume to see what his feet were doing. a couple of them kept almost falling over or off of things. they all milled around to Cooking? Cooking! until the end, when they made a giant dogpile in the center stage and almost killed Siwon piling 9 boys on top of him. poor Heechul was pretty near the bottom, too. several of them needed a lot of help to get up afterward, let alone to get out of their costumes. Heechul just stayed in his, probably because he had to be forcibly pulled out of his chili pepper suit to get free.
they did 차근 차근 after that, just roaming freely around the stages, and I was more paying attention to whoever walked nearest than listening. Donghae came over on our side, someone tossed him a towel that he picked up and inspected, so naturally 204823048 more girls all threw their shit at him and he tried to wave them off to get them to stop, but just had to step back and ignore stuff bouncing off his legs.
someone stole a child from the other side of the stadium during this time, they brought him up on stage and fussed over him (Siwon clearly wanted to take him home and love him forever) but the song ended and they finally made Siwon take him back to his family.
they had another short ment on the main stage, talking in other languages. there was no English shout-out, bad Siwon :( someone told Donghae to speak in Chinese, so he turned to Siwon and told him to speak in Chinese. Siwon looked kind of deer-in-headlights, then said a little bit. Sungmin spoke some halting Japanese, Teuk said something, Eunhyuk said hello in Thai and counted from 1 to 10 really fast before giving up. Teuk said something about 10th super show and 20th super show (or album?), in Korean.
finally they did You Are the One, which I don't remember, and Wonder Boy, which I do. during Wonder Boy they all played again, with these mist-gun things. there was one that was a backpack mount, so Donghae and some other people ran around with it shooting the others, and another was fixed to the stage, so Heechul and Siwon grabbed the hose and then sprayed Kyuhyun approximately 23048234 times with it. Heechul passed by my area, and finally deigned to look down for a moment, I think there was maybe a split second of brief eye contact, but he really doesn't care by the time he gets out to that corner, lol. Kyuhyun also ran past me at the final bow and he definitely spotted us and smiled and waved really big. I wonder if he recognized me from the fanmeet, because he got kind of excited then, too. it was really the only interaction I had with any of the members all concert, haha. SSII was a lot more gratifying in that sense, I think I was just in a bad spot standing, where the stage was too far from the rail to really be within touching distance, and there was the camera boom blocking some of us from view.
the boys all said their goodbyes and we left. bag check was a million miles long, and inside, you could hear them rehearsing some stuff again after everyone cleared out at last.
then I decided not to go to Sunday's show because I was actually dead on my feet, hurt everywhere, and wanted a day to breathe and recuperate before teaching tomorrow! so I came home at like 2 AM and slept 6 hours instead. such is my life!
this picture actually sums up my weekend.