Day 14: Music Core, round 2!
This day was dedicated to going to Music Core. We went last week as well but instead of being around the 10 mark in numbers we were 20 onwards; more Dalmates this week! The last couple of times there have been a few more Dalmates and that makes us happy because gosh do those boys ever deserve more attention.
We waited out the morning at the same café as last time, Zoo Café, so I don’t really have anything new to write there. Hattie and I ventured out a couple of times, and I bought a huge block of Hershey’s cookies ‘n’ crème chocolate that I could put with the letter and drawing I had done for DMTN.
It all went into a sturdy plastic sleeve so it wouldn't get damaged :D
Last time for MuCore I had been ravenous in the morning but this time Hattie and I were both feeling a little ill; our stomachs were sort of upset with us after our drinking session the night before, so while the others devoured KFC we skipped it.
By the time we got into MBC it was pretty much the same sort of scene as last time, except this time we actually had a sign up the front like the other fan clubs, a sign with DMTN’s name on it so we knew where to sit. We were soon organised into the order we had arrived in during the morning, and then the waiting game continued until we were ushered into the studio.
It was a constant guessing game of ‘who else will we get to see’. Being one of the smaller fan clubs, they usually cram us in with one or two other small fan clubs so that they can get a bunch of prerecordings done in one go. So we were surprised when, after the SHINee fans had filed into the studio and we had resigned ourselves to waiting until they were done, that we were suddenly ushered in too.
SHINee has a TON of fans, 80% of the people in that studio were Shawols, for sure. We really hadn’t expected that we’d get to see SHINee so easily, but hey! We got to see them prerecord Dream Girl, the first three recordings of which were totally half-assed because they were for mic checks or closeup shots, but when they did it for real they were super smooth and professional.
Honestly, I have to say, SHINee have been doing this for a little while now and it shows. They’re really, really good, their presence on stage is wonderful and they know exactly when to step it up and be professional. During the first few takes they remained silly though; Jonghyun couldn’t keep his damn tongue in his mouth, always poking it out or licking his lips, I wanted to throw something at him because that shouldn’t be allowed, DANG.
Key stared me down. It made me super uncomfortable for a second because while he is my favourite, that bitchy glare is enough to wilt anyone, I think.
Minho is a real charmer on stage and he knows how to do it without being cheesy. He’s genuinely friendly towards fans but it isn’t a ridiculously sweet, over-the-top performance. He smiles, he waves and he interacts with them nicely, I can see how people fall for him easily, what a darling.
When SHINee were FINALLY done recording (special treatment, much, haha), suddenly all their fans were booted out of the studio. Dalmates were left behind a little confused, but the gap was quickly filled by other fan clubs. We spotted Nu’Est banners and so set ourselves up for Nu’Est who then… didn’t come out. Instead, the blonde member of MR.MR walked out on stage and I got really excited.
I didn’t know MR.MR before coming to Korea this year, but DANG their song is catchy and they’re total pros on stage. I genuinely enjoy their performances and they put their all into the choreo every time.
Other groups we saw were Sistar 19, NU’EST, Rainbow and Nine Muses. NU’EST’s fans were already in the audience with us, Sistar19’s fans were off on the sides and I felt really bad for Rainbow and Nine Muses because the staff were running late with the prerecordings so instead of properly shuffling all the fan clubs they just sort of put the fans for those two… in the back. They cheered enthusiastically but it wasn’t the same as what the other groups got to have, poor girls.
When we filed out of there after ALL THOSE PERFORMANCES (seriously, we expected that we’d get to see maybe three?) we were told we wouldn’t be able to get into the live because of the amount of fans that were there for the groups actually performing live. For the hell of it we decided a commemorative photo was in order, since we had dubbed ourselves the Foreign Five (which had stemmed from a comment about how noticeable we were as the only really obviously foreign people in line for DMTN) and had decided we were superheroes.
After that, Hattie and I decided to call it a day because we had a bit of a trip back, especially Hattie who had to go all the way back to her place in Icheon where she’ll be teaching. I found out from Taheera later that all the Dalmates DID get in after all and I wanna be like ‘oh well, I’ve seen plenty these holidays’ but I feel so greedy like I just want to suck up as many experiences as I can, so I can’t help but be a little disappointed. OH WELLLL.
Leena had been relaxing all day so she was going to head out and asked if I wanted to come along, but I was pretty tired anyway so I nixed that and ended up staying in. My intention was to have a really early night but that didn’t really happen either, despite the fact I needed to be up at a reasonable hour.
I had tried to find something that I could do on Sunday, the last full day that I had in Seoul that didn’t include a plane trip at the end of it, and decided to attempt going to the Korean Folk Village. More on that later!
We waited out the morning at the same café as last time, Zoo Café, so I don’t really have anything new to write there. Hattie and I ventured out a couple of times, and I bought a huge block of Hershey’s cookies ‘n’ crème chocolate that I could put with the letter and drawing I had done for DMTN.
It all went into a sturdy plastic sleeve so it wouldn't get damaged :D
Last time for MuCore I had been ravenous in the morning but this time Hattie and I were both feeling a little ill; our stomachs were sort of upset with us after our drinking session the night before, so while the others devoured KFC we skipped it.
By the time we got into MBC it was pretty much the same sort of scene as last time, except this time we actually had a sign up the front like the other fan clubs, a sign with DMTN’s name on it so we knew where to sit. We were soon organised into the order we had arrived in during the morning, and then the waiting game continued until we were ushered into the studio.
It was a constant guessing game of ‘who else will we get to see’. Being one of the smaller fan clubs, they usually cram us in with one or two other small fan clubs so that they can get a bunch of prerecordings done in one go. So we were surprised when, after the SHINee fans had filed into the studio and we had resigned ourselves to waiting until they were done, that we were suddenly ushered in too.
SHINee has a TON of fans, 80% of the people in that studio were Shawols, for sure. We really hadn’t expected that we’d get to see SHINee so easily, but hey! We got to see them prerecord Dream Girl, the first three recordings of which were totally half-assed because they were for mic checks or closeup shots, but when they did it for real they were super smooth and professional.
Honestly, I have to say, SHINee have been doing this for a little while now and it shows. They’re really, really good, their presence on stage is wonderful and they know exactly when to step it up and be professional. During the first few takes they remained silly though; Jonghyun couldn’t keep his damn tongue in his mouth, always poking it out or licking his lips, I wanted to throw something at him because that shouldn’t be allowed, DANG.
Key stared me down. It made me super uncomfortable for a second because while he is my favourite, that bitchy glare is enough to wilt anyone, I think.
Minho is a real charmer on stage and he knows how to do it without being cheesy. He’s genuinely friendly towards fans but it isn’t a ridiculously sweet, over-the-top performance. He smiles, he waves and he interacts with them nicely, I can see how people fall for him easily, what a darling.
When SHINee were FINALLY done recording (special treatment, much, haha), suddenly all their fans were booted out of the studio. Dalmates were left behind a little confused, but the gap was quickly filled by other fan clubs. We spotted Nu’Est banners and so set ourselves up for Nu’Est who then… didn’t come out. Instead, the blonde member of MR.MR walked out on stage and I got really excited.
I didn’t know MR.MR before coming to Korea this year, but DANG their song is catchy and they’re total pros on stage. I genuinely enjoy their performances and they put their all into the choreo every time.
Other groups we saw were Sistar 19, NU’EST, Rainbow and Nine Muses. NU’EST’s fans were already in the audience with us, Sistar19’s fans were off on the sides and I felt really bad for Rainbow and Nine Muses because the staff were running late with the prerecordings so instead of properly shuffling all the fan clubs they just sort of put the fans for those two… in the back. They cheered enthusiastically but it wasn’t the same as what the other groups got to have, poor girls.
When we filed out of there after ALL THOSE PERFORMANCES (seriously, we expected that we’d get to see maybe three?) we were told we wouldn’t be able to get into the live because of the amount of fans that were there for the groups actually performing live. For the hell of it we decided a commemorative photo was in order, since we had dubbed ourselves the Foreign Five (which had stemmed from a comment about how noticeable we were as the only really obviously foreign people in line for DMTN) and had decided we were superheroes.
After that, Hattie and I decided to call it a day because we had a bit of a trip back, especially Hattie who had to go all the way back to her place in Icheon where she’ll be teaching. I found out from Taheera later that all the Dalmates DID get in after all and I wanna be like ‘oh well, I’ve seen plenty these holidays’ but I feel so greedy like I just want to suck up as many experiences as I can, so I can’t help but be a little disappointed. OH WELLLL.
Leena had been relaxing all day so she was going to head out and asked if I wanted to come along, but I was pretty tired anyway so I nixed that and ended up staying in. My intention was to have a really early night but that didn’t really happen either, despite the fact I needed to be up at a reasonable hour.
I had tried to find something that I could do on Sunday, the last full day that I had in Seoul that didn’t include a plane trip at the end of it, and decided to attempt going to the Korean Folk Village. More on that later!