Part one of SHINee concert post
Okay, first of all, just as a precaution, my fanaccount is nowhere close to complete. The whole concert was like 2-3 hours of sensory overload, and so much went on that it was hard to keep track of everything as it happened, much less remember it all later. Especially when the boys kept moving to different parts of the stage, so I would have to turn my head and/or move around to see more than one of them.
I was in the C standing section, which basically touched the front stage in the center and the two walkways that stuck out on the sides. Which gave me a pretty good view, but got me shoved around and elbowed in the head a lot. But altogether, it was still really fun.
The boys were all really energetic and enthusiastic all night, even though you could tell they were getting exhausted. Seriously, they were all sweating buckets. Except Key, who apparently is just... too good for that kind of thing. Or something. Onew looked like his face was melting off.
The whole concert felt really put together, and I loved all the videos playing in the background, as unintentionally hilarious as some of them were. The boys were all amazing, and you could tell so, so much work went into this, and just... Idek. I'm really, really glad I got to go.
Onew - I did not expect him to be as much of a tease as he ended up being. It wasn't exactly in the same flirtatious way Minho and Jonghyun were being, but it was still definitely there. He'd kneel down at the edge of the stage and look down at the fans, and do something like he's about to touch their hands or hand them something. And then he'd pull back at the last second and be like, "Nuh-uh-uh! :)" and wag his finger before walking away.
He seemed the most exhausted the entire concert. During Romantic, when they were sitting on steps, he was leaning back on his elbows and just looked like he was half-asleep. During Lucifer, when they got lifted in the air, he just leaned back in his sling and took a little nap, idek. In one song, he just flopped down on the floor and laid there flat on his back and kept singing like that, lmao. Minho and Jonghyun pulled him back up.
As much as I love the awkward, unsure boy he used to be around debut, I also love how much confidence he has now. Boy's got swag nowadays, and I like that. He went from, "People like me? Oh, cool! :D" at fangirls screaming to, "Pft, yeah, I know I'm awesome. But thanks for reminding me. :)"
Jonghyun - SUCH a flirt. He and Minho made and HELD eye-contact with various fans in the crowd a LOT. He'd also point at them, and sing directly at them for several seconds. During Ready or Not, he kept pointing at different fans when the song went "Giiiiiiiiirl. Giiiiiiiiiiiirl." He was really energetic, like he was trying to make up for not being able to dance. He kept running around whenever he could.
His singing at the beginning was kind of shaky and strained, so Cate and I were worried at first, but he somehow got better and better as the night went on. He was really good from the middle on, better than I've heard in a while.
Key - By coincidence, he'd end up right in front of where I was a lot of the time. He's seriously SO good-looking in person, and I was struck the most by this seeing him more than any of the other boys. I've always thought that he's a natural on stage/camera, more than the other boys, and he really is. He's just really charismatic and confident and... idek. I really loved watching him perform.
He was really, really good at interacting with the audience and getting everyone pumped up, especially during his solo. His singing was also way better than I'd heard before. He was also really good at making SRS, SAD ballad faces, haha.
Minho - Actually, I probably saw him the least out of all the boys. Not intentionally, but he'd always end up somewhere on the stage where I wasn't. Like I mentioned in Jonghyun's, also a huge flirt. Made eye-contact with fans a lot and would sing at them. He was in such a good mood all night, and just kept BEAMING, and had so much fun interacting with fangirls. It was really sweet.
There was one part where all of them got laundry baskets of bouncy balls, and were throwing them into the audience. Minho punted one of his reaaaaaaaaally far, way over my head and into the middle of the sitting seats, which was hilarious. Of course he would kick/throw them as far as possible, just to show off his athleticism.
Taemin - Seriously, this kid's voice has improved SO much. I loved his solo so much, it was probably my favorite after Onew's. Partially because I love Romeo + Juliette, but also because I love that he sang and danced the ENTIRE song himself. He even did Minho's rap part at the end! His shirt was that weird halter top long sleeve thing they wore in Juliette, and there was one part where he kept popping his naked shoulder toward the audience that made the fangirls go BALLISTIC.'
There was one point near the end where he accidentally ended up right in front of where I was standing, and just stayed there to dance for a good 30 seconds, looking down at the ten or so fans who were right there. I just kept going, "Holy shit, you are so thin."
He just has this air of entitled brat around him, but it's somehow really cute and endearing and not irritating. Like after Jaewon did a "dance", and he ran into the middle wearing sunglasses and went, "Go Taemin! Go Taemin!" and then imitated Jaewon's dance. Oh, Taemin. And when he went around wearing his dinosaur hat, with this really pleased expression like "^_^ Aren't I CUTE? Wait, don't answer that, of course I am."
As a Group - You could tell they were having so much fun on stage, especially when they just got to run around and do whatever they wanted. They seemed to have a lot of inside jokes about the performances, because they kept making eye contact to do stuff and laughing. There were a lot of little gestures they all did together that they must've planned beforehand, like the "Whoaaaaa" part in Stand By Me, and they'd all raise their arms in the air and wiggle them down, idek. It was really cute, and funny because THEY found it so funny, because they kept laughing everytime they did it. They also all jumped into the air together at one point. And waved their arms in a circle in A-Yo, which they got the audience to do too. And spinning around during Ready or Not.
Lots of interactions, though I can't remember them all. I do remember some Ontae, though I can't recall specifics, and I think Jongyu? A decent amount of Minkey, surprisingly enough. During one song, the two of them just stood in the center on the front stage and did some weird mating dance ritual at each other, idek. They also got all in each other's faces in a "rap battle" in Get Down, and shoved each other away. Some Jongkey, though I think it was just mostly little things, like smiling at each other.
There wasn't much Onkey interaction until the end, which made me sadface. :( Though during Love Like Oxygen, when they were dragging their chairs toward each other after their chair dance, Onew looked right at Key with this :DDDDDD face the entire time, obviously expecting Key to make eye contact with him. Key didn't, so the poor guy was left hanging, lol.
But at the end, the boys made three bows together, towards the left, middle, and right parts of the stage. (There was a fourth at the very end, with all of their backup dancers.) After the second, Onew was lagging a bit behind the others because he was waving at fans on his way over to the right side of the stage. The others were already in place. Key made a space between him and Taemin so he was at the end of the line. He turned back to look at Onew and held a hand out to him. Onew hurried the rest of the way over and situated himself between Key and Taemin, and the boys all held hands and bowed. Then they let go to wave at the fans and say "Thank you." Except Onkey, who just kept holding hands, and just waved with their free hands. They only let go when everyone finally turned to walk back to the center of the stage. I couldn't tell if it'd been Key who'd been reluctant to let go, since he'd been on the verge of tears since the last song, or if it'd been Onew who was holding on because he'd noticed Key was upset and was trying to comfort him. Either way, it was adorable, and I really, really wish I'd gotten a fancam of it. :(
The thing I remembered really clearly was that, basically, Jongho were all over each other the entire night. To the point that Cate and I later theorized that some epic bromance moment must've taken place before the concert. I can't even remember everything they did, but:
- They play-fought in one song and got all up in each other's faces, then shoved each other. For no reason, as far as I could tell.
- Jonghyun tried to kiss Minho, who jerked away.
- Minho dumped water on Jonghyun, following him around the entire stage to make sure the entire bottle got all over him. Jonghyun retaliated poured his water all over Minho.
- When they were throwing the bouncy balls around, they just kept pantomiming throwing them at each other and getting really giddy about it, with these ":DDD I'm gonna hit 'cha! I'm gonna throw this at 'cha!" and ":DDD Not if I throw this at you first!!" faces.
- There was one point (in Up and Down, maybe?) when their moving platforms connected and they just hugged really hard and clung to each other for a long time. The fans went crazy on that one.
- I think they man-hugged at another point when they passed each other on stage.
- At the end, Minho just kept his hand on the small of Jonghyun's back the whole time.
None of the boys cried the night I went (the 2nd), though some of them looked slightly teary-eyed at certain points. Of couse by "some", I mean Onjongkey, because 2Min are too good for crying. Because they're manly men. Or something. Key was the first, and was really solemn and sadface from the last song on.
At the very end, as they were all walking offstage, Key kept walking really slowly to wave at the fans one last time. Then he doubled back and did it again, going, "Byeeee. Byeeee. Byeee!" Boy really, really did not want to leave. Onew laughed at him, and said, "Thank you!" in English into his mic. Cate and I instinctively answered, "You're welcome!" and got weird looks for it.
Also, YOOGEUN WAS THERE! We saw him in the beginning, but we passed right beneath him as we were leaving. He is really, really cute, but I hated the way some fans kept shrieking his name to try to get his attention. Yeah, he's a celebrity, but he's also a toddler. Just let him be, guys. :T Apparently lots of other famous people were there too, though we couldn't tell who any of them were at the time. Also, four SM boy trainees and one girl trainee. One of them could've been Jino for all I know; I can't tell any of the kids apart. :|
I was in the C standing section, which basically touched the front stage in the center and the two walkways that stuck out on the sides. Which gave me a pretty good view, but got me shoved around and elbowed in the head a lot. But altogether, it was still really fun.
The boys were all really energetic and enthusiastic all night, even though you could tell they were getting exhausted. Seriously, they were all sweating buckets. Except Key, who apparently is just... too good for that kind of thing. Or something. Onew looked like his face was melting off.
The whole concert felt really put together, and I loved all the videos playing in the background, as unintentionally hilarious as some of them were. The boys were all amazing, and you could tell so, so much work went into this, and just... Idek. I'm really, really glad I got to go.
Onew - I did not expect him to be as much of a tease as he ended up being. It wasn't exactly in the same flirtatious way Minho and Jonghyun were being, but it was still definitely there. He'd kneel down at the edge of the stage and look down at the fans, and do something like he's about to touch their hands or hand them something. And then he'd pull back at the last second and be like, "Nuh-uh-uh! :)" and wag his finger before walking away.
He seemed the most exhausted the entire concert. During Romantic, when they were sitting on steps, he was leaning back on his elbows and just looked like he was half-asleep. During Lucifer, when they got lifted in the air, he just leaned back in his sling and took a little nap, idek. In one song, he just flopped down on the floor and laid there flat on his back and kept singing like that, lmao. Minho and Jonghyun pulled him back up.
As much as I love the awkward, unsure boy he used to be around debut, I also love how much confidence he has now. Boy's got swag nowadays, and I like that. He went from, "People like me? Oh, cool! :D" at fangirls screaming to, "Pft, yeah, I know I'm awesome. But thanks for reminding me. :)"
Jonghyun - SUCH a flirt. He and Minho made and HELD eye-contact with various fans in the crowd a LOT. He'd also point at them, and sing directly at them for several seconds. During Ready or Not, he kept pointing at different fans when the song went "Giiiiiiiiirl. Giiiiiiiiiiiirl." He was really energetic, like he was trying to make up for not being able to dance. He kept running around whenever he could.
His singing at the beginning was kind of shaky and strained, so Cate and I were worried at first, but he somehow got better and better as the night went on. He was really good from the middle on, better than I've heard in a while.
Key - By coincidence, he'd end up right in front of where I was a lot of the time. He's seriously SO good-looking in person, and I was struck the most by this seeing him more than any of the other boys. I've always thought that he's a natural on stage/camera, more than the other boys, and he really is. He's just really charismatic and confident and... idek. I really loved watching him perform.
He was really, really good at interacting with the audience and getting everyone pumped up, especially during his solo. His singing was also way better than I'd heard before. He was also really good at making SRS, SAD ballad faces, haha.
Minho - Actually, I probably saw him the least out of all the boys. Not intentionally, but he'd always end up somewhere on the stage where I wasn't. Like I mentioned in Jonghyun's, also a huge flirt. Made eye-contact with fans a lot and would sing at them. He was in such a good mood all night, and just kept BEAMING, and had so much fun interacting with fangirls. It was really sweet.
There was one part where all of them got laundry baskets of bouncy balls, and were throwing them into the audience. Minho punted one of his reaaaaaaaaally far, way over my head and into the middle of the sitting seats, which was hilarious. Of course he would kick/throw them as far as possible, just to show off his athleticism.
Taemin - Seriously, this kid's voice has improved SO much. I loved his solo so much, it was probably my favorite after Onew's. Partially because I love Romeo + Juliette, but also because I love that he sang and danced the ENTIRE song himself. He even did Minho's rap part at the end! His shirt was that weird halter top long sleeve thing they wore in Juliette, and there was one part where he kept popping his naked shoulder toward the audience that made the fangirls go BALLISTIC.'
There was one point near the end where he accidentally ended up right in front of where I was standing, and just stayed there to dance for a good 30 seconds, looking down at the ten or so fans who were right there. I just kept going, "Holy shit, you are so thin."
He just has this air of entitled brat around him, but it's somehow really cute and endearing and not irritating. Like after Jaewon did a "dance", and he ran into the middle wearing sunglasses and went, "Go Taemin! Go Taemin!" and then imitated Jaewon's dance. Oh, Taemin. And when he went around wearing his dinosaur hat, with this really pleased expression like "^_^ Aren't I CUTE? Wait, don't answer that, of course I am."
As a Group - You could tell they were having so much fun on stage, especially when they just got to run around and do whatever they wanted. They seemed to have a lot of inside jokes about the performances, because they kept making eye contact to do stuff and laughing. There were a lot of little gestures they all did together that they must've planned beforehand, like the "Whoaaaaa" part in Stand By Me, and they'd all raise their arms in the air and wiggle them down, idek. It was really cute, and funny because THEY found it so funny, because they kept laughing everytime they did it. They also all jumped into the air together at one point. And waved their arms in a circle in A-Yo, which they got the audience to do too. And spinning around during Ready or Not.
Lots of interactions, though I can't remember them all. I do remember some Ontae, though I can't recall specifics, and I think Jongyu? A decent amount of Minkey, surprisingly enough. During one song, the two of them just stood in the center on the front stage and did some weird mating dance ritual at each other, idek. They also got all in each other's faces in a "rap battle" in Get Down, and shoved each other away. Some Jongkey, though I think it was just mostly little things, like smiling at each other.
There wasn't much Onkey interaction until the end, which made me sadface. :( Though during Love Like Oxygen, when they were dragging their chairs toward each other after their chair dance, Onew looked right at Key with this :DDDDDD face the entire time, obviously expecting Key to make eye contact with him. Key didn't, so the poor guy was left hanging, lol.
But at the end, the boys made three bows together, towards the left, middle, and right parts of the stage. (There was a fourth at the very end, with all of their backup dancers.) After the second, Onew was lagging a bit behind the others because he was waving at fans on his way over to the right side of the stage. The others were already in place. Key made a space between him and Taemin so he was at the end of the line. He turned back to look at Onew and held a hand out to him. Onew hurried the rest of the way over and situated himself between Key and Taemin, and the boys all held hands and bowed. Then they let go to wave at the fans and say "Thank you." Except Onkey, who just kept holding hands, and just waved with their free hands. They only let go when everyone finally turned to walk back to the center of the stage. I couldn't tell if it'd been Key who'd been reluctant to let go, since he'd been on the verge of tears since the last song, or if it'd been Onew who was holding on because he'd noticed Key was upset and was trying to comfort him. Either way, it was adorable, and I really, really wish I'd gotten a fancam of it. :(
The thing I remembered really clearly was that, basically, Jongho were all over each other the entire night. To the point that Cate and I later theorized that some epic bromance moment must've taken place before the concert. I can't even remember everything they did, but:
- They play-fought in one song and got all up in each other's faces, then shoved each other. For no reason, as far as I could tell.
- Jonghyun tried to kiss Minho, who jerked away.
- Minho dumped water on Jonghyun, following him around the entire stage to make sure the entire bottle got all over him. Jonghyun retaliated poured his water all over Minho.
- When they were throwing the bouncy balls around, they just kept pantomiming throwing them at each other and getting really giddy about it, with these ":DDD I'm gonna hit 'cha! I'm gonna throw this at 'cha!" and ":DDD Not if I throw this at you first!!" faces.
- There was one point (in Up and Down, maybe?) when their moving platforms connected and they just hugged really hard and clung to each other for a long time. The fans went crazy on that one.
- I think they man-hugged at another point when they passed each other on stage.
- At the end, Minho just kept his hand on the small of Jonghyun's back the whole time.
None of the boys cried the night I went (the 2nd), though some of them looked slightly teary-eyed at certain points. Of couse by "some", I mean Onjongkey, because 2Min are too good for crying. Because they're manly men. Or something. Key was the first, and was really solemn and sadface from the last song on.
At the very end, as they were all walking offstage, Key kept walking really slowly to wave at the fans one last time. Then he doubled back and did it again, going, "Byeeee. Byeeee. Byeee!" Boy really, really did not want to leave. Onew laughed at him, and said, "Thank you!" in English into his mic. Cate and I instinctively answered, "You're welcome!" and got weird looks for it.
Also, YOOGEUN WAS THERE! We saw him in the beginning, but we passed right beneath him as we were leaving. He is really, really cute, but I hated the way some fans kept shrieking his name to try to get his attention. Yeah, he's a celebrity, but he's also a toddler. Just let him be, guys. :T Apparently lots of other famous people were there too, though we couldn't tell who any of them were at the time. Also, four SM boy trainees and one girl trainee. One of them could've been Jino for all I know; I can't tell any of the kids apart. :|