MBCKpop at Google
Be warned: the current rebroadcast stream doesn't actually show anything until around 33 minutes in. The first performance is at 42:10.
Will be back later with review. Maybe. Without that much snark, surprisingly!
There's a visceral energy to the video. I think it being in America, with an audience who are mostly seeing their favorite Kpop acts live for the first time, has really created a feverish energy that the groups are feeding off of, a purity of excitement that they may not find in Korea as often as mainstream celebrities with more casual fans. The audience here are all die-hards willing to spend a Monday night at a concert, and some of them perhaps also having spent a good chunk of dough to fly in, so of course they're all going to get their money's worth and spazz out like they should.
Either that, or I haven't watched a Kpop concert in too long. But I felt like the performers had an extra edge to them, which may be a result of their synergy of the audience.
Kara: My bias for Jiyoung just keeps growing. She's really become one of those super-competent maknaes, right up there with Riho, Jurina, and Krystal.
Were those rock guitars always in "Step?" Really liked the aggressiveness they brought to the song.
Lol Taeny shippers everywhere die of happiness. Oh man, Taeyeon is just a goldmine of hilarity for a cynic. She's still a silvertongue, but as an MC she has the most amusing expressions when she's not speaking.
Tiffany's tapped into her silvertongue mode for this gig, as well. She's smoooooooth.
MBLAQ: Have not paid any attention to MBLAQ for a while. I liked the music they used for their dance intro, like dark Daft Punk or something. Anyone know what it was?
Hah, This Is War's verse really sounds like a Rain song. The chorus is definitely made for a group, through. For that matter, what with those strings, it sounds like it could be a JE song, lol. Quickly got bored of it, though.
My general impression is that MBLAQ is a neverending fountain of MELODRAMATIC to the point of cheesiness. At least they dropped the angst for "Oh Yeah," although the end of "Y" had some moments of amusement at how smug they were acting.
Up until "Oh Yeah," I thought that the concert definitely could have benefitted by replacing them with Shinee. But Shinee gets too earnest sometimes, and the inevitable Lucifer/RDD or Replay/Sherlock setlist probably wouldn't have had that many fun moments, as impressive as they would have been.
Sistar: Oh shit, just noticed all of the LCD goodness on stage. Electrical engineering :D
LOLOLOLOLOL dance intro is awkward as fuck with those dresses restricting all movement.
Lol, it was probably a bad thing that my first experience with "Alone" was the NG video because now I can't take it seriously. I just keep thinking about the hilarity of the NG video and wondering if it'll happen here. Well, when I'm not thinking "DAT ASS" and "DOZE LEGZ," anyways.
Otherwise, that incessant piano kind of puts me off.
This may be the first time I've listened to the original version of Ma Boy, lol. (I have two remix versions) I can see why people like it so much. Would it be ignorant for me to say it's a little Destiny's Child-like? (And Hyorin is Beyonce, of course.)
First time hearing "So Cool", as well. Heh, this is so electro-trot. Definitely Sistar back when "Push Push" was their signature. Otherwise, this kind of sounds like a 4minute song, but with that Sistar smoothness where 4minute would be in-your-face aggressive.
It's odd, but I feel like party-pleasers don't fit Sistar.
f(x): LOL their stylist. It's clever having them all have that rainbow stripe pattern on them in different places, but the execution is still...more high fashion than good-looking performance attire.
LOL an "I <3 Choi Sooyoung" sign during the Pinocchio perf.
I hate the chorus to "Hot Summer,"(and kind of meh about the second pre-chorus) but I gotta love everything else: the choreography letting Amber dance all over the place, the sliding vocals in the verse simulating electro synths, letting the arrangement be as heavy as it wants, and that "eeeeeey-yooooo" accompanying glorious ass.
Oh man, I never get tired of the contrast between aloof goddess Krystal and magnificently enthusiastic Luna.
Ahahahahaha "This weather is amazing." Amber is enjoying this so much, while Krystal is feeling a little more awkward. I love it!
Aw, "Nu ABO" fuckyea. I wonder if the division of Google normally responsible for designing the daily Google homepage logo easter egg was also responsible for the stage visuals. So much designer student's orgasm, lol.
And oh fuckyea, dat bridge and Luna's belt.
And lol, now every time I get to the end of Nu ABO I keep expecting it to segue into Lucifer.
It's like, impossible for Taeyeon not to be the greatest thing during the MC portions.
Sunye: Do I hear a bit of an American accent in her singing?
I disliked the sound mixing of this song, which pulled me out of trying to pay attention to the emotions on display.
Oh wow, the crowd went completely nuts for Seo.
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH SEO PLAYING GUITAR WHAT IS THIS WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN. But is she even actually playing that thing? She doesn't seem to be playing the same stroke pattern as the backing track, and is that guitar attached to anything?
Regardless, Avril!Seo is pleasant to listen to. Put her in a pop rock group with Jiyoung, stat! Lol, Seo stops with any pretense at guitar playing for the final chorus. Why did they have that guitar for her in the first place? Did she do this in SMTown on Sunday?
Now if Seo just unleashes her inner dominatrix she could make a pretty kickass rock band frontgirl, strutting around the stage and kicking people in the face and shit.
Kara again:
Kara really are the ideal Kpop group to top Japan. They aren't particularly impressive in terms of technique, but they fill the arena with sheer stage presence and charisma. The way they carry themselves has that undefinable star quality and confidence. Of course, I give this evaluation based on watching them through the camera. I have no idea if they have the same amount of presence in person, sitting far away from the stage. Someone has noted before that Morning Musume is really a group whose appeal is built towards individual appeal through the camera, and look more sloppy as a group in person.
Oh man, the energy of the theatre SKYROCKETS at the first sounds of Mister. It really is one of those perfect songs. Why they picked "wanna" as the title track at first is beyond me. Lol "Nicole werk it" sign. Although, it's interesting how Mister is such a group song that it really doesn't need Seungyeon's adlibs, as opposed to how Luna's adlib augments "Nu ABO."
Speaking of Kara and Jpop compatibility, I really wanna see one of them take on Itano Tomomi's solo songs. A Kara "Dear J" would be FUCKING AMAZING. Gyuri must center, of course.
You know, I want to see a concert where Taeny are MCs, but progressively get more and more drunk as the concert goes on.
Batoost:
"Shock" is pure fun. Actually, I think Beast could have benefitted from hamming this song up even more, especially the chorus choreo, but this is probably one of the songs they've performed way too much. There are elements of "Shock" that are very "Mister," proving that there are universal elements of crowd-pleaser songs.
"Fiction" serves as a great contrast to MBLAQ, as Beast play it slick and cool, avoiding getting so melodramatic and overblown as they could with a mid-tempo track. I think it's a reason they've been able to become more popular than MBLAQ. It's like the difference between Momoka and Reni's dancing.
"Beautiful" sounds like a reject YGEnt track for Big Bang AND 2NE1, lol, but Beast really play up the shenanigans to make up for it. It's kind of like a KAT-TUN performance, lol.
SNSD:
Lol, 7nin SNSD. Suck it, power of nine. Although, seriously, they really only need 7 members: TaeSicSeo, Tiffany or Sunny, and then three members of dance line to pad out to seven so the V formation looks impressive. And wowee, are YooSooRi kind of useless except to make the group look taller and have amazing weave.
Lol Jessica is feeling just as awkward as Krystal. But SNSD do end up being the group with the most english fan interaction so far. The SM training is strong in them.
Okay, I admit that I was overly harsh on Mr. Taxi. It's a song that is very good at what it's meant to do, and I let my wishes for it to do something else get in the way of recognizing that. That moment when they all jump into the chorus dance in unison is a powerful one. (Mr. Taxi is one song where they could replace a couple vocal line members with YoonYul for maximum visual impact in a 7nin perf. Probably Jeti. But yeah, still don't need 9.)
I feel like Gee is such a powerhouse of a song and MV that it may not carry over as well live, especially that crab dance. But man, SNSD can really do this one in their sleep, and where just about every group before (except Kara) were very lax and a little messy for their last song, SNSD are at their most precise and synced for Gee. Lol Tiffany singing Yuri's lines and being amused by it. Okay, I take back what I said about it not carrying over as well live. It's just as powerful, but only because of the members' sheer talent.
Huh, no TTS. Did SM not want to fly their backdancers out there?
Wonder Girls:
Love the "Be My Baby" outfits. But wow, not subtle backing vocals steam-rolling Sohee. Might as well be lip-syncing. This performance shows that SNSD and WG have a different sort of stage presence from Kara, one more solemn and mature, for lack of better term. The best I can say is that SNSD and WG's stage presence is more American where Kara's is Japanese, if that makes sense. Even when they're bouncing around, WG feel more grounded where Kara feel more peppy.
AUGH YENNY YOUR HAIR. ;_;
Heh, Yoobin dance break. That girl is magnificent.
And as expected, WG have even more english interaction than SNSD. SNSD and WG (and f(x), for that matter) really stand out for how much they're able to connect with the audience compared to the groups who are stuck with the relay through the translator. So even if Kpop groups are able to release music in Korean in America, which is possible, I think they'll have to be fluent in English for outside of performance.
Huh, it's interesting to note that they sang "Tell Me" in Korean and did not sing "The DJ is Mine." It shows that there is a perception of difference between their music released for Korea vs. for America, and that they recognize that Kpop fans are in Kpop because it's Kpop, and that the push into America is not really for the fans at this concert.
So many jazz hands whenever Taeny refer to themselves, lol.
Super Junior:
Lol, Superman is pure melodramatic ham. Wait, is this a "introduce every member by name" song? Ahahahahahahahaha Team B Oshi ahahahahahahah Wasshoi Suju ahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Lol, "Mr. Simple" is pure rehash, but for some reason I don't dislike it the way I dislike 2PM's rehash or Bonamana. Suju are just so shamelessly hamming it up, I can't help but just bob along. This is their "Sexy and I Know It" to Sorryx2's "Party Rock Anthem," I guess. It's kind of hard to resist "Sexy and I Know It," sometimes, no matter how disgusting I find it.
Suju's dance break is both more chaotic and less messy than previous boybands'. I think it's their stage presence that makes any sloppiness feel okay. Well, that and SM training, of course. SM groups (other than f(x), that poor bastard child) really are on another level in stage manner.
I love how they're the only group to do a line of crowd-pumping self-introductions. Even though they technically don't have any fluent members, they manage to interact with the crowd more than any of the boybands thus far, and even better than SNSD. It really speaks to Leeteuk's natural and Eunhyuk's learned sivertongue skills that they can be like this even through the translator.
"Sorry Sorry," like "Mister" is such a perfect group song that it doesn't need the adlibs in the middle, although the Kyuhyun one at the end is a nice touch.
DBSK:
DBSK and Suju are on another level up from the rest of the groups, but DBSK is really on another level completely even from Suju when it comes to sheer performance. One can't really view them as an idol group at all when watching them here. Someone called YYJ's songs in this style (KYHD and Rising Sun) as "world domination" style, and that KYHD even more forcefully proclaiming their hegemony than Rising Sun, and I completely agree. Homin are not forces of nature here, they're forces of FORCE. Too bad the recording is plagued with lag skips here.
You can see them struggling to change their mindsets from "WE ARE FUCKING BADASSES BITCH" to "Oh yeah, we're awesome" from KYHD to "Before U Go."
One has to think about how a group's reputation controls their performance. DBSK are legendary, and so they are held to a higher standard of performance. Changmin has to dance just as well as Yunho, and the two of them do choreography even for this BALLAD that blows the choreo for everyone else out of the water in technique. (Although Shinee would have been dance equals if they had shown up) But the girlgroups (and some of the boybands) simply are not expected to dance this well, so they don't, even if they have the talent. What a sad state of affairs.
Oh man, Rising Sun is one of the greatest and most unique songs in history, and not just in Asian and/or idol music. Seriously! And I don't know if anyone but DBSK could ever portray its greatness.(Out of the current crop in Kpop, Shinee have the song and dance ability, but not that sheer force, and I don't think they ever will.) They truly were lightning in a bottle.
And in the ending "Arirang," SM proves that its training system is king, as everyone but Suju, SNSD, and DBSK were completely stiff and lifeless. Meanwhile it's Suju, SNSD, and DBSK mingling and pulling stage shenanigans and looking like they're actually having fun. (LOL SOHEE) It makes them infinitely more visible and interesting than the other groups. Suju also take their sweet time leaving the stage, getting the most screentime.
Will be back later with review. Maybe. Without that much snark, surprisingly!
There's a visceral energy to the video. I think it being in America, with an audience who are mostly seeing their favorite Kpop acts live for the first time, has really created a feverish energy that the groups are feeding off of, a purity of excitement that they may not find in Korea as often as mainstream celebrities with more casual fans. The audience here are all die-hards willing to spend a Monday night at a concert, and some of them perhaps also having spent a good chunk of dough to fly in, so of course they're all going to get their money's worth and spazz out like they should.
Either that, or I haven't watched a Kpop concert in too long. But I felt like the performers had an extra edge to them, which may be a result of their synergy of the audience.
Kara: My bias for Jiyoung just keeps growing. She's really become one of those super-competent maknaes, right up there with Riho, Jurina, and Krystal.
Were those rock guitars always in "Step?" Really liked the aggressiveness they brought to the song.
Lol Taeny shippers everywhere die of happiness. Oh man, Taeyeon is just a goldmine of hilarity for a cynic. She's still a silvertongue, but as an MC she has the most amusing expressions when she's not speaking.
Tiffany's tapped into her silvertongue mode for this gig, as well. She's smoooooooth.
MBLAQ: Have not paid any attention to MBLAQ for a while. I liked the music they used for their dance intro, like dark Daft Punk or something. Anyone know what it was?
Hah, This Is War's verse really sounds like a Rain song. The chorus is definitely made for a group, through. For that matter, what with those strings, it sounds like it could be a JE song, lol. Quickly got bored of it, though.
My general impression is that MBLAQ is a neverending fountain of MELODRAMATIC to the point of cheesiness. At least they dropped the angst for "Oh Yeah," although the end of "Y" had some moments of amusement at how smug they were acting.
Up until "Oh Yeah," I thought that the concert definitely could have benefitted by replacing them with Shinee. But Shinee gets too earnest sometimes, and the inevitable Lucifer/RDD or Replay/Sherlock setlist probably wouldn't have had that many fun moments, as impressive as they would have been.
Sistar: Oh shit, just noticed all of the LCD goodness on stage. Electrical engineering :D
LOLOLOLOLOL dance intro is awkward as fuck with those dresses restricting all movement.
Lol, it was probably a bad thing that my first experience with "Alone" was the NG video because now I can't take it seriously. I just keep thinking about the hilarity of the NG video and wondering if it'll happen here. Well, when I'm not thinking "DAT ASS" and "DOZE LEGZ," anyways.
Otherwise, that incessant piano kind of puts me off.
This may be the first time I've listened to the original version of Ma Boy, lol. (I have two remix versions) I can see why people like it so much. Would it be ignorant for me to say it's a little Destiny's Child-like? (And Hyorin is Beyonce, of course.)
First time hearing "So Cool", as well. Heh, this is so electro-trot. Definitely Sistar back when "Push Push" was their signature. Otherwise, this kind of sounds like a 4minute song, but with that Sistar smoothness where 4minute would be in-your-face aggressive.
It's odd, but I feel like party-pleasers don't fit Sistar.
f(x): LOL their stylist. It's clever having them all have that rainbow stripe pattern on them in different places, but the execution is still...more high fashion than good-looking performance attire.
LOL an "I <3 Choi Sooyoung" sign during the Pinocchio perf.
I hate the chorus to "Hot Summer,"(and kind of meh about the second pre-chorus) but I gotta love everything else: the choreography letting Amber dance all over the place, the sliding vocals in the verse simulating electro synths, letting the arrangement be as heavy as it wants, and that "eeeeeey-yooooo" accompanying glorious ass.
Oh man, I never get tired of the contrast between aloof goddess Krystal and magnificently enthusiastic Luna.
Ahahahahaha "This weather is amazing." Amber is enjoying this so much, while Krystal is feeling a little more awkward. I love it!
Aw, "Nu ABO" fuckyea. I wonder if the division of Google normally responsible for designing the daily Google homepage logo easter egg was also responsible for the stage visuals. So much designer student's orgasm, lol.
And oh fuckyea, dat bridge and Luna's belt.
And lol, now every time I get to the end of Nu ABO I keep expecting it to segue into Lucifer.
It's like, impossible for Taeyeon not to be the greatest thing during the MC portions.
Sunye: Do I hear a bit of an American accent in her singing?
I disliked the sound mixing of this song, which pulled me out of trying to pay attention to the emotions on display.
Oh wow, the crowd went completely nuts for Seo.
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH SEO PLAYING GUITAR WHAT IS THIS WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN. But is she even actually playing that thing? She doesn't seem to be playing the same stroke pattern as the backing track, and is that guitar attached to anything?
Regardless, Avril!Seo is pleasant to listen to. Put her in a pop rock group with Jiyoung, stat! Lol, Seo stops with any pretense at guitar playing for the final chorus. Why did they have that guitar for her in the first place? Did she do this in SMTown on Sunday?
Now if Seo just unleashes her inner dominatrix she could make a pretty kickass rock band frontgirl, strutting around the stage and kicking people in the face and shit.
Kara again:
Kara really are the ideal Kpop group to top Japan. They aren't particularly impressive in terms of technique, but they fill the arena with sheer stage presence and charisma. The way they carry themselves has that undefinable star quality and confidence. Of course, I give this evaluation based on watching them through the camera. I have no idea if they have the same amount of presence in person, sitting far away from the stage. Someone has noted before that Morning Musume is really a group whose appeal is built towards individual appeal through the camera, and look more sloppy as a group in person.
Oh man, the energy of the theatre SKYROCKETS at the first sounds of Mister. It really is one of those perfect songs. Why they picked "wanna" as the title track at first is beyond me. Lol "Nicole werk it" sign. Although, it's interesting how Mister is such a group song that it really doesn't need Seungyeon's adlibs, as opposed to how Luna's adlib augments "Nu ABO."
Speaking of Kara and Jpop compatibility, I really wanna see one of them take on Itano Tomomi's solo songs. A Kara "Dear J" would be FUCKING AMAZING. Gyuri must center, of course.
You know, I want to see a concert where Taeny are MCs, but progressively get more and more drunk as the concert goes on.
Batoost:
"Shock" is pure fun. Actually, I think Beast could have benefitted from hamming this song up even more, especially the chorus choreo, but this is probably one of the songs they've performed way too much. There are elements of "Shock" that are very "Mister," proving that there are universal elements of crowd-pleaser songs.
"Fiction" serves as a great contrast to MBLAQ, as Beast play it slick and cool, avoiding getting so melodramatic and overblown as they could with a mid-tempo track. I think it's a reason they've been able to become more popular than MBLAQ. It's like the difference between Momoka and Reni's dancing.
"Beautiful" sounds like a reject YGEnt track for Big Bang AND 2NE1, lol, but Beast really play up the shenanigans to make up for it. It's kind of like a KAT-TUN performance, lol.
SNSD:
Lol, 7nin SNSD. Suck it, power of nine. Although, seriously, they really only need 7 members: TaeSicSeo, Tiffany or Sunny, and then three members of dance line to pad out to seven so the V formation looks impressive. And wowee, are YooSooRi kind of useless except to make the group look taller and have amazing weave.
Lol Jessica is feeling just as awkward as Krystal. But SNSD do end up being the group with the most english fan interaction so far. The SM training is strong in them.
Okay, I admit that I was overly harsh on Mr. Taxi. It's a song that is very good at what it's meant to do, and I let my wishes for it to do something else get in the way of recognizing that. That moment when they all jump into the chorus dance in unison is a powerful one. (Mr. Taxi is one song where they could replace a couple vocal line members with YoonYul for maximum visual impact in a 7nin perf. Probably Jeti. But yeah, still don't need 9.)
I feel like Gee is such a powerhouse of a song and MV that it may not carry over as well live, especially that crab dance. But man, SNSD can really do this one in their sleep, and where just about every group before (except Kara) were very lax and a little messy for their last song, SNSD are at their most precise and synced for Gee. Lol Tiffany singing Yuri's lines and being amused by it. Okay, I take back what I said about it not carrying over as well live. It's just as powerful, but only because of the members' sheer talent.
Huh, no TTS. Did SM not want to fly their backdancers out there?
Wonder Girls:
Love the "Be My Baby" outfits. But wow, not subtle backing vocals steam-rolling Sohee. Might as well be lip-syncing. This performance shows that SNSD and WG have a different sort of stage presence from Kara, one more solemn and mature, for lack of better term. The best I can say is that SNSD and WG's stage presence is more American where Kara's is Japanese, if that makes sense. Even when they're bouncing around, WG feel more grounded where Kara feel more peppy.
AUGH YENNY YOUR HAIR. ;_;
Heh, Yoobin dance break. That girl is magnificent.
And as expected, WG have even more english interaction than SNSD. SNSD and WG (and f(x), for that matter) really stand out for how much they're able to connect with the audience compared to the groups who are stuck with the relay through the translator. So even if Kpop groups are able to release music in Korean in America, which is possible, I think they'll have to be fluent in English for outside of performance.
Huh, it's interesting to note that they sang "Tell Me" in Korean and did not sing "The DJ is Mine." It shows that there is a perception of difference between their music released for Korea vs. for America, and that they recognize that Kpop fans are in Kpop because it's Kpop, and that the push into America is not really for the fans at this concert.
So many jazz hands whenever Taeny refer to themselves, lol.
Super Junior:
Lol, Superman is pure melodramatic ham. Wait, is this a "introduce every member by name" song? Ahahahahahahahaha Team B Oshi ahahahahahahah Wasshoi Suju ahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Lol, "Mr. Simple" is pure rehash, but for some reason I don't dislike it the way I dislike 2PM's rehash or Bonamana. Suju are just so shamelessly hamming it up, I can't help but just bob along. This is their "Sexy and I Know It" to Sorryx2's "Party Rock Anthem," I guess. It's kind of hard to resist "Sexy and I Know It," sometimes, no matter how disgusting I find it.
Suju's dance break is both more chaotic and less messy than previous boybands'. I think it's their stage presence that makes any sloppiness feel okay. Well, that and SM training, of course. SM groups (other than f(x), that poor bastard child) really are on another level in stage manner.
I love how they're the only group to do a line of crowd-pumping self-introductions. Even though they technically don't have any fluent members, they manage to interact with the crowd more than any of the boybands thus far, and even better than SNSD. It really speaks to Leeteuk's natural and Eunhyuk's learned sivertongue skills that they can be like this even through the translator.
"Sorry Sorry," like "Mister" is such a perfect group song that it doesn't need the adlibs in the middle, although the Kyuhyun one at the end is a nice touch.
DBSK:
DBSK and Suju are on another level up from the rest of the groups, but DBSK is really on another level completely even from Suju when it comes to sheer performance. One can't really view them as an idol group at all when watching them here. Someone called YYJ's songs in this style (KYHD and Rising Sun) as "world domination" style, and that KYHD even more forcefully proclaiming their hegemony than Rising Sun, and I completely agree. Homin are not forces of nature here, they're forces of FORCE. Too bad the recording is plagued with lag skips here.
You can see them struggling to change their mindsets from "WE ARE FUCKING BADASSES BITCH" to "Oh yeah, we're awesome" from KYHD to "Before U Go."
One has to think about how a group's reputation controls their performance. DBSK are legendary, and so they are held to a higher standard of performance. Changmin has to dance just as well as Yunho, and the two of them do choreography even for this BALLAD that blows the choreo for everyone else out of the water in technique. (Although Shinee would have been dance equals if they had shown up) But the girlgroups (and some of the boybands) simply are not expected to dance this well, so they don't, even if they have the talent. What a sad state of affairs.
Oh man, Rising Sun is one of the greatest and most unique songs in history, and not just in Asian and/or idol music. Seriously! And I don't know if anyone but DBSK could ever portray its greatness.(Out of the current crop in Kpop, Shinee have the song and dance ability, but not that sheer force, and I don't think they ever will.) They truly were lightning in a bottle.
And in the ending "Arirang," SM proves that its training system is king, as everyone but Suju, SNSD, and DBSK were completely stiff and lifeless. Meanwhile it's Suju, SNSD, and DBSK mingling and pulling stage shenanigans and looking like they're actually having fun. (LOL SOHEE) It makes them infinitely more visible and interesting than the other groups. Suju also take their sweet time leaving the stage, getting the most screentime.