On May 31st, the 2013 CNBLUE BLUE MOON WORD TOUR concert was held in Melbourne, Australia and started off with a bang!
Literally! Rain, lighting and thunder all happened on the day. To all the fans that started lining up at 7am that morning, they definitely showed what you call dedication and commitment to your International artist! They were surely not disappointed by the end of the night!
The opening act commenced at 7:30pm at Festival Hall in Melbourne, with a traditional band layout and a massive screen at the back. It was 100% obvious that all our attention would be on the 4 amazing rockers about to embrace the stage. As the lights dimmed and the sea of people screamed, a moon appeared on the screen followed by a futuristic video of the members of CNBLUE. Within a few minutes Lee Jonghyun, Kang Minhyuk and Lee Jungshin came out onto the stage and took their positions for the first act. Just before they started, our leading man Jung Yonghwa took to the stage and rocked out their first song for the night, ‘Where You Are.‘
‘Where You Are’ was the perfect song to start the show. With a slightly remixed ending showcasing their amazing talent and Jonghyun’s ridiculously fantastic guitar skills, the fans embraced the song wholeheartedly; singing along as if they had sung it 100 times before. It was a clear indicator that the members were going to make their Melbourne fans happy!
Their next song was ‘Get Away.’ Throughout the song, our 3 guitarist completely embraced the stage. They were rockin’ it from one side of the stage to the other, and even back to Minhyuk, who was putting his all into every snare and drum hit making the fans go wild. Yonghwa would then scream out “everybody jump!” And that’s when you really felt the vibration in the floorboards of the venue!
‘One Time’ was their third song for the night. With a heavier rock intro at the start, red lasers shooting into all directions and a background video of burning buildings, the fans were all fired up chanting like crazy. When Yonghwa would sing the words “I know” the fans would sing back with “you know.”
The amazing acoustics of Festival Hall, along with the strong vocals and instrumental skills of CNBLUE made such a great pairing -leaving long lasting impression on the people of Melbourne. A sea of CNBLUE red and blue glow sticks waved around the venue and the high pitched screams of the fans gave everybody goosebumps as they listened to Yongha scream “top of the world.”
After the song, Yonghwa spoke a little bit of English and surprised the fans by saying “good day mate,” one of Australia’s popular greetings.
He then followed this with a “How are you” and Jungshin joined in by attempting an “Aussie Aussie oi oi oi” chant that sent a roar of laughter and screams throughout the crowd. This was very endearing and sweet! After Yonghwa said “Next” they began their intro into “Man like Me.”
“Coffee Shop” was song number 5 for the night, with CNBLUE screaming out “Everybody make one noise…..” the crowd responded with screams, rocking hand movements and a lot of jumping!
The age group at the concert varied from young females to middle aged women enjoying their dose of Korean rock goodness, bopping to the music and singing along to the songs. CNBLUE’s reach was massive and appreciated by everyone no matter who they were or how old they are. This is what make K-POP so incredibly strong and amazing.
A Pink Floyd inspired spectrum of colour played on the big flat screen, rising and falling with the variations of beats and sounds, which paved the way for their next song “Have A Good Night.”
Claps filled the hall for “Wake Up” as the disco ball came on and the flat screen, which changed into what reminded me of comic book artwork, showed the lyrics to the song. ‘Are you having fun’ and ‘Lets go’ flashed on the screen in bright neon colours and lighting bolts. It was absolutely insane.
Throughout the song, Yonghwa was lifting the engagement of the fans even more by screaming “Say yeah” and “Make some noise!!”
Minhyuk and the other members grooved to the beat and sank deep into the music as Jonghyun showed an amazing guitar solo that was completely electrifying.
The music stopped and Yonghwa encouraged the crowd to clap, saying “Ok my turn! Are you ready? Ok, 1, 2 wake up wake up!” As the music slowly built up he went into a scream as the heavy drums, bass and guitar kicked in again for the finale of the song.
The band then decided to take a little break to have a chat with their Melbourne audience!
Yonghwa: “We love Melbourne … We love you!!”
“Can you speak Korean?”
“Annyeo?”
Minhyuk: “THANK YOU!! We were here in Australia 2 years ago, we go Sydney two years ago, but this time we come to Melbourne!! I really love it here”
“There are many reasons why, but it is sick! Very sick!”
Jungshin: “I love steak!”
Yonghwa: “Medium rare please”
“We had steak yesterday, soooo delicious’!!”
“I can’t speak english…. A little…“
“Ok we sing love song”
“Next song is Love Light”
After that super cute chat, the announcement of their next song sent the fans wild! I spoke to a few fans earlier before the show and this was definitely one song that they wanted to hear. A project by Jonghyun, Yonghwa started off the performance with a beautiful acoustic solo and then “1..2…1..2…3..4 Sing this song with me!” to which the fans sang along, as Jonghyun was at the bass for Yonghwa’s short rap.
When the song finished the lights went off and reappeared again with the spotlight on Yonghwa for his beautiful piano solo.
The lights expanded to show the all the 4 members as they begin their performance of “Feeling.” I must say that looking around the crowd everyone had a look on their face as if their heart was melting, mine included!
As the piano faded out and the place got quiet again, a fan screamed “oppa saranghae!” Drums, bass and guitar as well clapping began simultaneously with Minhyuk’s drums becoming the focus. Screams were heard almost in sync with each hit of the snare. As the music faded, Yonghwa was left with his piano, playing yet another beautiful piano solo for the outro.
“These Days” was next up, leaving the crowd in awe with Jonghyuns beautiful voice and jazzy feel to the song. The crowd was silent but very hypnotized at the same time.
After performing “Y,Why” the band decide to continue their conversation with the attentive crowd.
Yonghwa: “THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!”
“Are you having fun?”
“We too!”
Minhyuk: “I want to come here again and again!”
“We love Melbourne”
Yonghwa: “English very well”
“Are you guys having fun? Good day mate!”
“From now on hear our rockin roll music!”
“First it’s time to do dark sexy metal”
“ARE YOU READY!! LETS GO MELBOURNE”
The ‘dark sexy metal’ line was one of the highlights of the night!
“La La La” was a great follow up after the previous slower song, and ridiculously hilarious conversation.
CNBLUE continued their heavier rock feel with “Just Please.” The extended instrumental piece of the outro was absolutely amazing and made us realize even more, that they are a force to be reckoned with.
The next two songs for the night were “Tattoo” and the big hit, “In My Head.” This was definitely a hit with the fans as they screamed wildly after hearing the intro, knowing exactly what was coming up next. Every time Yonghwa tried to encourage the fans to participate he never failed as an extremely loud roar always exploded from the crowd.
Yonghwa: “I love you very very much”
“Tonight is Rockin ..I need more!!”
“So hot…ok from now on we have to get crazy”
“So I need your help…..I need you to scream!!”
“Are you ready Melbourne?!! Lets dance with me!! I’m dancing king of CNBLUE. Like usher, like Neyo, like Chris brown. I’m the best! ARE YOU READY MELBOURNE!! Lets party till the end!! “
The beat of the all too familiar hit “Intuition” started and brought on the biggest cheer along with the loudest claps and chanting I’ve heard so far. Almost every person in there knew the words and it really lifted up the atmosphere even higher.
With sweat dripping down their faces, the performance went on without a glitch or discomfort, showing true showmanship and dedication to providing the Melbourne fans with a outstanding show.
From the ending of “Intuition” this transitioned straight into “I’m a loner.” Another big hit that surely kept up the high energy level in the hall and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The ‘last’ song of the night was possibly the one everyone was waiting for “I’m sorry.” I actually got goosebumps every time the fans chanted “michyeosseo!” My favorite part was possibly the climatic alternate outro to I’m sorry. It was powerful and totally ‘dark sexy metal’ just the way Yonghwa wanted.
The ending of I’m sorry was meant to signal the concert’s end, but no! In true concert spirit the crowd sent roars of “ENCORE! ENCORE!” And “CNBLUE! CNBLUE!” trembling through the hall and as expected, our favourite band graced the stage yet again for “Hey You,” 1 of 5 of their encore songs.
When CNBLUE re-entered, they came out in black in their ‘Blue Moon’ concert tee shirts and Yonghwa said, “Thank you for waiting!”
From an energetic “Hey You” they transitioned perfectly into “Love Girl“.
Yonghwa busted out some moves as the CNBLUE’s ‘dancing king’. He wore what looked like a zebra eared headband thrown by one of the fans on stage. This performance was quite comedic with their dancing and Yonghwa’s galloping across the stage.
Yonghwa also took a cap thrown to him by a fan in the audience, adjusted it and wore it just as they started their performance of “You’ve Fallen For Me.” It was extremely sweet when they inserted “I love you Melbourne, I love you so much” into the well known title track from the K-Drama, ‘You’ve fallen for me.’
After such a sweet performance Yonghwa also managed to get a hold of a sign that had ‘Dragon Flower’ on it and said “I Am Dragon Flower,” “My aka is Dragon Flower.” This was so adorable and funny that the crowd was left in stitches!
I must say that CNBLUE are well experienced entertainers! Their energy towards the crowd and their engagement was absolutely perfect. Their genuine personalities make you feel like their speaking to you directly. I also discovered that Yonghwas’ beat boxing skills are absolutely SICK!! Unfortunately for us, hardly any of us were able to repeat after him but it was great to see Jungshin laughing so wildly.
After their performance of “Love” Minhyuk took to the mic and had a little chat.
Minhyuk: “I really want to come! I’ll come back for fun! I promise!!”
Younghwa: “THANK YOU for your appreciation, THANK YOU for your screaming, I love you!”
“Tonight was really awesome”
“THANK YOU mate I love MELBOURNE!!!”
“This song last song”
“Sing along with me!”
“Try Again, Smile Again” was the last song to CNBLUE’s heart wrenchingly awesome concert. As the song ended the fans screamed, “I love you,” became a lot more apparent as the screams grew louder rising even above the thrashing of the guitars and drums. We all know good things come to an end, but the promise of their return one day definitely kept everyone happy.
Regardless of the long waiting and the weather, CNBLUE gave Melbourne fans an amazing memory that will last forever! THANK YOU CNBLUE for coming all the way down to Australia and for giving it your all!
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Also, a special thanks to VISPENN PHOTOGRAPHY for taking the photos on the night!
Article by: Cammy
Edited by: Mariam
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