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Kmusic Explores the Festivities That Took Place at KCON 2012 in Irvine CA

October 19, 2012

KCON is a place where the K-Poppers’ dreams come true with a jammed packed day full of fun and adventure. Kmusic got the chance to experience first hand what activities there were to offer as well as attend the concert.

The gates open at 10am sharp and fans storm into the venue where the world opens up to everything K-POP. There were games, contests, workshops and Panels where well known artists would talk about the things such as fashion, dance, YouTube and, of course, K-POP!

We were able to attend the VIXX fan signing and got to see the boys up close. They were the epitome of perfection for they looked as though they were dolls–flawless and glowing. The boys of VIXX started off with their introductions and then proceeded in the fan-signing event. The lucky first 100 fans that got their tickets got to go and meet them personally. After the signing, they answered questions and then gave us a little preview of their song ‘Rock Your Body’ that was later performed at the concert.

We then attended the B.A.P‘s singing event and witnessed just how passionate their “BABYS” were. The fans screamed and hollered so much that the MC had to calm them. While the boys were signing, the fans sang along to ‘No Mercy’ that was playing in the background and displayed their love for B.A.P. They didn’t answer questions nor perform at this singing event but rather gave the fans a cheerful good bye.

From there, KMUSIC got an exclusive interview with the rising American K-POP star, Chad Future. We talked about things such as his motivation and even got to know him more by finding out his “Ideal Type.” Be sure to stay tuned for the full interview.

There were so many Panel events at KCON that it was so hard to go to them all so we picked out a few that looked the best. First, we attended the panel for “Rise of Foreign Influence in K-POP.” Simon and Martina from Eat Your Kimchi were there as well as David Lehre (Chad Future), Ashley Choi and Susan of Soompi. They talked about how K-POP is viewed by non-Korean speaking individuals and the impact on them as well. It was quite an experience to see this.

The next thing we went to was a workshop that taught the elements of dance for a K-POP song. First, the participating dancers learned the moves to B.A.P’s ‘No Mercy’ and then got together for a dance battle. They battled boys against girls, girls against girls and boys against boys for some cool prizes. In the end, they made a circle and dance battled individually! There were so many dancers out there!

After the dance workshop we made our way over to Chad Future‘s debut performance. The crowd surrounding the stage was so large that we had to push our way to the front so we could get a good picture of him. When the music for his song ‘Hello’ began, screams from the audience filled the air and the dancers stepped on the stage one by one. Suddenly, Jeremy Thurber burst out with the first chorus of the song and Chad appeared from behind the dancers to set the show off with a bang. Chad’s rapping was amazing and he showed great stage presence. He performed a total of 3 songs including ‘Hello’ featuring Jeremy Thurber, ‘Unstoppable’ featuring Drew Ryan Scott and ‘So Good’ featuring Kasi Jones. The performances were hot and everyone grooved along to the catchy beats.

Check out his awesome performance below!

Of course, we had to eat and there were so many places to dig on yummy KCON food! There was Thai food, sushi, burgers, hot dogs and even boba tea!

Nearing the time of the concert, we got wind of a special fan meet for a group that wasn’t performing at KCON. The fans were of the BBC fan club for Block B. Christina Fernandez and Hayoung hosted this meet up which included a beautiful banner that was designed by the well known artist, Angela Rose Victorio. They gathered all of the BBC’s at KCON and had each of them sign the back of the banner, which would later be sent to Block B themselves.

After the BBC meet up, the concert was about to begin so herds of Kpoppers flooded into the amphitheater and found their seats.

The lights dimmed and the first performance began. AJ Rafael and Andrew Rem stood together with guitars in hand. They started the concert off by performing “We Could Happen” and followed by “Without You.” Their performance was smooth and beautiful that the whole audience swayed to the music.

Following AJ Rafael and Andrew Rem was Dumbfoundead and DJ Zomanno. Dumbfoundead got the crowd going with his song “Bubba Kush” that goes along with the beat of “Knock Out” by GD and TOP. His rapping skills were smooth and clean. He got the crowd pumped up and ready. He then finished his performance with the song “Are We There Yet” which takes you on a journey of the life of the rapper.

The crowd, still hyped up from Dumfoundead’s performance, cheered as Dae47 and Korea’s Got Talent winners, Crazykyo and Poppin J of BWB took the stage with a killer performance. Not only was the music catchy but also the dancing that BWB displayed left fans in awe. They popped, locked, shimmied and jerked in a way that was almost unreal. After performing two dance numbers, one of the DJ’s of Dae47 went to the stage himself and sang the song “R U Ready.” What caused the biggest commotion to all fan-girls was when he removed his shirt. All together, they performed so well and paved the way for the idol groups to perform.

Finally, it was time for the first idol group performance and who better to kick it off with B.A.P. They burst onto the stage with their song ‘No Mercy’ and set the crowd wild. The whole audience sang along to the chorus and made B.A.P feel welcome in Irvine California. After performing ‘No Mercy,’ they introduced themselves and then performed ‘What My Heart Tells Me.’ They then concluded their performance with their hit song ‘Crash.’ It was a breath taking performance that made the BABYS wild. Before they exited the stage, B.A.P introduced 1TYM’s Danny, aka Taebin, to the stage as the MC for the night.

Following B.A.P. was none other than G.NA. Her performance was ‘2Hot’ to handle and brought out the shriek screams of the fan-boys. Following ‘2Hot,’ she sang her song ‘Baby You Can Say Goodbye,’ giving off a flawless performance. She then spoke briefly to the audience and continued on and sang the English version of her song ‘I’ll Back Off So You Can Live Better.’ Lastly, she sang her song ‘Black & White’ and caused the whole audience to sway along to the catchy beat. From her performance, she then became the MC along with Danny.

G.NA and Danny took the stage together and proceeded in introducing the next act, which was none other than VIXX! Right away they captured the audience by putting on a stellar performance of ‘Super Hero.’ Fans couldn’t get enough. They then introduced themselves and caused the fan-girls to cheer madly. Following the introductions, they continued on with performing ‘Rock Ur Body’ and concluded their performance with ‘Love Hurts ( UUUU).’ Their performance was fun and is sure to be stuck in the audience’s heads forever.

NU’EST took the stage next and caused a huge uproar in the audience. They were dressed in red and looking fierce as the music began. The boys performed ‘Face’ to start the night. They also performed ‘Not Over You’ as well as their song ‘Action.’ Fans all throughout the amphitheater were chanting their favorite members name. They put on quite the show.

Following NU’EST was EXO-M. They started the show with their song ‘History’ and quickly moved on to their song ‘Angel’ before introducing themselves. Tao forgot what he was supposed to say and turned to the other members for help causing the crowd to melt in cuteness overload. Kris then got the crowd pumped up with his flawless English. After introductions, they performed ‘What Is Love’ live for the first time. The beautiful melody and perfectly sung notes made this performance a breath taking experience. Suddenly, the members gathered again for fan questions that were asked earlier. The boys were asked to display Aegyo. Tao did a cute little “Buing Buing” for the audience followed by Xiu Min. What really caught the attention of the audience was Kris. He performed his Aegyo and you could feel the EXO fans souls leaving their bodies. When that was completed, they finished with their performance of ‘MAMA.’

To conclude the night, 4minute came on stage and began their performance with ‘Volume Up.’ The male in front of us just about to lost his britches and screamed his head off for Hyuna. Following ‘Volume Up,’ they performed their song ‘Mirror Mirror’ and then quickly moved into their song ‘Huh.’ They then took the time to introduce themselves to the audience with their adorable English. ‘Heart2Heart’ was sung next and then they closed the show with ‘Hot Issue.’ The girls performance was a very memorable one indeed for they all sang and performed so beautifully! Though they were missing Gayoon, they still put on a promising show.