B.A.P. are currently rocking venues worldwide, and just finished their Europe tour.
KAvenyou attended two of their concerts: the one in London (organized by Onion Productions) and the one in Dusseldorf (organized by Twisted Talent). Both concerts were different, and here is our feedback on each of them!
Part 1 – Starting from London
B.A.P has had a rough time. It’s hard to deny when their management troubles were so public. Bang Yong Guk also composed a solo single which was publicly backed up by all the members.
The group came back with Young, Wild & Free from the mini album MATRIX and were rewarded with a music show win on the one year anniversary of their lawsuit. It was already a sign of how Babyz had remained passionate about Bang Yong Guk, Kim Him Chan, Jung Dae Hyun, Yoo Young-Jae, Moon Jong Up and Zelo.
The queue outside London’s Coronet Theatre was also a big indication of B.A.P’s international fan base. Starting from the entrance, two separate lines spanned from corner to corner – with the main standing and balcony crowd line reaching back to the nearest underground station and even further. It became a running joke of seeing which member of the public would come up to you next to ask what the queue was for.
Finally making our way in, you could see why it was reportedly a sold out show. The main standing area was already full by the time the second half of the outside queue piled in, and many had resorted to standing nearer to the back. The lights went down and the show started off with a bang like it was already the finale. The confetti showered the crowd as fans lit up their Matoki green light sticks and B.A.P performed one energetic song after the other. True to their style, the choreography was erratic in a good way with more than enough energy to get the crowd screaming. Starting off with Bang x2 and going into What The Hell, No Mercy and 1004, their older songs were perfected with a live drummer and DJ. The lighting and production for Carnival was also a beautiful technicolor stage worth mentioning.
Dae Hyun’s vocals really stole the show despite Bang Yong Guk being the fan favourite of the night. His high notes in all the songs were sharp and clear despite some minor sound problems in the beginning for other members. The solo stages also provided good variety with Jong Up’s sleek Now being a nice pairing to Him Chan’s body wave filled S.N.S. performance. Youngjae’s English solo stage of Slow Motion by Trey Songz was also a great way to highlight his vocal talents.
The only thing that could have been improved is that there was a slight lack of interactions. It wasn’t that the members didn’t speak to the fans at all, in fact they had several moments where they told the fans how much they had loved them and how it was all ok now. All in English too. It just seemed that the performance was song after song, and it seems because they had a lot of discography to cover, there was this sense of rushing onto the next costume change, the next song to perform.
Towards the end, as the members prepared to say goodbye, they switched to Korean to better express their feelings. By this point, some of the fans had prepared a banner surprise during With You. Aside from the sold out show and the sea of Matoki green lightsticks, it was a touching present from the fans to express their gratitude. To come back with all six members is difficult in light of recent years featuring contract disputes and member shufflings. For a moment, I’m sure Babyz were fearing what could have been the end for B.A.P.
The encore stage was a great send off. Running through a mixture of their best hits, the members took the opportunity to jump into the pit near the crowd and to drape the Union Jack flag onto their shoulders. Bang Yong Guk also took his shirt off which really got the crowd going. There were so many can’t miss moments with this concert and the Coronet was a great location. It ended the way it started with confetti flying and the crowd screaming. Let’s just hope they come back next year.
Part 2 – Heading off to Dusseldorf
On May, 16th, B.A.P. visited Dusseldorf for the second time.
The first time was in May 2014, right before they went on a hiatus for about one year and a half. Fans in Dusseldorf were excited to see the group back, both in town and as a major group of the Korean industry.
This excitation led to a very packed venue, were every fan expressed their feeling with a simple but meaningful “Welcome back” banner during the concert. And back they are : as popular as ever, but also with a more matured version of themselves. Their stage is more focused on music itself, and the members obviously matured. Zelo especially, the youngest member, seems to have gone from just a teenager 2 years ago to a fine young and smart man.
Songs like “One Shot”, “No Mercy”, “Hurricane” etc. were performed with the same fierce choreography and attitude they always showed on stage. The audience knew the fanchants for each of these songs and partied for every second of these performances.
However, it is the newer songs that caught our eyes (or rather, our ears) the most. If we go by order of release, “Young, Wild & Free”, “Feel so Good” and “Carnival” were among the main highlights of the concert.
On “Young Wild & Free”, you could feel the struggles of the past few months, but more than anything else, the determination they have to keep fighting for their dreams.
Fans screamed the famous “We are young, wild and free” line with as much conviction as if it was their own words, as if the whole fandom had been on Hiatus together with B.A.P.
On the contrary “Feel so Good” and “Carnival” gave out the feeling of a true party, a sense of celebration. I don’t think there was anyone in the whole room on that day that didn’t “Feel so Good” for real. During these songs, B.A.P were playful (and cute, but that goes without saying) obviously happy with the fans’ reactions.
The show is overall very upbeat. BAP doesn’t have many slow-tempo tracks, and the only ballad sang is “With You”. We, at KAvenyou, believe this song has a much deeper meaning now than when we first heard it live two years ago. After waiting so eagerly for BAP’s come back, and looking at how BAP is happy to perform for fans, we believe that both sides couldn’t be more honest when singing to each other that they’ll be “Forever with you”.
Article : by Jess (London) and Céline (Dusseldorf)
Pictures : StarNaver