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| ▲ This photo, provided by PLEDIS Entertainment, shows SEVENTEEN on stage of the Seoul concert of their world tour "BE THE SUN." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by PLEDIS Entertainment, shows member JUNGHAN, passionately singing while wearing a cast on his right arm. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by PLEDIS Entertainment, shows SEVENTEEN on stage of the Seoul concert of their world tour "BE THE SUN." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, June 26 (Yonhap) – “Maybe I'll cry for a love that isn't perfect yet / I wanna make an endless story hidden like an old book / Even if you come to me, who's useless / It'll remain as a deep scent until it becomes a perfect love” (lyrics from song “Imperfect Love”)
At Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 25th, a sing along of about 17,500 audiences filled the entire concert hall. When main vocalist SEUNGKWAN tossed his mic to the audience seat, saying, “I really wanted to sing with my fans,” fans responded with gigantic harmony.
It is the moment from SEVENTEEN’s world tour “BE THE SUN” concert in Seoul. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, it took 2 years and 4 months for members to face the sing along and cheers of their fans again through this concert, held in the biggest scale as an exclusive concert in Korea.
SEVENTEEN started the concert with a recently released title song of their fourth full length album, “HOT.”
When members with golden decorations in black stage costumes appeared, leaving behind the sculpture expressing the burning sun, the stadium was filled with cheers of the audiences. Fans welcomed SEVENTEEN by holding placards saying, “Hello joy of CARAT (fandom of SEVENTEEN), thank you for always being with us.” Members were also pleasant about the first face to face world tour held in 2 years and 4 months.
They created a ”March” stage, putting motorcycles on the left and right in a bleak background like a movie “Mad Max.”
Then, SEVENTEEN heated up the stadium, singing their hit songs such as “Rock With You,” “Mansae,” and “Left & Right.”
Later on, on stage “NICE,” audiences stood up and jumped together with them, with colorful papers pouring onto the stage. Members showed their energy as well, shaking their heads while performing choreographies.
There were also unit stages of members, which can’t be missed for SEVENTEEN’s concert. A Japanese song “24H” and English song “Dar+ling,” both targeting global fans, resonated the concert hall.
JUNGHAN, who got an elbow surgery, passionately showed choreographies as best as he could, while wearing a cast, getting an ovation from his fans.
He confessed, “I couldn’t give up the concert where I can hear the cheers of my fans, CARAT, who I haven’t seen for a long time,” adding, “I feel so thankful to CARAT, motivating me to live my life as best as I can.”
Also, putting down their charisma for a while, SEVENTEEN showed their unique wittiness as well. They talked so much that 30 minutes passed by just introducing themselves and having the first talk.
VERNON said, “As the opening music started, my heart was about to explode when we saw the stadium was full of audiences,” adding, “We tried really hard, so please enjoy our performances.”
HOSHI commented, “We put a lot of effort on our performances since we have waited long for this concert,” adding, “We prepared this concert even shortening the time for sleeping. We wanted to show what performance is to CARAT.”
S.COUPS said, “SEVENTEEN is chewing up the K-pop”, explaining, “We have done the final rehearsal yesterday, and the choreography for ‘Shadow’ was completed the day before yesterday. It was so much thrilling.”
SEVENTEEN performed a variety of stages with over 20 songs including encore songs for their fans.
Their popularity was evidenced by crowds of fans filling up the area of Gocheok Sky Dome on a hot weather, waiting for a few hours even before the concert started.
Nevertheless, fans joyfully waited for the entrance, fanning themselves or relieving their thirst with water. Also, dozens of people lined up to take commemorative photos in front of a sculpture called “TEAM SVT.”
SEVENTEEN has showed its popularity through their fourth full length album, ranking 7th on Billboard’s main album chart “Billboard 200.”
Teagan Henderson, a British English teacher working at Cheonan in South Chungcheong province, said, “SEVENTEEN’s perfect choreography is stunning, and it is good to see members getting along like family,” adding, “I was happy to see the ‘HIT’ stage on today’s concert.”
Kim Seon-mi, who came from Namyangju city in Gyeonggi province, said, “This is my first time to see SEVENTEEN’s concert, after having interest in them during the COVID-19 period, commenting, “I got a chance to see the stages for their recently released fourth full length album.”
Following the Seoul concert, SEVENTEEN will continue the world tour in a total of 20 cities including twelve cities in North America such as Vancouver, Seattle, Oakland, and Los Angeles, four Asian cities such as Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, and Singapore, and three Japanese cities including Osaka, Tokyo, and Aichi.
HOSHI said during the concert, “This is the concert that we most wanted so far. We even cared for the cue sheet. We need to distribute energy efficiently, but it is difficult because you, the CARATs are right in front of us. I can’t show you my flesh, but I even got goosebumps, CARATs.”
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Kim Jimin.)
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