Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Let’s start off by throwing everyone under the bus. I gave Powerhouse almost two weeks to get me the shots from this B.A.P show, and still, nothing. Press was banned from taking in cameras with the statement, “We will supply you with photos from our company photographer”. Well, that never ends well, and I have yet to see one promo company actually follow through with this.
I had to leave Empanada at home and boy was she pissed off!
So I apologize in advance for the horrors you will see below. Blurry photography haunts my dreams, but this is all I have.
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B.A.P performed at the Microsoft Theater to a packed house full of BABYs with their $55 light sticks and $28 face masks. No joke, the merch line was out the door.
The show started with the typical K-pop concert intro to remind everyone who they just sold their kidneys to go see, and rolled right into “Warrior“, which they followed up with “No Mercy“. We then got our first solo of the night from Himchan, who performed “S.N.S” feat. Bang Yong Guk. There was a girl standing in front of me with a sign that said “I <3 HIMCHAN", and after seeing him body roll live, I might just have to agree with her. The interlude bumps between every couple of songs were clips from the classic 1951 film 'The Day The Earth Stood Still‘, which I’m pretty sure I was the only one in the audience who got excited for. At one point, I even yelled “KLAATU VERATA NIKTO!!!” I’m such a nerd.
Anyway, B.A.P performed “Spy” next, which was a lot of fun. Since the choreography was loose and more freeform, B.A.P were flying around the stage, flirting with the audience and riling everyone up! That was perfect because BABYs planned a special little gift for them as well. During “Be Happy“, fans held up “BE HAPPY” banners to show support for the group.
After “Be Happy”, Jongup, Youngjae, Daehyun, Zelo, Himchan, and Bang Yong Guk each did their greetings. They thanked everyone for being a part of ‘B.A.P Live On Earth Tour‘, and they talked about how happy they were to be back in Los Angeles and to get to see their BABYs again. They then did something that shocked me: they addressed the strike hiatus. They thanked everyone for waiting for them and for worrying about them, and they wanted to let everyone know that everything was much better now and that they hope to continue as a group for a very long time.
Once they succeeded in making the entire audience cry, they performed “Carnival” with animation on the screen that was so bright and cheery it rivaled anything Lisa Frank has ever made. Then there was a sexy baby-making music solo in the form of Youngjae crooning “Slow Motion” by Trey Songz, which literally killed the five girls behind me via orgasm.
They even performed “Hurricane“, but it was an EDM version (which was really damned good), so unfortunately no loof was on fiyah. Regardless, what consistently shone through was their pure joy on stage, and it’s amazing what two years and a contract battle can do to a group when they not only survive but thrive. B.A.P didn’t just perform, they had a blast! They interacted with fans and danced, not just your typical formation choreography, but real legit freestyle dancing! They also joked with each other on stage and were generally sexy gods performing their hearts out.
A “Badman” remix rolled in next, and it was surprisingly intense. You wanna talk about screaming? My ears were pretty much dead from everyone around me scream/singing with B.A.P.
The classic “Dancing In The Rain” was given an EDM remix, which sorta transformed the concert into a dance hall, something that’s a bit rare at concerts these days. We all got down as if we were at EDC in fur bikinis and high as a kite! It was amazing! Next up was “1004“, which was remarkably beautiful and romantic, but the whole mood shifted immediately after.
In a sorta bizarre move, B.A.P did a brief intermission, showing the facts on the history of war throughout the world. They showed a graphic with a list of every war on record that took place, they showed images of military rolling through rubble, and they showed a lot of barbed wire graphics. Everyone was silent in the theater for obvious reasons, and when B.A.P appeared again, the screen blared ‘NO MORE WAR’ and they sang “One Shot“. It was emotional and the entire audience completely lost their shit. It caught me off guard that they would choose something so serious as an intro to their music, but it was somehow fitting and I wonder if it means more to them than we realize.
B.A.P finished up their concert with “Crash“, “Bang X2“, and used “Kingdom” as the finale.
At the end of the day, despite difficulties with the no camera rule and everything that came after that, I walked out totally wowed by B.A.P as a group and by their stage performance.
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Empanada was really sad that she couldn’t go, but enjoy these blurry pictures that I was able to take with my phone.
