Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
It was 2009 and I was working myself to death at a dot.com in LA. I was an early adopter of brain rotting on the internet via social media and one of my online friends started exposing me to the one of the most enthralling things I’ve ever seen on the internet (thank you, Tiffany). A South Korean boy band that combined pop, hip-hop, and R&B at the most intense level I’d ever experienced. Combining vividly attractive visuals with addictive beats, I was instantly hooked and told her to send me everything she had. By 2010 I was a full fledged VIP. A title I stand by today.
Fast forward to last Friday, and my tired ass is on a plane flying from LAX to NJ to meetup with my fellow OG VIP girlies. This is a crew that runs deep. From early KPOP concerts in LA to my SXSW days, we’ve been through it all. But for BIGBANG, this was a reunion 11 years in the making. Yes, we are full fledged adults, with adult money making adult decisions to see our favorite KPOP group and no one can stop us!
So, I took a non stop red eye at the ass crack of dawn after a solid 4 hours of sleep, met the girls at the hotel, and began what was the most insane 24 hours. We hugged, we conversed, we ate deliciousness, and got ready sporting our black fits and yellow bandanas, ready to take on the massive crowds at MetLife Stadium. And we were not the only ones! A sold out horde of fans young and old, all dressed to the nines sporting some of the most nostalgic kpop merch you could imagine. From the first KPOP letterman jackets covered in the original BIGBANG patches, to the light up crown headbands, everyone had dusted off their gear.
VIPs from around the world converged at MetLife as one family reunion. I met Lucielle from France who was on her own but definitely not alone. There were fans from Mexico, South Korea, China, Canada, England, and other countries. Not to mention the masses of US fans from every state showed up.
And then the show started.
I’d like to first state that I pretty much cried for a solid 70% of the show as a disclaimer for what I am about to describe.
Daesung, Taeyang and G-Dragon started the show with the iconic “Fantastic Baby“! Who needs MAMA!? The guys dragged us throughout their entire discography playing all the hits, a few deep cuts, and went all the way back to the beginning. Three hours and 32 songs, this was by far the biggest, most entertaining and longest concert I had attended in years.
They immediately rolled into “Hands Up“, “Tonight“, “Blue“, “Loser“, and of course “If You“, which caused a flood of tears. There was no chronology, comprehended order, just vibes. We rolled through power hits like Bae Bae and cried and sang along to “Haru Haru“. The night was so chaotic it felt like a therapy intervention dissecting our emotions with no remorse like the mad scientists that BIGBANG are. Unlike other shows, we got very short pauses, and only minimal VCRs. They went pretty much nonstop throughout the entire night.
Act I was the hits. Act II were the solos. Each performed only a few songs from their own solo discographies starting with Daesung who pumped the crowd up with his most recent single, “Universe” followed by the absolute deep cut “Wings“, then busted out his two biggest Trot hits “Hando Chogua” and “Look at me Gwisun“! The man is a natural comedian! Throughout the show his comedic genius had the crowd rolling with laughter. No one was safe, from Taeyang being the most handsome man on earth for never wearing a shirt, to mocking international fans butchering Korean lyrics, the man was at the top of his game!
Taeyang performed “BAD“, drawing the crowd into his newer sounds, followed by the banger “Ringa Linga“! Finally he performed his most recent release “Live Fast Die Slow” which was a beautiful blast live! He had his own comedic moments telling the crowd not to tell him to take it off, only to take it off, spent the entire concert flashing chest and abs like the fit king he is, and grinning from ear to ear as fans screamed their voiceboxes out for him.
GD took a different path for his solos. He was all business showing the world that he can be more than just a backing track. He plowed through and live mic’d some of the most intense lyrical flows performed with “Power” from his newest album, to the classic “Crayon” (which will never not be fun live!), and finally to “Crooked“. He rocked the mic like his life depended on it all night and I was floored by his strength. He wasn’t immune to his bandmates shenanigans either. With every interaction he was completely losing it laughing and even got excited when he recognized the stick figure dancers he’d previously met from his solo tour.
Act III brought on “Bang Bang Bang” kicking off what would be an incredible last hour of the show. I’ve never heard an entire stadium call themselves stupid so harmoniously as they performed “Stupid Liar“. It’s such a great classic and everyone was so into it. This was followed by “Sober” and “We Like 2 Party“. It was at this moment that BIGBANG took us back to the beginning with the classic BIGBANG medley. If you know, you know. They laughed at us for being old and not being able to jump to the Bang! in the original BigBang. Their realness regarding their fans and themselves was so refreshing. There was no need to pretend we were a bunch of energy laden teens anymore. VIP’s are getting older and we party differently now. Time has passed and realizing that the changes are evident was something we all got to laugh at together.
They finished the set with “BiiiG“, their newest song, for which they again, showed their diversity in sound and fearlessness in their attempt at something new. The song reflects the changes they’ve experienced, the fact that they are now only three, but are stronger than ever. BIGBANG rounded out the set with “HOME SWEET HOME“. A feeling we all resonated with standing in that stadium together, singing, dancing, and finally sitting because our knees started to hurt.
The Encore was “My Heaven“, “Sunset Glow“, “Last Farewell“, “Feeling“, and finally the devastating “FLOWER ROAD” and “Still Life“. It For those of us who waited patiently through the years, this was a spiritual experience. We walked through 20 years of our lives. Our youth, I education in life, pain, love and joy. Lead by Taeyang, GDragon, and Daesung, we really did walk that Flower Road together, and for one night, got to remember what it was like, that we are not alone, we are VIP until Whenever.
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And just to really grind out how deeply this affected me, Finally, at the end of the night, hearing T.O.P‘s voice blasting through the speakers, broke me completely and I sobbed like a baby, missing our fourth member. We truly miss him and apparently so does BIGBANG. Luckily, the guys said they are far from done. We ended the show with the guarantee that not only will they be releasing more music, but they will be back.
After the show, we headed back to the hotel, got a solid 2 hours of sleep, and flew our tired asses back home. LA was still tropical storm humid, and the 10 was still a trafficky mess. It was good to be home. So, to my fellow VIP’s, see ya next time! Bring your orthopedic sneakers and I’ll bring extra Salonpas. Get some rest rest, we’re gonna need it!
