Fanbugging: Shinee

So it should come as a shock to no one that I like K-Pop. I know I’ve mentioned this a few times, and I enjoy it for a number of reasons. One of the bans that I’ve been a fan of for several years is Shinee.

AND I GOT TO SEE THEM IN CONCERT!! But more on that later…

So who be these boys anyway?

There a 5-man boy-band based out of South Korea. They debuted back in 2008 which when they were just puppies, signing with SM Entertainment (a lot of my favorite artists are with this company, actually).  Those members (and for more about them, are listed below:

Hell, who am I kidding? They’re STILL puppies – the oldest member (Onew) is only 27, and the youngest (Taemin) is a whooping 23 years old. For those following at home, that means Onew was a whooping 18 and Taemin was but 14. They spent years as trainees before that.

Like I said… Puppies

The boys are not only talented singers, but they’ve been in several shows.  Ok, I lie – Minho has been in several dramas. Key and Onew have been in a couple but several stage productions. Jonghyn and Taemin don’t really do the whole acting thing as much – they just like singing – but both have produced music individually away from rest of the group. Which is perfectly fine with me. All of them have been on a few different variety shows. If you have the chance, hunt down their appearances in Weekly Idol – it’s worth the laugh (and to watch idols being tortured in general…)

Doesn’t matter – sincerely love their music. I have links to a handful of my favorite songs of theirs.  Like all Idols, they have a different sound for each of their releases, so when you’re going through, a lot of these have a different feel to them.

  • Lucifer – I know what it sounds looks like… listen to it anyway
  • Ring Ding Dong – This was one of their big break-out songs
  • Sherlock – Just watch the video – it’s adorable! That wasn’t enough? Watch them do the dance at 2x speed… GAH!
  • Everybody – Has to be one of my favorites
  • DxDxD – Dance, Dance, Dance!!
  • View – Very catchy
  • Your Number – Just… dude.

Side note, Taemin, while the youngest, is reputed for being one of the better dancers in K-Pop as a whole. I’m not sure if this is altogether true, but I do think he’s pretty high up there on the awesome-dancer meter.

But now… THE CONCERT!!!

They performed in Dallas on Friday, March 24th, and of course I HAD to be there! My friend – Jess –  and I roadtripped our tushies on down there for a jolly good time. It’s something I’ve been snoopy dancing about for some time. I felt it was best I do this month’s fan-bugging over them since I JUST saw their concert. Seemed rather fitting. They are not my all-time favorite K-Pop band, but they are certainly one I enjoy a great deal.

If you follow me on social media (which I expect at least a few of you do), I’m sure you saw the pics and/or squees, but to be on the safe side, below are just a few pictures.

This was my first K-Pop concert, and I frankly had no idea what to expect. If nothing else, I knew it was going to be fun.

I was right!

I was happy to find out I actually knew most of the songs that were performed – I wasn’t expecting that. Go me! Though, now that I think about it, those may not actually be bragging rights…

Key speaks more English than the rest, and he’s actually pretty good. He did most of the talking, and while he has entertained me on variety shows, etc, I’ve watched, he really is just that entertaining.  The boy is quite an entertainer, and I was thoroughly impressed.  He told funny stories (including one about how he was heartbroken of how his Gucci was burned during their Canadian concert after a wardrobe change… and later in the night, when he moped on staging, and pouted “My Gucci burned again…”). He introduced the sets, his fellow members, and helped connect to the audience as a whole.

There was a translator on hand for the rest of the members which I think everyone appreciated, however.

Minho is also quite the little entertainer… if you can call him little. He only knew a bit of English – more than I expected – but he was actively trying.  And dear lord, the audience LOVED Minho. He was hamming it up for the audience left and right, and it was freaking adorable. Parts that had me cracking up would have the young ladies all around my friend and I shrieking their heads off.

As my friend put it “I’ve never seen quite so much estrogen in one room…”

Jonghyun proved his vocal acrobats over and over. The boy is quite talented and has an incredibly powerful voice. He was pulling some vocal acrobatics that would have made Whitney Houston proud, and had the crowd cheering each time.

Taemin was teased mercilessly throughout. I guess, being the youngest, he’s either more shy than the others or maybe he was uncertain performing in front of so many English speakers. He kept his statements relatively short, and seemed to be trying to hide behind the other members when it was time to talk.

And Onew, ah, dear Onew… as the oldest member, apparently, all the Dad Jokes fall to him. Something was likely missed in translation, but he cracked a number of jokes that had the other members of his group shaking their heads, and he would puff up proud as could be.

The whole show was fantastic. I was in the nose-bleed section, so not close enough to get really excellent pictures, but I have a handful below.  They had multiple costume changes, and they managed to do it with lightening speed.  They danced their asses off for each set – color me impressed!!!

Throughout the show, as a whole, the boys were marveling at the size of the stadium and the turn-out of the crowds. They kept saying the show in the US was so very different than the ones they perform in Seoul.  Key, at one point, looked out, crooked and grin and asked the audience “It’s better than watching us on YouTube, huh?”

In the end, they thanked everyone for being there – which was expected. Each one of them continued, letting us know that the energy of the audience sincerely touched them.  Something about the crowds back home tended to sit through performances where, here, during each song (except the ballads), people were on their feet, singing and dancing.

It was kinda awesome.

All told, I’m so very happy I got to have this experience!!  I sang and cheered myself hoarse!! Hell, I still have no voice – GO ME! Admittedly, where most of the people around us were shrieking and losing their minds, my friend and I ended up laughing our asses off.

I’m so very glad I got to have this experience!! I hope you enjoyed today’s fanbugging as much as I did!

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