On December 15, 2AM had put on their first ever concert in the U.S. and they did not disappoint. The venue was intimate, the arrangements were personal and the entire production demonstrated the group’s many talents.
As 2AM is not a typical idol group, they had a wide variety of fans in the audience; young fans accompanied by their parents, adults who flew from outside California, including Mexico, and ahjummas who came to the concert with their friends. The group managed to appeal to everyone in the audience by putting on many different stages.
The concert was roughly divided into five main sections: ballads, solos, dance songs, classics and the encore.
The boys began by singing “Regret” (후회할 거야), which was vocally on point and immediately moved on to perform “Just Stay” (그냥 있어줘). After officially opening the show, the group gave their self-introductions and revealed that English subtitles were going to be provided for all of the talking segments. I thought this was really clever on the production team’s part, as many concerts are criticized for the lack of translations.
As the concert proceeded, it began to transition to the solo performances of the concert. As Changmin prepared for his solo, the other members shared their experiences of visiting Universal Studios and eating In-N-Out for the first time. The members casually teased one another and Jinwoon even joked that all the fans in the audience were his girlfriends, which was met with many screams from the audience.
Changmin began the next section of the concert by performing his self-composed song “I’m Not A Bad Man” (나 나쁜 사람 아니야) that showcased his dancing skills fit for a solo artist. Jinwoon and Jokwon followed with a duet performance of “Something ‘Bout You” off of Jokwon’s solo album, which really made the audience get up out of their seats.
As Jinwoon was still recovering from a recent accident, his movements were restricted in his solo stage but still managed to keep the fans engaged by directly interacting with the audience. Jokwon was next and gave a performance that could only be described as fierce. He performed his “Animal” in platform studded heels and gave an absolutely stunning performance, leaving every fan in the audience wanting more.
With a break from the solo performances, the group sang a mash-up of their own songs “With or Without You” and “I Did Wrong” followed by a mash-up of other popular songs “Billie Jean,” “Moves Like Jagger” and EXO’s “Growl.”
After Seulong’s emotional performance of “Hurricane,” the concert transitioned to energetic dance songs, revealing a more playful side of the ballad group. 2AM performed amazing, choreographed routines for “I’m Da One” (from Jokwon’s solo album) and “You’re Prettier The More I See You” (볼수록 예뻐). . The concert was drawing to a close, however, as the stages featured songs from the beginning of their career. As they sang “This Song,” their debut hit, the audience became very quiet, relishing in how far the group has come.
Once the curtains closed, the fans erupted into chants demanding an encore performance. Their pleas were answered as 2AM returned to perform their final song “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” As usual, the concert ended on a bang as paper snowflakes were blasted onto the audience.
Content Contributors: Elaine and Natalie
