Unforgettable Moment: 2PM Hands Up Concert

From Jakarta Post:

South Korean boy-band phenomenon 2PM say they will make their first solo concert in Indonesia an unforgettable experience for their “hottest” Indonesian fans.

The concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Jakarta International Event and Convention Center in Mangga Dua, North Jakarta.

The group, consisting of Hwang Chan Sung, Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul, Lee Jun Ho, Kim Jun Su, Ok Taec Yeon and Jang Woo Young, released their second album titled Hands Up in July; two years after the launch of their first album, 1:59 PM, in 2009.

“We are always excited about meeting our Indonesian fans. Each member [of 2PM] has been preparing a special performance [for the fans],” Junho told a press conference at the convention center on Thursday.

“We've had tours in several countries but received the warmest welcome here in Jakarta,” Taec Yeon said.

2PM promised to make the Friday concert unforgettable; although they declined to give further details of the “surprises” they said they had prepared for their Indonesian fans.

The group first came to Indonesia for a brief performance at the BlackBerry Live Concert in March.

From Mata Kelabu Post: 

This was what happened to us:

2PM gave us Electricity (220 V remix), and when suddenly the lights went off and the boys stood in line swinging fluorescent lights around their bodies, the right words to define what I felt were I JUST CAN’T.  Surprisingly, the third song was the party anthem Hands Up - which got everyone putting their hands up, of course.  People were so excited that the sitting ones started to use their seats to stand instead of to sit so that they can see better (to the dismay of the ones sitting behind them).  2PM felt the need to give warnings for the audience not to stand on their seats because it’s dangerous.

Some frank facts first here.  Technically, the concert was not perfect.  The lighting was amazing, yes, but there were some problems with the sound system and crowd control, but 2PM’s performance was so explosive that I don’t think too many people cared about the shortcomings.

The boys introduced themselves using Indonesian: well, that’s easy, just say “Saya (insert your name)”.  But Junho managed to pull a longer sentence, “Terima kasih atas kedatangannya (Thank you for coming)”.  While the others remembered words like “panas” (hot), “aku bahagia” (I’m glad), “Senang?” (Happy?) and “terima kasih” (thank you).  Sometimes they had to push Chansung to talk though.  ”Chansung, say something!”  The maknae seemed a bit shy!

Funny and cute moments coloured the show.  When Nichkhun and Taecyeon were preparing backstage for their duet, Junsu (who has quite a good command of English), Junho, Wooyoung and Chansung chatted onstage.  Junho and Wooyoung showed their skill in dancing with so much energy, but when the other boys asked Chansung to do the same, he refused, because he’s afraid his trousers would rip.  Instead he did a cute dance that made us laugh.

Who wants to be their Valentine?

They also showed us a VCR called ‘The Real 2PM’.  Chansung was shown doing his sword training, but could not cut even a big cassava.   Junho dreamt a vulgar dream about a girl and wrote a vulgar song about it, but it was turned down.  He had to do many revisions before his song was accepted.  Wooyoung was a fan of Michael Jackson that he didn’t believe Michael had died.  He wrote a letter started with ‘HELLOW’ and asked the manager to sent it to ‘Michael, USA’.  He got a reply, but it only contained the words ‘THANK YOU’.  Taecyeon tried to sell undershirts with badly-drawn OkCat designs for a very expensive prince.  Junsu was a stingy who charged his friends for the pizza he bought.  While Nichkhun made the audience go “Ooooh” to see his almost-crying face, because he was dieting, only allowed to eat cucumbers and chicken fillets.  But while his friends were away watching Miss A’s comeback, he stole Junsu’s pizza and pretended to know nothing afterwards.

As for singing and dancing - no need to doubt the boys.  They sang live the whole concert, and who could stand still when they performed songs like Heartbeat and I’m Your Man?  Their solo performances were also good, especially Junsu (Jun.K) and his Alive.  He moved so much I couldn’t get his pics right during his energetic solo!  Chansung gave a rather different solo performance; he showed off his sword skill onstage.

Nichkhun flying high!

And the boys knew how to please their fans well.  They ran here and there around the extended stage, they posed, smiled, waved, touched our hands, took pics… I was so glad that the distance between the stage and the audience was not what my friends and I call ‘barbaric’ a.k.a too far away.   Taecyeon took even a selca with my friend Pia’s Instax, and I was in the pic!

When the audience asked Taecyeon to take off his shirt, he suddenly pointed to the main stage, and there... Chansung was already shirtless!

Tears must well in many people’s eyes when the audience shouted “2PM! 2PM! 2PM!” and the boys shouted back, “Jakarta!  Jakarta!  Jakarta!”  Like the said national newspaper mentioned, the audience was not merely ‘watchers’ - they were involved so deeply with the show.  And I thank you, thank you, thank you, and I love you, love you, love you - we wanted to say that to 2PM as much as they wanted to say that to us.

It was a superb 11/11/11 for me.  And the fact that the boys promised to return next year with a bigger concert just made the night complete.

From JPNN.COM:

JAKARTA - Boyband asal Korea Selatan 2PM memang layak membuat penggemarnya tergila-gila. Junsu, Nickhun, Taecyeon, Wooyoung, Junho, dan Chansung tidak hanya ganteng. Mereka juga piawai menari dan menyanyi. 2PM memiliki aura superstar yang kuat. 

Tidak heran, ketika konser tunggal mereka digelar Jumat lalu (11/11), JITEC Mangga Dua yang berkapasitas 6.500 orang serasa diguncang gempa lokal. Lebih dari 6.000 Hottest (sebutan penggemar 2PM) bergoyang dan mengikuti entakan musik mereka.

Konser bertajuk 2PM Hands Up Asia Tour itu diadakan pukul 20.00. Gate dibuka pukul 18.00. Hal itu dilakukan Marygops Studio, promotor, untuk mengantisipasi membeludaknya jumlah penonton. Benar saja, para Hottest memadati area tersebut sejak sore.

Sejam sebelum pertunjukan dimulai, sebagian besar penonton masuk ke venue utama. Nyaris semua duduk rapi. Saat enam personel 2PM naik ke panggung, seluruh penonton spontan naik ke kursi masing-masing. Kursi yang disediakan tidak lagi jadi tempat duduk, tetapi tempat berdiri. Apalagi, Nickhun cs tidak berbasa-basi dalam beraksi. JITEC langsung digeber dengan musik up beat dari lagu-lagu mereka.

Tembang Hot menjadi pembuka. Setelah itu, Electricity dan Hands Up membahana di ruang konser. Lagu-lagu tersebut adalah awal yang bagus untuk menaikkan adrenalin penonton. Semuanya berdiri di kursi dan berjoget. Akibatnya, tentu panggung penonton bergoyang seperti gempa. Hands Up sendiri merupakan hit 2PM di album kedua.  "Indonesia, how are you guys? Before we go to next song please do not stay away from your seat. Please sit,"  kata Taecyeon.

Secara keseluruhan, band yang aktif di industri hiburan Korsel pada 2008 itu memang pandai menjaga emosi penonton. Selama dua jam 30 menit, penonton tidak beranjak duduk dari kursi. Semuanya tahan berdiri.

Daftar berikutnya adalah tembang Crazy For You, Wait & Tired, Besides You, dan I Can"t. Panggung yang sangat luas dan lighting yang spektakuler membuat konser malam itu terlihat wah. Panggung utama juga dilengkapi dengan catwalk sehingga para personel 2PM bisa menunjukkan magnet masing-masing.

"Kami mempersiapkan stage ini untuk kalian. Hari ini kami akan memberikan penampilan untuk kalian di Jakarta,"  ujar Junsu. Mereka juga menunjukkan kebisaan dalam mengucapkan bahasa Indonesia.  Kami tidak tahu ini benar atau salah, tetapi mau mengucapkan ini,  tutur Wooyoung. Keenamnya lantas berdiri dan berbaris sambil berkata,  "Selamat malam".

Setelah itu, satu per satu memperkenalkan diri dengan menggunakan bahasa Indonesia.  "Saya Nickhun. Senang?"  tanyanya kepada penonton. 2PM juga ditemani para penari latar. Beberapa adalah perempuan. Itu yang membuat para Hottest semakin histeris ketika 2PM beraksi dengan penari-penari tersebut.

Suguhan teaterikal yang dimainkan 2PM menambah konser malam itu semakin berkesan. Mereka menunjukkan kepiawaian dalam memainkan samurai. Paduan tata panggung yang canggih dan lampu laser yang ditembakkan ke penjuru venue membuat penonton tidak bosan.

Ada 25 lagu yang mereka mainkan. Khusus untuk para Hottest, mereka membawakan lagu Thank You yang begitu menyentuh. " Terima kasih atas kedatangan kalian. Kami sangat bahagia. Kami berharap, kalian tidak kecewa karena ini adalah lagu terakhir kami,"  kata mereka.

Seolah tidak rela, penonton meminta mereka menyanyi lagi. Lantas, lagu 10 Out of 10 dan Hands Up kembali dinyanyikan untuk memungkasi pertunjukan tersebut.(jan/c12/ayi)

Photos Gallery of Unforgattable Moment of 2PM: