G-Dragon, one of the most talented solo artists and also a member of top boy idol group Big Bang, finally wrapped up his second world tour “G-DRAGON 2013 WORLD TOUR : ONE OF A KIND” with two encore shows in Seoul over the weekend.
Drawing in 20,000 audiences, including star couple Han Ga-in and Yeon Jeong-hoon, actress Kim Hee-seon, singer IU, members of girl groups Rainbow and After School, the final concerts were held at the Olympic Gymnastics Stadium with big success.
It was also the perfect venue for revealing the first performance of his second solo studio album “Coup D’e Tat,” rolled out four years after his first solo effort “Heartbreaker.”
As the starting time to the concert drew closer, fans hollered G-Dragon’s real name Kwon Jiyong and as the heat of audience and their shouts fill the concert hall, the one and only singer appeared on the stage on a transparent car.
That was when the madness started, no fans were sitting on their seats and red spotlights followed G-Dragon, who was also wearing red clothes.
Unlike most singers that draw out the anticipation until the very last moment, G-Dragon performed his new tune “Coup D’e Tat” as the fourth song after he heated up the audience enough by performing “GO,” “Heartbreaker” and “One of A Kind.”
However, the singer couldn’t fulfill the high expectations set for the tune through releasing teaser photos for the album. The lyrics were catchy but the singer seemed to focus on rhymes rather than delivering a message. The sound was no different from his previous songs and his mumbling rapping was still there.
The song had also made headlines for its music producers Diplo and Baauer but it was plain compared to the renowned producers’ previous works — Baauer created YouTube sensation “Harlem Shake” and Diplo produced Chris Brown’s “Look at Me Now,” Usher’s “Climax” and Beyonce’s “End of Time.” ”Coup D’e Tat” did not contain an addictive hook nor a catchy melody.
Though G-Dragon showed a stage full of dazzling performances brimming with showmanship, he seemed small standing by himself, unlike for his March concert which signaled the start of the tour with much more excitement. It was clear that he was only one on the stage this time.
It might be because the singer was worn out after months of touring and the previous night’s concert. However, the concert didn’t play up to the reputation of him and the staff members including creative directors Travis Payne and Stacy Walker who have worked with Michael Jackson.
But the top-notch performances of GD were still there, including those for “Butterfly,” “Nightmare” and “She’s Gone.”
When performing “Butterfly,” a giant butterfly controlled by the concert staff flew around the stage. With a dreamy melody and butterflies floating around the stage, the song drew thousands of eyes to the stage and the musician. When G-Dragon performed “Nightmare,” fans buzzed out of expectation that Big Bang’s member T.O.P would come out.
However, it was only G-Dragon who sang the song until his neck veins stood out at the end of the performance. A woman in a red dress, hanging in the air and falling down at the end of the song, enhanced the excitement.
Despite fans’ guess that “Nightmare” would make the best ending performance, “She’s Gone” was the song which received the loudest applause and shouts. The artist stepped in wearing a fur coat and put it off at the last moment to get rained on in the water flushed onto the stage.
While the performer dried off and changed his clothes backstage, his labelmate 2NE1 appeared on the stage and entertained the audience with a few of their songs.
The guest performers was another charm to the concert. In addition to 2NE1, just like most of the audience expected, Akdong Musician’s Lee Soo-hyun and rapper Tablo of Epik High shared the stage with GD, upping the heat even more.
The first guest performer was 2NE1′s CL. She made a powerful entrance on stage shouting “What’s up?” and the two singers ran around the stage for “The Leaders.” The second guest was Akdong Musician’s female vocalist Lee Soo-hyun, who featured in “Missing You” with her clear voice.
It was the rookie singer’s first time singing on stage after the sibling duo joined the YG Entertainment this May. G-Dragon kept complimenting Lee by saying “you are so cute,” and asked fans for support and love for YG’s new artist.
The last guest was Epik High’s Tablo, who sang “Light It Up.” Fans were jumping and moving their hands back and forth, making the hall vibrate with enthusiasm.
As G-Dragon’s new album release date was the day after the concert, the artist made a few comments to raise expectations.
“I started to work on this album last year. It was delayed due to my eagerness to improve the album but now I think it is perfect and ready for showing to you all.” He then added, “This album is the best album I’ve ever produced.”
After the performances for “Crayon” and “Fantastic baby,” the concert seemed over but then it reached another climax, when all the members of Big Bang appeared on the stage for encore performance.
Next to T.O.P who seemed nervous standing on stage for the first time in a while, Taeyang complimented and raised anticipation of G-Dragon’s new album by remarking, “As a close friend, I learn a lot from him and I am jealous of him for making such good songs.”
The group’s youngest member Seungri also said, “I’m proud to be in the same team with him. There aren’t many solo artists who can sell out all the seats at the Olympic Gymnastics Stadium. Thank you all for coming.”
G-Dragon’s grand concert tour, which started in March this year and met with fans through 27 shows in 13 cities in eight countries, finally wrapped up over after pleasing an overall 570,000 audiences around the world.
The concert left room for more to be desired though. It contained several extraordinary performances backed by big-scale stage setups, but most of the performances were not much different from those of his last concert and other singers. More was expected of the encore shows of G-Dragon known for his outstanding performances and dramatic stage sets.
Source : bigbangupdates[dot]com
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