YG Family, Hot & Dynamic! The best gift package of all time [Overall]

[OSEN=선미경 기자] From world star PSY to BIGBANG, 2NE1, EPIK HIGH and the freshly born WINNER. It was certainly enough to show YG’s power. The performances they delivered as each group or as a whole were a perfect source of entertainment for the audience. With the entire YG Family in once place, the audience was more than awe-struck to see various and dynamic performances.

The “AIA REAL LIFE: NOW FESTIVAL 2014” was held on August 15 at Jamsil Sports Complex, where YG Family was invited as the headliner for the finale.

The first was 2NE1. As they appeared along the beat of “CRUSH,” the audience was excited. The cheering grew as they sang “Fire,” “COME BACK HOME,” and “Gotta Be You.” As it was the first time for the divas to be on stage all at once in a long while in South Korea, they did not forget to greet the fans. CL said, “I am thoroughly enjoying being in Seoul performing,” while BOM said, “I missed you all.” DARA asked the audience “to enjoy it until the end” while MINZY commented, “Your reaction is great. Let’s keep it up.” In the latter half, 2NE1 performed “I AM THE BEST,” “Scream” and “Can’t Nobody.”

EPIK HIGH went on to perform “Fly,” “Umbrella” and “Love Love Love.” They performed “Umbrella” with AKDONG MUSICIAN’s (AKMU) SOO HYUN while singing the last one with DARA. The two female artists reinterpreted the songs in their own colors, making it even more special. TABLO greeted the fans, and asked for a round of applause for SOO HYUN who joined them.

Next came the newbie group, WINNER. It was their debut performance. After singing “GO UP,” they went on to perform the title track “EMPTY” from the debut album “2014 S/S” and “Smile Again.” Appearing on stage, wired from the ceiling in mid air, the newbies did not look like rookies at all. Fans’ cheering grew even louder. As extended as the preparation period had been, WINNER filled the stage with much dynamism. Despite this being their debut, the members’ powerful but relaxed performances attracted attention at once. “EMPTY” was especially perfect for showing WINNER’s different colors and sentiments.

When their turn ended, WINNER’s KANG SEUNGYOON said, “This is our first time standing before you as members of WINNER. We are so grateful that you are here with us.” KIM JINWOO added, “We’ve been through a lot, and thank you for making our dreams come true.” LEE SEUNGHOON also added, “It took us long to be here, but we made it. We are not the youngest in YG but we are the last to debut, so we are going to try extra hard to show you what we’ve got. We’re going to keep it up.”

SONG MINHO continued, “We received so much help to get here. We hope you stay with us on our journey. NAM TAEHYUN said, “You waited so long. I am so thankful and will work hard to repay you for your attention and interest in us.” KANG SEUNGYOON wrapped up with the comment, “We will work hard to become a group that lives up to our name.”

When BIGBANG appeared, the standing area turned gold. Starting with “Haru Haru,” BIGBANG showcased different stages like “Bad Boy,” and “Fantastic Baby.” The audience waved glow-in-the-dark sticks with golden crowns on top. In the dark, a gold wave came to life before BIGBANG’s eyes.

Standing as a whole for the first time since their concert early this year, BIGBANG filled the stage with their experienced performances. The wave and cheering grew bigger. GD told the fans, “It’s been long and it’s great to see you all. It’s a beautiful night.” T.O.P said, “I hope this concert with YG remains a good memory for all of you.” SEUNGRI said his greetings in different languages, according to where the fans are from. BIGBANG then went on to perform “Tonight” and “Lies” for the enthusiastic fans.

PSY’s appearance made the cheering even louder and hotter. With “Right Now,” he performed “Entertainers,” “It’s Art,” “Father,” “Gentleman,” “Champion” and “Gangnam Style.” This concert, once again, left out the much-anticipated “Hangover,” but PSY responded to the heated up fans with much passion and zeal.

PSY’s performance was simply wild. The audience responded to each word that came out of his mouth. He told them, “There are a lot more concerts to come. You are looking a little tired. Are you? Can you jump more?” and added, “For the last time—leaving no regrets, for yourself, jump up high to make this time the most memorable. You lose if you’re tired. You win if you enjoy this.”

As the most passionate performances went on, the audience did not even have time to feel exhausted. Fans jumped with PSY, singing along. Like the king of concerts, he engaged with the fans and made them join in. The fans even “sang together” along the tracks. When singing “Father,” he pointed his microphone to the audience, and they sang in one voice.

AKMU, LEE HI and WIN’s TEAM B also joined in. AKMU sang “Give Love” and “200%” while LEE HI collaborated with fellow YG artists and also showcased “Rose.” TEAM B not only performed with WINNER but also delivered their very own “Climax.”

YG brought on more entertainment by showcasing collabos. WINNER, with their former competitor TEAM B, unveiled “Just Another Boy.” It was no longer a competition but a perfect collaboration. GD and CL turned “The Baddest Female” into “The Baddest Male.” Their “MTBD” also received hot cheering from the fans.

GD, this time with SEUNGRI, performed “Crayon,” showing a charm that was different to BIGBANG’s. T.O.P invited MINHO and DARA to perform his solo “Doom Dada.” DAESUNG and KANG SEUNGYOON performed 2NE1’s “Ugly” while TAEYANG and TEAM B perfected “Ringa Linga.”

MINZY sang “1,2,3,4” with LEE HI, and the rest of 2NE1 joined in to perform “If I Were You.” TAEYANG performed his “Eyes, Nose, Lips” with EPIK HIGH. TABLO aroused much attention previously with his cover of the song. EPIK HIGH and BOM showcased “Up,” while TUKUTZ, WINNER and TEAM B sang “Phone Number,” “Hot” and “High High.”

The collabos of YG was even more entertaining as the performances showed the strong bond among the artists. YG artists worked together to heat up the stadium, and provided a great source of entertainment.

The curtain call stage was filled with the entire YG Family singing various hit songs. “Go Away,” “Fantastic Baby” and “Gangnam Style” ended the show with much heat. Fans stayed in their seats until the very end, enjoying every moment of YG show. Only excitement instead of exhaustion could be seen in the fans after the 4-hour long concert.

In the 4 hours, YG’s artists showcased whopping 50 songs. It was certainly the greatest gift package of all time. BIGBANG and 2NE1’s fans came together as one, and the stadium became a big playground for all fans to have fun. Seeing different artists like BIGBANG, 2NE1, and the newbies like WINNER and AKMU multiplied the excitement. Dynamic lights, firecrackers and laser beams made it even more exciting.

But what stood out most were the artists truly enjoying the performances. PSY freely roamed around on stage engaged with the audience while BIGBANG delivered dynamic performances. 2NE1 entertained the fans with their passionate singing and dancing. The entire time was like the best gift package only YG Family could give.

2014. 8. 16.