November 2: CONCERT + pic spam

NOTE:  ALL THE PHOTOS AND VIDEO FEATURED ON THIS POST ARE ALL MINE.  IF YOU'VE SEEN THEM ON SOME RANDOM FANSITE, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND OR FORUM... THEY OBVIOUSLY STOLE IT FROM ME.  I DON'T MIND THAT REALLY.  WHAT I LOATHE IS TAKING CREDIT FOR SOMETHING THAT IS NOT YOURS.  SO YEAH, ALL THESE ARE TAKEN BY MY LOVELY SAMSUNG GALAXY S3 RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE VIP SECTION OF THE HONDA CENTER, ANAHEIM, CA ON 2 NOVEMBER 2012.

Yes.  I am well aware that I am more than a week late.  As I've mentioned before, November is going to be a hectic month.  Notice the new counter at the bottom of my page... *hinthint*  Also for someone who is as anal and detail-oriented as I am, it's hard to put the whole experience to words... that make perfect sense.  Believe it or not, there are times when I still couldn't believe I saw BIGBANG live.  Twice.  When I listen to any of their songs, I still think, "Oh I wish I could see them... oh wait."  Kekeke ~~~  (Don't worry.  This behavior is normal for me whenever I obsess over something or someone.  LOL.)

Picking up where we left off, we waited in line (again) to get back in (again) for the concert proper.  Nerves and energies are on high.  A lot of us have been waiting almost 10 hours for this.  I was feeling a bit better about the "no cameras" policy.  I didn't care about the "no glowstick" BS; I had my official light stick and I had no time to care for the missions.  My friend and I made a dash to our spot at soundcheck but we decided to try for another spot since we had a few minutes to scout before the rest of the VIP ticket holders barged in.  We ended at the spot I decided on when I was checking out fancams for the "perfect" spot. 

We might not be against the barricade but at least we're in a good spot if ever we decided to attempt fancams and pics.  Surely, they would find it harder to pull people from the middle of the crowd than from the very front or very back.  There were a bunch of very obnoxious fans behind us but whatever.  If you're being pushed, push back.  We all paid good money for the opportunity.

I was trying to see whether I could get decent shots with my phone.  I only got my lovely Samsung Galaxy S3 roughly a week or so again and honestly, I still had no idea what it could really do.  All I knew at that time was it takes good pictures (but then again, anything, was better than the pics from my old Samsung Solstice).  And besides, I had 75% battery left.  What I did to remedy that was to put my phone into silent and airplane mode.  ;-)

As we were waiting, they played BIGBANG music videos from their Still Alive album as well as some of G-Dragon's solo stuff.  As expected, the fans started screaming... yes, even at the MVs.  It gets me all excited when I hear screaming so my nerves were so shot by the time the set began again.  The crowd went nuts for Crayon and Monster, singing along and all that... I just... LOL.  And then during the 2nd or 3rd run of Monster, they switched the audio output to the speakers near the stage.  Everyone went wild.  Even I screamed!  The lights dimmed down and the floor was filled by a stage of yellow crowns.  SHOW TIME!

I would kill to see this performed live for real.  This has the most bad ass rap intro from G-Dragon and TOP's verse is rap-gasm.  Once that tarp fell and we saw those space capsules, I lost it.  I saw them not 3 hours ago but this was The Show.  "The world needs them now," as the voice over said.  YES PLEASE.  NOW.  How many times have I seen videos of their concerts?  I know that energy and I was my turn to take part in it.

TONIGHT

This song.  Definitely rose up to be one of my favorite songs, not just from BIGBANG, but of all time.  GD and TOP did their raps in English, as in the Japanese version (but GD did his 2nd verse in Korean) and it was crazy!  I couldn't hear properly because of all the screaming and the speakers were too close.  Everything was happening so fast!  But all of us were singing along to "toniiiight.... toniiiight..."  Fck it, if I had space, I would've been dancing along.  

I didn't buy a light stick for the 2NE1 concert but man, I'm so glad I had one for BIGBANG.  I got a short fancam but it is massively overloaded.  I'm still debating whether to share it or just let you guys search Youtube for better sounding/looking fancams.

HANDS UP

A brand new world is coming.  We are the world.  Deym.  Did I mention I love the lightstick?  This song is made for light stick action!  The boys raced to the very front of the extended stage and it was too much of a temptation for pictures.  They were so close, omo!   I got a lot of Taeyang and I immediately thought that my mother will love me immensely for them.  (Yes, she likes BIGBANG too, especially Taeyang.)

After that, they did their usual intro spiel.  Adorkable English!  Let it be known that it is in California that TOP spoke the most English, compared to other cities.  None of that shy boy, mic in hand, smiling as if too embarrassed to speak a foreign language.  No.  He was confident and smiling.  And oh, they called us "Cali" or "California".  Technically, Anaheim is not Los Angeles.  ;-)  Now if it were in Staples... hehehe.

FANTASTIC BABY

 "Yo T!  How ya feeling?" GD asked YB.  No matter how many times I've seen and heard Fantastic Baby, I still love the shit out of it.  LOOOOVE this song until whenever.  I went crazy for it during the soundcheck, I did it again for this performance.  DAESUUUUUUUUUNG!!!  Finally, I'm seeing you dance Fantastic Baby in person.  If you must know, he is my favorite part of every Fantastic Baby live performance.  His hair, his bod, his moves... it kills me!  Seungri, you are one hot man.  MAN.  Not boy.  And TOP's part in this song is the stuff of sex.  Just pure sex.

Oh you know I took a fancam.  Just turn your volume waaay down low before pressing play.  Lookie!  I got "caught" by Mr. Security Guy.  Hehehe... and I was totally getting strangled by those confetti things that popped out from the edge of the stage.  Some people took those home but my hoarding days were way in the past.  Hahaha!

HOW GEE

For the life of me, I cannot remember the title of the song they sampled for the intro.  GD and TOP came out on fcking bejeweled and gold Segways.  Like the damn bosses that they are.   It is so hard to get a decent photo of GD because he moves so damn much.  I honestly cannot remember anything else about this performance.  I couldn't get over the Segways!  It was like a party on the stage.  There was so much energy!

STUPID LIAR

From the faded Naega michyeogayo intro... I lost it.  This song gradually grew on me and now, this is one of my favorite BIGBANG songs.  I even love the Japanese version, if not more than the Korean original.  And I love the choreography for GD's part and the chorus.  I was so happy to see this on the tour set list.  Again, this is one of those songs where GD shows his genius.  From the meaning of the words, to the way it flows into each part, to the guys' individual parts.  Compared to the other songs that GD penned, this was a bit different... more pop than his rap comfort zone.  

The only thing I remember from this performance were the raised platforms.  And TOP.  I seem to remember TOP because he was dancing.  Hahaha!  He danced so much at this concert, it was so refreshing.

The YB-SR-DS talk bit was both awkward and cute.  Yes, they don't have the best English out of all the KPOP acts today but boy, do they try.  And it's cute!  Taeyang obviously has the best grasp of English out of the three of them (although he talks like he's gangsta lol).  Seungri, oh bb... LOL.  Cali baby!  I wanted them to do California lovin' but yeah, they did Manila baby.  And Daesung, I believe with enough practice, he can really master it.  He has good diction and waaah, I love Daesung no matter what.  Seungri gave us a Fantastic Baby choreography tutorial but that was once again overshadowed by Daesung's hairography.  

The three were just psyching everyone up for the "big surprise".  Sure, it's not a surprise for the sound check partygoers anymore but whatevs.  It's the concert stage premiere of...

CRAYON

Taeyang introduced his homie GD by doing first rap verse of Crayon while the maknaes beatboxed.  Uh, can anyone say dope?  I had goosebumps.  I've technically seen the performance twice already but to see it on the legit concert stage was something else.  G-Dragon is something else.  So much swag in that lithe body of his.  I also love his white tiger vest.  

KNOCK OUT

Speaking of swag.  TOP rolling out on the stage on a fcking throne with a golden scepter.  Whut?!  Damn son.  I dare you not to stare.  If it was anyone else, that would be pretentious.  But that's T.O.P. yo!  Knock Out is such a hot song.  I love the GD&TOP, Volume 1 album to bits.  And how hard was it to take a decent photo of GD?  The guy moves around so much!

HIGH HIGH

Another one of my favorites.  This is a fun song especially the bridge part.  I have one complaint for the GD&TOP stage though... there were almost no interaction between the two.  And I noticed that it wasn't just for this stage.  It was basically for the whole show.  Hmm... that was a bit disappointing.  I mean, they were singing/performing together but they were not touching or ever looking at each other.  GD&TOP is one of those relationships that I love watching because it's so real.  It just wasn't there that night.

STRONG BABY / WHAT CAN I DO 

Seungri baby!  Why must you be younger than me?!  LOL.  I genuinely love his solo stuff.  I mean, in his own words, "I can do it too."  I don't know what YG was thinking when he initially cut Seungri out of the group.  It is one of his best decisions to take him back in.  Yes, he's an awesome dancer but his vocals... man, I love it.  I'm so happy that he picked two of my favorites (from his solo stuff) as his medley.  I would've liked VVIP also but What Can I Do holds my heart.

Dressed in all white... Seungri, do you have any idea what you do to me?  I knew I made the right choice when I chose you as my sole bias.  You made so many people fall in love with you after tonight.  

GARA GARA GO / NUMBER ONE

I honestly wasn't paying much attention during these two shows.  I was too busy taking pictures.  Yes!  I finally got the hang of it and my pictures were beginning to come out better than earlier in the night.  Also, I'm not really into these songs so I could afford the distraction.  Security was focusing on the left and right sides of the stage so we were pretty safe.  It was another costume change.  Notice that they've debuted new outfits for the US crowd vs the usual ones in previous cities.  So special hehehe...

CAFE

Another "favorite".  And again, a show of GD (and TOP's) genius.  A song that is so different from everything they've done in the past.  And it also shows their vocal ability with the falsettos and Daesung's husky jazzy tone.  And man, this is one sexy song!  Oh you know I took a fanvid!

My TOP bias is showing.... hehehhe...  After that, they did another beatboxing bit for One of A Kind.  Seungri was being a sweet maknae to Jiyong-hyung.  I can't remember whether it was November 2 or 3 when Seungri called GD a "genius".  Well, he definitely is a genius.

BAD BOY

I love it when the boys let the audience sing.  Or butcher a song.  LMAO.  He did let us off easy by letting us do the "You are my lay-lay-lay-lay-lady..."  But whatevs, we sang along for the whole chorus.  Another hot song and apparently, it's Taeyang's "favorite".  All their parts here are sexy and seeing it live... I'm surprised I stood through all that.  Also, if you read the translation of the lyrics, it's another monster of a song.  I don't think I have enough hats to take off in GD's name.

BLUE

Ah, the mission I really wanted to participate in.  This was easy enough, I think.  BUT... I left my blue glow sticks behind.  And my light stick hand was getting comfy holding the crown up.  Hehehe... I did it the next night but for November 2?  I was too overwhelmed.  It would've been cool though.  (Trivia: I sort of want the first line of this song to be tattooed on my person.  In Hangul.  겨울이 가고 봄이 찾아오죠 -- I hope I got that right.)

LOVE SONG

I will never forget how this performance started.  Dark stage, almost silent if not for the screaming.  A slightly familiar instrumental intro starts to play.  And then from the shadows, TOP starts to sing.  I screamed when I realized that this song was next.  The video for this song is one of my favorites.  It was another crazy outfit change for this performance but I love this song so much, I didn't care that the clothes didn't match the song.  

MONSTER

The song that started this obsession for me.  To me, Monster is perfection.  Say what you will about the video, I think it's awesome.  The song is just... it shows how versatile BIGBANG is and once again, GD's talent.  For a group initially and mainly marketed as a hip-hop group, to sing a sort of power ballad is a change.  Sure they did have non-hiphop songs before this but Monster is definitely their most emotionally charged and powerful song.  The performance had my favorite intro.  You know the piano drone before the last chorus?  Yeah, that.  Oh man, everything was so perfect.

FEELING

As much as I like this song, I wish they picked another one.  Say... Somebody to Love or even Love Dust.  I feel that this is a filler song.  It was great as an encore, a lively and fun song but even in concert, it still felt like a filler.  Daesung was awesome in it though.  He kept on singing right in front of our area so I got a lot of pictures.  :)

ONLY LOOK AT ME / WEDDING DRESS

I think this picture will speak for itself, re: Taeyang's solo stage...

You are most welcome.

WINGS

Daesung's solo stage was my favorite part of the night.  I've always known that Wings is an especially beautiful song.  Listening to Daesung sing the song as well as GD explaining the story behind it made me love it.  But watching it performed live with the audience singing along with Daesung... it got me emotional.  It is such a beautiful song.  

During his flying bit, I managed to take a very beautiful shot of Daesung flying with his wings (and rig lol), all smiles and giving the reins to the audience.  I Instagram'd this photo right away because I was proud of how it came out and I wanted to share in Daesung's happiness.  I cannot tell you how many people "stole" this photo from me, refusing to credit even.  I honestly don't care but I didn't like the attitude that came from some "fans".  

But even so, I love this photo and it is definitely the best picture of the whole experience.  And Daesung flew right above me.  In some cities, he didn't fly so I'm so glad that he did it for California.  Aaaah, I just love him so much now!

HARU HARU

I was waiting all night for this.  And no, it's not because we get to sing again.  I just love this song so much.  Every time I listen to it, it's like falling in love with it all over again.  I can't see another KPOP boyband performing this song and doing it justice.  And the acoustic version is such a winner.  I can only imagine how GD feels like every time he hears an audience of non-Korean-speakers sing along to their songs that he wrote. Like this...

And before you ask, yes I did take part.  I made the effort to memorize the romanization of the lyrics and not just that "sounds alike" crap.  XD  And guess what?  Now, I'm determined to do it for their other songs too.  I had a harder time reading romanized Korean than romanji'd Mandarin Chinese that's why I didn't get into KPOP earlier.  But I am now and there's no stopping me.

Originally, the fans planned to sing "Happy birthday" to TOP.  I never saw how that would work so I'm glad that the boys took it upon themselves to remind people that TOP will be celebrating his birthday over the weekend.  We sang to him, TOP-ssi, and he choom-danced for us.  <3  You are the most adorkable, Choi Seunghyun.  I have a video of that but again with my inexperience with the S3, I turned the video sideways.  I will have my brother flip it eventually but for now, there are better fancams out there. ;-)

LIES / LAST FAREWELL

Like Haru Haru, these two songs are right up there in my BIGBANG favorites list.  Every time I hear Last Farewell, it's a guarantee that I'll be dancing along with the music.  I wonder if they get sick of singing these three songs already LOL.  I bet but these songs are the most loved so if they feed off the energy and joy of the audience... Aaaah, it's all so overwhelming.  So much happiness!

And they changed the jump rope move from Last Farewell.  Hahahhaa!  TOP looked so happy during this song.  He didn't kneel (spoiler: he did on the November 3 show) but he was so alive  And he looked so HAWT with those glasses.  How is that hotness even possible?  Seriously.

If you've been watching fancams as the tour progressed, the main spiel doesn't really change.  GD added a bit during the Manila show though.  *oh hearts*  For California, Seungri said that it was his "dream come true" to "finally come to California".  So sweet, you.  And next time when they come back, they will be bigger and better.  "Superstars," he said.  As if they weren't already.  Please come back soon, guys!  <3  I remember TOP speaking in English, a long-ish statement but everyone was screaming so loudly, I couldn't hear a thing.  Hahaha!

Before they did the encore, Taeyang (and GD, I think that was) teased the crowd with an impromptu riff of Next Episode by Snoop Dogg.  (LOL, sorry.  Whenever I hear that song, I think about The Dictator!)  

MY HEAVEN [encore]

Their forever encore song.  I hope Feeling was like this.  Just an encore song.  It already is in the encore set anyway.  Free up space for another song.  Eh, no issue.  This is not a particularly popular song but I like it enough.  I can imagine Sunset Glow though.  That would be fun.

I was making grabby hands for their varsity jackets.  No, I didn't want the ones off their backs which they throw out to the crowd.  I love them but I value my safety too much haha.  

BAD BOY [encore]

Once again, I will let Taeyang tell you about it.

FANTASTIC BABY [encore] 

Boy, TOP was enjoying the night away.  He was chooming, dancing, jumping around.  He was so happy!  And Seungri totally Gangnam Styled.  It was so much fun.  My heart skipped when GD did the 2nd "boom shakalaka"... everything was all too much to handle!  I developed a slight obsession with GD's "Too fast to live too young to die" tattoo.  It got me hot all over just looking at it.  I remember staring at it also at soundcheck and I'm just fascinated by it.

Seungri didn't pull out his Samsung Galaxy S3 to film the encore.  So I took care of that for him.  My bb even got my phone wet lmao. 

Warning: EXCESSIVE screaming and overload ahead.

And then, of course... FEELING [encore]

It felt a bit heavy.  The night is coming to an end.  All of us were tired but extremely happy.

It was so amazing.  The whole night, this whole thing... no superlatives can properly describe it.  To be able to see BIGBANG live.  To watch them perform some of my favorite songs live.  I didn't even realize how many of their songs I have "memorized" until the music started.  I loved their little quirks.  I loved their energy.  Their passion.  THEIR TALENT.  I just loved the whole thing.

... and I had one more night of this.  ;-)

Thanks for reading!