BIGBANG MADE Tour in Anaheim, 20151004

I did have this ready and waiting shortly after I posted the Los Angeles recap. But I decided to wait and post it on TOP's birthday (in Korea lol)... a month after the event.

This time three years ago, at the same venue, we "celebrated" TOP's birthday on stage. Seungri has a video of it shot on a Samsung Galaxy S3. We also sang to him the previous day but our November 3 is November 4 on the other side of the world which is his actual birthday. He flew to NYC to be with his family immediately after the concert, I heard.

It was so special to us that we could do that. The whole ALIVE Tour was special to me. (I didn't post a wrap up for the 2nd night because that was the only concert where I didn't take a lot of photos. Just the encore but I only had my phone and I was kind of far away.) They did Monster and that was enough for me. At least, I saw it performed live twice.

Yes, I posted a similar picture for the LA recap.

The MADE Tour has its own kind of special. Mainly that bridge thing stage extension and the best pit experience ever. I didn't opt for the Ultimate VIP but I got my money's worth for Bae Bae and more.

I don't know about you but my mother understands the importance of being to a concert 8-10 hours early. Especially if you have a general admission ticket. And in general, I want to be crazy early for these things. Get it out of the way, you know, then have the whole day sitting there and waiting. Fans took it upon themselves to have some sort of organization and together with staff, they tried to have a number system for both the general line and per ticket tier. I got there at around 10-ish and without the people cutting in line to be with their friends who got there earlier, I was the 357th person in line and 124th with the Bae Bae ticket. Already. My actual ticket/wristband read somewhere in the 140's but that's fine. The pit had more than enough breathing room for both Ultimate and Bae Bae as well as guests and special VIPs. You know, the actual very important people... not the fandom name lol.

I love soundchecks. My November 2, 2012 soundcheck was all kinds of special. It involved G-Dragon. That was the first time when I truly experienced "fangirling". This time, I knew what to expect and was pleasantly surprised at the layout of the pit. We had our own little den in between the main stage and the extended stage. And unlike the Floor, we didn't have to push and shove and fight for a good spot. I situated myself at house left right under the left bridge thing. And oh boy, was it the best decision ever.



It gave me good views and really, the biggest selling point of this structure was that no one was ever there. Most of the time, I was the only one walking right under that bridge even when the guys are walking on it. Yeah, sure you want to see them but dang, I had some awesome shots of them literarlly walking on top of my head. After a while, some people got the idea and followed suit.

TOP on top.

Speaking of photos, it was funny. Right before sound check started, a huge security guy entered the pit and weakly announced that there are no pictures. I was being a good girl so I kept my iPod and phone away. I totally had a GD moment (again) when he walked on the bridge and stayed parallel to where I was standing for a solid minute. By the time I realized that the security guy could not do anything to stop the fans from taking pictures, I joined in. In fact, for most of the sound check, a YG security guy was no less than two feet away from me. Also, while waiting for soundcheck to start... remember I told you that no one was willing to stand under that bridge? Well, I did and from the wings, I saw GD playing with a balance board. A staffer lighted his way with a flashlight and immediately, I knew it was a special person. He was wearing super baggy clothes and it did end up to be GD. Heh, I almost always spot them first. ;-)

One downside to being in the middle of four stages is... I don't know where the fuck to look. LMAO. There are five guys, three of them are super high energy. The two Seunghyuns are more relaxed which is good because I love them the most. XD  I resigned to the fact that I may not get a decent GD shot again this concert. Or a group shot at that. Three years ago, I may have been at the pit too but the stage was too high, I'm short, and GD is worse than an electrocuted fish. Hah! At least Taeyang and Daesung have slower solo songs to perform. Same story at KCON 2013. I did get good shots of GD back then, with Missy Elliott, but he's all over the place. My GD moments are mostly undocumented lmao.

Bae, Dae, Seunghyuns, and a Dragon

But it was too early to hope for decent shots. Don't get me wrong, I did get a couple. Good signs! Daesung is just the loveliest live. Many people praise TOP for his charisma (how ever the Korean entertainment industry define that) but to me, Daesung tops my bias list every time I see him live.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see a fair amount of fanboys. And they're not just those boyfriends who indulge their girls, carrying their shit while they go crazy. No, a couple of them wore Big Bang shirts and I saw some of them sing along. My area has a lot of YG guests, by the way. ;-) And surprisingly, there weren't many obnoxious fans at the pit. Wow. Yes, please.

After that, we were escorted back out. To my surprise, they HONORED the numbering system they started earlier! (Honda Center doesn't allow backpacks, jsyk.) Not that it mattered really. But still. I went back to my original bridge spot and hunkered down for the concert.

One thing to note when waiting for a Big Bang concert to start is wait for Fantastic Baby. They will only play it once and that would signal the start of the concert. I don't know if they will continue this but they definitely did this to all four California shows that I've been to.


Having seen the show from afar the night before, I was super pumped to experience it super up close. One can literally run on stage! XD (Someone actually did though... in Australia.) Bang Bang Bang is my new Fantastic Baby. I'm making that official. I wanted people in the pit to dance along to it but everyone was busy taking photos or video or just watching. That's a sad compromise of technology... people miss half of a show by watching it in that small screen despite being there in person. I'm surely guilty of recording a lot of things but I do watch the actual show though. There are ways around that.  But I digress. I would never exchange pit for floor or reserved seats. That is 100% for sure.

Tonight is always a favorite. Another "I want to dance along" song. And I sort of did. I put my phone down and jumped around and did some choreo like a crazy person. Yes, I did. Released in 2011, as the song said... still grooving to it in 2015.


I didn't expect them to feature Stupid Liar but it's another jam nonetheless. They made use of the bridge thing as a stage. The bridges come together at the center, above the pit, to form another stage. It's pretty cool. But that's not the most special thing about this and the songs that followed. I might be watching a Big Bang concert... but my attention was elsewhere.

Nyongtory

I do not have photos of this but trust me. I am not making this up. I have this strange luck when it comes to celebrities. And I've seen Big Bang a handful of times already so I can afford to have my eyes wander. And they landed on Sung Kang of Fast & Furious. I kid you not. One moment, I was dancing to Tonight... I turn around and he was walking towards me. Well, not to me but towards where I was standing. Stupid Liar started and oh man, Sung Kang was right behind me. As if my attention wasn't divided enough.

Believe me, I asked for a photo. I was ready to take it. But he put his arm around my shoulders and said, "We'll take it later, sweetie," or something like that. HE. PUT. HIS. ARM. AROUND. MY. SHOULDERS. I do respect that... I mean, at first I knew that I'll never get that selfie but at the same time, he went to the concert to enjoy himself as a spectator. He wasn't Sung Kang, the Actor at that time. He was there to appreciate the show just like everyone at Honda Center that night.  I was content on being within two feet from him for three or four songs. I don't know if anyone else noticed him but I surely did.

The bridges made their way to the middle so our eyes followed them like sheeple. Sung Kang followed along with the rest of us. Big Bang was looking dapper right in front and above me but I was keeping one eye on Sung Kang the whole time. Hahaha, no creeping... just an overwhelming feeling of luck and fangirling. ;-)  I think he was with his wife. That's another reason why I didn't push for the selfie even if I so wanted to. Hell, not even a stolen shot!


Stupid Liar became Haru Haru. We all moved in closer to the stage - Sung Kang, too. I heard him speak Korean. Someone asked him if he was enjoying (from what I gathered... of course, my attention wasn't 100% on eavesdropping; I had a show to watch) and he said "좋아". I like it. Hee! They asked us to sing along to Haru Haru this time as well. Being in the pit, I couldn't tell if the rest of the stadium was singing along but I sure was. Correct lyrics and all.


Sung Kang went back to his seat after the song. Sigh. That was such a highlight moment. That was my ticket right there. And more! Next stage was the slower/mid-tempo songs in preparation for the solo stages. Loser is a grower. I was underwhelmed at first listen but it's a beautiful track. Blue and Bad Boy are always together. It's their jam song. And they do the dougie still. 

I am glad to report that I am successful in finally taking a decent G-Dragon photo. This tour had a lot of slower, mellow songs where he just stands there, biting his lips and making faces. Being this close also gives me great group shots. It's not just GD solos. I tried not to go shutter happy for TOP. I did try to spread the love. But he's just so beautiful! LOL. 

All their English-speaking shows have pretty much the same script. I mean, make it easier for them, right? But of course, they wouldn't throw in an In'n'Out reference at the New Jersey shows. I wonder what they said in Australia. Daesung's bit about needing to hear us because he couldn't see us was funnier up close. I wish TOP had more things to say. Or GD at that. Understandably, Taeyang and Seungri had the most dialogue. TOP mostly stood to the side looking extremely pretty. GD, for all his flamboyance when performing is rather low-key when there's no music. Seungri is so no holds barred. Fuck if my English isn't perfect. I love him. Taeyang sticks to the script 100%. 



They performed my favorite solo songs. Wings will always be special. I almost cried again. I loved that performance the most because it gave me time to watch the dancers. And they were interacting with the crowd too. I finally have a good GD&TOP photo. At least this time, they were interacting like they know each other hahahaa. The final Eyes, Nose, Lips is... emotional. My favorite part was when the audience started to sing along. I couldn't because I was recording but my heart was definitely singing.

The rest of the show went by fast. I'm glad they have a slew of new songs to freshen things up but I missed their older ones. Monster, as I already mentioned... seeing that live was such a moment. Last Farewell is actually my favorite Big Bang song. But among the newer ones, they skipped Let's Not Fall in Love. I kind of see why. I mean, where do you put it? The 3rd act of the concert was high energy. The boys never looked tired even though I know that they were. All their vocals were on point.

I read a post where people were saying that Taeyang is not a good vocalist. I beg to disagree, more so now that I've seen the MADE Tour. He may not have the "best" voice, subjective, but the emotion in Eyes, Nose, Lips and the intensity in Bang Bang Bang prove that he's awesome at what he does. Daesung, too, but he does tend to push himself too far, straining his already fragile voice. 

Speaking of Daesung, he showed us how much he loved us by gyrating to a Michael Jackson song. But not too much though. His mom was in the audience! It's so sweet that they take their family along with them. 

The rest of the show went on like a dream. Until the encore. OMG, TOP was being adorkable. I was at the right place during that moment. I have nine minutes of goodness from the encore that included a performance of Lies. It was funny... they finished Bang Bang Bang and then Taeyang asked the crowd if we wanted another song. Of course, duh. And then he asked TOP-hyung which song he wanted them to sing. TOP was sitting on the left bridge making cute faces, completely ignoring Taeyang. LMAO. Speaking of Taeyang, he didn't lift up his shirt. 


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So there. The last Big Bang concert for a while. I was exhausted but it was such a special experience. No regrets about the high price tag. It was a fantastic concert and I met Sung Kang along the way. Do I regret not going Ultimate VIP? Not really. I made my Bae Bae so worth it and more. 

I have one more K-pop concert after this. Block B at Club Nokia. Second concert at that venue, second time watching the group live. I also have VIP, by the way.

I don't know when my next Big Bang concert is going to be. Hopefully, there will be another one. And also, I hope YG sends out his other artists over here. Especially WINNER and Akdong Musician. I'm glad I got to see Epik High this year as well as Jinusean. Maybe a YG Family Concert is doable? A girl can hope.

FANCAMS:
Bang Bang Bang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiMPdtOJatw
Eyes, Nose, Lips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NO57aZh7AM
Wings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Av7qUIX7g
Daesung drum solo x Sober: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytxBqUyELsU
Fantastic Baby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tWjro8yFZo
Bang Bang Bang x Lies encore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7g36E5wQHI