D'slove Encore Day 1&2: Part 1
[Note] These are my thoughts and feelings on the Encore concerts. Since it's so long, I decided to cut it into 2 posts -- this post will cover the overall concert on both days and the second will cover humorous/notable MC talks. So sorry, I'm terrible at keeping essays short T-T I won't be going to Osaka :(
[Edit] Here's part 2!!
http://mikan36.tumblr.com/post/110087745600/dslove-encore-day-1-2-part-2
①Overall Day 1 & Day 2 (mostly about MC)
During day 1, Daesung's voice wasn't doing as well as usual and he had trouble hitting the high notes, especially in "Dress" and "Omoi Tsunotte." Honestly, I think he was over-worked from working in Shanghai the night before with BIGBANG, then flew into Tokyo on the morning of his solo concert.
The first day of Encore, he stumbled a lot with the MC, accidentally mixing up words and occasionally slipping out Korean. There were 2-3 times when he would be talking then suddenly lose his train of thought, pause, then scream "AHHHGGGGHHHH" and pretend to hit the floor with his mic while vigorously shaking his head from frustration at himself at forgetting his lines. It was funny and cute because of his pouting but it was also frustrating to see him so angry at himself since we all knew he could do better.
Maybe that was part of the reason, but during day 1 he kept mentioning the concert was only "max 2.5 hours! No more, no less. If I am in the middle of the set list but it has already been 2.5 hours, I will stop right there and then! (crowd whines) But! if I sing the entire set list and it is still not 2.5 hours, I will continue to stay out on stage until the 2.5 hours is up!! I am a man of my promise so I promise you it will be exactly 2.5 hours only~~~ ^_^" Daesung likes to joke with fans about ending the concert sooner than he actually does, but he said it so often this time that I was afraid it was actually only going to be 2.5 hours. It ended up being around 2 hours and 40 min.
This is why day 2 was such a surprise. It was as if there had been a week between day 1 and day 2 for him to practice his MC because day 2's MC was PERFECT. A friend who went to rehearsal for day 2 told me Daesung said, since he messed up so many times on day 1, his staff got onto him for it, and he would read the teleprompter script on day 2 and not do free-MC talk.
"I will re-organize (my MC) and to make sure it is smooth, I will only read the script! I am not free (as in, not the type to do whatever he wants)!!"
I was worried when I heard this, but during his first MC, he told us something like this --
DS: So...yesterday my MC was uhm.. so bad (laughs). My Japanese was so bad it was like TOP's. So last night I practiced at my hotel!!! あ..!!! (Aa - first letter of the Japanese alphabet) い!! (ii - second letter) え!! (e - fourth letter of the alphabet.. >_>)
VIPS \\ え...??? //
DS: .... >_> <_< う..!!?!! (u - 3rd letter of the alphabet) お!!! (o - 5th letter)
DS: other を!!! (wo - last letter of the alphabet - it sounds similar to お so it was cute that he said 'other O' XD)
DS: So I will keep doing free MC!! I will only read the script sometimes because if I don't read this script, the staff person who writes the script will be out of a job (LOL)
I think I wasn't the only one who was incredibly proud of Daesung for having made a beautiful comeback on the second day, especially since the DVD filming was on day 2. Now onto the music.
②Music & Set list
After seeing Rainy Rainy during D'slove, there is a very special place in my heart for this song. Maybe it's because it was one of the two new songs he sang from his D'slove album last year, but I can still clearly see the images of rain drops falling in the background behind him as he tightly closes his eyes and sings with his chin held high and the veins on his neck stretching to squeeze out all of his heart into the lyrics. I think this song being 2nd on the set list for this Encore concert helped my heart recall last year and shift back into D'slove mode.
I was pleasantly surprised with Futari? Hitori! I love buying albums -- so much so that I will, on occasion, buy CD albums I have never listened to on a whim just to see what it sounds like. I find the likely hood of liking all the songs on a single album is very rare for me -- even when it comes to artists I really love. So I was enthralled to find I loved D'slove to bits and pieces. Even so, 'Futari? Hitori!' (Literally meaning, '2 people? 1 person!') was probably my least favorite song in the album because of the melody. However, listening and seeing him sing the words with his scrunch-pseudo-angry-but-smiling-expression while jumping up and down changed the song's impression for me. On day 1 he introduced it as the song "you can jump to" -- I think this song was made for the stage more than the iPod. :)
Dress was perfect. Daesung has trouble hitting the super high notes in some of his ballad songs, and this is one of them. Despite this fact, I feel like this song is a perfect song written for Daesung. On day 2, some of the fans yelled to suggest 'Dress' for encore so he sang it as the last song. It was the icing on the cake, the foam on the cappuccino, the caramel on the creme brulee. What is it about Daesung that keeps making us go back for more -- to be honest, there are plenty of singers who are more talented than him vocally -- it's the sincerity and honestly with which he sings each song as if it is his last, the humble way in which he presents himself and his music to his listeners, as if he is gifting his voice to us. It is what makes me believe in him and his music. 'Dress' perfectly captures this Daesung, alongside his career-long solo song, 'Baby Don't Cry.'
If you dont know already, Baby Don't Cry is my all-time favorite song from Daesung. Usually the intro music starts and my knees start getting weak and ready to stop doing their job of holding me up. But on that day, from a dark stage the 3 words were repeated loud and clear -- BABY DON'T CRY BABY DON'T CRY BABY DON'T CRY... -- and that was the unexpected introduction to the acoustic verse of 'Baby Don't Cry.' It's hard for me to say if he was singing those acoustic lines because it sounded -- and call me crazy -- as if he was talking to me, personally. His husky voice gently dropped each word like he was taking his last breath, only for you to be relieved to hear the next word to tell you, "...you still don't know... you're not alone..." When the lights came on and the stage lit up, and he continued to sing with his full voice with the band, he looked straight into the camera as he told us "...one day you'll realize what's important, my lady..." I guess you can already guess I was quite busy listening and absorbing while wiping my face with my Dkun towel and beloved Dae slogan.
This is Daesung's music -- he makes you feel like you are not just a pawn in a mass of fans, he makes you feel like he is singing to you -- to just you -- when he is singing ballads, then makes you feel like you're in a giant party (with people you like, haha) when he sings uplifting songs like 'Joyful' or 'Hello.'
Dounimo Tomaranai was PHENOMENAL!!! I'm sure many, if not all, of you already know that the original singer of 'Dounimo Tomaranai,' Linda Yamamoto -san appeared as a guest singer during his performance on day 2 of this song. YES, YAMAMOTO LINDA SAN APPEARED IN THE MIDDLE OF DSLOVE ENCORE IN HER BEAUTIFUL (soon to be) 63-YEAR OLD SELF, IN A MINI SKIRT DRESS WITH SEQUINS AND HIGH-HEELED BOOTS AND A LONG BROWN (probably wig but nonetheless beautiful) HAIR!!!!!!!! I could NOT get over myself my friend and I were screaming like we had just won the 10 billion dollar lottery (maybe even more) -- the entire venue went CRAZY. I have never heard so much squealing and screaming in my life. What's more, their collaboration was perfectly in sync, with Dae following up to Linda-san's main verses, the two of them even dancing and doing a little sexy hip dance together. You could just SEE Daesung's nervous-but-INCREDIBLY-excited sparkles in his eyes as he sang with his deep clear resonating voice. To know that our beloved Daesung, our dear D-LITE was not just a amazing singer in our hearts but growing so fast so much that he was being accepted, no, recognized as a talented solo singer in Japan...... oh the feels were unstoppable. Just writing this is starting to make me get teary-eyed again. Is this how mothers feel when their children get into college...
③Lastly, his words and a bit more...
He said most of his deeper MCs on day 2, when his talk was more fluid. There's so much I wan't to relay to those who couldn't attend, but I feel like this is getting too long and tiring to read. He did several fan interviews on both days but he talked a lot more to fans on day 2. I will elaborate on my next post that I will be posting as soon as I finish writing it right after this, but there was a particular fan interview that moved me to a point of drowning in tears. He always notices fans and I do believe that he really does love his fans. I think this is why his free talk MCs sound as sincere as they do.
Every concert he holds, he tells us how happy he is to be able to continue singing but this time, he added a bit more. And I paraphrase--
"I care about each and every fan, and the relationship of trust that we have been able to build together through last year's tour and D'scover, and now this tour. If it wasn't for you all, fans, I would not be here now holding this encore concert. My voice is not my own -- it belongs to you all."
Then at the end he added...
"I will continue to sing as long as I can sing... so it's totally okay if you switch (to someone else's) fan... well not totally (laughs) just a little okay... but maybe you'll hear my song one day and think 'oh! DLITE is still singing..?' then please come back to me..."
I love music. I love all genres, sounds, variations of music so there are some artists I love who are in their 70's who have been singing all their lives. This is why, at this moment of Daesung's speech, I could clearly see the future where Daesung is a grey-haired grandpa, still smiling, still singing with all his heart, telling us how happy he is to be able to keep singing on stage... with his fans -- also grey-haired and wrinkly (haha), alongside young children and babies :')
I've found that many VIPs have a very personal reason for becoming VIP. I personally have a lot of trust issues from the building up of various... happenings. But Daesung makes me feel like it is okay to trust him, knowing that he will always keep his word, and we will always see him again as long as we keep doing what we do. He gives me a sense of trust and relief that nothing else can. So...
baby don't cry baby don't cry, just for me, give me your smile...
[Continued] Part 2:
http://mikan36.tumblr.com/post/110087745600/dslove-encore-day-1-2-part-2
