My first IU concert: a dream come true
In one of my earlier entries I mentioned that my greatest dream as an IU fan was to see her perform live, and lamented that it was a far-off dream for a fan living in the tiny island of Singapore. So you can imagine my exhilaration when I first heard that IU would be performing here as part of her 10th anniversary concert tour, and realised that my dream wasn’t that distant after all. When the ticketing prices were first announced I was a little hesitant because they were so steep, but on the day the tickets were released, I took the plunge and snapped up a ticket. And it’s a decision I have not regretted.
Because IU’s concert on 15th December 2018 was one the most exuberating and magical three hours of my life.
It’s been more than 24 hours since the concert ended, but the adrenaline rush from the amazing experience still lingers in my blood, and my emotions haven’t quite settled down. For IU brought me on a roller coaster of emotions: nervousness and anticipation before the concert, a heady sense of excitement at finally setting eyes on her in person, overwhelming euphoria at singing along with her and my fellow ueanas, heartache during her poignant ballads, and finally, a bittersweet feeling of joy mixed with sadness when the concert finally ended.
There are so many precious memories I want to document that I had a hard time organising my thoughts, but I decided to focus on the top six experiences that were most memorable for me.
#1 The pre-concert anticipation
First of all, the joy of anticipation. My anticipation for the concert began from the moment I bought the concert tickets in October, and grew progressively with the passing of each day. But nothing could beat the sense of anticipation that culminated on the day of the concert, when I finally arrived at the concert venue.
IU’s concert in Singapore was held at the Star Theatre, which is located on the top floor of a shopping mall. Prior to the concert, I had visited the mall a few times, but never had the chance to go to the theatre. When I reached there I could not help feeling somewhat awestruck; access to the concert foyer was via pairs of escalators at different wings, and the escalators were unusually long and steep, which made for a rather grand entrance befitting the momentousness of the occasion for me. As I made my way up, the familiar strains of IU’s “Bbi Bbi” drifted towards me, and I don’t know why, but hearing IU’s voice then was my first magical moment for the day. Perhaps it was the surreal feeling of hearing IU’s songs played in a public place, or perhaps it was the sudden realisation of how close I was to fulfilling my dream. But whatever it was, I experienced a bubbling over of emotions and giddy sense of anticipation that felt out of this world.
#2 Observing my fellow ueanas
When I finally managed to rein in my emotions I turned my attention to something which I had been curious about for the longest time: the profile of my fellow ueanas. I must confess that while I do know many lovely ueanas on Twitter, I have not met any in person, and do not know any ueanas in real life (other than my mum, who became fond of IU after Lee Soon Shin but doesn’t really know that much about her). So it was fun to observe the crowd to get a sense of who my fellow ueanas were. It was quite evenly distributed by gender, but predominantly a very young crowd – they looked mostly like teens, college students or young working adults like myself, though I did spot an adorable grey-haired couple and a few ahjummas and ahjusshis. What was interesting though, was the diversity of the languages and accents I heard; while there were many Singaporeans, I also heard people speaking in Korean, Malay, Chinese (with non-local accents), American-accented English and Hong Kong-accented English. I knew for a fact from Twitter too, that many ueanas had flown in specially from as far as US and Australia to Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia just for the concert, so the crowd was probably a mini United Nations of ueanas.
After I got to my seat I found myself flanked by two pairs of Singaporean girls. Because I was early, and too nervous to focus on anything on my phone, I spent my time eavesdropping on their conversations. It was quite funny listening to them fangirl and exchange random facts about IU (“I LOVED Through The Night when it came out, that is her best song!”, “Her skin is so nice”, “She was spotted hanging out in Bugis yesterday!”, “Her concerts are known for being very long, I wonder how long today’s one will be!”) I also spotted a male fan in front of me who spent his time admiring his phone wallpaper which featured a huge picture of IU, and another who was taking multiple photos of the SG Heart IU fan support banner and posting it on his Instagram account. Although I was alone and too shy to make small talk with anyone, I felt a strange sense of comfort from the affinity I shared with the crowd of fellow ueanas, however diverse their backgrounds might be.
#3 Seeing and hearing IU in person
As 6pm drew near, the lights dimmed. The excitement in the air was palpable, and the crowd started screaming in anticipation of IU’s appearance. But IU didn’t appear, and instead, a video starting playing. Filmed in a style reminiscent of the black-and-white silent films of the 1920s, it featured IU and her team in a backstage area of a theatre preparing for a performance. Whoever had conceptualized this was truly a creative genius, for the old school Hollywood vibes it evoked fit cleverly with the ‘movies’ theme of the concert, and the backstage setting was a perfect prelude to the start of a show. It was also excellent in building up suspense for the audience - the final scene showed IU about to open the stage doors, ready to make her entrance. Just when it seemed that she would open the doors, she turned suddenly to the audience with a comically deadpan expression, and one word flashed across the screen: “Scream!” The audience obeyed promptly and went absolutely wild. Before we knew it, the opening of IU’s “Red Shoes” with its lively, thumping beats began playing, and a familiar voice - strong, clear and powerful, belted out the first line of the song. It was the moment we had all been waiting for: IU’s grand entrance.
I’ve thought hard about how I can describe my emotions at this precise moment, but I don’t think words can do justice to what I felt at seeing and hearing IU live for the first time. It was a moment which I had earlier been thinking about and anticipating for the longest time, and I had initially thought that I would definitely cry when the time came, but for some reason, I did not. Perhaps it was because it was too surreal seeing IU in person, or perhaps it seemed too unbelievable that my dream had finally come true. But I did feel a heady mix of excitement, euphoria and unadulterated bliss that left me almost too shaken to focus on the performance.
After my nerves had calmed down sufficiently I began to relax and enjoy the performance. From where I was sitting, IU was too small for me to see her facial expressions without the onscreen projection, and the sound system at the concert venue was sadly less than stellar. But none of that could detract from IU’s charismatic stage presence, or how beautiful, clear and well-controlled her voice was. Prior to the concert I had heard so many ueanas rave about how listening to IU live was even better than listening to her studio recorded songs, and I finally saw for myself that this was not an exaggeration. Over the next few hours, IU showcased the versatility of the voice with great aplomb as she performed a variety of songs from her discography of ten years - from cutesy songs like “Marshmellow” and “Boo”, to upbeat dance numbers like “23” and “Last Night Story”, and sorrowful ballads like “The Only Story I Didn’t Know” and “Gloomy Clock” (her heartfelt and poignant tribute to the late Jonghyun).
#4 Singing with the crowd
Other than seeing and hearing IU live, I think another unforgettable experience was getting to sing along with my fellow ueanas in the crowd. Anyone who has watched fancams of IU’s performances would be familiar with how she loves to point her mike at the audience for them to sing along - and I must confess that I had earlier been worried about how the Singapore audience would fare with this, given our general predisposition to being a somewhat reserved lot.
My fears, however, proved to be completely unfounded. When the first singalong favourite “Friday” starting playing, the crowd cheered excitedly, and began singing along with great enthusiasm and gusto. The crowd did just as well for the next song “Meaning of You”. I was a little shy, but I sang along as well, and it felt absolutely amazing - I think I experienced what sociologists call “collective effervescence” - the intoxicating joy and the sense of affinity from a shared experience with a crowd. It was exhilarating, too, to shout the fanchants - some were too hard for me, but the easier ones like “Bbi Bbi” were great fun. But above all, what I loved most was seeing how IU’s face lit up with joy and surprise when she heard our voices. She declared that we sang so well that she got goosebumps, and hearing that expanded my heart with warmth and joy.
#5 Listening to IU’s concert talk
I had previously mentioned how I love reading translations of IU’s concert talk, which provides great insight into her mature, introspective and thoughtful personality. So listening to her talk as an actual member of an audience that she interacted with was one of the most precious concert experiences for me.
As most ueanas would know by now, IU spoke in English for the most part of the concert, and switched to Korean only towards the later half - thanks to the prompting of IU Team, who said that her fans were used to hearing her speak in Korean and might find it weird otherwise, and that the concert might end prematurely if she only spoke only in English. I loved hearing her speak in English though - her accent, coupled with her husky voice, was absolutely adorable, and her command of the language, while not perfect, was impressive nonetheless. It has certainly come a long day from her Heroes days, where her hilarious “I run to you” line has been immortalised forever in the annals of classic IU moments, or her 2014 KCon performance in America, where she said it was suffocating not being able to communicate with her fans. She certainly had no such problems with her Singapore concert, for she was able to convey her thoughts in English with coherence and clarity.
With the deluge of updates on Twitter, and IU Team Star Candy’s excellent translations, I think most ueanas would already know what IU had spoken of during her concert, but I think it’s worth summarising a few key highlights in my account here, for completeness:
(a) IU’s love for Singapore: IU mentioned how she and her team went sightseeing in Singapore, and loved the clean environment, delicious food, nice weather (which made the Singaporean girl next to me gasp in disbelief) and kind people. Best of all, she said that her father got really excited after she texted him about her experience here, and that she would return for a visit with her family next year. Hearing this thrilled the patriot in me and made my heart swell with pride and delight.
(b) IU’s surprise and happiness at being able to hold a concert here: One of the things which IU repeatedly mentioned was her surprise and happiness at having enough fans to hold a concert in Singapore. I could sense her genuine joy, which made me really happy too. She also apologized many times at coming here only ten years after her debut - I hope this means that IU and her company will finally have more confidence in venturing overseas to reach out to her international fans!
© IU’s personal growth: At the segment of the concert featuring songs she had written herself (23, Zeze, Glasses etc.) IU mentioned how she used to focus on negativity in her younger days, but has since moved on to focus on love, and accept and like herself for who she is. This was one of my favourite parts of the concert talk - an example of one of those intimate, deeply personal moments where IU opens up about herself to her fans, and also a testament to how much she has matured as an artist over the years.
#6 IU’s encore and re-encore
All good things come to an end; two hours flew by quickly, and before we knew it, IU announced that she would be performing her last song (“You and I”), to the collective groans of the audience. It was evident that everyone was aware of her legendary encores though, for after she got offstage, the audience started chanting “Encore! Encore!” expectantly. IU did not disappoint, returning to the stage in her dazzling white gown for “Through the Night” and “Dear Name”.
I must confess that because I had watched so many fancams of her earlier concerts, I more or less knew what to expect from this segment. But nothing could compare to seeing it live for myself.
It was a breathtaking sight - standing on the stage in her sparkly white gown with the spotlight on her, and against a backdrop designed to look like a night sky with twinkling stars, glowing fireflies and pretty swirly patterns , IU looked ethereal, like an angel descended from heaven. When IU sang “Dear Name”, we held up the hand banners and waved the green finger lights that SG Heart IU had prepared, illuminating the entire venue like the glow of fireflies.
This beautiful set up, coupled with the poignant nature of the two sentimental ballads, and the awareness that the show was coming to an end, made my heart ache with a bittersweet mixture of joy and sadness.
After IU exited the stage, we started chanting “Encore!” repeatedly again. I wasn’t sure if IU would appear for her famous “re-encore”, given that she had another concert in Bangkok the next day. But to everyone’s delight, IU soon emerged in her casual wear - one of her characteristically baggy T shirts, with a graphic print design. She explained that while her time was limited as most of her staff had to pack up and fly off to Bangkok that night, she wanted her overseas fans to have a chance to experience her “re-encores” as well. She also requested the security staff to lift the ban on phototaking and videography (while not forgetting to thank them for their hard work - bless her soul!), to the rapturous cheers of the audience. After inviting us to tell her what songs we wanted (which turned the place into a madhouse with screams from every corner), she eventually settled on “The Shower” and her signature encore song “Heart”, before bidding her final goodbye.
Conclusion
After the concert ended I stayed on in my seat, feeling a little dazed and lost. I think when something which you have been looking forward to for such a long time finally ends, the sense of emptiness that hits you can be overwhelming - and I really felt it keenly in this case. I had previously thought that I would be more than satisfied if I could fulfil my dream of seeing IU just once, but after experiencing her concert, I realised that all I wanted was to see her perform live again.
But as IU herself said - when talking about the topic of post-concert emptiness during her 2017 concert - this sense of emptiness need not be sad so long as we remember and treasure what we had witnessed, and move on to recharge ourselves with something new. We need not remember all the details; what is important is to just keep the impressions and emotions in our memories.
And indeed, I think I’ve slowly begun to move on as I catch up with the other realities of life. I started writing this post on the day after the concert, but with limited time, and my slow pace of writing, I’m wrapping this up only now, more than a week later. Over this period, the post concert withdrawal symptoms, which were so intense immediately after the concert, have gradually lessened. I know, too, that my recollections of specific moments may eventually become less distinct over time as well. But I will never forget the feeling of intense happiness from the time shared with IU and my fellow ueanas, and I know that 15th December 2018 will always have a special place in my heart.
