DASMUSICALKAT

Ohhhhhh my gosh. MUSIC CORE! I was so excited! Last year I had the opportunity to attend as Media to KBS Music Bank, which was AWESOME live. I was really interested to see how they compare!

So off we headed to Digital Media City where most of the channels are located. The area is pretty cool- with all the towering station buildings surrounding a forecourt area with little quirks like street lamps and Hollywood stars.

When it was nearly showtime we were escorted into the set and directed to our seats. So much energy and goings-on! People were heading in every which direction doing their tasks and getting the show ready for air. Down below us were a group on computers putting together and testing out the screen graphics, a cordinoona rushed back and forth past us a couple of times with a bags hanging from her hips that were literally pouring out makeup and the security were herding through groups of fans into their allocated sections (each fangroup has an allocated area in which to sit). The fans are really fun to be around- they take the business seriously, calling out instructions for their idol’s appearance. They had coordinated lightsticks, signage and well-practiced fan chants. It’s really fun to be a part of such support!

Then in walked the MCs- Block B’s Zico leading the charge! I can’t tell you how disappointed I was that SHINee’s Minho was in the Japan at the time. I could have sunk down and cried- here I was at Music Core but no Minho! Ah well… Perhaps another time. I’d seen Zico perform a few months ago at a convention I attended, and I really do like him, so all was not lost.

The excitement built up as we waited and then three, two, one… SHOW TIME!

Watching in the crowd was so much fun!! And so interesting! About half the acts are pre-recorded, so they’d just jump on stage and have fun sort-of performing their act until they were ushered off to make way for a live recording act. The artists would happily wave and interact with the fans if they were pre-recorded, joking around with their dancers and having a good time. It was most amusing every time they were stopped mid-dance and herded from the stage though! Haha.

Of course it was incredible to see some of the acts live. Zhou Mi was starting, so he went up on stage a little early and chatted briefly to his fan group (Sunshine Zhou Mi) who were in the standing front area since their idol was first on and being recorded live. And Amber! Amber came on to rap with Zhou Mi and it was awesome! Yayyy Amber!

Some other amazing highlights were the trot singer Hong Jin Young performing the beautiful “Cheer Up”, Secret’s Song Ji Eun performing “25”, Mad Town’s “YOLO” was lots of fun, and Boyfriend’s “Witch” dance with the stage curtains was super cool to see live. I was excited for 2AM but they kinda just came up at the end, and were pre-recorded, so we didn’t really get to experience much of them. The clear standout would obviously have to be VIXX with “Error”. I love that song and the dance and the boys, and even though they were prerecorded they still performed the full thing completely- YAYAYAYAYAY. I’ll admit though, they did look pretty exhausted (especially N). But yay VIXX!

It’s really something else to be there amongst the fan chanting and see these idols who you’ve seen so often on screen right there in real life on the stage in front of you. Ah- so much awesome! ^.^

After Music Core we happily headed outside, to notice a drama filming right next door! That of course piqued my curiosity and off we toddled! After waiting around about 10 minutes the director called cue! And a car rolled along to pull up outside of a building, where a footman went to open the car door and- cut! That was it. The crew started packing up. Not sure what drama it was, perhaps Misaeng? Fun to watch anyway!

Time to head towards the D-Cube Centre, where Rudolf was on! RudolfRudolfRudolf!!