When in Rome, do as the Romans do. From a fangirl’s POV, we could spin that into “when in the land of K-pop, do as a K-pop fan does”. I know of many fans who purposely head over to places such as Cheongdam-dong and Apgujeong-dong to “nonchalantly stroll” past the entertainment agency buildings, hoping for a sighting of this or that idol. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), this was never high on my list of things to do. That does not preclude, however, my perking up when I hear a familiar K-pop tune playing on the street or a poster or a standee of a K-pop artist that I took a particular shine to. What can I say, once a fangirl, always a fangirl.
Thanks to Big Bang and, to a milder extent, 2NE1, I consider myself a bit of a “YG stan” at one point in my fangirling life. Ok, let me break that label down for you, in case you aren’t too familiar with it.
- YG stands for “YG Entertainment”, which is the entertainment company or agency that certain K-pop artists, actors/actresses, and models belong to. Yes, they include Big Bang and 2NE1. For those of you who don’t know who they are, let me drop another name in the YG stable: PSY (Gangnam Style and Gentleman)
- Stan means an “avid fan and supporter of a celebrity, franchise, film, or group, often a rock/pop musician.” It’s said to have been based on Eminem’s song “Stan”, and is described as “an overzealous maniacal fan for any celebrity or athlete”. If we’re going to be very simple about it, let’s just say it’s a word coined from “stalker” and “fan”.
Now I wouldn’t say I am “overzealous” or “maniacal”, or even went to the point of “stalking” (except for that one time with this certain group called One OK Rock but I think that’s a one-off). I do follow news about them and loyally await their releases. That’s as far as I go.
Some people who know me as a fangirl are aware that I only greatly favor a few groups, although I pretty much listen to (and appreciate) anything. They are Arashi, CNBLUE, BIG BANG and Bangtan Sonyeondan. Big Bang and its leader G-Dragon will always be up there as one of my biggest K-pop influencers, and that is never going to change.
So imagine my delight when, the moment we went to Everland Resort, the show at the K-pop Hologram Concert Hall was…. yes, that of BB!
Introducing K-POP HOLOGRAM: YG AT EVERLAND
This is one of the attractions at the Everland Resort and, yes, it is owned by YG Entertainment. It is basically a concert hall that presents a virtual concert, or a hologram concert. It’s like 3D, but on a much higher scale, you feel like they are really performing right in front of you, in the flesh!!
Read more about the K-Pop Hologram in Everland here.
When we arrived at Everland Resort and got our hands on the map, I immediately looked for the location of the K-Pop Hologram. I had to make an urgent plea to my travel buddy Lorelei to check it out. You see, she knows next to nothing about K-entertainment, much less K-pop. Not even K-dramas or Korean food! *sniggers*
Lucky me, coz she was like, “sure why not”.
The K-Pop Hologram is located in the Global Fair zone. You can’t miss it, especially if you are instinctively attuned to anything K-pop, as I was.
It turned out that the first show is at 10AM. Three YG artists are currently featured in the Hologram concerts, and they are Big Bang, 2NE1 and Psy. Again, luckily for me, that day happened to be slated for BB, so they are the featured artist! I think there is another one in the afternoon featuring 2NE1.
We went in and it was basically a dark room that can hold around 50 people (when packed), with one wall set up like a concert stage, but more like a projector. It had the “ALIVE” logo on it.
Minutes before show start, you can focus on the opposite side of the stage. They had cubicles there where you get to stand in front of a camera that snaps your photos. So make any type of face you want, feel free.
Afterwards, the lights dim and right there, on the walls, the faces of the BB members will appear, complete with their “ALIVE” headpieces (e.g. top hat, the feathered fascinator…was it?… of TOP). Then your faces will appear, replacing the face of the members. 🙂 It was quite fun trying to locate where our faces appeared next.
Finally, show started. We were not allowed to take photos during the performance, though. There are no seats, so you will have to stand the whole duration. Which I didn’t mind because, how can you jam when you are seated, huh?
I was amazed at how BB still slayed on stage, even in virtual form.
The members looked sooooooo realistic! If not for the special effects and transitions, I’d have thought they were truly there on stage in front of me! They performed some of their most famous hits from the ALIVE album (and tour). Standouts in the setlist were “Fantastic Baby” and Bad Boy, as always and as expected.
At one point, virtual Big Bang had a Talk part (there were English subtitles, so non-Korean-speaking viewers won’t be left out) where they banter with each other. Then they ask a member of the audience to go up the stage and join them.
A lady goes up the stage…. and on her face is juxtaposed the face of one of the audience members (that was photographed earlier in the cubicles). This drew a lot of laughs.
There were less than 20 of us in the audience, and it was quite diverse. There were some in their late teens, a group of older ladies, and also a young couple. Incidentally, the fan that was “asked” to go up on the stage to “interact” with BB came from the group of elderly ladies (who are in their late 40s, I think).
The virtual concert lasted for around 15 minutes. After that, we were led to the Exit… which led directly to the K-pop Store where, obviously, YG official merchandise are sold. I had to forcibly tear myself away before I could talk myself into buying a poster (that I will probably never put up) or a towel (that I will never use), or even a small keychain (that I will also never get to use). I remember being ALMOST drawn towards getting the crown VIP lightstick, then I just ran out the door after my friend, haha!
Except for the very rare instance that I will shell out around Php 15,000 to Php 20,000 for a mosh pit or VIP Patron seat on any of their Manila concerts, this is probably the closest I am ever going to get to BB while they are on stage performing.
I’m not complaining, though, because for a span of a few minutes, the hologram convinced me that they were real.
So the next time I go back to Seoul, I doubt I would go hunting outside these agency’s buildings… although that is not set in stone, as I might spend an afternoon prowling around a certain Big Hit Entertainment’s street, even knowing that I may not see any of Bangtan. Hey, never say never, aight?
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