GREATGUYS: A meeting with the fans
It is on this Saturday, June 5th that the group GREATGUYS of DNA ENTERTAINMENT held a concert on the heights of Seoul.
Composed of members HORYEONG, HWALCHAN, UIYEON, DONGIN, BAEKGYEOL, DAUN and HANEUL (as well as JAEI and DONGHWI who respectively are on hiatus for health reasons and in the process of completing his military service), the group met their fans during an intimate concert that looked like a fan meeting. Starting at six o’clock, it is in an intimate room that the members delivered a few words to GRACE, their fans. Banners were placed on the seats to surprise the members at the end of the concert. The members were all smiling as they went up on stage. The concert opened with the band’s latest song, “Touch by touch”. The members introduced themselves in different languages including Japanese, Chinese, Russian, English, French, etc., and were hoping for the fans to have a great time by their side. They also asked people in the room to respect the rules of social distancing and to wear a mask, in order to have a good and safe evening.
“To bring you a note of hope in this complicated time related to Corona, we decided to start the concert with “Touch by touch” – HORYEONG
After a few words exchanged with their fans GRACE, the group performs the title “Illusion” with a stage covered in blue lights. They follow with “Be on you”, as the crying of the fans was echoing in the room with the sensual choreography interpreted by the members. The hall is not very crowded, but the seven boys do not seem to take it into account as they perform with joy and professionalism. Their voices filling the whole room and showing off each other’s vocal abilities, then they took the opportunity to catch their breath and chat again with GRACE, joking with them. UIYEON says he is as nervous as a school day when he has to do an important homework.
HORYEONG boasts that he got his hair cut that morning, to please the fans, which makes him look younger according to HWALCHAN. HANEUL also wishes his hair was shorter, as it keeps him warm, but knowing that this cut is popular with GRACE, he decided to keep it longer especially for the gig. The members bicker on stage for a bit before announcing their next performances: “Last man” and “Run”. The first song has a powerful rhythm, with a dynamic dance break, while the second has a crescendoing rhythm, moving in synch with the few lightsticks in the audience. Quite naturally, the boys start flirting and joking with the members again, before HORYEONG throws himself into the audience and runs to hug his parents and aunt who came to support the group.
BAEKGYEOL entertains the fans with some aegyo and cute actions. All that in front of the fans’ devices who do not hesitate to immortalize every moment. Indeed, it is very rare that cameras are accepted at a concert, so GRACE took advantage of it! The band reassures them, stating that half of the show is not over yet, and they take turns going to cool off for a few moments backstage. The next song proposed by the group is “Butter”, the last track of the group BTS, as a surprise for their fans. They immediately follow up with “Dun dun dance” by OH MY GIRL, visibly embarrassed by their performance. DAUN subsequently reproduces the choreography as a solo, then imitated by HORYEONG and HWALCHAN.
“We have prepared a few surprises for you tonight, new surprises.” – HORYEONG
Then, the group makes a game where they ask questions to the audience, starting with testing the popularity of each of the members. All the fans choosing members fairly, the group end up using rock-paper-scissors to pick who would be the first to start. One member sits at the center of the stage, while three members inhale helium. The front member must then guess which members inhaled helium from the sound of their altered voice. However, it does not work on all members, laughing at the funny situation. They decide to play the “그렇구나” game where the goal is to make comments to the members so that they would correct their behavior regardless of each other’s age.
HWALCHAN starts and calls out to DAUN asking him to stop being late for their appointments and to answer the phone more often. UIYEON says he has no complaints to make to the group, as does HANEUL. DONGIN asks HWALCHAN to be more punctual as well, revealing that the latter tends to get up just when he is supposed to leave his house. BAEKGYEOL comes forward asking DONGIN not to put pressure on him in his physical training, pointing out that he is not a bodybuilder and that he doesn’t have to exercise that much. Finally, HORYEONG opens up to all members as the leader of the group, asking them to do the same in return if they have a worry or concern.
Resuming their seriousness, GREATGUYS performs the song “Oh yeah” with a slower melody but focused on dance. A technical issue cuts the sound of the song, but the boys remain professional and continue their performance as if nothing happened, proving once again that they were singing live. Between songs, BAEKGYEOL regularly asks fans what time it is, and as a fan keeps saying “six o’clock,” he laughs at her by asking why her nose keeps growing, calling her Pinocchio to tease her. After this brief interlude, they present “Black & white” along with a well-made choreography with fluid sequences.
The song “R.O.M.L” follows with the screen behind the members projecting cherry blossoms to soften the scene. Once the performance is over, they start chatting with the audience again, with the leader taking the opportunity to do an impersonation, and UIYEON revealing that he tore his clothes from dancing so passionately. He goes on to say that he likes to be told he has a nice voice, and he is proud of his height (1.92m). They reveal they want to eat chicken by the Han River with a beer after the concert is over, enjoying it as if it wasn’t raining (it rained most of the week). UIYEON resumes by showing the size of his tongue, surprisingly short, startling fans. Then, it is time for the members to share some special anecdotes, such as HORYEONG who was born near Haeundae Beach in the port city of Busan.
DONGIN then shows a few tricks with his hands and DAUN sings a few a cappella verses, the fans accompanying him. HANEUL loves the sound he makes when he swallows and complies to prove it. BAEKGYEOL also sings, with members saying he has a “corn voice”, and HWALCHAN concludes the confession time by declaring to love his face and his physical proportions before humming in English to show his deep voice a cappella. They all end up singing one after another so that everyone has “their moment of glory”. The boys then flee backstage, except DONGIN and HANEUL who perform the song “Spring day” to mark the coming end of spring.
“When I wrote Spring day, I asked Haneul to sing it with me, because I knew his voice would go perfectly with the atmosphere of the song.”. – DONGIN
The rest of the members go back on stage to sing “Dang!”, A dynamic track with disco sounds. Another technical incident occurs, as DONGIN’s microphone turns off, his battery being exhausted, but once again, the members don’t seem to care about this problem as they continue their performance until the end and wait for him to change the battery. They follow up with “In summer”, announcing the hot season which will begin soon. They announce the end of the concert after this performance, triggering complaints from fans who wish to stay with the group a little longer. They finally perform “Stay”, asking fans to hold up their phone, turned on, while DONGIN films the moment. It is time for the banners to be waved proclaiming “even if time passes, we will stay with the Great Guys”.
Throughout the concert, the agency’s CEO remained present in the audience, covering the band with a fatherly gaze. DONGIN takes some pictures of the group and the fans to keep this moment in his memory. The members perform “Illusion” again, followed by “Oh yeah”. They end up with “Touch by touch” in English for the few foreign fans present. Despite the small number of fans present, the group held a pleasant and intimate concert, constantly interacting with GRACE. They finish while sharing their impressions of the day, thanking those who came to visit them, hoping to meet them again to create more great memories. They say they will come back with new songs, to give more performances to their fans as they feel sad to leave them. They wish their fans to stay healthy until their next meeting.
The words of our reporter; “The personalities of the members are very warm, transmitting their good humor and joy easily to their fans. This concert was very pleasant and allowed me to discover a charming group with catchy songs.“
Journalist: Pillet Anaïs
Translator: Shawn
Photo: Pillet Anaïs
C/R: Laury
Source: KSTATION TV