Non-Stop Rock

CN Blue can’t stop

By Suwitcha Chaiyong
Photos courtesy of 411 Entertainment

On May 4 last year, Korean rock quartet CN Blue showed off their terrific performance skills at their Blue Moon World Tour concert at Impact Arena.

This year, on the same date at the same place, the band was back to promote their latest album, Can’t Stop, at the 2014 CN Blue Live Can’t Stop in Bangkok concert. CN Blue put on a remarkable show that would have to rank as one of the best K-pop concerts of the year.

FUN TIME

The four good-looking members of CN Blue — vocalist and guitarist Jung Yonghwa, 24, vocalist and guitarist Lee Jonghyun, 24, bassist Lee Jungshin, 22 and drummer Kang Minhyuk, 22 — started their opening set with the fierce song “Time Is Over,” which got a fervently energetic reaction from the group’s Boice fan club.

The second number of the night was the lively “Diamond Girl,” which added some brass instruments into the band’s sound. Everybody in hall expressed their support for the band by showing cards with “Diamond Boys” written on them. After seeing the cards, Yonghwa changed the lyrics of the song from “diamond girl” to “diamond boys.” The band continued with the chart-topping hit “Intuition” before greeting their fans in Thai and English.

PLAYFUL PERFORMERS

During the two-hour concert, the guys played 23 songs with great energy. The set list was well planned with seamless transitions between songs.

Yonghwa was usually the center of attention, and his spontaneous singing was captivating. As well as singing, Yonghwa played guitar and piano, and moved around to every corner of the stage to keep the crowd’s energy level up throughout the concert. Yonghwa was able to make his fans scream and smile because he often blew kisses to them and repeatedly said, “We love you Bangkok!”

TERRIFIC TEAM

The other members of CN Blue also played their parts perfectly. Husky-voiced singer Jonghyun played guitar passionately and sang soulfully, especially during his solo ballad, “Teardrops in the Rain.”

Bassist Jungshin was great at interacting with the fans. He moved around to get close to the audience and always played with his band mates when they stood close together onstage.

Boice also screamed happily whenever Minhyuk got up from his drum kit to talk to the crowd.

LOVE LIGHT

To complete the concert, the band played their breakthrough debut single from 2010, “I’m a Loner.” The crowd reacted wildly and loudly to this all-time favourite hit.

After having fun with “Wake Up” and “Love Girl” during the encore, Yonghwa thanked Thai Boice for their prayers during the recent Sewol ferry tragedy in Korea. The singer said that they hoped that their last song, “Love Light,” would lighten up people who were feeling sad. Yonghwa added that the band really loved Bangkok and promised to return again.

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CN Blue met up with Thai press and some lucky fans at Central World a day before the concert. Here’s what the guys said during their brief interview.

Question: Has there been any big change for CN Blue over the last year?

Yonghwa: A lot of our previous songs were fast, but our recent songs are more chilled out.

Minhyuk: We’ve had a lot of live performances since last year, so you’ll see that we’ve improved.

Question: What would you like to do while you’re in Bangkok?

Jungshin: I expect to eat pu phat pong karee [pan fried crab with curry powder].

Jonghyun: I’ll go to a fitness centre and have a Thai massage.

Yonghwa: We have a very busy schedule. We won’t have time to go out, so I just intend to give an impressive performance to our fans.

Minhyuk: I’ll eat a lot of Thai food and release my energy at the concert tomorrow.

Question: How did you feel to win the best band award at the Yinyeue V-Chart Awards in China?

Jungshin: Receiving that award was an honour. We were thrilled to meet a lot of renowned Chinese artist there. We hope that we have a chance to be part of a Thai music awards ceremony in the future.

Question: Apart from your concert tour, have you guys been working on anything else?

Yonghwa: I plan to release a solo album on which I’ll probably sing with other artists. Please look out for more details about the album.

 

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