Wonder Girls, Girls' Generation Invade U.S. for YouTube Concert
K-pop's top groups have travelled to Tokyo, Paris, Bangkok and
Sydney as part of the MBC Korean Music Wave shows. But Monday
night's (May 21) concert was not labeled the San Francisco stop, but
instead the "Google" stop. South Korean broadcasting network MBC,
Google and YouTube held a concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre that
was livestreamed through the "YouTube Presents" channel to celebrate their new content sharing partnership.
The concert opened to roars from the crowd with girl group Kara performing their high-energy dance track "Step;"
a smart move if the planners were looking to hook new fans as
"Step" is one of the more accessible tunes to come out of K-pop this
year.
After Kara's introductory performance, viewers met the night's hosts Tiffany and Taeyon of Girls' Generation. The record breaking Girls' Generation TTS
members also host a live music performance show on MBC and Tiffany
speaks both fluent English and Korean acting as a translator for the
groups making them appropriate MCs.
Five-member
male group MBLAQ took the stage soon after with tight choreography
throughout tracks like "Y" and "Oh Yeah." MBC must have sent some
cameramen to shoot as the stream had the same calculated camerawork
that makes live K-pop performances so enjoyable on television or
YouTube being prepared for each intricate dance formation.
In
a quick transition, Sistar came next with three of their biggest
hits kicking off with "Alone," which controlled the Korea K-Pop Hot 100 chart
for four weeks, with a set focused on strong vocals and their sexy
demeanor. Member Bora spoke to the audience in English at one point.
K-pop's top groups
have travelled to Tokyo, Paris, Bangkok and Sydney as part of the
MBC Korean Music Wave shows. But Monday night's (May 21) concert was
not labeled the San Francisco stop, but instead the "Google" stop.
South Korean broadcasting network MBC, Google and YouTube held a
concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre that was livestreamed through
the "YouTube Presents" channel to celebrate their new content sharing partnership.
The concert opened to roars from the crowd with girl group Kara performing their high-energy dance track "Step;"
a smart move if the planners were looking to hook new fans as
"Step" is one of the more accessible tunes to come out of K-pop this
year.
After Kara's introductory performance, viewers met the night's hosts Tiffany and Taeyon of Girls' Generation. The record breaking Girls' Generation TTS
members also host a live music performance show on MBC and Tiffany
speaks both fluent English and Korean acting as a translator for the
groups making them appropriate MCs.
Five-member
male group MBLAQ took the stage soon after with tight choreography
throughout tracks like "Y" and "Oh Yeah." MBC must have sent some
cameramen to shoot as the stream had the same calculated camerawork
that makes live K-pop performances so enjoyable on television or
YouTube being prepared for each intricate dance formation.
In
a quick transition, Sistar came next with three of their biggest
hits kicking off with "Alone," which controlled the Korea K-Pop Hot 100 chart
for four weeks, with a set focused on strong vocals and their sexy
demeanor. Member Bora spoke to the audience in English at one point.
The
online viewership hit 100,000 just before the popular f(x) group
began. Members Crystal and Amber spoke in English to the crowd, with
Amber asking if they wanted to go the beach after the show.
Kara
returned after f(x) to finish their set with two more songs
followed by male group Beast. The group delivered on both the vocal
and choreography ends, showing particularly fancy footwork on the
sultry "Fiction." In a translated moment, one member asked viewers
to watch the online content as Google, YouTube, and MBC were coming
together to share it in great quality.
The
California audience was as loud as ever, but the online viewership
possibly spoke it loudest when about 115,000 viewers watched for
Girls' Generation hit the stage; the largest viewership of the
night. Beginning with their first English single "The Boys," the
ladies pulled off their performance with just seven members as two
were away filming. With a concert hosted by YouTube, it was only
appropriate to end with their single that stands as the most watched K-pop video of all time, "Gee."
By the time the show closers TVXQ hit the stage, the online
viewership was down to 97,000. But the joke would be on those who
left as the unparalleled duo delivered one of the best sets. Member
Changmin screamed to the audience in his signature wail, "Are you
guys ready to get crazy?" before they eneded the concert with single
"Rising Sun" as 89,200 online viewers ended the broadcast.
Surely
not to be the last concert of its kind before officially signing
off, with all the groups on stage together, host Tiffany gave a
final prophesy for upcoming K-pop concerts, "We promise to return
with better performances and better music in the future."
