K-Pop Old And New Shines At Hollywood Bowl

On May 9th, 2009, the historic Hollywood Bowl housed the seventh Korea Times Music Festival. The K-music bonanza included groups SS501, SNSD, and SHINee, artists Lena Park, Lee Juk, Baek Ji Young, and an awesome mini-G.O.D. reunion with Son Ho Young (who also assumed MC duties), Kim Tae Woo, and Park Joon Hyung. The concert kicked off with Kim Tae Woo singing the Korean national anthem


The first couple of performers were clearly aimed towards the ahjummahs and ajusshis, with the mostly teenage crowd subdued, restless with anticipation for the idol stars to come. When Lee Juk paused and said "So Nyuh Shi Dae Taeyeon", however, the crowd exploded. The duo performed "Goose's Dream", and although Taeyeon's first low notes were quiet (you can't see that in the fancam, but mic problems were a pattern for SNSD), once the chorus kicked in, the two really revved up their voices.









Later, Baek Ji Young entertained with her set, which included songs "Like Being Hit By A Bullet" and "Real Lips".


After the intermission, popular veteran trot singer Tae Jin Ah took the stage. He knew that many of the younger adolescents at the concert only knew him because he was Eru's dad, and hilariously picked up this sign while he sang



Lena Park wowed the crowd with her powerful pipes and brought back the Taeyeon-like screams when she performed Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up" with SNSD's Jessica. The ice princess's professionalism was impressive, as she sang the song remarkably well even though she could barely hear her own voice due to the audience's screaming and her fallen-off earpiece.







The concert powers decided, for whatever reason, to pack all of the idols at the end. Kim Tae Woo and Son Ho Young with ex-bandmate Park Joon Hyung performed separately before they joined together to create mini-G.O.D. While the later idols may be more popular, and may have caused more fansanity, mini-G.O.D. put on the most rockin' performance with their pre-military hits "Friday Night", "One Candle", and "0%".



After mini-G.O.D. covered the crowd in lighter fluid, Korea's dongsaengs SHINee lit them on fire with their hits "AMIGO" and "Noona Is So Pretty (Replay)". Some fans were disappointed, however, that the group only performed two songs and didn't communicate with the crowd at all. But the preteen pentagon still performed very professionally, with their slinky-esque legs and abdomens dancing together in slick, tight, synchronized motions as their noonas shrieked the bowl into a frenzy.











Then THE group of 2009 so far, SNSD, took the stage as 18,000 throats rained down screams of love. They performed "Girl's Generation" and "Himnae (Way To Go)" around their ultrahit "Gee". Thousands of fans crab-walked, perfume-smelled, and drew gees in the air simultaneously with the joyful So Nyuhs. As mentioned before, however, some of the mics did not work so well, and fans were especially disappointed at the limiting of Taeyeon's usually awesome vocal showcase at the end of Gee.


Note: Sooyoung and Tiffany kissing Hyoyeon on the cheek during "Girl's Generation" (2:00 of the video). The S♡NEs went bananas for that.










SS501 closed out the idol performances with four songs, including "U R Man", "Deja Vu", and the Boys Over Flowers track "Because I'm Stupid". The charismatic namjas put on an amazing performance, with sweet transitions, perfect choreography, and many awesome moments - including Hyun Joong and Jung Min's slow descension to the rest of the band during "Because I'm Stupid". The ending with "Deja Vu" is also a must-watch. Now that's how you end your first performance in America.








ooo cleavage.





The finale had mini-G.O.D. and SS501 whooping it up with a collection of songs, but SHINee and SNSD were conspicuously absent from the final stage. All in all, a thrilling concert for American fans who rarely get a glimpse of their Korean heroes.

P.S. Just to add a little personal stamp on this article (since I was at the concert and stayed at the Wilshere Grand with the stars), here's a picture of Tiffany my friend took one of the times we were alone with her.



And I present to you... Tiffany's scalp!