Review: Memory In FT Island Concert

I need to be completely frank in saying this:

FT Island are, hands down, one of the best shows I’ve seen here in South Korea. maybe even ever.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

FT Island first caught my attention when I went to Dream Concert. I had heard Hello Hello before, but it was the first time I was hearing them live. I was completely stunned by Hongki’s voice, which seemed to fill the entire stadium without the need of any microphone. I was really impressed, so when I found out they’d be doing a concert in November, I knew I had to go.

The concert was held at the Blue Square, which is a pretty decent venue. It held quite a few people, and reminded me a bit of Zepp Tokyo, if that helps anyone at all. I was on the second floor, simply because I really didn’t want to deal with the crush of fans taking over standing on the first floor. My seats were fantastic though, and I was surrounded by Japanese fans, which was fun. FT Island have a huge following in Japan, and the fans from there are devoted forever.

The show opened with “I Hope”, which was fantastic and upbeat and had everyone jumping. Since I have the attention span of a small child, and have been to too many shows to not know what to look for, I couldn’t help but notice a remarkably good looking foursome of guys sneaking in down the side of the second floor. My jaw dropped when I recognized them from my Holika Holika obsession as the group CN Blue. I was SO HAPPY to see them because they’re the same genre, so some could be confused and think they’re rivals. It’s awesome to see they’re friends.

Without much wait, the guys went right into “Bing Bing Bing” and “FTI vs PRI” before stopping to do introductions and greetings. Without wasting any time, they went into “Hello Hello”, the song I fell in love with. I was SO excited, because I was afraid I’d have to wait the entire show to hear this song. I was then surprised at how many of the songs I ended up knowing when they got into “I’ll Get You” next, followed by “Love Love Love”.

I feel that here, before I say anything else, I have to say that Hongki is one of the most amazing performers I’ve seen. He’s SO passionate about his music, and so into everything he does on stage. He’s the flaily type on stage, with lots of running around and jumping and grabbing at the guitarists. There’s something really special and unique about groups that also play their own instruments, they seem to have such a strong connection with their music compared to pop groups. Not to say that pop groups are disconnected, because I love pop music here more than anything, but the music just seems to come from a different place for FT Island. Like it’s a physical part of them.

One of my favourite things about FT Island is the fact they have a solid collection of Japanese songs as well. Starting with “Revolution”, the guys did a run of their Japanese songs, which was fun. I’m not as familiar with their Japanese music, but I was really impressed, because before k-pop, I was REALLY into j-pop, and they really seemed to embrace a lot of things common in Japanese music. Their Japanese songs feel really distinctly Japanese, as opposed to many Korean idols going to Japan and merely translating their Korean hits. They then sung “I want”, and “Let It Go”, which is the Japanese single I know. When I returned to Japan this past summer, they were promoting Let It Go, and it was so strange to be in Lawsons and think to myself, “I know this epic voice… Is this FT Island?!” “Flower Rock” then followed, which was another song that was strangely familiar but I have no idea why. Perhaps there’s just something about FT Island’s music that makes you feel like you know it right away.

Finally, after 45 minutes of straight performing, there was a short video showing the past year of FT Island (Hence the Memory In FT Island title for the concert and CD) as they changed to an acoustic set. I LOVE acoustic guitar, so I was pretty psyched. I also really like the wooden box drummers sit on that they can drum with. I want one and want to learn how to use it. They opened the acoustic set with “Sunshine Girl” from the Return album. Next was “I Confess”, which is such a beautiful song I kinda wanted to explode in my seat with absolute love and adoration. They FINALLY broke out the new album an hour into the show, singing “Even Your Tears”, yet another gorgeous song that made me want to explode with emotions.

They finished with the acoustic set then, everyone returning to their proper instruments for “Girls Don’t Know.” It was time for a bit of a talk, when Hongki confirmed that, indeed, CN Blue WERE the guys I was eyeing the entire concert (I had a fist pump of VICTORY. I love being right) and then they broke out “That Person at Sinsadong,” a song that I ADORE off their new album (Side note: I adore EVERY SONG from Memory In FT Island so I might sound repetitive.) They then sung “I’ll Love Everything”, another song I wasn’t familiar with but I REALLY liked the sound of. It had a really good rock feel to it that isn’t common in regular pop, but it was still pop enough to feel safe for us k-pop fans. 😉 “You’re Laughing Like a Doll” was next, another song I didn’t know well but that’s okay.

It was time for another talk. Apparently, Hongki doesn’t do relaxing well, so even when he was supposed to be relaxing his voice and taking a breath, he was STILL talking too much and letting nobody else talk. Next was “Don Quixote Song”, then “Troublemaker”. The last song of the main set was “Primadonna”, which is also the name of the FT Island fanclub, so the fans were going crazy.

Then FT Island walked off stage, and I was pissed, because my other favourite song hadn’t been performed. Luckily, everyone else in the audience decided we weren’t done, so we chanted encore for a few minutes while the guys changed into the FT Island concert goods tee-shirts.

The encore was made up of three songs: “Love Sick”, “Until You Return” and “Like The Birds”. “Like The Birds” is the last song they promoted, and everyone and their mother loves this song because it’s a remake of an old classic. Everyone knows every word, and the fan chant at the beginning is just to sing the entire chorus. Which is amazing to listen to.

And that was it! The show was AMAZING, and I would have happily gone to see the show on Sunday as well if I had the money. But, December is a very busy time for concerts, so I could only afford the one day. If you’re ever given the opportunity to go see FT Island in concert though, GO, because they are hands down one of the best live performers in South Korea.