nycdaug Chapter 370: Kobe World Memorial Hall.
Chapter 370: Kobe World Memorial Hall.
Chapter 370: Kobe World Memorial Hall.
I surveyed the venue as we ascended for the final rehearsal.
“Wow...”
It’s vast.
Not as large as a Korean gymnastics stadium, but to us, it felt incredibly spacious.
Bijoo, scanning the chairs spread across the first floor and the second-floor seats, asked, “Hyung, did you say this place holds 9,000 seats?”
“Probably.”
“...Wow. That’s a lot of people.”
Together with the other members, we marveled at the venue.
Roughly 9,000 seats.
The Seoul concert we held last summer at the Olympic Park Handball Stadium had about 5,000 attendees.
9,000 seats meant almost double that number.
This was the largest audience we’d ever had for a single performance.
My heart was pounding.
“Hoo-”
We all took a deep breath, shivering.
Nervous.
Despite the heating inside the venue, it felt like we were outside in the cold.
If you could see the breath we exhaled here, it might look jagged, as if cut with zigzag scissors.
While we were calming ourselves with deep breaths, Jiho burst out, “Ahh, I’m shaking. I’m so nervous...!”
That set us all off, exclaiming, “Me too!”
“I’m super nervous!”
“Same here!”
We all cried out, twisting our bodies as if in a frenzy.
Junghyun joined in, his voice quivering.
Huddled together like penguins facing a polar bear, our tension seemed to ease a bit.
“Are you very nervous?”
“Yes.”
I turned my gaze to the camera held by Wonseok hyung.
He appeared to be filming the making-of footage for the Japan concert DVD.
“I thought I’d be used to it by now, after touring various countries last year and gaining concert experience.”
“Not really?”
“It’s still the same. I’m just as nervous.”
Bijoo, who had his arm around my shoulder, popped his head out and pretended to shiver.
Speaking to Wonseok hyung’s smiling camera, I said, “I guess the nerves before a concert will always be there, no matter how much time passes. I bet even at our 70th-anniversary dinner show, we’ll be trembling before the audience.”
“70th anniversary?”
Jiho chimed in.
“By then, we might be shaking for different reasons.”
“We might not even be a quintet anymore.”
At Rihyuk’s joke, we all burst into laughter.
While Rihyuk wore a proud smile at his quip, the staff, having finished checking the equipment, signaled us.
We gathered in our places, microphones in hand.
“Two, three! Hello, we are New Black!”
“The weather’s quite cold, isn’t it? We hope for another great rehearsal today, following yesterday’s!”
As the lights began to move, we spread out in formation with the younger members.
Just hours before the concert.
The director, holding the microphone, announced, “Let’s start the music.”
The prelude of Nine flowed through the concert speakers.@@@@
As we entered the final rehearsal, I watched the younger members’ faces settle, then reached out towards the audience.
In a few hours, we would finally see the fruits of our recent months of practice.
The overwhelming tension subsided, and my heart began to race.
Outside the venue.
The biting cold that had prevailed recently had eased, leaving a warm winter day.
It was one of those perfect days.
Under the bright sky, a winding line stretched out.
“Where’s the line for trading cards?”
“Isn’t that over by the sports center with the other merchandise?”
“My heart feels like it’s going to burst. I’m so nervous. Really.”
Chatter erupted from every corner.
Part-time workers, megaphones in hand, darted around shouting, “Line up! Please, let’s organize the line!”
While the final rehearsal took place inside, outside, the early birds stirred up a commotion, queuing to buy merchandise.
“Wow, there are so many foreigners.”
“Seriously. It’s impressive.”
“Are they exchange students living in Japan? No, that can’t be it...”
There was a noticeable number of people from Asia, but occasionally, one could spot attendees who seemed to hail from the West.
Fans with wide eyes whispered among themselves.
“Looks like the rumors of their popularity in the US are true?”
“Indeed, a cow’s moo is a universal point of laughter.”
“Even aliens would find that funny.”
Amid such conversations, the topic quickly shifted to NewBlack.
“When they were packing the soufflé bread, Woojoo just smiled at me, our eyes met, I swear.”
“Rihyuk is so adorable. I want to fold him up and carry him in my wallet.”
“I went to a K-pop concert last year. Seeing Bizu dance live is like watching butterflies in flight.”
“What do you think Jiho is saying in this Japanese video?”
“Hey, have you seen this? Junghyun vs. the rest?”
Fans burst into laughter, looking at photos on their phones and merchandise.
There are moments like these.
When your heart feels like it’s going to burst, and you just have to say something.
“Finally...!”
It was NewBlack’s first solo concert here.
How long had we waited?
Fans had slowly fallen for NewBlack, watching them on TV or stumbling upon related videos on MyTube.
Fans who had envied concerts in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and the US.
I heard they even did a national tour in Korea recently, with home appliances as prizes.
But what I envied the most was...
“I want to see the performance too.”
Even just watching the videos elicited a wow reaction.
I was curious about the live performance, which had garnered such high praise.
“Just a little longer...”
As the upcoming performance drew near, fans shuffled the merchandise line, gathering goods.
And then.
“Hey, look at the line.”
“Wow, what are we supposed to do with this...?”
Some Korean fans arrived at the venue, their eyes wide in astonishment.
“What a line...”
It stretched endlessly.
Last year’s handball stadium had a long line, but this was twice the crowd.
I heard there was plenty of stock, but at this rate, it might sell out quickly.
Korean fans blinked in disbelief as they watched Japanese fans frantically hoard merchandise.
Panting heavily, our breaths echoed through the microphone.
At the sound of our gasps, the Soufflés responded with a resounding cheer. After taking a swig from the water bottles provided on stage, we shouted in unison:
“Two, three!”
“Hello! We are New Black!”
Waves of cheers greeted us as we waved our hands.
“Wow, the screen is huge!”
Turning around, we waved at the back of our heads as if greeting them, eliciting laughter from the fans.
“First of all, welcome to New Black’s Japanese concert, Five Colors! I am Uju, the leader.”
“I’m Bijoo, the main dancer!”
“Jung-hyun is New Black’s rapper.”
Each introduction was met with a warm response.
Though the prompter prepared by the staff displayed Japanese comments, our natural delivery came from days of memorization.
The volume of the cheers was so intense it was almost tangible.
For a moment, I removed my in-ear monitors to fully appreciate the roar.
Rihyuk smiled and said, “It feels great to perform such a big concert after a long time. Are you happy too?!”
The response was overwhelmingly loud.
Rihyuk, usually shy, delivered his lines with ease, perhaps because it was in a foreign language.
I nodded and took the microphone.
“Until just before the show started, we wondered if we could really fill this huge venue...”
“Thank you so much for coming to see us.”
Our main dancer’s eyes were already moist, and the Soufflés responded with an incredible noise.
I said to Bijoo, “Don’t cry, Mr. Bijoo.”
“I feel like I’m going to start crying from the beginning.”
While saying this...
The youngest member, who had been listening intently, beamed and said, “I feel the same way!”
His smile, clearly not understanding, made us all laugh.
I pointed backstage and said, “Jiho, just speak comfortably in Korean.”
“Ah, I guess I should.”
As this happened, the interpreter’s gentle voice echoed from behind the stage.
“Would you speak in Korean, Jiho?”
“Is that okay?”
As we stifled our laughter at the somewhat embellished translation, Jiho waved to the audience.
“I’m so happy to be doing this concert! I feel like I’m going to die of happiness!”
The interpreter hesitated, as if buffering, trying to translate the Korean expression ‘so happy I could die’ literally.
It was like a foreigner pondering whether the Korean phrase ‘잘도 그러겠다’ was positive or negative.
You could almost feel the interpreter sweating profusely in the background.
As the dialogue took a sudden serious turn, we burst into laughter, and the Soufflés joined in.
And then...
“I love youuuu!”
The roar of a robust Japanese male fan elicited a burst of laughter from the audience.
“Where are you? We love you too!”
“Since it’s been brought up.”
Jung-hyun looked around the audience with a curious expression.
“I wonder how many male fans are here.”
“That’s a good idea. If there are any male Soufflés, let’s hear a shout—”
—Scream!
At that moment, a chorus of deep voices resounded with ‘Ahhh~~’ from the audience.
Laughter erupted, reminiscent of the cheers heard at a soccer stadium during a girl group’s performance.
“Ah, it’s so much fun right from the start.”
I can certainly feel the rewards of diligently studying foreign languages. It’s like getting instant reactions every time we talk.
“By the way, did you enjoy the opening performance?”
—Yes!
“Our youngest member seems to have liked it. What about you all?”
Judging by the cheers, it seemed everyone enjoyed it.
“It’s a bit unfamiliar since we’ve done something cool after a while, isn’t it?”
“Actually, this is our main job.”
Amidst the laughter of the fans, I hinted at the many splendid performances to come today.
I took in the sight of the entire venue, inspecting every corner and seat.
I’ll make sure to remember this and reminisce about it time and again.
From the end of the second floor, I saw Dal-bong blinking rhythmically as if mischievous.
I caught sight of an audience member on the first floor laughing and falling backward.
While my younger members spoke, I took in the scene and picked up the microphone.
“Now, shall we create unforgettable memories together today?”
From the returning expressions and responses, it seemed the audience shared my sentiment.
As the leader of New Black said, the first performance in Kobe was an unforgettable memory for everyone.
“Woahhh—!”
The Soufflés were shaking Kim Dal-bong so vigorously that it could’ve caused cramps in their arms.
But there was no pain.
They would realize later that their throats were hoarse and their arms sore, but there was no time to feel such things during the performance.
‘Woahhh...’
My eyes followed each member, and there was so much to see that I wondered where to look.
Jiho was impressive in the opening, but...
The high notes of Rihyuk singing ‘Winter Sleep,’ a new addition to the setlist, tickled my ears.
In ‘Wind Flower,’ the main dancer spun around with a gentle smile.
Jung-hyun dominated the stage with his solo rap performance.
And the leader’s waves during Nine’s dance break sent ripples throughout the entire venue.
It was a performance that made me think, “I’m glad I came,” several times every second.
When over two hours passed in the blink of an eye...
“Woahhh—!”
After the encore VCR, which was like a video letter from the members to the fans, played.
The first official encore performance began.
“It’s a bit late, but Merry Christmas!”
“We love you!”
Amidst the pouring cheers of the fans, the members climbed onto the prepared moving carts.
An event where they waved to the fans on the first and second floors, moving between the rows of seats on the first floor.
And then...
‘Hmm...?’
The Soufflés blinked and burst into laughter.
Was it because of the Christmas music?
Instead of moving automatically, the staff pushed the carts, now laden with members, like sleds.
Above the heads of the burly staff, Rudolph headbands twinkled red.
The New Black members on the sleds laughed with a ‘Ho! Ho! Ho!’
—Merry Christmas!
With beaming smiles.
While the staff, wearing Rudolph headbands, slowly pushed the carts, the members scattered signed balls like snow.
‘Cute, but...’
The members, resembling mischievous Santas, brought joyful laughter from the fans.
It was truly an unforgettable performance.