Teen girls flock to EXO showcase

EXO, K-pop boy band

If the decibel level from a cheering crowd measures the popularity of a pop band, EXO tops them all.

During the one-and-half hour showcase for the K-pop boy-band’s second mini-album, “EXO Comeback Show,” Tuesday night, the non-stop screams from swooning female teenage fans were literally deafening.

Yet it was not even a proper concert — just a showcase prior to their album release slated for April 21 — and held in the evening in the middle of the week. Despite this, some 8,000 thrilled fans filled the Jamsil Indoor Stadium, Seoul.

Some fans showed up as early as 11 a.m., although all seats were reserved except for an 800 person standing room area. Around half past four, fans queued for those on a first-come-first-served basis.

“I’m a huge fan. I just came here for the showcase,” said Mia, from Japan, who was part of a group of Japanese tourists on a bus.

Tong, a 20-something Hong Kong student studying in Korea, who came with a friend, said that others at home adore the group.

“There is no comparison, in terms of performances. I love their dance moves,” she said. “They are way different from Hong Kong idol stars. Nowadays more idols in my country try to imitate them. But they are not even close to EXO.”

Although EXO-M, its Chinese subunit with six members, is actively performing in China and Hong Kong, it is all 12 of them that share the love of mostly female teen fans, she added.
EXO — comprised of a six-member Korean subgroup EXO-K and its Chinese subunit EXO-M — performed a total of seven songs, including “Growl,” “Wolf” and “MAMA” as well as their new album’s title song “Overdose.” Jointly composed by the Underdogs, who collaborated with Beyonce and Justin Timberlake, and Kenzie, “Overdose” is an urban R&B dance piece.

The timing of the showcase couldn’t have come any better, since the date was a lunar eclipse, with the moon taking on an eerie blood red color. As seen in the band’s promotional video, those 12 members have conceptual characters where they represent creatures from a different world, called “Exoplanet.” Each member has supernatural powers, including teleportation, time control, telekinesis and flight among others. Sounds a bit like a sci-fi novel, but worked quite well with teenagers.

Their performance was quite good, given that they took just one day off after their large scale fan meeting in Japan that ended on April 13.

The members, dressed in black accentuated with silver chains or spikes, opened the stage with “Wolf.”

Reflecting their large fan base in China, some of the songs like “MAMA” and their new song “Run” were sung both in Korean and Chinese.

During the event, they showcased part of the six-track mini album as well as the music video of title song “Overdose.”

The songs “Moonlight” and “Thunder” were R&B dance numbers, while “Run” had a more pop music element in it. Lyrics “Hello, hello, run with me” and “Don’t let go of our hands holding together,” were repeated in the chorus.

Over all, their performance was good, but there was no wow factor. Stage effects were rather ordinary with four narrow and long side screens giving a kind of a three- dimensional effect.

Video footage was a jumbled mix of clips of the band members sweeping the top awards since its 2012 debut.

Notwithstanding, the free event sponsored by Samsung Music, were crowded with fans anxious to see what comes next for the Korean boy band-of-the-moment.

Spectators who were in the standing area nearest to the stage, had to struggle to hold their places.

Two fans sprained their ankles and were treated in an ambulance parked near the gate. Throughout the showcase, some 20 fans were escorted out, and EXO members repeatedly asked fans to calm down, so that the event could continue.

Those unlucky ones not at the event were also as busy downloading the free Samsung music application or visiting the company’s website to see the performance, livecast throughout the world.

Sometimes, however, its homepage was jammed and eventually went down since so many fans visited the website at the same time.

The website for Synnara Record, the music label that presold their new album, was also not functioning at times during the day, due to heavy Internet traffic

After their album release, on April 21, EXO-K and EXO-M will perform separately in Korea and China respectively, before joining again at their first ever concert to be held on May 24 and May 25. By Park Jin-hai The korea times