[RECAP] Give It Up, Give It Up, Give It Up for SHINee in Los Angeles! > K-POP

​Photo: SHINee / SMTOWN / Vryl 

‘Are You Ready or Not: A Night to Remember’

Nearly 10 years into their debut, one of the most popular KPOP groups, SHINee, finally made its way to the United States to hold a pair of solo concerts as part of the North American leg of its ‘SHINee World V’ concert tour. The quintet ended its stay in North America with a stop in Los Angeles (‘SHINee World V in Los Angeles’) at the Shrine Auditorium. It was a night for the books and one to remember as fans, affectionately known as Shawols, came together from all parts of the country to have the chance to see their favorite group live.

‘Replay Replay Replay: Vocals and Dancing on fleek’

Having debuted in 2008, SHINee has always been recognized for its precise dancing and superb live vocals, and the veteran group proved just that in front of the 6,000+ fans that cheered loudly from the get-go in the intimate venue. Cheers and screams erupted from the music blaring from the speakers overhead even before the lights dimmed. After the show began with a VCR that portrayed the five members are shining fairytale princes, they appeared on a raised platform for the dance break introduction of ‘Hitchhiker’. Their dance moves were precise and smooth, with each member adding their own flair and style to the choreography.  If ‘Hitchhiker’ was precise and hard-hitting, then the next song 'Why So Serious’ was more fun-filled and sillier, though still complete with that complex choreography that SHINee is known for. To finish off the beginning portion before the member introductions, SHINee turned to one of their 2009 hit songs, ‘Juliette’, sans the colorful pants that transformed the group into one of the household names in KPOP. The group introduced themselves, talking animatedly about how excited they were to be back in Los Angeles and they were grateful to the fans for welcoming them with so much love.

The 2.5-hour concert flew by in a blink as SHINee sang many fan favorite songs from debut until present, including a sexy performances of ‘Prism’, '​Feel Good​' and ‘Odd Eye’; cheerful, feel-good renditions found in debut song ‘Replay’, ‘Hello’, ‘View’, ‘1 of 1’, and ‘Dream Girl’ and electrifying and powerful dance presentations of ‘Lucifer’, ‘Sherlock’, ‘Ring Ding Dong’ and '​Everybody​'. Taemin treated all present to a short, yet haunting dance performance of the Korean version of ‘Sayonara Hitori’, showcasing why he is nicknamed the ‘dance machine’ with his fluid and versatile moves. The group even turned the venue into an impromptu club, rocking out bangers such as ‘Ready or Not’ and ‘Savior’, which had fans jumping up and down along with SHINee. But SHINee also dazzled the crowd with their vocal chops, singing serenely and heavenly to their ballad songs ‘Selene 6.23’, ‘Dynamite’, ‘Don’t Let Me Go (Umbrella)’ and an Onew-Jonghyun duet ‘Please Don’t Let Me Go’. The group ended with yet another beautiful ballad, ‘An Encore’, perhaps quite the fitting end to a memorable evening.

‘Why So Serious: Variety!SHINee Strikes Again’

SHINee may not appear on many variety shows as of late, but whenever they do, they are kings of variety. Their VCRs were proof of that: lovable, wacky, and just plain fun. ‘Woof Woof’ displayed their crazy antics for all to see and left Shawols dying of laughter while other VCRs showed a cute and caring boyfriend side to the five members. Even during the ments, fans got to see the impressive group dynamics. The members left in groups of two and three to change into their ballad outfits. While Minho and Key left the stage to change outfits, Onew, Jonghyun, and Taemin began talking to the crowd and expressed their amazement at the passion and fervor that the fans had brought with them. Known for being a little shy while not dancing, Taemin cutely spoke of his desire to be more like Key and speak English more fluently and did so, but put his hoodie up and turned his back to the audience to ask, “ARE YOU HAVING FUN?” The fans nearly lost it, seeing how Taemin was so embarrassed and Jonghyun cheekily making fun at the youngest member. Minho and Key returned, curious to know what happened, before smoothly taking over and turning the stage into a two-man comedic skit. Minho spoke about how he attended the LA Clippers game that day at the Staples Center and Key let slip that Minho had bought a $300 jersey while Minho tried to hush Key by saying it was a secret. Minho then continued talking in his improved English about how he is a Lakers and Kobe Bryant fan but mentioned that “Clippers is good, but they lost /cue fake sobbing/”. Key sassily responded with “I don’t know anything about sports so what did you eat?” Everybody dissolved into fits of giggles and conversation turned to what Key did the previous day, which was to visit the Santa Monica pier. Reminded of dancing, the two talked about ‘La La Land’, with both singing very short snippets of ‘City of Stars’ (Minho) and ‘Audition (Fools Who Dream)’ (Key), much to the fans’ delight. Once all five members congregated on the stage once more, the five brought laughter to the crowd even more with their cute, yet limited English repertoire. You definitely had to be there to watch the members’ interactions.

‘Everybody Wake Up, Wake Up: Fans Shower SHINee with Love’

The fans were an integral part of such an exciting evening. The venue was packed with fans hours before the concert even began and fansites were handing out banners to all that were there to show how much support the members would be receiving. Banners ranged from group to individual members and the venue was engulfed in a sea of pearl aqua, making it a beautiful sight to behold. The venue was never silent as fans screamed, chanted, and sang along to every song that was performed live, a difficult feat to be sure. Three fanprojects were planned, and though the first one (Shawols singing to ‘Selene 6.23’) didn’t pan out, the color sheets of paper and 1 of 1 banner held up during the ‘1 of 1’ performance didn’t go by unnoticed by the members, who were impressed by the coordination and the colors. Last but not least, after the encore performance, as the members were talking about the love and the feelings they experienced during the concert, fans held up the backside of the 1 of 1 banner, which revealed to wish Jonghyun an early Happy Birthday (April 8^th is his birthday). Key noticed this and beckoned Jonghyun to look closer, who was touched by the heartfelt wishes.

‘An Encore: SHINee Hopes to Be Back’

During the last ment, SHINee thanked the fans for being so supportive and cheering so loudly from the bottom of their hearts. Each member was in agreement as the group expressed their wishes and desires to be back. Key hinted of the possibility that they’ll be back in the near future, while Taemin tried to hurriedly add on a “maybe” to the statement as to not give fans false hope. The concert ended with another VCR, which thanked the fans for showing up and making this a night to remember.

We hope that SHINee will indeed come back to the States and hopefully perform in more cities to make other Shawols feel loved. Until next time, SHINee, your fans will be waiting forevermore.

For more pictures of the evening, please check out our Facebook page.

Recap written by Emily

Pictures taken by Emily and Sam T. (unless otherwise indicated)

Special thanks to SubKulture Entertainment for a wonderful job as always in organizing the concert tour stops for Dallas and Los Angeles and for extending Korea.com invitations to cover the concert.