[MALAYSIA] K-WAVE 2 Music Festival at Stadium Merdeka Warms The Hearts of Fans

The ten thousand-strong crowd at Stadium Merdeka last Saturday night were there to see their faves and to indulge in an evening of K-pop goodness. With the currently chilly weather, most were ready for some rain in the outdoor stadium, but once the concert began proper, the atmosphere began to heat up!

Beginning with the Heat
First up was A.C.E, the newly-minted group whose second comeback late last year was greeted with a hot response. They began with a dance intro under a stage of red lights and flames, upping the heat factor immediately. Then they continued with their debut song ‘Cactus’, showing off their dance style – which is to go hard or go home!

After a brief and cheery introduction, Jun, Jason, Chan, Donghun and WOW continued their stage with a cover of BLACKPINK’s ‘Playing With Fire’, walking the stage and interacting with fans as they did so. They closed their set with their latest single ‘Callin’, making sure they left an impression with their awesome choreography and vocals, and flawless execution.

TAHITI was on next, a foursome made up of Jerry, Ari, Miso and Minjae. They came on with their sultry single ‘Phone Number’, before going into the cool cute vibe of “Oppa, You’re Mine”. Taking a moment to introduce themselves, TAHITI charmed the crowd with their warm, chatty personalities, speaking in fluent English and even mentioning Ari’s older brother who lives in Malaysia and the shopping that they did during the day. They continued charming with their last song (and latest single), ‘Skip’, a pop song with some trot overtones that left the audience on a high.

Next up was HALO with their debut single ‘Fever’, a pop song with choreography that showed off their neat footwork and formations perfectly. Inhaeng, Dino, Yoondong, Ooon, Jaeyong and Heecheon made a quick introduction, with Dino speaking in English and thanking the crowd for their support. They moved on to the ballad “I’m Scared’, before pausing to chat again, saying they felt it was one of their more beautiful songs, then playing with the crowd by asking if it wasn’t too late, and shouldn’t they be sleeping by now? They ended their set with the funky ‘I’m Here’, reminding people that although they were sweet, they also had attitude!

K-pop Darling Creates Magic
There was no doubt that the darling of the night was going to be Taeyeon, and when the crowd realised she was on next, the stadium was filled with emotion as the crowd cheered for her.  The sounds of her beautiful single ‘I’ began, and her strong, clear sweet voice reverberated throughout the stadium. She went straight into the gently, lilting ballad ‘11:11’ before pausing to chat with the crowd.

She mentioned that it was a hard decision to make, whether to come or not, but that she was glad that she did. Knowing that she may not have come at all, the audience showed their appreciation for her with cheers and love as she went into her next song, ‘Fine’. Her voice seemed to swell with emotion, and it surely made hearts swell too.

Then it was on to ‘Make Me Love You’, a crowd-pleaser of a song, before stopping to chat again. True to form, after saying “Apa Khabar” (“how are you” in Malay), she admitted that she was just reading it off the prompter! Despite being emotional, she lightened the mood easily before launching into ‘Hands On Me’ a song layered with waterfall piano notes and musical intricacy – and a tune that was as catchy as can be.

Layers of Love for NU’EST W
Having followed NU’EST W‘s story via the survival show Produce 101 Season 2, new and long-time fans alike would have a special place in their hearts for them!

JR, Aron, Baekho and Ren began with their 2013 single ‘Hello’, a gentle ballad that allowed them to showcase their strong vocals. The crowd screaming surged as soon as they heard the opening “Yeobosaeyo” line! After the song they chatted with the crowd, Aron speaking in English, JR saying hello in Malay, Baekho beginning with Malay and then smoothly transitioning into Mandarin, before Ren showed off his amazing language prowess with the perfunctory “Malaysia Sayang!” (literally, Malaysia Love, but could also mean Malaysia, My Love if said in a certain way!) – so we think he meant to say Malaysia, I Love You!

Aron introduced their next song, ‘Just One Day’, a moving number, before going straight into ‘Overcome’, one of the songs that personifies their distinctive musical style, pop with a sexy RnB twist. The crowd ate it up! And it was obvious that there was a special love for JR throughout their stage – probably because of his title as nation’s leader! They then continued the sexy, almost jazzy vibe with ‘Love Paint’.

Then they performed ‘Where You At’, the song that garnered them their first music show win after five years in the industry. The song is powerful because of its evocative, throbbing dance sounds and fresh chord progressions, but also because of its lyrics. Their amazing vocals and rap kept the audience enthralled til the end.

After thanking the audience, they finished with ‘Love (A Starlight Night)’, walking around the stage and interacting with fans. Ren even picked up and put on a flower wreath a fan had thrown onstage. It was over too soon.

Queens Take the Stage
The amazing vocal quartet began in the dark with an acapella harmony to open their stage, before Solar began apologising for having to remain seated throughout the stage because of her back injury, to murmurs of sympathy and cheers of support from the crowd for the other members Hwasa, Moonbyul and Wheein.

They began with ‘Yes I Am’, dominating the stadium with their sass and vocal confidence. They continued with ‘Decalcomanie’, and the audience could see why they have set the bar for vocal excellence and harmony! Under a light drizzle, they chatted with the audience, expressing their gratitude for being able to perform with all the artists at the festival.

They upped the tempo with the rollicking ‘Girl Crush’, a song perfectly in tune with their fun and sassy character. Hwasa said that although it was their first time in Malaysia, they were very grateful that they were receiving such support.

They continued on with ‘Mr Ambiguous’ and then followed with the ever-satisfying ‘Um Oh Ah Yeah’and delighting the audience with their easy vocal control and sexy harmonies!

Super (sun)BAES
If you ever wanted to hear a crowd cheering for almost fifteen minutes straight, you would have witnessed that on Saturday night.

From the moment the familiar scratchy, punchy synth sounds of ’Sorry, Sorry’ started playing, until the end of ‘Bonamana’ which they did straight after, the crowd did not stop screaming at full volume!

Super Junior exploded onstage with their worldwide hit single ‘Sorry, Sorry’, dressed in sharp monochromatic suits and style, their signature dance moves driving the audience wild. It was like a home-coming; every time a member got screen time on the jumbotron displays, the screams surged again! They continued on with ‘Bonamana’ and of course, the crowd volume remained high.

As soon as they broke to chat, they introduced themselves individually, immediately showing their individual characters also. Eunhyuk made a special effort to pronounce his name clearly for the crowd, whilst their beloved leader Leeteuk pulled out his phone with a straight face to read off his “genuine” greeting, saying “Apa Khabar?” (“How are you?”) and then following with “Saya dari Korea” (“I am from Korea”), all said with the deadpan pride of a seasoned emcee and comedian – which is really what they all are.

Eunhyuk in particular spoke a lot in Malay and asked the crowd if they wanted a kiss, not realising he was saying something more along the lines of “do you want to kiss?”! Anyway, he obliged the fans immediately with flying kisses. They all left the stage, leaving Donghae and Eunhyuk to perform two of their songs, ‘Growing Pains’ and ‘Oppa, Oppa’. After that, Yesung graced the stage with the lovely ‘Here I Am’, his sweet voice filling the night air.

Then the rest of the boys returned to the stage with ‘Mamacita’, after which they chatted again, playing around with the crowd. They were all finding ways to throw hearts and kisses, giggling and having fun, when Shindong took the mic and insisted that it was time for them to be serious – before pulling out a heart from his sleeve.

They introduced their last song, their latest comeback single ‘Black Suit’, and Leeteuk said a quick goodbye, managing to say “Assalammualaikum” to the crowd before the backing track started – a song that reflects their signature dance pop style with a fresh new sound.

As they finally left the stage, Eunhyuk, Siwon and Donghae remained last to wave and interact with the crowd. Siwon had long dispensed with his jacket, revealing a rather thin, white, slightly sweaty and clingy shirt. Donghae made a deep bow and singled out a lucky ELF in the audience to give a finger heart to. Eunhyuk found a camera and blew a double kiss to the audience through it.

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Til Next Time

When they finally left to raucous cheers, there was an announcement made regarding the next headliners for K-Wave 3 : MONSTA X! They showed a greeting and blew steam and yellow stress balls into the audience with cannons! It was a fitting end to a night packed filled with great performances from everyone’s faves! We would like to thank the organisers and promoters Mcalls and MacPiePro for inviting us to share this experience. 🙂

Photo Credit: MacPiePro
Written By: Christina O

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