White Night with Taeyang

At just 29 years old, Taeyang – a stage name which means ‘sun’ in Korean – is already an experienced K-pop star, having been a member of supergroup BigBang since 2006.
He was in Kuala Lumpur recently for a concert at Stadium ­Negara as part of his 2017 world tour to promote his album, White Night.
It was his second solo show here after his 2015 Rise Tour.
Hours before the doors opened, dedicated fans of mostly young girls were already ­gathered outside the stadium, hoping to catch a glimpse of the star.
Just as the sun set, fans in blinking LED ­headbands and flower crown lightsticks – a trademark of BigBang fans – streamed in.
A few incredibly ­dedicated Taeyang fans were seen passing out printed banners with the words, ‘Your warmth wakes me up’ in ­Korean, ­followed by two emojis – a hand with fingers forming an ‘O’, and a pear.
According to the fans, the emojis read as ‘Yong’ and ‘Bae’ respectively, which is Taeyang’s real name, Dong Young-bae.
In the darkness of the ­stadium, the bright yellow flower crowns and blinking ­headbands looked like a glowing sea of stars. It seemed surreal and peaceful.
Then Taeyang appeared, all dressed in white, and the ­shrieking began from the crowd of 5,000.
Before the second song was over, I saw paramedics rushing in and carrying away a girl who had fainted.
However, it was soon ­apparent that only a few were familiar with Taeyang’s songs from his solo White Night album, which included tracks such as Darling, Amazin, Naked, and Tonight.
They seemed more into the songs he had performed with BigBang, or those he sang with ­fellow members.
It is undeniable that Taeyang can sing. His onstage singing performance was on point and sounded almost too good to be true, so much so that I expected to catch him lip syncing.
But it was not a recording; it was all him. I was impressed.
However, he kept ­disappearing off stage for a few minutes every few songs, ­leaving his band playing on stage, while he got a wipe down and a costume change.

This was a surprise to me, primarily as it was only a two-hour concert, which is ­considered short by K-pop standards.
During one of the lulls between songs, Taeyang asked: “Are you having fun, Kuala Lumpur? This is not my first time in Kuala Lumpur.”
As Taeyang talked to the crowd, every sentence was ­followed by shrieks and screams.
I was thinking I had heard louder screams in rock concerts at the same stadium coming from crowds half the size of the one at this event.
That was what I initially thought, until he said: “Aku cinta pada mu.”
The girls in the crowd just lost their minds, and their shrieks hit the roof.
Most of Taeyang’s songs in the first three quarters were pop tunes and ballads, complete with fan service.
It was not until the fourth quarter of the show that he wound up the energy with upbeat hits including his hit duet with fellow BigBang member G-Dragon, I am a Good Boy.
As I have said earlier, Taeyang is a good singer, and he pandered to the female ­audience, but his stage ­presence and showmanship could be better.
I bet fans would ­appreciate it more if he had just sat down and talked to them, ­instead of ­disappearing off stage.
The dance routines could have been better as well. There were backup dancers and a band, but, the spotlight was always on Taeyang who was wearing white, so everyone else just disappeared into the shadows.
This was my first K-pop ­concert. I felt the show was short and ended early, but it was probably to accommodate the youngsters that make up most of Taeyang’s fandom.
Although I am not the target audience, I still had fun, and I cannot deny Taeyang’s clear and apparent talent.