Though I was maybe only a week into my GOT7 marathon obsession (that is still ongoing, by the way), I saw that they had done some very large multi-day concert over in Korea and that I totally missed the livestream of two of the days. Luckily, they were cool and were offering a re-stream of those days later in the month. You know I immediately signed up for both days.
The regrets I have about not knowing about these shows is immense. Not that I could have realistically made it over to South Korea to attend these in person, but still. I’ve noticed that since the pandemic my FOMO is steadily increasing, and it appears that now even high quality recordings of events that I could never realistically attend don’t fully sate me. Oh, well. I will have to learn to live with these things and find an appropriate amount of joy in them. Which to be fair, I found plenty of joy in these re-watches! In fact, if Kakao Entertainment had any brains, they’d make this a concert DVD, because I know I would not be the only one buying.
Now, as far as the meat of the concert goes, there was virtually almost no difference in the setlist, only their outfits. But, the big differences came in the encores. Sure, a good deal of those songs were the same, as well, but there were differences, and the interactions between members and the fans differed greatly. Day 2’s encore was WILD. I don’t know that there was any part of it that was still. Their performance of “Just Right” might have been the most controlled part, but then they got out the water bottles and let loose on each other and the crowd. They were running around everywhere still managing to sing parts here and there. The only somber moment of the encore came when each member got to say something about the multi-day experience. In this particular section, poor Mark was struggling to get through what he wanted to say and it was one of the sweetest, tear-jerking things I’ve seen. The member’s group hugging him melted my heart.
Day 3 of the concert was certainly bittersweet and you could tell throughout the whole evening that the members were excited to perform for the fans but also sad in knowing that it was the last time they’d be doing so in a while. It’s unclear how long of a break they will take as a group, but I sincerely hope it isn’t too long. I was thrilled that “Page” made it to the setlist this day, and hearing “Follow Me” and “Hello” were kind of life changing in a hilarious way. Again, the water came out and there were plenty of chaotic antics taking place on stage, but their thank yous kind of wrecked the mood for a little while. Especially for Jackson. He was absent for a good portion of the encore, but he didn’t finally seem to have his spirits lifted. Jinyoung was so sweet in his thanks, he mentioned that he just felt so happy, and that made my heart hurt. Then Jackson comes on, faces the group instead of the fans because his eyes are already like a waterfall and he profusely thanks Jay B for all he’s done for the group. He shares that they were about to not debut stating that JYP wanted to send the foreigners home, but Jay B fought for them. I didn’t know that Jay B was capable of tears, but he looked wrecked by Jackson’s speech. Me, too, buddy.
Overall though, despite those somber bits, these concerts were a hell of a lot of fun! And they were four hours a piece! That’s a lot of performing! Those fans are so lucky that I hope they never forget it. I was so amped about these performances that I snagged a ticket to catch Yugyeom in New York later this month. My Ahgase heart is racing! Stay tuned!