As I’ve stated before, if I might never get the chance to see GOT7 perform as a whole group, then I will gladly settle for seeing them all one by one. That means next on the list to tour was Jackson Wang!
People joke that everybody knows Jackson, which might very well be true, but I’m just glad he made it to New York on a weekend and that I have a friend who never minds letting me crash on her couch. I’ll admit that Jackson’s solo music hasn’t been my favorite, so I tried to cram a bit before heading over to NYC for the weekend and before the show at Barclays Center. It still didn’t really change my opinion on it, but I knew I’d at least be a bit more familiar with the setlist. It was also my first time at Barclays Center! Unsurprsingly, this was a pretty large venue, which I wouldn’t expect any smaller for someone as big as Jackson. I was nervous that my seat off to the side of the stage would be so far away I’d be sad about it, but it didn’t end up being a bad view!
Still, it’s larger than I like, so I know I was going to walk away a little more disappointed in this show compared to others. What can I say, I’m a greedy girl who wants to be as close as possible without breaking the bank! We were handed little lights on the way in, in lieu of using up our batteries with our phone lights, which was its own fun little souvenir! And that’s all I was able to get because the merch sold out within the first twenty minutes of just the VIPs getting through the door. Lame! I’m hoping we get the chance to buy online sometime later. But anyway, that gave me a chance to walk around and not be rushed to my seat. At least I was graced with some Jackson freebies instead.
Jackson’s show was quite the spectacle, with many lights, screens, flames, confettis, and dancers. At times I wish it was easier to distinguish him from the other dancers on stage, but they did all look awesome. From my seat, the popping up from beneath the stage definitely lost some of its intended magic, but it’s not lost on me how much coordination and practice had to go into each and every performance. There also happened to be a great deal of audience participation. Several ladies ended up on stage and a part of the performance, and I applaud all of them for keeping their cool because I would have been a frieghtened and nervous mess! In fact, they all really held their own and actually blended in well with the performances!
I’ll admit, the setlist just didn’t do anything at all for me. A lot of the faster tempo songs didn’t really feature any live vocals at all, which was kind of lame. But when we did get the live vocals, mainly for the boring ballads, he really did sound incredible. I just wish it wasn’t one or the other. The only song that really got me moving was “Buck,” and it really was awesome! The encore was a lame trio of remixes, but it was a fine excuse to ask a good deal of audience members onto the stage with him and his dancers. He really wanted a party and for us all to live in and enjoy the present – goal achieved! I was bummed we didn’t even get one GOT7 song, but maybe because he’s so big he legally can’t. Either way, it was a fun show!