MONSTA X were back in London to begin the European leg of their second World Tour.
The announcement of MONSTA X officially returning to London since the debacle that was KpopKnight last January was something many Monbebe were delighted to hear. Unsurprisingly the best tickets sold out so fast when presales started, though this was partly in thanks to an unaware second presale link by Eventim that did not require a MyMusicTaste presale code given to the TasteMakers who requested the group to come to London.
Eventim Apollo was a full-house on Sunday 17 June and a few locals and overseas Monbebe had already camped two days in advance outside the venue to secure a space prior to the actual queuing. Only wristbands were offered to those who bought VIP tickets however there was no numbering system so as you can imagine, nobody wanted to wait till 6:30pm for the doors to officially open whilst VIP were allowed to start queuing from 4pm. Naturally throughout the day, the queue had expanded so much on both sides of the venue that people had to walk right down to the end of the street.
I only managed to get into the venue at 7:30pm after queuing from 5pm once arriving in Hammersmith at 3:30pm and the stalls were almost packed inside. The sloped floor is effective as you can still see most of the stage even at the back, thus I just stayed near the bar and watched what I could - sadly my photos and fancams couldn't zoom so well unless I was much closer. Monbebe sang along to the songs playing in the venue before the scheduled start time of 8pm. MONSTA X opened the stages 9 minutes past 8 with their latest comeback single Jealousy and it was magnificent. Their energy and live singing was continuous from start to finish that even those at the back would not stop screaming at the top of their lungs and dancing the night away.
The guys had a translator however they did incredibly well with trying to speak (British) English to the crowd. I.M was the main English speaker and he did help out when his older band mates were struggling to explain something. There was the usual banter of what many visitors thought when they heard the word London or UK. Harry Potter, fish and chips and popular UK artists for example. Shownu even thought of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. You could never avoid the 'war-tuh' joke as well. RP way of pronouncing water, that is.
The setlist was almost identical to the Seoul concerts back in May but some songs were cut out to fit the schedule. Instead there were alterations, perhaps to treat the international Monbebe with special stages. For example, Hyungwon had a dance solo in Seoul but it was replaced by a great dance team up with I.M. The encore was sadly cut to only Fallin' rather than finishing the night with If Only. Apparently the night had gone over time. Rather than finish at 10pm as scheduled, the concert ended just before 11pm. Not entirely sure why it took a while to prepare the encore. It seemed there were some small technical difficulties with the microphones during the evening. However the biggest surprise was how the music was lowered immediately during Fallin' and only those much nearer to the stage could just hear the guys singing and talking. There was also no interpreter to translate what they were saying. A few of the crew kept running onto the stage to whisper to the guys.
I originally assumed they had to cut the encore because the tech issues delayed the schedule but there seemed to be something else as well. A possibility the venue staff wanted the concert to finish now to get on with the hi-touch. The guys had confused expressions and a few Monbebe at the front had said some of them looked frustrated they had to cut the concert short as they wanted to spend more time interacting with the crowd. It is a shame this happened at all, though it may explain why I thought it was odd how the music dramatically dropped in such a way.
Honestly with the later finishing time I was briefly grateful I didn't manage to get VIP otherwise I would have missed the last train home but it didn't stop my deeply emotional heart from missing out on a chance of meeting MONSTA X. I really wanted this chance since KpopKnight happened but...I may have to wait longer to get that chance (why is it always the faves that I can never reach?). It was great to hear so many favourite songs live nonetheless and I am also sad I wasn't able to collect free goodies from fansites and fans as I did not leave home earlier to make my way to the venue. It was too busy on Sunday.
Despite the no-numbers rule not being placed officially because of the venue's surroundings outside and the issues with sound or delayed schedule and much more, I still managed to enjoy the live performances. MONSTA X can be electrifying and I definitely want to see them again to feel that energy from their performances. MyMusicTaste, perhaps pick a better venue next time if you want to input the numbering system. You did it reasonably well with KARD and The Rose when they were at ULU.
Highlights from the concert
- Hyungwon and I.M sexy dance number to Charlie Puth's How Long
- Shownu and Jooheon's Versace On The Floor stage. I'm sure Bruno Mars will approve of the little tribute
- Lost In The Dream performance [link to my fancam]. When Kihyun does that high note I get chills each time. I was singing along to that part and when in the most deepest emotional bubbles, I can be tearful
- Everyone speaking English. I thought it was endearing and so sweet. Poor Hyungwon looked flustered quite a bit but it was hilarious how he would also repeat what the interpreter said as part of learning
- Hyungwon's "Expecto Patronum"
- Jooheon's random switch between cuteness/Aegyo and swag
- Shownu randomly saying he knows the actor Benedict Cumberbatch. That made me laugh. I should tell him to watch Sherlock when I can
- The guys did well with changing the set a little to fit the venue and schedule. I am sad they didn't include Blind in the setlist. Shame for the removal of Hero. That's one of my top favourite tracks
- The videos in between the song changes. The footage talking about The Code and Connect storyline. It's got so much impact and would make a great story in the MVs and I was absolutely emotional reading the dialogue. Starship, you missed a chance to make some fascinating fiction come to life. You could have done the same with the X Clan Origins too
The other fancams that were "ok"
Beautiful - Finally got a fancam of this song since I didn't record it last time at KpopKnight
Rush - MONSTA X said it had been a while since they had performed the original version of this song as they normally went with a different remix - a rock version which sounds just as great. I saw fancams of this performance from previous fan meets
Crazy In Love - I actually thought All In was coming up but I hit the record button too early. Nonetheless since I like this song I thought why not leave it recording?
All In - The Clan part 1 was the era where I officially became a Monbebe and this song struck me by surprise on first listen after I engulfed the group's cover of DBSK classic Mirotic
From Zero - Shame I missed out on the Hyungwonho version from their last tour, however the group version is just as great
Trespass [rock remix] - Time to headbang. I enjoy this remix and how it makes the debut song have much more punch
Dramarama - Sound is affected here like with most of my fancams when recorded on phone because the speakers are huge and powerful with the sound but this song is becoming a quick favourite of mine and I liked the MV's storyline
In total I had 13 fancams which is definitely a record for me as I got trigger-happy. A few were of short clips where the guys had fun but unfortunately I missed out on the best bits. The song performances I tried to capture on video didn't turn out great thanks to the lighting. I think I need to learn to edit videos properly on the computer or on the phone where appropriate.
Photos can be viewed here or here
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