Following their brief visit to London in July 2017 at Feel Korea, Keunakeun / KNK bring their first European solo tour and mark their return to the city.
Before the main event and wristband distribution, Tinkerbells were given the opportunity to purchase a ticket to the Special Event which took place in the early afternoon. There was a chance to reserve four items of merchandise and to take part in a Q+A and fan sign session. They had to submit at least three questions to KNK. Everyone who purchased a ticket to the Special Event had one question of theirs answered.
After meeting at the O2 Academy Islington after 1pm, Tinkerbells had to show ID to confirm their Special Event order and receive a VIP wristband if they had also purchased VIP as well before being escorted to a hotel where the Special Event would take place (not the hotel KNK were staying in). This was roughly a ten minute walk from the venue and we waited in a lounge area before walking into an executive board meeting room -fittingly named "The Main Thing"- after the group walked in first to settle down. **EDIT: The Main Thing was also the name of the organisation working with MyMusicTaste for the Special Event.**
The turnout for this Special Event was rather small, perhaps consisting of 20 people approximately. I sat on the end of the front row, just in front of Inseong as nobody dared to sit there and wanted to sit a little further back. The Q+A session kicked off first and one of the organisers who was not MMT was reading from her phone and translating both questions and answers. One question from each Tinkerbell was chosen and their name was called out (it was awkward. Had I known I would not have put my full name down!). The question they chose from me was for Jihun where I asked if you had to describe each member as an animal what would it be. One person asked Inseong if he wanted to ask Tinkerbells anything and it resulted in a little frenzy where people got nervous and didn't know what to say. He then asked what we liked about KNK. I just went on a little essay run and said how they were all great dancers, great singers, dancers and handsome. They didn't expect me to go on a ramble but it was fun seeing their faces light up over my response.
Once the Q+A session finished, we all had to take or personal item to be signed and queue up by the tables where KNK were sitting. Funnily enough everyone had been doodling on the table cloth and coasters, drawing the KNK logo and even writing their names. Inseong and Heejun in particular realised what they did wrong. I do wonder if The Double Tree By Hilton hotel will keep these items or throw them away. Or maybe sell them on eBay...?!
Before the concert I was not sure what to get them to sign as I had already pre-ordered a signed copy of their S/S Collection single album and thought about whether to get another copy for the fan sign or the Lonely Night album. In the end I just printed out the concept photo in 7x5 size. I also regret not being able to give myself time to buy gifts in the process. At the fan sign, the order was Seoham -- Dongwon -- Heejun -- Jihun -- Inseong.
The interactions were generally rather pleasant. The ones I expected would be a little 'odd' became reality after much researching into fan signs in the past by other Tinkerbells. I read Heejun could be eccentric and he was a bit like that when I spoke to him. He also seemed to be in his own world, asking me where I was from but didn't quite understand my background i.e. being a British Born Chinese and having parents from Malaysia. Another day of educating will hopefully happen should we meet again.
Jihun was as expected rather quiet, a fellow introvert and spoke softly. He tried to work out my name so I told him and mentioned Seoham added the 'Tinkerbell' similarity. I think he got the gist in the end. It was a quick moment then I moved on to Heejun. With Inseong his visuals were glowing that I nearly lost my focus. The tanned skin was not hiding anywhere and I admired his red hair. He spoke English very well, asking me if it was ok to use silver sharpie instead. I assume the black pen he was given did not work. That interaction was quick too. I guess I was not as interesting as the Japanese, Chinese or Caucasian Europeans in the fan sign...
The nicest interactions I got were from Dongwon and my main favourite Seoham. The new member Lee Dongwon was all smiles and asked me where I was from. I think only three people asked me this question which in a normal day would occasionally annoy me but with this situation it was acceptable. I asked Dongwon if he liked London and he said he did and we exchanged thank you's. Such a warm aura.
Seoham and I exchanged hellos and asked my name so I had to spell out to him. He then noticed how it sounded similar to Tinkerbell (I felt the same as it was an old joke someone in primary school annoyingly pointed out) and wrote my name almost like this word. It was a funny moment and he said my name was amazing
After the fan sign we then moved onto the group photo and had to leave the room and use a wall for the photo session. The staff used our mobile photos to take one picture and we had to request a particular pose. I was the second person in the queue and just went with hearts.
Everyone created a heart with both hands and I managed to share a heart with Seoham. Special Event was finally finished and everyone had begun to leave. KNK had gone for a drive before the main concert, right after I left the Double Tree By Hilton in London to head back into the main high street.
Official queuing did not start till 6pm and all Tinkerbells had to work out whereabouts they were in the queue using the numbers on their wristbands. The number of people in the queue was starting to grow very slowly till 7pm which was when the doors were due to open. It didn't take too long to let everyone in since it was not a full-house and the concert kicked off promptly around 8pm.
KNK started their concert with two new songs from their latest single album, including their latest comeback song Sunset. The dungeon music / underground club beats pleased many Tinkerbells. In between the songs the group spoke about how they missed London and that it was nice to see some of the fans again from their previous visit for Feel Korea in July 2017. There was also a lucky raffle for Tinkerbells to win signed polaroids. I didn't expect to win because me winning giveaways is generally a very unlikely situation on my part.
The evening had gone by so fast even I forgot whereabouts we were with the set list. Perhaps this was the first time in a long while I had enjoyed a concert a lot more than usual and wasn't as suffocated but it could be due to the fact this concert did not sell out completely. Everyone was told they had permission to film and take photos but not make live broadcasts. Considering how KNK likes to interact with fans and SNS a lot it was rather understandable they would be fine with people respectively taking photos of them in the spotlight. Everyone did their best to speak English at the Special Event and at the concert, even covering Korean and English songs they really liked. Heejun is a Coldplay fan and Seoham chose the Harry Potter theme, humming to it enthusiastically.
There was also a banner project when Angel Heart came up that everyone had to raise banners above their heads for KNK to see but it was hard for the group to see the sign as the font was rather difficult to read in the bright light. The encore consisted of Love You and Day'N'Night and KNK had changed into the tour t-shirts, encouraging everyone to dance away as the night neared its end. Once the concert finished and GA ticket holders left the venue, we waited for hi-touch to start and collected the merchandise reserved with the Special Event package.
Hi-Touch followed suit after maybe 20 minutes and everything had finished ahead of the scheduled time of 11pm. Because of a large crowd the hi-touch session had to be done quickly with very little time to chit chat. Approximate order of hi-touch from the right - Seoham, Heejun, Jihun, Inseong then Dongwon.
The concert was a real treat and I enjoyed it immensely (I also stood nearer to the stage this time but not at the actual barrier, reminding me of how close I was to the stage at Keane's Island 50 concert in May 2009). The Special Event was intimate and a first time experience at a fan sign for me considering I have never had a conversation with an idol before, which proved a challenge for my shy INFJ-A nature. However I always reminded myself to keep it simple and sweet for the sake of the language barrier. Keunakeun enjoy interacting with the Tinkerbells and show such charisma and charm on stage. It's hard to not look away. I hope they come back to London for a longer stay. Youjin was truly missed but Heejun and Inseong managed to cover his parts in the older KNK songs, honouring him greatly.
One main thing I wish that MyMusicTaste would have done was offer an upgrade for those who had already purchased VIP tickets rather than say you had to pay for the full price. Interestingly you didn't need a concert ticket for this special event moment which I find rather odd since most of the previous special events MMT arranged included the fact you had to buy a ticket to the concert, even for preorders on signed albums.
Setlist
We Are The One
Sunset
Day By Day
Rain
Lonely Night
Think About You
What Do You Think?
I Remember
Tonight
Feel So Good
Beauty
Fade
Sun, Moon, Star
Propose
Angel Heart
Back Again
U
ENCORE:
Love You
Day'N' Night
Dongwon has been vlogging on the European tour and uploading his videos on the KNK Youtube channel. Here is his London vlog:-
A lot of Tinkerbells were disappointed with the merchandise available as it was a lot simpler compared to the group's US tour but it depends what you want. I would have settled with a light stick, tote bag and maybe a tour t-shirt.
Fancams
Rain First time seeing this live. It's a lot different without the backing dancers and umbrella props but the performance is still just as enjoyable.
Fade To make up for the many Tinkerbells who did not win the signed polaroid giveaways, KNK presented a new choreography for one of the songs on their latest single album. Fade is a sultry song complimented with smooth dance moves.
Sun, Moon, Star One of my favourite songs by KNK and probably where I started to become an official Tinkerbell, right before they were scheduled to attend Feel Korea 2017 (good timing!). The first song I heard from them was U after seeing their MV on music channel.
Photo previews
All my photos can be seen here or on Google Photos
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