“SHINee’s back!” whispered Minho’s voice, and the Olympic Park
Gymnastics Arena erupted with cheers of the 10,000-strong crowd on
Sunday as SHINee took the stage on the last day of their three-day
concert “SHINee World IV in Seoul.”
Clad in white military-style
costumes, the five SHINee members moved through a remix medley of
“Note,” “Clue,” and “Sherlock,” followed up by renditions of “SHINe,”
“Stranger,” and “Picasso.”
“We have something to tell you about
today’s concert,” said member Minho after the first section of the
27-song set. “It can only be complete with your help, so we need
everyone to get up on their feet!”
Throughout the show, the members encouraged the audience to jump, clap, and sing along to their songs.
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SHINee perform at “SHINee World IV in Seoul” at the Seoul Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena. (S.M. Entertainment) |
Member
Jonghyun said the concert was a new experiment and challenge for
SHINee. “We’re revealing new songs, remixing old songs, and performing
Korean versions of songs from our Japanese albums,” he said. “In this
concert, we’ll show you everything we’ve learned, the things we wished
we’d done better, the things we wanted to reinterpret over the past
seven years.”
Indeed, the concert seemed more focused on SHINee’s
musical abilities and range in genre than on giving flashy performances
or simply pleasing the crowd. Past megahits like “Lucifer” and “Ring
Ding Dong” were conspicuously absent while lesser-known songs were
trotted out to fit the themes of each section.
The SHINee
members were suave and relaxed in black suits singing “Your Name” and
“Your Number,” sexy in white for “Excuse Me Miss,” preppy in pastels for
“Colorful,” in big floppy hats for “One,” and in strong black and gold
for “Everybody.”
The show also devoted a significant portion to SHINee’s ballads.
“We
actually have a lot of great ballads on our albums, but we don’t get
many opportunities to sing them for you on the air,” said Jonghyun.
Rather
than having solo performances for each member, in this concert the
SHINee members had their chance to shine in short parts within group
songs. Onew showed off a tap dance for “Close the Door,” Taemin danced
with lasers in “Alarm Clock,” and Jonghyun had a strong, shouting solo
in “Excuse Me Miss.” Key gave a playful puppy performance during the new
song “Woof Woof,” and Minho earned himself the biggest cheer of the
night when he tore off his shirt and performed the end of “Dynamite”
shirtless.
The three-hour concert doubled as a gigantic showcase
for the five-member boy group’s fourth studio album “Odd,” released at
midnight Monday. The album is the group’s first in a year and seven
months, and is released just one week before their seven-year
anniversary.
They performed five songs from the 11-track album:
the title track “View,” as well as the songs “Love Sick,” “An Ode to
You,” “Woof Woof,” and “An Encore.” Right after performing their new
title track “View,” the show immediately played a video clip of SHINee’s
first ever broadcast appearance seven years ago, showing just how much
they had grown.
For the encore call, the fans prepared their own
event for SHINee. The fans sang SHINee’s song “Honesty” in unison,
while they held up pre-prepared signs saying “Let’s keep it up,” or “See
you just like today for a long time.”
The event overwhelmed the
SHINee members, and Key and Jonghyun broke down in tears during the
encore performance of SHINee’s debut “Replay.” Jonghyun, in particular,
choked up and was unable to speak for a while.
The concert ended
upbeat, with the members getting up close and personal with the crowd,
and tossing signed balls and discs to their fans.
SHINee will
begin promoting their new album “Odd” right away with the title track
“View,” with their first broadcast performance on the 21st on Mnet’s “M
Countdown.”