Wooyoung working the crowd.

 

I bought tickets for my friend and I in one of SM Cinema's outlets before Valentine's Day. Unknowingly, I had entered myself into a special raffle for a meet and greet event with 2 PM. The tickets I bought were the 2nd to the cheapest seats. The difference between a seat for the price of my ticket and the most expensive ticket in the VIP section or mosh pit is around 8,000 pesos.

 

I chose our seat numbers carefully, as a SONE mine was seat number 9.

 

Guess what? The number 9 really is a SONE's lucky number! Not only was my name drawn for the meet and greet, as an added surprise, all of the 150 winners, regardless of the ticket price purchased, were upgraded to the VIP section. Needless to say, there was a lot of crying involved.

 

Unfortunately, that meant that my friend and I wouldn't be seated together, and to add salt to injury, I was in the VIP section. However, it turned out that her ticket was also upgraded to the lower box, which was quite near the VIP section, and in front of the left catwalk for the extended stage. Although all this happened because the concert was not sold out, we were still grateful for our incredible luck (considering all the money that was saved because of the unexpected upgrades, plus being able to see the boys up close). I just hope that this will not deter other K-Pop artists from coming to the Philippines, especially since it has been rumored that Araneta Coliseum has been pencilled in for a Girl's Generation concert in September. I just hope that JYP Entertainment was paid talent fees upfront.

 

(On a side-note, I was chatting with one of the venue's bouncers, who was present for most of the MOA Arena's events, and he said that Big Bang's Galaxy Tour sold well despite the steep ticket prices, and he mused the 2NE1 would probably have the same, if not a greater, response from Filipinos. Well, this is the power of Sandara, our national krung-krung. Besides, 2NE1 and Big Bang have a larger fan base among those in my age bracket, who are already working and have spending money.)

 

Chansung like an Adonis.

 

Anyway, the meet and greet happened right before the beginning of the concert, shortly after 2 PM arrived at the venue. I knew this because we could hear the fans screaming all the way from the other side of the SM MOA Arena where 2 PM's vehicle passed by, while the participants for the meet and greet were being ushered into the lobby for the photo shoot. This made everyone doubly nervous as this meant that the boys were already here, and in just a few minutes we were gonna see them face to face.

 

No cameras were allowed and all cellphones were asked to be turned off, as there was an official photographer for the event. We were divided into groups of 10 and after a few remarks from the lady emcee (a pretty DJ from a local FM station), where she got everyone fired up, all six of 2 PM appeared: Jun K, Taecyeon, Nickhun, Junho, Wooyoung, and Chansung.

 

Most of then were wearing ties, all of them were in casual jackets, and each of them were very very handsome. They stood on the platform with the emcee, surrounded by their managers, and the fans were to be lined up in front of them for the picture.

 

Chansung, my first bias, was wearing a black leather jacket with a tie, and looked absolutely gorgeous with his clean cut hair, sharp eyes, strong nose, and defined jaw. His photos don't do him enough justice, because he is 10x more handsome in person.

 

Taecyeon's eye-smile is to die for! How can something so cute be on such a manly face? He had a wide grin for everyone and stood tall above the others. You can't help but look at him first, among all the other members of the group, because he has such a presence that commanded attention.

 

Jun K rocking a white suit.

 

Nickhun oozed charm. He really is like a prince. If I didn't prefer guys who were darker and had a snobby kind of look, he would definitely be my favorite. His skin was so fair and everything he did was so cute - like a Care Bear or a kitten or a puppy! He had a smile for everyone, and he was very friendly and polite.

 

Junho looked fairer than he does on TV. He looked young with his button nose, and almond eyes that were slanted up, which made him look like he was always smiling. He mostly kept silent and looked around, as Taecyeon and Nickhun did almost all of the talking for the group.

 

Wooyoung's face was like a little boy's! His hair enhanced the look since his bangs were brushed up and styled to a peak - a little like Johnny Bravo's. Like Junho, he didn's say much, but just stood there looking adorable.

 

Now for my new bias, Jun K. Often overlooked in the looks department, I think Victoria [of F(x)] was right in saying [on WGM] that he looked handsome. I guess he isn't too photogenic, or beside Nickhun etc. he could be overshadowed, but I love his face because it's so manly. In particular, his eyes and nose are strong, and he has a side profile which has an arrogant look, which I like. His jaw line isn't bad either. All this, and I haven't even heard him sing live yet! During the concert, his incredible voice pretty much solidified him as my 2 PM bias.

 

Junho showing his ...errr, throwing a small plushie.

 

The first batches of 10 were extra lucky because they got to shake hands with the boys before they got their group picture taken. The latter groups' photo shoots were hastily done, because they had to get ready for the concert. I was in one of the last groups, so I didn't get to touch any of them, but I was able to greet them in Korean. I was even able to greet Nickhun in Thai, although I don't know if he heard me correctly. He was smiling though, and he seemed to understand because he kind of bowed his head.

 

After a group is done their shot, they are ushered down an escalator and made to wait for the others. So after everyone was done, 2 PM peeked down on us from floor above and waved goodbye, so that they could change into their costumes.

 

It was after the meet and greet event, when we were told that we would be upgraded to the VIP section. So, were made to line up in 2 queues and we were led to the VIP sections while we waited for the rest of the audience to come in.

 

The concert was supposed to start at 7:30 PM, however it was delayed up to around 8:15-ish. As I don't have the strength to give a blow by blow account, this is roughly what happened:

 

1) The concert started with a video, where each member was portrayed like a sci-fi kung fu warrior holding various weapons in tight leather costumes. From what I remember, Taecyeon had long hair in the video and was holding 2 guns, Chansung had a staff and he twirled it around [I don't know if he really was twirling it like one would in martial arts, but I know that he is a black belter of something. Taekwondo, maybe? I don't think they use staves though.], Jun K had a sword, and Nickhun had a bow.

 

2) 2 PM appeared from the extended stage and performed "I'll be back" as their first song. Then they moved to the main stage and did 2 more songs.

 

3) 2 PM greeted that audience "Magandang Gabi!" and introduced themselves one by one. What was brilliant about their talk portions were that it was subtitled in Filipino on the big screen. Although we understood them when they talked in English, it was a great help when they had to switch to Korean. I don't know if these portions were scripted, but they looked natural doing it, so it didn't feel that way.

 

Junho demonstrated a simple dance step for the audience to do with them on their next song. He was very cute when he said: "Everybody, follow me!"

 

However, everyone in the mosh pits were too busy fancam-ing to do the dance.

 

Nickhun making fans swoon.

 

4) They took off their black leather jackets and were now in white tees. They did the song where the audience was to do Junho's dance step. They walked from the main stage using the center catwalk towards the extended stage, then later they fanned out to the left and right catwalks. I was on the left VIP section, and Wooyoung, Taecyeon and Nickhun walked over. They did fan service by teasing the audience by getting real close, then slowly they squatted, got on one knee, and then they were sitting in front of us with just a narrow margin between the barrier and catwalk. Nickhun was in front of me, Taecyeon was to my right, and Wooyoung was farthest from me down the catwalk. Then they regrouped to the extended stage.

 

On their next song, this time it was Chansung and Junho who went over to our side. They regrouped to the main stage, and the song ended with Jun K doing a heart sign with his arms.

 

5) Chansung's solo stage was pure fan service. Lots of bumping and grinding, and y waves, with a mildly suggestive theme (think, slapping) - then he ripped off his shirt to show off his glorious chocolate abs. I think my ears may be permanently damaged by all the high-pitched squealing that ensued during this performance. The ladies of all ages (I saw a good number of moms in the audience.) were very satisfied.

 

6) Next was Junho's high adrenaline solo stage with a rock theme. He danced on the extended stage, before he walked over to the main stage where there was a drum set waiting for him. He showed off his drumming skills.

 

7) Interval where the 2 PM's backup dancers performed.

 

8) 2 PM came back to the stage in suits (tie and coat) and performed Heartbeat, with pyramid and all.

 

9) Then, they did the original version of Again and Again, before doing a slow version.

 

10) Next, was a y number with their with their female back up dancers. There was a lot of shirt-ripping that occured in this dance. Again, with the squealing. So much eye-candy.

 

11) For his solo stage, Wooyoung did a fast song where he showed off his dancing skills.

 

12) Followed by Taecyeon's solo stage. He appeared on the platform over the main stage and he DJ'ed for a bit, before doing his rap number. The big screen flashed some pictures of him. The best one was of him pouting and wearing bunny ears. So cute.

 

13) Then another talk portion, where Wooyoung led the audience in singing the Filipino children's song "Tong Tong Tong Tong Pakitong-kitong." LOL.

 

14) Then they sang "I'm gonna be OK."

 

Taecyeon is da boss.

 

15) 2 PM disappeared backstage while a video was played on the big screen, where the theme was 2 PM preparing for a surprise party for someone special. It turned out that the special someone was the audience itself. It ended with a thank you letter to Hottest (2 PM's fan club) in Filipino.

 

16) 2 PM reappeared in white suits. They did a slow song, walked over to the catwalks and then went around throwing small stuffed toys to the fans. Taecyeon was the best in doing fan service, he kissed the toy first before he threw it to the crowd.

 

17) Then Nickhun did his solo stage by singing a song he composed while playing the piano. I don't know if Hottest organized it, but some members of the audience blew bubbles during the performance.

 

18) Next was JUn K's solo stage where he did a difficult fast paced song that really showcased his vocal talent. His voice was so strong, and he showed a lot of versatility by rapping and singing.

 

19) After this everything was kind of fuzzy, 'coz I was really tired, since I've been standing since 6 PM (when the meet and greet started) and it was now nearing 10 PM. I was carrying a heavy bag and my arms were heavy from holding up the camera for too long. I think they did 2 or 3 more songs, then another talk portion, then they said that they were going to do their final stage performance. However, they did come back for a lengthy encore, which was topped off by falling confetti.

 

There, a rather abrupt ending, but I still haven't recovered and I need more sleep.