Though the Wiltern is a historic LA landmark (one of the last-standing art deco buildings) and is the home to some of the best concerts you can catch on the West Coast, it’s a mid-sized venue that’s not really conducive to a barrage of million-member pop groups. Amazingly enough, JYP and co. still managed to do their thing on the relatively small stage. From the Wonder Girls and their sweeping dance numbers to 2PM and their bboy acrobatics, the stage withstood the lovely assault.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The show opened up with G-Soul singing a ballad about those times you just get tired of your lover (I got used to you, you got used to me…). He certainly has an amazing voice, but to be honest, I just wasn’t feeling the music. Next up was J-Lim, whose incredible and booming voice was a little too much for the amps to handle. Though you could see the sweat beading up on J Lim’s face, her performance of “Music is My Life” looked so effortless and natural. Moreover, it sounds like the song samples Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” which is a wise choice as it perfectly encapsulates J Lim’s sense of unadulterated soul. This will also be her debut single in the US—look out for it.

When it came to the Wonder Girls’ segment of the night, the one thing—or rather, the one person—I really enjoyed was Yoobin. While you really can’t argue against the success of the Wonder Girls, I personally don’t find that their voices and personalities are very strong in live performances. Yoobin, however, is a remarkable rapper and commands a lot of stage presence. This girl could seriously start billing her own solo acts… While there were several hiccups throughout the night—lots of feedback, bad sound, a stage prop malfunction—the Wonder Girls shimmied from one number to another like the pros they are.

Personally, I was pretty underwhelmed when it came to their performances of hit singles like “So Hot” and “Nobody” as they are really just live emulations of the music videos. The one performance of the night that really stood out was their ballad “Saying I Love You,” written and composed by Ye Eun. In fact, Ye Eun tickled the ivories whilst the rest of the girls sang their heartfelt love letter to their fans. It was a lovely performance that stripped away the various spectacles of the Wonder Girls. Speaking of spectacles… I still have no sense of what the Wonder Girls’ image is. But after seeing their performance, I think that’s just the point. Throughout each song, the backlighting and projection panels made it very clear that the Wonder Girls are supposed to be whatever you make of them. They’re poppy, they’re urban, they’re cabaret sultry, they’re pure… and the list will go on as they don various incarnations in the future.

If you thought the fan girl-ness was high for the Wonder Girls… think again. The amount of whimpering and screaming nearly busted my ear drums as 2PM bounced and rolled onto the stage. These boys are the next real deal, and they are going to have no trouble climbing swooping their way to the top. This playful mix of Asian and Asian American boys performed their hit single “10 Out of 10,” along with the strongest song off their debut album: “Only You.” Although “Only You” has been in heavy rotation over on my end for the past couple of weeks, it wasn’t until the live performance that I realized the loopy treble is reminiscent of how an alarm clock sounds as it lilts its way into your dream. You know, the way an alarm clock sounds muffled/underwater? In fact, it sounds exactly like that period of blissful half-sleep, right before the alarm starts honking away.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that with only a single under their belt, 2PM still manages to prove that they’re just as good live—if not better—than they are in their music videos (or music video, rather). On our way back to the parking lot, Jessica Oh and I had a laugh about the fact that although it has been years since us obasans/ahjummas have felt the fan girl heartbeat, we definitely felt it racing when 2PM performed. Kyun, kyun! You must catch this great live act next time they’re back in the States—and trust me, there’s enough love to encourage these guys to come back plenty.

Last, but certainly not least was JYP. While the Wonder Girls and 2PM were clearly the draw for many of the young fans, it was resoundingly clear that the parents were in it for JYP. With the longest performance of the night, it was very clear that JYP was headlining this show (his was the only performance that actually featured a live band). In true JYP fashion, the self-professed womanizer took us on a trip into a married woman’s house, to a restaurant, to a club, then straight to her bed. While the whole “journey” to a woman’s “first lie” was kind of… ridiculous, it nevertheless conveyed that yes, JYP is the man. Oh yeah, and when I mentioned “her bed,” I wasn’t being metaphorical… JYP called out a girl from the crowd (of age, of course, and probably planted) and tied her up to a hydraulically lifted bed whilst he stripped his shirt off and used his trademark falsetto to coo, “Soooo delicious!” Holy Kpop—you should’ve seen the fan girls’ parents go nuts in their own fan fervor.

For all of the young fans—who were probably born way after JYP debuted—this was a wonderful chance for them to see the mastermind behind some of Kpop’s biggest names today. As the show closed with JYP and the Wonder Girls singing and dancing along to the “Tell Me” beat, it drove home the image that beyond being a producer and choreographer, JYP is a strong father figure to his underlings. More than that, however, I was touched by JYP’s candid closing note that even though his job is, more than anything, corporate and administrative nowadays, his first passion is first and foremost performing for his fans.

Make sure you check out Jessica Oh’s awesome photos!