The 2010 JYP Tour stopped by the heart of New York at the Roseland Ballroom this weekend for the first leg of its two-stop tour. I was lucky enough to be in attendance, so here’s a recap and overall reflection of my whole concert experience.

2AM opened the concert with a bang. As soon as Jinwoon entered the stage, followed by Jo Kwon, Changmin, and finally, Seulong, loud cheers erupted from the enthusiastic audience. I swear I saw the four crack a slight smile, before they got to business and launched into their first song, This Song. When the first chords of This Song resounded through the ballroom, I was struck by how Youtube videos did no justice even to the instrumentals, let alone 2AM’s strong vocals. The acoustics of the room were nice and I happened to be situated near some speakers, so the music just wrapped itself around me until I felt as though I was breathing it in. The crowd was just as enthusiastic as I was, as they periodically broke into cheers during all of their performances. This Song was followed by a seamless transition to A Friend’s Confession. 2AM talked for a little bit in Korean, before rounding off their opening with a heartfelt performance of Can’t Let You Go Even If I Die and a charged performance of I Did Wrong, despite missing their customary shadow dancers. They left the stage with smiles (and a few waves from Jo Kwon and Seulong) to loud applause and cheering.

The audience quieted down as they awaited the appearance of the main act of the evening–JYP. Although they had to shout incredibly loudly before he decided to show up, he eventually deemed the cheers loud enough and graced the stage as lights started flashing and the music started booming. He performed a few solid dance dances, before pulling out a piano and telling the crowd that although he usually sings his own songs, he would be singing some songs that he himself wrote for other artists. I recognized 2AM’s This Song and 2PM’s Again and Again and I thought he really did the songs justice. After the piano segment, he went back to performing his own songs, but I thought it was a nice diversion. There were some other cool things that he managed to pull off, such as treating fans to some magic by piecing together previously separate paper squares in and throwing them to the receptive audience. He also rubbed his hands together at one point, and red confetti just kept flying from his palms and into the crowd. He’s really a jack of all trades, isn’t he? He also displayed his skill at tap dancing and guitar playing during the concert.

One of the personal highlights of the concert was when JYP introduced one of his songs from 2001, titled “I Have a Girl.” (By the way, his concert was centered around the theme of love and heartbreak). He then went on to proclaim despondently that he no longer had a girl. Cue crazy screams from fangirls. There was this particular girl near me who screamed, “Me, me, me!” JYP then proceeded to say that nowadays, he’s free to meet a girl and they might up talking or even kissing, before asking the audience if “anyone is interested in this guy up here.” His requirements were 1) that the girl could not have brought a guy to the concert and 2) that the girl could not be under 19. He ended up picking someone named Grace (she was hyperventilating), who he sat down with on the couch that they had brought onstage, before propping his legs on her lap. When he got up, he took off the white shirt, kissed her, picked her up and carried her offstage. This I viewed with complete amusement, but I understand all the fangirls’ excitement.

Apparently, JYP’s throat was “worse” before the performance, but it was “better” thanks to everybody’s love. I don’t know if that line was scripted to make all of his fans fall heads over heels in love with him even more or if it was actually true, because his singing was absolutely fantastic. Honestly, I was hesitant about attending the concert, not being a fan of JYP, but he blew me away. Even though he did a bunch of serious dancing, his vocals were still consistent and he didn’t sound out of breath at all! Granted, he does use autotone, but I wasn’t expecting anything of the caliber that he achieved during his performances. He also has remarkable control over his falsetto. What really stood out to me though, was the touching speech he gave at the end of the concert about how even though he is a producer and a composer, he will always be a singer and a dancer at heart. His dream was not to make new fans, but to retain all the old ones. He said that he hopes he could see his fans in New York once a year so they could see the wrinkles on each other’s faces and see each other grow old, which he feels is something extremely special. And they could see him “be the first white haired dancer.” It was extremely touching and an excellent speech to nearly wrap up the concert (there was a ballad where he invited the audience to sing to him and an encore following that).

There’s something extremely special about actually watching the artists sing live, because you can connect to them on such an intimate level. Their gestures, their expressions are so much more powerful when you can see them in person, as opposed to watching them on a computer. You can also get so much more immersed in the music. (I literally felt the floor vibrate due to its intensity). It’s also an amazing thing to be in a room filled with people that enjoy music like you do. The audience surprised me by being super receptive–they moved their arms back and forth during ballads, tapped their feet, swayed and even danced. Seriously guys, if there’s a concert coming near you, try your hardest not to miss it, because you really don’t know what you’re missing. Fan accounts or even fancams just don’t do the actual performances justice and I’m extremely happy I got to experience this concert live.

Pictures, taken by me: (click to enlarge)