Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Infinite Effect in Manila (Infinite Concert) 110715

After almost a month, I am finally blogging the Infinite Concert here in Manila. I got so preoccupied with a lot of things that I didn't have time to sit down and write this post. 

It was around September when Pulp announced that there will be another Infinite Concert here in the Philippines. The first announcement was "accidentally" released when one of the staff of Pulp Productions posted a photo of a paper. Apparently, the photo had a cut logo of Infinite and embossed writing of Infinite written backward. How sharp are K-pop fan's eyes? I wouldn't have noticed if it was only me that saw the photo. 

Anyway, this is my 3rd time seeing Infinite in concert. The first time was at the Dream K-pop Fantasy Concert and the second one was at the OGS Manila Concert. When SM Tickets opened the lines for the tickets, my friend and I were the first ones online. We were online around 9 AM waiting for the 10 AM ticket selling. We were supposed to get VIP Seated tickets but my credit card encountered a problem. We kept on trying but after around 10 minutes, all seated tickets were sold out. Devastated, my friend and I just settled for VIP Standing area.

After the DKFC 1 concert where I lined up from 9 AM to 6 PM, I promised myself I won't ever watch a concert again at the standing area. But I ate my own words because here I am, watching a concert at the standing area again! I knew we had to line up early again, so I told my friend to meet up at 8:00 AM. My friend, Karen, was kind enough to offer me a ride. She picked me up around 8:15 at my house.  


Since it was early and it was Saturday, the roads were still clear so we were able to get there in just a span of 4-5 Sunggyu songs! hehe 

I used Sunggyu as the timer since my friend played Kim Sunggyu's latest album while we were in the car. 

The concert was held at the SM MOA Arena. I haven't been inside it before this concert so I didn't know what to expect. Is it big? Are the seats close to the stage? Are the guards strict? The answer to the questions, I only guessed.

So we got there around 9:00 AM. We went straight to the line area and secured out spot. While waiting in line, I saw the girl in front us that has the cutest fan ever! I borrowed it from her so we could take a picture! hehe "Hello, we are Sunggyu fans!"

When we got there at 9:00, there were only around 30 people in front of us. But much to our surprise, people in front of us kept piling. Next thing we knew, there we already around 300! How unfair! What some did was they had a friend to go there early. That friend fell in line for them. When they got to the venue in the afternoon, they went to their friends which made the line in front longer while the line behind us almost did not grow. If I was one of the staff, I would have a number system for the standing area. I would stamp a number on the hands of people. First come, first serve! 

Anyway, we fell in line fro 9 AM to 6 PM! Amazing that we were able to wait that long. I swear, I did not get impatient. I felt tired and uncomfortable and hungry, but not impatient. Amazing what K-pop fans can do just to see their idols. Would you wait for your boyfriend for that long? hehe

So when we got to the venue at 7;00 PM, it was craaaazy! People kept running, some tried to cut in line, some pushed, some got mad, etc. Luckily, my friend and I were able to make it in front of the stage! I had to squeeze in just so I could be right in front of the metal barricade. Good thing, these 2 girls to my right were nice and friendly. The girl to my left was grumpy and unfriendly. She complained and frowned the entire night because it was "crowded".


Here is the concert vlog I took for you. I tried to take as many videos as I could while making sure I still enjoyed the show and watched live instead of on the camera screen, if you get what I mean. hehe


I was so excited for the concert to start. But I was also scared as well. I know how crazy mosh pit areas could get.

Good thing I was really, really close to them. The pictures taken on the extended stage were not zoomed or cropped at all! That was really how close they were to me! I was able to see their pores! hehe

Paper planes right in front of me! Was I able to catch one? Find out later!

The boys spoke and greeted us in Filipino, again! Though, compered to the OGS Manila where they tried hard to speak in English, they spoke in Korean this time.

The people that often came to my area were Dongwoo, L, Hoya and Sungjong. Sunggyu is so weird! Even if he sees his banner, he still won't come near!

See? He kept ignoring me! (hehe) 



Time for their solo/sub-unit stages. First off was Woohyun. I'm not familiar of the song he sang but nonetheless, he still did a good job!

Infinite H is my favorite Infinite sub-unit. They sang a couple of songs for their sub-unit stage. These 2 are the members that give fan service and total performance out of all the members. But, that's just my opinion. Hehe

Hoya, thought, never fails to amaze me with his derp faces.


People that watch an Infinite concert always goe home liking Dongwoo more! He is such a sweetheart in person. He is always the jolliest, the happiest and the funniest on stage. He always gives 101% and moves around like a kid that has just eaten a tub of chocolate ice cream, so hyper!

What the, ate?! Yung kamat mo nasa mukha ko na! Gagawin mo ang lahat makakuha lang ng fancam! Haha Gawin ba akong tripod?! Apparently, she did that the entire time. I also felt her plucking my hair one by one. 

After the paper planes, there were teddy bears and stuffed toys! Was I able to catch one? Find out later!

Pretty lights!

Then, it was time for Kim Sunggyu's final stage. I love Sunggyu but whenever he does his solo stages, he seemed unconnected. It's always like it him and his song... He would always be all the way to the stage, with his mic stand, singing with his eyes closed. I would want to see more interaction and more reaction.

Next was Infinite F : Myungsoo, Sungyeol and Sungjong. I forgot what F stands for, though.



After all the solo and sub-unit stages, it was time to go back to group performances.

The last time I remember seeing a cute WooGyu (or HyunSung) interaction was on Ranking King. During the OGS Manila, there wasn't any WooGyu interaction that I witnessed. So happy to see that the 2 are back!

My favorite "cute" Infinite dance, Nothing's Over... Or, Nothing Sober. hehe

So cute! I remember their debut stages and their faces back then! So cute!

After that, they performed Matgyo and Cover Girl. Gyu was ignoring me the entire night but thanks to Woohyun I had a brief moment with Gyu!

I don't see your eyes but you are still so cute! Hehe WooHyun pointed to my camera and Sunggyu looked at it while singing!

I didn't have any banners because I left all the freebies I got in my friends car. What I did, I used the led scroller of my phone. I put Sunggyu's name on it. Whenever I would take videos, I would hold the camera right beneath my phone. So when Sunggyu notices his name, he would also look at my camera! hehe Smart, yes?


Dongwoo again, being cute and hyper! hehe There are 3 sides of Dongwoo...

Oh. My. Gosh. Kim Myungsoo what are you doing to us?!! This handsome guy sat right in front of us and stayed there for a while allowing the fangirls to go crazy over his handsome face! Such a torture to have a handsome person right in front of you and all you could do is stare while you get crushed behind by girls with crazy hormones! hehehe

Nam Woohyun saying "MERON FOREVER!" hehe

I like WooGyu but my friend, Karen, likes GyuYeol. They are cute, too, but I'm still for WooGyu! hehe


Kim freaking Sunggyu reflecting over his past mistakes and decisions in life. Or maybe, just maybe, he was thinking what he would eat for dinner that night. ^^


There were a lot of GyuYeol interactions on stage, though, but my camera always decides to get shaky and blurry each time I tried to take photos of Gyu. WHY.

In as much as the people in the Arena didn't want to, they show must come to an end. OGS Manila seemed longer to me compared to this one. I felt like it wasn't enough and that I wanted more! But the lights were on and confetti was already falling. It just meant it was time to say goodbye.

My date for the night. I love you, barricade, for protecting me and for keeping me safe.

One of the perks of being so close is that you get to see them really, really close. One of the disadvantages is that your eyes get focused on just one crazy making you miss what's happening on the entire stage. I had to quickly move my eyes just to I could see all 7 boys bowing in front of me. 



But my eyes would always look for Gyu so there were times when I didn't see anymore what the other boys were doing.

Kim Sunggyu decides to randomly squat on the stage and no one could ever stop him. hehe

Goodbye, boys! Thank you for coming back to the Philippines! We had to wait for 2 years for this. I hope you could come back again!

Hi, guys! After all the pushing and crushing, I am still alive and breathing! 

My friend and I didn't stand close to each other because it was too crowded. I didn't know that she went all the way to the back on the 3/4 time of the show. We only reunited at the end of the concert. She said she almost fainted because of too much crowd. I also felt that right on the 6th song but I had to be strong because I wanted to stay right in front. I felt bad for her, though. Her phone slammed on the floor when Sungjong threw stuffed toy and the girl behind her jumped making her phone drop flat on the ground.

Nonetheless, we were so happy and contented! I feel happy that I was able to watcht hem perform live again. Not everyone gets a chance to see their favorite stars in person, right? Despite all the waiting, pushing, screaming, smashing, I felt satisfied because I enjoyed the concert. This was my actual spot. I was really close to the stage!

So, was I able to catch paper planes and stuffed toy? The answer is NO. hehe But I got these banners, poster, fan, confetti and other memorabilia! 

Surely, it was an EPIC WEEKEND! Thanks to Infinite for giving us epic performance! Kim Sunggyu, YOU! See you again in a year or two, my boys! And oh, I will be looking forward to your Infinite Showtime! hehe

* * * 

Thank you for reading! Pulp also announced at the end of the Infinite Effect concert that EXO will be here on January 23, 2016 for their EXOlusion concert. The VIP ticket is rumored to be around Php 15,000. I'm not sure if I am ready to spend that amount of money for them. I still need to decide. I wish Ms. Happy See could just invite me as one of the media to cover and promote the concert. That would be awesome!!


Kristine


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