What I Loved About CNBLUE "Can’t Stop" Live Tour 2014 in Manila

I figured we all deserve a time to be spastic or “let loose the inner fangirl in us”, and that is exactly what this post is all about. Clearly, I am still on a high after catching Yonghwa, Jonghyun, Jungshin and Minhyuk in the Manila leg of their CAN’T STOP 2014 live tour at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, heavy rains and flooding and all. Before I completely close on that chapter (well, not completely, since I have a series of posts coming up that are indirectly related to them), let me just post a few more of the snaps I managed to take during the concert, and also share the things that I loved about it. (You can read my mini-con report right here.)

1. The energy.

It’s not a concert worth going if you’re not pumped up even before the event.

To be honest, the first time I caught these 4 guys in concert, I was apprehensive. See, unlike the quintessential boy group, they don’t sing and dance in a choreographed manner, so you basically have four guys standing on stage playing instruments. How could that possibly be fun? (Bear with me. I think this is a legitimate question coming from someone who is used to watching concerts of “Arashi proportions”.)

I’m so glad to have been proven wrong.

CNBLUE Can't Stop Live Tour 2014 in Manila 17Much of the credit to this, in my opinion, goes to Yonghwa’s showmanship. Here, he displays his true leadership skills. My friend Chelli summed it up in a few words, “because he doesn’t care”. He comes across onstage as someone who does not really care all that much about looking good and perfect all the time. It’s like he’s driven by the music. He’s performing, he’s singing, he’s all sweaty, and his hair is all over the place. And he does not hold back. I think his ad libs and “rearrangements” added even more character to the songs and the performance as a whole.

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But there is still balance. He leads, but he does not eclipse his bandmates. He lets them shine on their own without stealing their thunder. This brings me to my next point……

2. The boys.

Or their chemistry, to be more precise. Collectively and individually, they just work.

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I like how their individual personalities still managed to shine through. Yonghwa’s charismatic self, Jonghyun’s shy yet powerful presence, Minhyuk’s youthful energy (it overflows) mixed in with a lot of cute, and Jungshin’s ever-reliable and solid persona. They definitely feed off each other and respond accordingly. No one-upmanship here; everything just gels.

3. The songs/setlist.

Because, really, they wouldn’t be CNBLUE that many people love and follow if their music sucked!

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Much of the reason I like CNBLUE is their music. And then their down-to-earth personalities (which is the main reason why I never tire of watching and rewatching their variety show appearances. Running Man eps, anyone?) Althoug I will be honest and admit that I had to scramble to catch up with their last 2 mini-albums since life got in the way and I lost touch for a while.

The setlist during the concert, I think, was well-planned. They start with a bang, then slow down, then ramp it up yet again. It’s a rollercoaster I’d love to stay in, no doubt about it.

4. The fun parts.

Although, I must say, the whole concert was all sorts of fun.

There are good singers. There are good performers. But not all of them can connect to their audience. These guys are very good singers and excellent performers who effortlessly establish rapport with the audience.

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Here is Yonghwa playing a “boxing tune” on his guitar, and Jungshin mock-boxing with Jonghyun to the beat.
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There were a lot of Jonghyun-Jungshin guitar-bonding moments throughout the concert.
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Here is Jungshin apologizing for his “not good” English skills.
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Here is Minhyuk saying “salamat sa pagpunta ninyo kahit may bagyo”.
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The boys bringing out Jungshin’s birthday cake.

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Yonghwa intentionally had too many false starts on a song, causing Jonghyun to wait (im)patiently when he finally DOES get into the song. 🙂
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Here is Minhyuk, obviously loving it when he does something other than pound on the drums.
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Note the indulgent look on the maknae drums-meister’s face as he lets his hyung mess around with him at the back.

5. I reserve the fifth and final spot for my bias, Lee Jonghyun.

I notice how there seems to be a common denominator about the people I really like in groups. Arashi’s Ohno Satoshi is the quiet and often-spaced-out one. Big Bang’s G-Dragon may be one of the flashy ones in the group, but he is also one of the soft-spoken ones compared to, say, Seungri and Daesung. In this case, Lee Jonghyun is the most quiet one. And guess what, he doesn’t even seem to mind it.

Well, neither do I.

And I think I can be forgiven for having way too many Jonghyun photos here. Right?

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This is Jonghyun waiting for the staff to hand out his next guitar for the next set. I honestly lost count of how many times he had to switch guitars throughout the concert. I lost count after the 6th one, and that was just a little more than halfway through!

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During the Blue Moon concert, where I watched the concert with my cousin, I was not able to “rub elbows” with other Boice-mates. This time, however, I managed to chat with a few of them. Hope to see you again next year, peeps!

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And, since I’ve already started making Arashi references in this post, let me round it up with these two photos.

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This reminded me of Arashi’s Monster. Or Tokei Jikake no Umbrella.
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Haha! Mine’s the blue one, Chelli’s is the yellow one. OHMIYA FTW!

For those who were inside the Coliseum at the same time, what did YOU love about it?

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