Concert Experience: G-Dragon 2017 World Tour

On September 26th I was finally able to see one of my favorite Korean artist perform live in Amsterdam Ziggo Dome. You may have heard of G-Dragon before, either making headlines at Paris Fashion Week or for his band's achievements topping both Korean and international global charts such as Itunes. G-Dragon is the leader of a five member Korean boy group known as Bigbang who have been around for ten years already. However, G-Dragon is also a remarkable solo artist. This summer once he announced that Amsterdam would be one of the world tour destinations, my friends and I immediately made plans to go see him. We scored tickets with a pretty awesome view :)

I can tell you that the experience was definitely worth it. Seeing an artist in person is a complete different experience. It was amazing to be in the Ziggo dome arena that was completely filled with fans who loved the same music. When the lights dropped, the arena was filled with screams of excitement and suddenly the stage light up with red as the first performance, "Heartbreaker" started. I could feel the energy of the crowd as everyone sang together and cheered for G-Dragon. 

Reflections

My favorite performances were definitely "Heartbreaker", "Crooked", "That XX" and "Divinia Commedia". Each performance was special with awesome choreography, special stage effects such as fireworks, flame pillars, and G-Dragon's own ad-libs and voice.

I've only been to three other concerts before (Taeyang RISE 2014, Bigbang MADE 2015, DAY6 2017); however, leaving this concert left me with a heavy heart for the first time. The central theme around the concert was centered on G-Dragon vs. Kwon Ji Yong. What is the difference, you may ask? Well G-Dragon is the sensational kpop star on stage and the wild fashionista who is bold and daring. While Kwon Ji Yong is the 'real life' version of G-Dragon, the reserved artist who is just as human as the rest of us. G-Dragon spoke a few memorable words which stayed with me as I was on the way home later that night. He spoke about the stark contrast between his two selves and shed light on the fact that artists also experience loneliness and hardship as well. One of his new songs "SUPERSTAR" speaks about how a rich pop star like him looks like he may have everything from girls, fame, wealth and a home; however for some reason he feels empty and lonely. The chorus of the song constantly repeats "I need somebody, I ain't got nobody".

Going back and looking at the title of his world tour it is named as Act III: M.O.T.T.E 'Moment of Truth The End'. This tour was about self discovery and revealing Kwon Ji Yong instead of G-Dragon. It showed the loneliness and sadness behind the glamorous mask artists often put on.

Thanks for reading!
Sincerely, Siree