[Recap & Performances] KBS Music Bank in Paris

February 8 started as a cold day but this wasn’t enough to keep fans from all over Europe from gathering in front of the Palais Omnisport de Paris Bercy, the venue of the much anticipated K-Pop concert in Europe, “KBS Music Bank In Paris!”

Some fans had the chance to see their favorite artists sightseeing in the streets of Paris and busy taking selcas. It was with utmost interest that they watched their idols twitters for photos updates on their current location.

Many fans welcomed their artists at the airport. Some artists came the day before the show while some arrived days before. Most of them stayed in Paris after the show and took some rest of their tightly packed schedules.
The star studded line-up for the concert consisted of idol groups U-Kiss, Sistar, 4Minute, 2PM, T-ara, BEAST and Girls’ Generation.

Fans from all corners of Europe gathered together for this first K-Pop festival in the area. We all waited outside the venue with glow sticks, posters and our cameras ready in the cold Parisian weather. K-pop fans were excited to see their “own kind” and started chatting with each other even though they met for the first time.That’s what K-Pop is all about right?

While we were waiting outside the venue, some cameramen from KBS stood in front of the crowd ready to film. Suddenly, fans chanted their favorite artists name as if the concert already started.

We finally got in thirty minutes after the time we were supposed to enter and the large crowd consisting of 10,000 K-Pop fans eventually filled the Palais Omnisport. Everytime the lights went on, fans screamed in frenzy. This was the atmosphere that filled the venue.

Our seats were located at the front rows in front of the stage. There was still about an hour and a half to go before the show’ start. Music videos of the artists were played starting with U-Kiss’ “0330.” Even though they were only music videos and not the actual artists, the crowd went wild. Also played were 4Minute’s “Hot Issue,” T-ara’s “Bo Peep Bbo Peep,” BEAST’s “Shock, ” “2PM’s “Heartbeat,” SHINee’s “Hello” and Girls Generation’s “Gee.”

Check out our galleries of the show below.

Finally, the curtain rose and we saw all the artists on stage to sing “Champs Elysées.”
Then the the show’s host who was fluent in French introduced the performers and welcomed Girls Generation’ Sooyoung and actor Lee Jang Woo as the mcs. They introduced themselves in French.

U-Kiss opened the show with a medley consisting of “0330” and “Bingeul Bingeul.”  They also performed “Manmanhani.” Opening a show can be burdensome but U-Kiss mastered the stage and interacted with the fans. The crowd literally went wild when they appeared and started to sing the fanchants. They put on an impressive performance and also talked to the fans in French and English.

Soohyun of U-Kiss had a special stage with Sistar’s Hyorin.

Sistar was up next and also performed a medley of “Push Push” and “How Dare You.” They also performed their hit songs “So Cool” and “Ma Boy.”

After that, girl groups’ dance machines took over the stage with a special stage. 4Minute’ Sohyun, Sistar’s Bora, T-ara’s Hyomin and Girls Generation’s Hyoyeon performed a dance break.

4Minute then appeared on stage with medley of their hit songs “Hot Issue,” “Muzik” followed by a remix of “Mirror Mirror.” They also performed “Heart to Heart.” Fans were really excited during their powerful performance.

SHINee followed up with a medley of “Replay,” “Love Like Oxygen” and “Hello.” Next they sang “Ring Ding Dong” and “Lucifer.” Onew couldn’t attend the show but the boys worked even harder as they put on a great performance.

The audience had a twenty minute break and a dance group especially chosen to perform that day joined the stage and danced Kara‘s “Step” and miss A‘s “Breathe.”

T-ara’s turn came with their catchy number “Why Are You Like This.” Leader Sooyeon thanked the fans. She said that it was a pity that Eunjung was injured when they had to perform in France and introduced Eunjung who came on stage to greet the fans, “Bonsoir, je m’appelle Eunjung.”  She also said that the next time they come to France, they will put on a great performance to make it up to fans. They followed up with “Lovey Lovey.” The fans were on fire and also did the fanchants during “Lovey Lovey.”

2PM was up next with a medley of “Heartbeat,” “Hate You” and “I’ll Be There.” The crowd was charmed by the beasty idols and started to scream their lungs out as they sang along “10 out of 10” and “Hands Up.” 2PM was on fire that night and really interacted with fans, they introduced themselves in French and they sang a bit of “Hands Up” also in French. They also prepared “an event” involving flashing cameras between the songs “10 out of 10” and “Hands Up.”

Taecyeon said, “We’re gonna take off the lights and we will all take pictures at one time.”

Another special stage was scheduled with BEAST’s Hyunseung, 2PM’s Junsu, Ukiss’ Kevin and SHINee’s Taemin who sang “More Than Words.”

BEAST made their entrance with a medley of “Breath” and “Shock.” They also performed “Fiction” and “Beautiful.” The fans cheers were also very loud during their amazing performances.

Girls Generation closed the show with a medley of “Tell Me Your Wish/Genie,” “Hoot” and “Gee.” Finally, they performed “Mr Taxi” and “The Boys” and had fans go wild as they sang along.

At the very end, all the artists came on stage one more time and sang “Run to You,” a classic often performed during K-Pop concerts.

2PM and Girls Generation’s performances suffered from technical issues regarding the audio equipment but they didn’t let that affect them and gave it their all. U-Kiss and 2PM were the most popular and earned the loudest cheers among the boy groups present. SHINee gave a strong performance despite the absence of Onew who injured his ankle. The girls also rocked the stage and 4Minute and Girls Generation had fans go wild during their performances.

The show lasted three hours and we had a twenty minute break between the first and second part of the concert. The first part consisted of U-Kiss, Sistar and 4Minute and the second of T-ara, 2PM, BEAST and Girls Generation.

What struck me the most was the united spirit of K-Pop fans who sang with the same voice during the show and for all the performers present. For many, this was an unforgettable night.