One energetic show
K-POP shows are known for fullon screaming from the fans. And this was true at Wanna One World Tour (One: The World) at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night, which had the loudest screams yet.
Opening its show with the message “One sound, One heart, One dream”, Wanna One got to witness the lung power of Wannables (Wanna One’s official fandom) declaring their love in the heart of Malaysia.
As the boys belted out their hits, the 8,000-strong crowd rose to the occasion, rocking together to the thumping beats from the stage.
The 11-member South Korean boy band (ages 17-27) comprises Bae Jin-young, Ha Sung-woon, Hwang Min-hyun, Kang Daniel, Kim Jae-hwan, Lai Kuan-lin, Lee Dae-hwi, Ong Seong-wu, Park Ji-hoon, Park Woo-jin, and Yoon Ji-sung.
Formed via survival competition reality show Produce 101 Season 2 in August last year, Wanna One has already released three albums: 1×1=1 (To Be One), 0+1=1 (I Promise You), 1÷1=1 (Undivided).
As the first K-pop group to sell a million copies of its debut album, Wanna One is ranked No. 2 on the 2018 Forbes Korea Power Celebrity and even achieved the Rookie Grand Slam this year, having won newcomer awards from all the major Korean music award shows.
Apart from solo dance performances which showcased the members’ diverse talents, it also performed in four separate subunits namely Triple Position (Daniel, Jae-hwan, Woo-jin), Lean On Me (Sung-woon, Min-hyun, Ji-sung), The Heal (Dae-hwi, Seong-wu) and No. 1 (Jin-young, Kuan-lin, Ji-hoon).
Wanna One had the crowd eating out of its hands with over 20 songs including hits like Beautiful, Boomerang, Burn It Up, Energetic, Kangaroo, Hourglass and I Promise You.
Wannables in the rock zone were an active bunch, constantly running around and jostling to get a better vantage point.
Amid growing concerns that Wannables would get hurt again, like in the previous concert here back in January, the boys constantly reminded their fans to stay safe.
Even though it was a concert with very strictly enforced rules prohibiting both videography and photography, there were still fans who managed to smuggle in recording devices.
And this, unfortunately, started a physical fight between several Korean and Chinese fan site operators.
The latter, a girl from China, even lodged a police report after seeking treatment at Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
Tempers flared as the whole fracas blew up all over social media with posts translated into different languages accompanied by videos and pictures of the China citizen with a bloodied hand and a broken nose.
When Wanna One held its Wanna Be Loved fan meeting here at Stadium Negara in January, the show stopped for 90 minutes, just 15 minutes after it started, when some fans got hurt while others fainted in what was said to be an overcrowded rock zone.
It would appear that Wannables cannot escape controversy.
Wanna One”s first world tour kicked off with a three-day gig in South Korea in June. Following that, it played in the United States, Japan, Singapore and Indonesia, before coming to Malaysia.
Upcoming stops include Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, Taiwan, and Philippines.