by mint_yalin

It’s the first time Tong Vfang Xien Qi (TVXQ) held a concert in Taiwan and the first time they included Taiwan in the schedule of Asia tour. That surprised me, because most Korean artists visit here to promote Korean Drama. Only one Korean singer has ever held concerts here: “Rain,” and it owed much to the success of the popular Korean drama “Full House”. By comparison, TVXQ seems have less inducement to raise popularity. So, pleasantly surprised Taiwanese Cassiopeia* rack their brains to think about: How TVXQ and SM Entertainment could leave a deep impression in Taiwan? Unexpectedly, typhoon turned out to do this favor.

The symbolic color of TVXQ is “red”. That afternoon in Chungshan Soccer Stadium (an open-air soccer court), members of the fanclub distributed red balloons and posters with a big red heart; vendors sell red light sticks and red devil headdress. As expected, the red ocean appeared in the concert, everyone was in a pickle in a pouring rainstorm, and the water ran down from my hair and clothes…but no one cared, this concert turned odd individuals into “Cassiopeia,” a unity.

Moreover, everyone yelled out some cadenced slogans like “sa rang hae yo XXX(TVXQ member’s name)” at the same moment to match up the song’s rhythm. No preparation or coordination was made beforehand. This convention was originally from Korean Cassiopeia, Taiwan Cassiopeia just pick up spontaneously.

As a Korean artist, TVXQ has concentrated on developing the Japanese market this year. They already released 14 Japanese singles and 2 Japanese albums so far. Recently, they work with Japanese pop star Koda Kumi (悻田來未) in her 38th single: “Last Angel feat. Tohoshinki”. Even then, we can’t see any live Japanese performance of TVXQ in other countries besides Japan. We could only sing Korean songs with TVXQ in concert. (It’s interesting, the encore song in Taipei concert is “Hug” in Chinese version, but I’m still most familiar with the Korean lyrics.)

Because of their diverse music styles, they integrate stage effect, animation, and funny clips…to connect and transfer the mood from soft, haunting ballads to the raucous, electronic chords of dance tune songs. The whole concert was just like a big water park where TVXQ interacted with the participants “to get wet in the rain with crowds.” It became a special experience.

In Taiwan, Korean pop music does not easily attract a wide range of population. The extent of Korean wave revolves mainly around drama. Through TVXQ’s concert, I met some K-pop music listeners. They are not Cassiopeia, but they also wanted some company.

* Cassiopeia: TVXQ’s fans chose “Cassiopeia” for their name, because the constellation has 5 stars in its galaxy, and TVXQ has 5 members.