2NE1′s ‘The Party:’ Short, sweet

The concert “The Party” by Korean girl group 2NE1 will likely be remembered as “Tribute to Sandara” night.

Kicking off the two-hour-and-a-half show last June 4 at the Araneta Coliseum was indie band Techie Romantics, who did a three-song set. They were immediately followed by balladeer “Asiansation” Christian Bautista, who gleefully recalled after singing Bruno Mars “Just the Way You Are” and “Love Moves in Mysterious Ways” how he felt upon learning that Sandara “Sandy/Dara” Park loved his hit, “The Way You Look At Me.”

“Grabe nung nakuha ko yung text na ‘yon [saying that Dara liked my song] parang… I felt so good! I felt so happy. So Dara if you’re listening, this is for you!” Christian shared.

Comedienne and the event’s host Giselle Sanchez caused a ruckus and a false alarm when she appeared on stage in full-Dara garb in 2NE1′s debut single’s space version of the music video “Fire” (complete with the “unicorn hair”) and introduced herself as “Luneta Park,” the “honorary member of Pinoy Blackjacks (2NE1’s official fan club name) whose favorite member is Dara (aka Sandara Park…Luneta Park…get it?).

Indie band The Bloomfields followed, singing “Ale,” “Breaktime” and two more songs. Then, the Kean Cipriano-fronted Callalily went onstage and held what seemed to be their own mini-showcase. Among all the front acts, they stayed onstage the longest, performing five songs including their first hit “Stars.” In between numbers, he recalled how, way back when he still wasn’t in a band, he’d often see this “chinita” onscreen.

It was also a night of fulfilling dreams. Kean, who wore a sleeveless “I ? Dara” shirt, asked the crowd to sing “Magbalik” with him, saying “pangarap naming na kantahin ng buong ka-Araneta-han itong kantang ‘to.”

Last act was the award-winning hip hop dance group Philippine All-Stars, who wowed the crowd with an impressive 10-minute performance. Their exit cued the crowd to scream relentlessly for their female idols.

Finally, 2NE1 appeared and performed “Fire.” With the obligatory introductions aside (all members spoke bits of Tagalog beyond the usual “Mahal Kita” or “Mabuhay!”), Dara reminisced the last time she was at The Big Dome in 2004, during the grand finals night of “Star Circle Quest,” where she was crowned 1st runner-up. She said, in fluent Tagalog, she never thought she’d be back there to perform again, this time with her 2NE1 co-members CL, Bom and Minzy.

This was followed by a performance of Minzy and CL’s song, “Please Don’t Go” and the group’s latest song, “Lonely.”

Saying that that day was a special day for her, Dara shared, “Isa sa pinakamalaking dream ko na mag-perform dito sa Araneta Coliseum. [Ngayon] nandito na ako… with me is 2NE1.” For her solo, the former SCQ finalist did “In Or Out,” much to everyone’s amusement. The rest of the girls joined Dara anew for their supposed final song, “Can’t Nobody.”

For encores, 2NE1 did “Clap Your Hands” and “I Don’t Care.” It took several minutes after 2NE1 left the stage did people, who were chanting “We want more!,” acknowledge that the show’s over.

“The Party” ran for just 30-minutes (just eight songs!) that there wasn’t even any need for costume changes. It’s no surprise then that fans at the venue can only say “Bitin!” in describing the concert.

Then again, opting to perform only the more familiar songs was a good idea because it kept the audience on their feet. Most importantly, with the girls being able to speak Tagalog, they were able to create an even livelier atmosphere.

“The Party” was a huge success and is perhaps one of the better concerts to have happened during the first half of 2011.

Source: Manila Bulletin

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