SM Town in Paris 2011


Well, it was pretty much a dream come true.

Two days of Korean pop’s finest, all the fangirls and boys, the music, the dances, the atmosphere. Two days of Kpop abandonment, little sleep, a lot of screaming and a sore body. Man, am I sore as I write this.

The news that SME was going to hold their very famous SM Town concert in Paris fell upon us European fans like a bomb. Nobody was expecting it, at all.  As of late, Europe has been expressing their love for Korean pop. Not that we got much from it, usually when Korean acts went on world tours, Europe was never included.

It’s not that hard to understand, why would Europe be interested in Kpop in the first place? Someone seemed to have forgotten that Europe has been crazy for Jrock and Jpop for a very long time, the transition to Kpop was not that far off. The concert was announced and mania spread all over. Information was scarce, rumors about what was going to happen flew everywhere. The tickets were suddenly released and chaos occurred.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to find so many fans in Europe. For some reason, they keep to themselves so it was hard to make an estimate as to how many we were going to be. Then the websites handling the ticket sales went down just two minutes after the tickets were released, where have you all been hiding Eu-fans?

I will not go in to detail as to what I had to do to get tickets, but I was stressed about it for a whole week. Don’t even get me started on how much money I spent on this… the things I do for my fandom…

I got to Paris, a little tired seeing as I got very little sleep, and still not fully aware that I was going to experience a Kpop concert in Europe, everything felt so surreal and not believable. Thinking back, it still feels like a dream, and yet I was standing there at the front of the standing area, staring as SNSD flicked their pretty legs in my face.

First off, the Zenit was way too small for this concert. The good thing was that it felt intimate, and we were able to see from the very back of the hall. This kind of concert, however, where SM Town easily drives in more then 10 000 people per concert, it feels like they could have booked a bigger venue. It just didn’t do the concert justice, even though it feels like they didn’t want to take too big a risk — but yeah, too small.
Considering the small size of the place, it was a very impressive concert. SME artists performed as they would perform in, let’s say Tokyo Dome, with a lot of energy, precise dance moves and determined faces. My only experience when it comes to Asian concerts is the DBSK concert I attended in Japan, and the Rain concert that was held in Germany not long ago. However, I have always seen fancams of previous SM Towns, the need and want to see your favorite artists live is always there, to be able to do it… well, I try and remember it all, but it’s a blur.

Julyssa

Music is all I do: I work in music, I write about music, I listen to music.

7 Responses

  1. moncha says:

    Love it!

  2. amy says:

    I have a question – was watching SNSD live right on your face like… I don’t know, like watching them on the screen only wondering if you can stretch your arm and touch them (not inappropriately).

    And do all of them dance as precise as they do on their MVs? Like precise to the exact same angle. LOL

    • Julili says:

      @amy, Eh… hmm watching SNSD right in your face… well I dunno, dude I’m still processing shit here. It was like… Sunny was so close that I could see up her skirt and I kept interacting with them… so yeah? not sure….

      They do dance that precise, which is scary as fuck they seem like robots

      • Nori says:

        @Julili,
        I actually attended smtown live in LA last year at the Staple center. I was shocked to see so many non Asians at the concert. I never realized how huge kpop fandom was. I met people from the UK, Spain, Australia, so many dbsk fans from Mexico. More than half the fans were non Asian which was surprising because of the huge Korean expat community living only a stones throw away from the staple center. I was also fairly close to the stage and was mesmerized by how talented and precise the groups were. You unfortunately missed one of the best performer however. Boa’s performance was epic. She reminded me of a Asian version of Janet Jackson FTW

        • Julili says:

          @Nori, Yeah, Kpop has gone beyond a sub-culture. People from all around the world came to this one. Even people from Peru, it was pure madness and a great way to show how popular Kpop really is.

  3. neorago15 says:

    OMG … I’m so happy reading your fan-account ^^

    especially this part:
    “On a side note, man are there so many ELFs (name of SuJu’s official fanclub) in Europe, like they represented hard. Add the fact that they are some of the nicest fans ever — well-behaved and super friendly — it rubs off on the overall image of Super Junior.”

    Yes, I am ELF and just read a not so friendly comments about ELF on SMT Paris.
    Well, I surely glad that you feel that way toward the boys … (psssttt, didn’t they sweat like .. A LOT – hehehhe)

    I hope one day you (and I), can attend Super Show … hopefully Super Show 4. Before Paris they went to my country (a join concert) .. certainly they could see how crazy ELF in my country, that in the end earn us an SS4. If not, I have sworn to fly out to the nearest country to watch them … who knows, we’ll meet there kekekeke

    2 nights in a row? — how lucky you are … envy to the max ^^

  1. January 18, 2017

    […] so seeing as I was close by I treated myself. I have already had the pleasure of seeing them in Paris during the SM Town concert, so I was excited but wasn’t expecting too […]

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