Hours before the gates to the Korean Music Festival opened, attendees gathered outside them to enjoy the pre-show festivities, despite the intense heat. Many of the show's sponsors lined the walkways giving out free samples promoting their product. Having had plenty of time to visit all the sponsor booths, everyone passed through the newly opened gates, some stopping to get refreshments to take with them into the seating area. With the Hollywood Bowl being so large, it was no surprise some people had trouble finding their seats.
The stage of The Hollywood Bowl had been set up with a display screen in the center of the revolving stage display. As attendees waited for the show's start, advertisements of
Fly to the Sky's show in San Francisco were displayed on the screen amongst other ads. With the sun still up, finally it was time for the show to begin.
The
Crenshaw Choir opened up the festival and sang the US national anthem. As they finished,
Junsu from
Dong Bang Shin Ki walked to the center of the stage to sing Korea's anthem. After the opening,
Junsu and the
Crenshaw Choir left the stage.
Tonight's MCs,
Ock Joo Hyun and
Brian, would appear between each performer to talk to the audience briefly and introduce the next act. Taking to the side booth on the side of the stage, they introduced
Super Junior T. The six members appeared on stage in matching green suit jackets, tan pants and a matching printed button down shirt. Each member had some form of yellow tie on and something with yellow feathers.
Taking their positions, their first song,
Rokkuguh, started. During the song, the group jumped about the stage and during the chorus pumped their fists in the air while jumping in time to the music as each member stood in the center to sing their solo parts. The fans chanted "Rokkuguh! Rokkuguh!" along with the chorus while the group twirled on stage. Behind the center screen on stage, the back drop had its own screens which displayed twirling stars, while during the chorus the center stage screen would display the lyrics before switching back to the live footage. After the song ended, the group lined up on stage and bowed, saying "thank you!" Taking a moment to introduce themselves in Korean,
Shindong introduced himself first. Next was
Sungmin. "Hello, how is everyone? I'm SungMin!" he said, taking a bow. "Hi!" called
Heechul, waving to the crowd, "I'm
Heechul!". "Hello everyone!"
Eeteuk called in English as they continued to talk to the audience.
Eeteuk handed
Heechul a flower that he had picked up that had been tossed on stage and held it. The next song was
Chutcha. Taking their places on stage, the group slid side to side before
Heechul stepped forward into the spotlight, singing, still holding the flower. The audience screamed as each member stepped into the spotlight, showcasing their vocal talent.
After the song was over, the group took a short break to talk to the audience once again before introducing the last song,
Happiness. As it started, the group broke into choreographed dance as the crowd screamed with delight. Each member hopped into the center of the stage during their respective solo lines during the song.
Heechul raced down the stage's runway before returning to the center of the stage for a brief dance break. The members called out to Shindong to have a dance solo, shouting "Go
Shindong, go go, go
Shindong!" After the short dance break,
Heechul walked halfway down the runway and resumed singing, followed by
Sungmin.
The audience waved fans and banners with
Super Junior T on them around wildly in the air and clapped together the noise maker inflatable thunder sticks they'd been given before the show. Nearing the end of the show, the group lined up behind each other on the stage and moved sideways in opposite directions from each other, revealing
Heechul as he took his jacket off and swung it around in the air before tossing it on the stage floor as he walked down the runway. All of
Super Junior T raced down the runway and stood at the very end of the stage and finished up the song, then left the stage saying "Thank you!"
Ock Joo Hyun and
Brian took to the MC booth once again to introduce the next artist,
Chae Yeon. Running out onstage in a short blue dress,
Chae Yeon was surrounded with dancers decked out in matching shirts and pants. Saying hello to the audience, they instantly broke into dance as
Two of Us began to play. Stepping in knee-high boots, she encouraged the audience to sing along, holding out her microphone while cupping her ear as the audience sang along. Unable to resist the catchy beat, the audience surrounding the stage danced as they sang. After dancing in the center of her dancers,
Chae Yeon walked down the runway followed by two of her dancers and swayed her hips side to side. Dancing completely in sync, the timing of their movements was impressive. Finishing up the song at the end of the runway,
Chae Yeon picked up her earphone's battery pack that had fallen off and tried to reattach it as she spoke to the audience. "Hello, how is everyone? I'm
Chae Yeon." She asked the audience if they were excited and thanked her fans while a stage hand came out to help with her battery pack. With her dancers running back out onstage, the next song started. Walking down the runway clapping their hands together in the air, the audience imitated them, clapping their hands and thunder sticks together. Shuffling side to side and clapping their hands while hearts flashed across the screens onstage. After playing
Wiheomhan yeonchul and
Sarangneukkim,
My Love started as
Chae Yeon and her dancers twirled light-up batons around onstage. As the sun had already started to set, the batons were eye catching with their light blue glow. Holding them up in the air as the song finished, they ran off the stage as the night's MCs took to the booth once more.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Korean Music Festival 2008 - Part 2
Korean Music Festival 2008 - Part 3
Korean Music Festival 2008 - Part 4
