We all know what it’s like watching videos of your beloved idols mesmerizing the crowd with a powerful choreography or vocals out of this world. However, it’s a whole different kind of experience when that person is standing right in front of you and there are no screens or thousands of kilometers separating you from what you love the most. That is exactly what happened to me and many other fans here in Bulgaria.
In the middle of Spring 2018, a mysterious event announced that a solo artist is going to two countries in July, this year. Suddenly the social media was on fire with speculations just who might that person be. At the end of April, the curtains were raised and after days of anticipation, the answer was clear: Jang Han Byul. And the two tour stops were:
19th July- Sofia, Bulgaria
Venue: City Stage club
21st July- Bucharest, Romania
Venue: Teatrul de revistă „Constantin Tănase”
For those of you that don’t know Jang Hanbyul is a former vocalist of the South Korean rock-band Led Apple (prior to debut the band consisted of 5 members). as a former MC of the show After School Club or for his series of covers called “Music Note”. Led Apple already had a European tour in 2014 touring countries like the Netherlands, Germany, and Romania. However, this is the first time Hanbyul was going on a European tour as a solo artist, which made both us- his fans and him very excited.
Finally, on the 19th of July, my friends and I were standing in front of City Stage club, 3 hours earlier in hope to secure the best spots to see Hanbyul and you bet we had a reason. Just an hour later there was a long queue of fans behind us waiting to get a glimpse of the artist. Here’s when I have to share with you that I met Hanbyul before the crowd got bigger and when he was supposed to get inside to rehearse, he was wearing casual black clothing and when he saw me and my friend, he waved cheerfully. This made me fascinated, not because I was able to see him, but for the fact, he was such a down-to-earth person. To put it in another way, he seemed super thrilled to see fans and just one grin changed the atmosphere around.
Before the anticipated appearance of Jang Hanbyul, the k-pop dance cover group called TOXIC heated up the stage with two songs of ACE’s Cactus, and Callin.
Just then when the fans couldn’t wait any longer, he got up on stage for the opening song, which was by Led Apple- I’ll be there for you (English version). It made fans feel a step closer to the artist, the emotion of this song pouring from the heart of the artist, capturing us in a trance.
Other songs in setlist included: BTS – The Truth Untold, Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man, his own songs like One Am and many more.
Jang Hanbyul not only made a show to never forget, but also interacted with his fans through the last part of his concert which was a Q&A, sealing the bond between an idol and fans, so here’s only a small sneak peak just for you!
**Fan**: I wanted to ask you what is your favorite movie?
**Hanbyul**: One of the things I really love to do is watch movies. My favorite movie…hmm…”The shape of Water”. “The Shape of Water” was good. And there was a French movie that I saw a couple of days ago, it was called “Untouchable”.
Laughs, screams from excitement, new friendships and many unforgettable memories through were just a few of the things we were able to experience. His first concert here ended with the song “Shooting Star” ( OST of Sassy Go Go!), photo with our flag and the crew of organizers that made this night so special.
Jang Hanbyul continued his tour in Bucharest, Romania as his 2nd and last stop, where he successfully wrapped up his 1st European Tour! We anticipate what next, the artist has in store for us!
View this post on Instagram
Contributor: Gabriella Petrova