‘IU→musical directing’ AKMU concert, no time for eyes and ears to rest

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut, duo AKMU stimulated nostalgia by staging a stage with the concept of time travel to the past. Furthermore, IU appeared as a guest, and a large number of musical actors appeared and captivated the eyes and ears of the audience with their spectacular production.

AKMU held the second edition of '2024 AKMU 10th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT '10VE'' at KSPO DOME in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 16th.

The first stage, 'Long Day, Long Night', began with a chorus of 20 children in front of Media Art, which depicts a red sunset. AKMU soon appeared with the orchestra and continued the performance of ‘From Little Things’. They were reminiscent of a scene from a musical and attracted attention by collaborating with musical actors.

The 'BENCH' stage, reminiscent of legendary pop star Michael Jackson, was performed, and 'RE-BYE', reminiscent of a European ballroom, was performed, followed by the introduction of the credits of the live orchestra team.

Next, they performed ‘Pretending to Be Ugly’, ‘Falling’, and ‘Ice’ with a standing microphone. Unlike 'Pretending to be Ugly', which took place in an overall bright atmosphere, 'Falling' and 'Ice' took place in a somber atmosphere. During the performance, they did not let go of musical elements, such as interacting with musical actors and adding lines as if they were acting. In particular, in the highlight of 'Ice', Chanhyuk and Suhyun's vocals harmonized with the magnificent drum beat, and the desperate emotions contained in their vocals caught the ear.

Soon, Chanhyuk picked up the guitar and started performing 'DINOSAUR' live with Suhyeon. In particular, Suhyun aroused admiration by singing the high notes of this song's highlight with a clear voice. The stage for this song was simply composed of guitar, drums, piano, and bass, highlighting Suhyun's sweet falsetto.

The subsequent performance of hit songs such as 'Fish in Water', 'Is It Ramen', and 'Time and Fallen Leaves' was performed with a band sound, unlike the previous stage which consisted of an orchestra, adding to the variety of the performance.

When the time to interact with fans began, Chanhyuk immediately said to Suhyun, “You have pretty sparkles in your hair.” Suhyun said in a cold tone, “We did it yesterday too,” showing real-life sibling chemistry. Chanhyuk smiled sheepishly and said, “It’s especially shiny today.”

Su-hyeon asked, “What do you think of this huge grass hill set that you see as soon as you enter?” Chanhyuk said, "I want you to come with a comfortable mind, so it feels like you're having a picnic. Didn't you even hear the birds chirping when you came in? I hope it won't be a place where you come just to listen to music, but a place where you can recharge and be filled with love."

In addition, Suhyun said, "The concept of our first debut album was the concept of a fairy in the mountains. As it was our 10th anniversary performance, we wanted to recreate a lot of that, and it was a fun time taking a time machine back 10 years not only with us but also with the audience and Academy (fandom name). “I hope this happens,” he said about the performance.

When the piano for the next performance did not work, Soohyun seemed embarrassed and said, "The piano is off," and the staff rushed to fix it. Chanhyuk then joked, "The piano is also a part of the concert. We aim for something natural."

Soon, Su-hyeon was sitting in front of the turned-on piano, looking at Chan-hyuk carrying the guitar, and said, “We used to play like this when we were kids, in Mongolia,” creating a nostalgic feeling. Chanhyuk then said, "It's been a while since we had a picture like this, so we had a lot of fun practicing," and continued performing 'Time and Fallen Leaves' and 'How Can I Love Even a Breakup, I Love You'.

Soon, AKMU stimulated fans' nostalgia by recreating the time when they won the SBS audition program 'K-Pop Star 2' 10 years ago. Next, they performed a medley of ‘Crescendo’, ‘On the Subway’, ‘Confessions of a Foreigner’, and ‘Little Star’ with a production that made them feel like they were in a rural hut. Chanhyuk introduced ‘Little Star’ and said it was “the most brilliant song among AKMU songs.”

They soon began their comments and greeted the audience once again, saying, “Hello, we are Akdong Musician, a brother and sister acoustic duo.”

Suhyun then said, "I tried on clothes like this to remind me of the past. The emotions are different. Oppa, you've become cool," and made the audience burst into laughter by saying with an expressionless expression.

Su-hyeon soon said, "I wanted to recreate the time when I was 14, so it's a shame that I don't have any trademarks like my brother's glasses, mouth, or suspenders." "The mouth was my trademark. It was a shame that I couldn't recreate that. I can't help it that my teeth are already in." I made fun of Chanhyuk.

When Chanhyuk pulled his mouth forward at Suhyun's words, Suhyun made people laugh by jokingly saying, "Don't you think your brother has come back?"

In response, Chanhyuk elicited a positive response from the audience, saying, "We recreated us 10 years ago, and while doing this, we thought we were cute. It's sad, but we applaud and say goodbye to Akdong Musician, who is left behind as a memory."

Suhyun said, “This cave acts as a time machine, so if you get out of this cave, you can return to modern times,” and AKMU, who came out of the cave, received cheers from fans.

Chanhyuk came out of the cave and looked at the stage and joked, "Are you saying these are all our fans? 10 years later, we're singing in front of this many fans?" Soo-hyeon responded, "You can't believe it, right? What on earth have you done for 10 years?", making the audience laugh.

Suhyun, who was eating strawberry whipped cream cake while performing 'Peace of Cake' following her latest release song 'Hero', said, "It's better than yesterday, isn't it?" At the same time, the cute sight of Suhyun rinsing her mouth with water eagerly drew sighs of admiration from fans.

Soon, an actor appeared, calling himself the officiant, and said, "AKMU's Lee Chan-hyuk and Lee Soo-hyun promise to be with their fans as AKMU for 10 to 20 years or more until their black hair becomes red." He added, "This officiant is the Academy Award winner. “On behalf of (AKMU fandom name), I declare that the beautiful pledge has been successfully made,” he announced the congratulatory song.

The main character of the congratulatory song that followed was singer IU. IU, who appeared singing 'The Meaning of You', caught everyone's attention wearing a pink one-piece dress with lace. The audience actively enjoyed the stage, showing off IU's cheering methods and even singing in unison.

After finishing the first song, IU began by saying, "There wasn't a single empty seat. It was filled. I, like you, am one of the fans who wants to sit here and watch the performance." He then introduced his relationship with AKMU, saying, “I came as a guest when my AKMU friends held their first concert.”

At the same time, IU said, "I feel so amazing that I was able to say hello to my family in a meaningful way on the 10th anniversary, as if my family was doing well. I saw these friends when they were 14 and 16. But then they became Korea's representative musicians and filled the gymnastics stadium. “I congratulate you so much,” he said. He then joked, “My performance is also fun, so please come a lot,” making people laugh.

Regarding the previous 'Falling' performance, IU said, "It's too bad they didn't include me in singing 'Falling'," and performed a live unaccompanied version of 'Falling', drawing cheers from the audience.

After finishing her comment, IU sang ‘Bleuming’ and went down to the backstage.

Through the subsequent VCR, Suhyun said, "Not as AKMU for 10 years, but what was Lee Suhyun like for 10 years? Every single moment was so pretty and precious. Even the moments I thought were pitch black, looking back, they weren't like that at all, they were so shiny. “Why didn’t I know that at the time?”

Suhyun said, "I want to become a singer who can be featured in any singer. I think I would have become a singer no matter how I was born. My dream is for my family, the people I love, and my fans to all be healthy, and for me and my voice to last a long time." “I hope I can make you proud,” he said of his dream.

Suhyun, who soon changed into a white dress, sang 'Remember', an unreleased song containing a message to Suhyun from the past. Regarding this song, Su-hyun said, "It was a song that was included in the album that my older brother worked hard to make after he was discharged from the military and said he would create Lee Su-hyun's Disney World. It was a message to me when I was young, and on the 10th anniversary, I was able to sing to my old self. “I’m so happy. Anyway, I’m a happy Soohyun now.”

The atmosphere became brighter and the stages of ‘Fry’s Dream’, ‘FREEDOM’, ‘Green Jangga’, and ‘200%’ were performed like a festival. After performing '200%', Lee Chan-hyuk did not stop ad-libbing, saying, 'Everyone scream,' and the fans' cheers grew louder to match his voice.

Chanhyuk said, “Time passed so quickly that I wanted to catch up, but I got to the last song,” and fans let out a sad sigh. Like a pop star, Chanhyuk said, “Koreans are amazing,” and said, “I will go home happy.” Soo-hyeon then said, "My home is in Korea," and Chan-hyuk said again, "Korea is a great country." While speaking in English, Su-hyeon made a joke by saying, "You don't have to speak English because your pronunciation is good," making the audience burst into laughter.

AKMU closed the stage by performing ‘Those Children At That Time’ as the last song.

The encore stage, which started after the VCR, featured 'Give Love', 'Frustrating', 'Long D', 'LOVE LEE', and 'People Move'.

At the same time, Suhyun expressed her feelings, "The people who danced with me on stage are not actually dancers but musical actors. I am so grateful to the people who shared this stage with me. I am also very grateful to my children's choir friends who joined us."

Chanhyuk suddenly said, "I saw a child and his family at a bakery a while ago, and it reminded me of going to the bathhouse and stopping by the bakery when I was young. When I saw that, I suddenly wanted to have a child." Suhyun seemed embarrassed and said, "That's what I'm going to say at the concert." ?" he asked, making everyone laugh.

AKMU, which continued the encore stage, performed 'Long Day, Long Night', which was replaced by a performance by a children's choir instead of performing directly at the beginning of the performance, and ended the performance with 'Let's Take Time'.

AKMU held a national tour 'AKMUTOPIA' over a period of about 3 months from November last year to January last year and concluded it. AKMU, which celebrated its 10th debut anniversary this year, released its third mini album 'LOVE EPISODE' with 'Hero' as the title song on the 3rd.

Reporter Lee Min-kyung, Ten Asia 2min_ror@tenasia.co.kr