On Thursday, 6th of July 2023, Bang Yongguk held his concert of the Colors Of Bang Yongguk tour in Cologne. People might know him from his time as the leader and rapper in B.A.P, or afterwards as a soloist. It was not the first time he went to Cologne; in 2019 he was also there to perform in the same venue!
All photo source Eva Bergsma, KpopConcertsEurope
THE VENUE: BOGEN 2
The tickets were sold out; and many were still looking for tickets on Ticketswap on the concert day!
Inside of the venue there’s a bar, free toilets up the stairs, merchandise, and a rectangle free space for the crowd. The inside of the venue is beautiful - with many curves in the ceiling. Probably why it’s called ‘Bogen’!
THE ORGANIZATION
The concert was mainly organized by OfficialKEvents and Root Company. Their presence was everywhere, and the staff was easily recognizable because of their shirts and keycords. They were all very friendly! The pricing of the merchandise was great
Queueing went well. The atmosphere was nice and friendly; the only downside was the heat and the sun. The tickets checking started right on scheduled time and went relatively quick. The concert was scheduled at 19:00, which was started on time by some DJs. Bang Yongguk himself entered at 19:15, accompanied by loud cheers from the fans.
His performance was mainly supported by red stage lights. The only exception was the song "Green" which, as the name suggests, used green stage lights. The sound was OK. The bass was loud; you could feel it vibrating in your whole chest, but other than that there were no issues. The communication by the staff as well as the ments were in English, which we were very grateful for.
The Concert:
Bang Yongguk started off with 2 newer songs, G.M.T and Up. He’s a true performer, jumping around and moving everywhere across the small stage. He welcomed the fans in a short way and continued with RACE. We were allowed to take photos and videos during these songs; then we were asked to move to the back, where luckily we were allowed to take some more photos.
The energy was kept high with Rain On Me and UFO. In the ment after, He shared how it had been 4 years since his last concert and that he was happy to see us.
All photo source Eva Bergsma, KpopConcertsEurope
Next was Hikikomori, a personal favorite of mine, and a classic: I Remember. This is Bang Yongguk's first solo single from 2011 and was originally performed with Highlight (formerly "BEAST") member Yang Yoseob. At the concert a version recorded by B.A.P member Daehyun was performed. The fans and Daehyun's backing track would take care of the vocal parts for this song, while Bang Yongguk would perform his rap. Surprisingly, a lot of fans still remembered the Korean lyrics to this iconic song by heart.
Time for a break. Bang Yongguk noticed that the venue's temperature started to get too hot and asked the crowd if they needed water. He also talked about how it has been a while since she came to Germany and how Germany feels like a second home to him as he has traveled here since his B.A.P days. He concludes by saying that he wants to make eye contact with the audience.
Then it was time for the songs Screwed Up and Green. The rapper never failed to keep up the energy, even though the venue was hot inside the atmosphere was great and we had some space to move and dance around.
Bang Yongguk asks if everyone listened to his latest album and shares that he has plans for more albums and tours in the future. We can’t wait to see what else he has in store for us. The song Ride Or Die starts, another personal favorite of mine, and then Ya. Clearly he needed to cool down too, dousing himself with a bottle of water and turning around with a big smile.
All photo source Eva Bergsma, KpopConcertsEurope Next was Off. The staff followed Yongguk’s example, and provided free water to all the fans.
Not just the front row, and not just a small cup - whole bottles! We’re giving them a big plus because of this. In the meantime, YAMAZAKI started playing; Yongguk’s first official solo single from 2017.
Another short ment. He asks how we’re doing (better now we are hydrated!) and announces this will be his last song for tonight (aw). He had a fun time! The supposedly last song is Orange Drive. But he wouldn’t be a Kpop artist if he wasn’t coming back for an encore, performing Xie Xie and YAMAZAKI for the second time. Maybe it was because this was really the end, but this time the fans notably participated much more and sang louder.
Usually, artists take a picture with the crowd. Not Bang Yongguk; he wanted us to scream, and then record it in a video. Or maybe he did both! Of course the crowd yelled LOUD. Then it was really the end, with a fitting last song called See You Later.
Setlist
1. G.M.T
2. Up
3. RACE
4. Rain On Me
5. UFO
6. Hikikomori
7. I Remember
8. Screwed Up
9. Green
10. Ride or Die
11. Ya.
12. Off
13. YAMAZAKI
14. Orange Drive
--- Encore ---
15. Xie Xie
16. YAMAZAKI
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