Baekhyun’s online concert is the second concert in 2021, for me (the first was SM “Culture Humanity”). When tickets for Baekhyun’s online concert went on sale, I quickly bought mine.

I know I’m a bit late in writing this recap, I’ve been trying to organize my life for the new year. Plus writing concert recaps take time. So I finally cleared some time to write this! Anyway let’s start this recap.

Baekhyun’s online concert was held on January 3rd, 3PM (KST). Prior to the show we could see live EXO-Ls on the screen waving their light sticks. Seeing fans eagerly waiting got me even more excited.

The online concert started with a VCR. Baekhyun unwraps an old camera. He looks serious. There’s images of space, moon, sun – it looked like a movie trailer. There’s various shots of Baekhyun angry then happy. We see a female lead and scenes of Baekhyun crying. At this point I realized this wasn’t a regular visual video. This was part of a story – it was just a glimpse of the plot that would unfold throughout the concert. I was intrigued and very curious what happened in the scenes they showed and how the story would develop.

After the VCR the opening song was “Young”. I was amazed how Baekhyun was styled. His platinum hair, the makeup, and the jeweled jacket made my jaw drop. His jacket was filled with pearls and rhinestones. Later on in the show he confessed the jacket was heavy. But nonetheless it looked great on him. They changed the song, “Young” a bit for the live performance. His vocals were on point (and rap too).

Even though I could only see a part of the stage, it looked incredible with the geometric screens behind him. During his performance of “Young” Baekhyun was completely in character. He was charismatic, flirty, and downright cool.

He followed with (what I believe is) the first live performance of EXO’s “Trouble”. The song fit the mood that was built from “Young”. The choreography was sharp. Baekhyun made the song his own. Throughout the performance I kept telling myself, “My goodness, this guy is the definition of cool.”

Next up is a song from his Delight album, “Ghost”. I enjoyed seeing the choreography to the song. The camerawork in this performance was exquisite. The camera seemed to dance around him. At one point there were lights that came down and formed a silhouette behind Baekhyun and mimicked his exact dance moves. I was utterly blown away. There’s no doubt SM went all out for this concert.

Afterwards he performed another song from his Delight album, “Underwater”. The lights and screens created the illusion of water overhead. The choreography was fluid and I liked how it mimicked water movements – especially when the dancers created a circle around Baekhyun. Major props to the choreographers.

Baekhyun performed another song from his Delight album, “R U Ridin’?”. He changed jackets and put on some sunglasses. The choreography and his vocals were spot on. I’m sure many people are so used to seeing Baekhyun as a bubbly, joyful person. But when he’s on stage (especially during his solo concert) he takes on a charismatic, sexy persona. His duality is incredible.

The next song was “UN Village”. Baekhyun and his dancers stood on various platforms. Those platforms rose and fell during the song. The lights (what looked like individual light bulbs) also moved up and down. I have to applaud the dancers and Baekhyun for performing on these moving platforms while also alternating from one platform to the next.

After performing “UN Village”, Baekhyun welcomed online viewers.

He shared that he prepared really hard. He was nervous during the first performance but seeing fans onscreen he felt like they were all together in person. He said he could read the live comments. He mentioned his power, light. Just like various lights he will show various performances.

While Baekhyun spoke I could clearly hear the live fans. I love hearing the response from fans – and Baekhyun could hear them too. He also said he saw fans posts on social media about the concert. Then he welcomed viewers in various languages: Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Indonesian. Lots of fans wore the mouth guard with blinking lights and Baekhyun noticed fans were wearing it. The mouth guard is a reference to an episode of SuperM’s MTOPIA when Baekhyun wore a light up mouth guard.

He concluded by saying he would be performing his song “Amusement Park” soon. He also teased that the next performance is a song he hasn’t performed live before. 

The screens around Baekhyun changed and effects were added. The setting changed to look like a library.

I have to admit the next song pulled on my heartstrings. I had never heard it before until he performed it. The song is “Every Second” and it’s an OST from the K-drama Record of Youth. My goodness, that song is so beautiful, I was on the verge of tears (which doesn’t happen often for me). Baekhyun’s voice was so soft. I instantly fell in love with this song.

At one point they had special effects of books floating. It looked so magical.

Baekhyun sat on a grand piano and began playing and sang EXO’s song, “What I Want For Christmas”. It was another beautiful performance. Then he transitioned to another EXO song, “My Answer”.

Next up, “Amusement Park”. This is probably one of Baekhyun’s smoothest songs. His voice has a nice swing to it. Baekhyun’s voice is perfect for R&B songs. Needless to say this was another spectacular performance.

The following song is “Love Again”. The projections changed, it looked like he was in space and there were effects of floating craters. Baekhyun hit all the low notes and high notes effortlessly.

VCR #2 played.

This video continues to build on the storyline while maintaining the mystery of what’s actually happening. We see a flashback of Baekhyun walking with a suitcase on the side of the road. Then there’s a car, he waves at it to stop. He gets on and meets a girl. It cuts to another scene – the girl is being told (by her boss) about the power EXO members have (each member has a certain power, Baekhyun’s is light). She is told to watch him closely. Another flashback – Baekhyun is with the girl in the dark room taking pictures. Then it cuts to another scene – he’s covered with blood and is pointing a gun. His facial expression conveys the emotions of concern and hurt.

Baekhyun deserves an acting award, just for the VCRs alone. 

There’s another flashback scene – They’re at Baekhyun’s place. The girl is holding some sort of poison. He servers her food, he looks happy. Baekhyun takes a sip of his drink and his vision blurs.

When the VCR ended Baekhyun emerged in a plaid suit and performed his Japanese song “Addicted”. During his online concert none of his Japanese songs were released yet. So this was a fun (never before seen or heard) premiere of his song. The song itself is jazzy and I loved the whole vibe of it. It’s different from anything I’ve heard from Baekhyun (at least from his solo songs). The choreography was sexy too.

Next up was the much anticipated song “Get You Alone”. This is the title track for his Japanese album. Again, this song wasn’t officially released (until after his online concert). The song has a retro sound to it. The whole theme was gentlemen like – sexy yet classy. The footwork in the choreography was one of my favorites. In this performance he used the rising platforms again. This was another fantastic premiere performance.

One of Baekhyun’s sexier songs was next, “Ice Queen”. At this point he already performed 13 songs, yet his vocals were still strong. Baekhyun’s songs are full of low notes and incredibly high notes – yet he continued hitting them effortlessly. “Ice Queen” was indeed a sexy performance and Baekhyun, once again showed his charisma.

The next three songs he performed were absolutely fun! He performed a bit of EXO’s “Call Me Baby”, “Growl”, and EXO-CBX “Blooming Day”. Baekhyun was smiling so much especially during “Blooming Day” – he was definitely enjoying the performance and I was super happy to hear these songs. It was definitely a pleasant surprise, I couldn’t stop smiling.

Now Baekhyun took some time talk to the online audience again. He asked the audience if they enjoyed the performances. He made a cheeky comment, “‘Get You Alone’ dance moves are quite sexy, like myself right?”

He went on to read some of the live comments. He mentioned performing “Call Me Baby” and “Growl” are not easy, while he sang them he missed the members. Then he said he hopes they can present something this year (a possible EXO spoiler?). He asked the audience if they liked the VCR. He mentioned NCT’s Jaehyun – who is currently acting in a drama. Baekhyun said it looked like he (Baekhyun) could do some acting. 

In my opinion I think Baekhyun would be a great actor. 

Next they showed the 3rd VCR of the night. Many things happen in the VCR (I didn’t take as many notes cause I was trying to focus on the video). But there’s a scene when Baekhyun was tricked. The bad guy gave him an ultimatum and used the girl as bait. Eventually the bad guy shoots the girl – I didn’t see that coming at all. Talk about plot twist. Then we see Baekhyun crying in agony, we see he has a necklace with half a heart. This VCR was one of the most shocking ones.

The following segment of the show is one of my favorites.

Baekhyun emerged on stage with a wild hairstyle. His overall style was awesome. The song he performed was “Psycho”. In my opinion it was one of the best performances. The choreography, his facial expressions, his voice – he really embodied the whole theme of the song. The use of lights and the camerawork helped build up the concept as well. I personally think this performance should be released as an official video. I wish everyone could watch it. I think it’s worth buying the VOD of Baekhyun’s online concert, even if it’s just to watch his performance of “Psycho”.

The following song was “Ringa Ringa Ring”. The performance fit the whole “Psycho” concept so well. I enjoyed the dance breaks. I have to applaud Baekhyun for memorizing all these different choreographies. As a soloist he can’t depend on his members, he has to fully memorize each move and sequence – since he’s front and center. But I’m proud how well he carried the whole show himself. Of course along with the dancers too.

The fourth VCR of the night. We see flashbacks of Baekhyun and his relationship with the girl. It’s very sweet how he takes pictures of her. In another scene we see him propose. Which makes the the whole story even sadder – he was engaged to her and yet she died. But I liked how this VCR showed all the sweet moments he had with the girl. I think this would be a perfect plot for a TV series or a movie….Baekhyun can definitely act and I would love to see it.

The next part of the show – the stage setting changed completely into a candy store. It was bright, colorful, and full of details. It’s a complete contrast to the other stages we saw before. Baekhyun performed “Poppin’” – just like the stage it’s a fun bright song. I loved seeing the interaction between the dancers, especially the male and female dancers along with Baekhyun.

The next song is none other than “Candy”. This was the funnest performance. It looked like Baekhyun and the dancers were having fun on stage. I got up and started dancing to “Candy” in my room and singing along to it. I think out of all the online concerts and performances I’ve watched – the performance that stands out to me will be “Candy” and “Psycho”. I love the song “Candy” so much – perhaps my bias towards this song is the reason why it’s one of my favorite performances. But it was seriously one of the best I’ve seen.

After “Candy” they showed the official music video for “Get You Alone”. I believe this was the official release for the song. It was another pleasant surprise. I loved the mv – the plot and concept is so good and funny. Baekhyun did a great job in that mv.

Baekhyun then performed “Garden in the Air”. His voice was so smooth. The song was chill and his high notes, especially towards the end, were spectacular.

Baekhyun proceeded to talk to the online audience. He said “Garden in the Air”, was a remake song for BoA’s anniversary. He really wanted to perform it live and he finally did. A live (online) audience member screamed “Please don’t go!” And Baekhyun said, “Ok.” I really love how interactive this whole concert was – he could see the fans, hear them, and directly respond to them, as if they were physically there. 

He said he prepared for the online concert for over a month. He read live comments and interacted with fans more. He mentioned that going to a physical venue could be a hassle, getting tickets and what not. With an online concert we can enjoy it from the comfort of our homes. 

Baekhyun continued reading the comments and listened to the live online audience. He mentioned he practiced playing the piano for a long time. He admitted it is hard to sing and play the piano. He said it felt like only 30 minutes had passed since the concert started, yet he performed so many songs. He understood fans were sad the online concert was ending, he was sad too. A fan kept saying he should do the concert the next day. Baekhyun said he wished but everything was already set up. He joked saying it would be fun to have a 24hr concert.

He announced the last song of the night is “Cherish”, so he hopes fans will cherish the moment. He said his final farewell for the night and performed “Cherish”. 

For the last song Baekhyun performed it while walking off stage, joined his dancers and continued walking out the venue. He got in a car, had an EXO light stick and finished the performance. It was a sweet way to end the online concert. 

They showed the final VCR of the night. In the video Baekhyun takes self-timed pictures of himself. He starts crying. We see the box with the ring. He opens an old letter, then he opens the curtains and light comes in. Then Baekhyun’s final message, “Through the countless stars and nights, until the day we meet again.” 

When the VCR ended, they started playing the music video for “Amusement Park” and there was a message asking viewers to submit questions for a surprise live. 

After a few minutes Baekhyun was back and answered several fan questions. I didn’t take note of this part. 

Overall this online concert was one of the most technologically advanced shows I’ve seen (so far). Everything flowed – the setlist was well done. Each song fit a specific concept and I enjoyed that. The storyline in the VCRs continued expanding EXO’s story world. The interaction with the live audience was great too.

Baekhyun owned every minute. He was consistently front and center and taking lead of the show. His vocals were strong. His energy was also consistent. I can imagine it’s difficult doing a full show by yourself (as a soloist) with only dancers. But Baekhyun made it look effortless. 

If there is an online concert I recommend purchasing the VOD, this would be one of them. The entire show was entertaining to watch from start to finish. The effects were top notch, the music was exquisite. 

Congratulations to Baekhyun, the dancers, the staff, and everyone involved in making this online concert possible. It was well done and I look forward to more concerts (like this) in the future. 

-EliMarie

By the way, I talk more about KPOP on my channel YouTube.com/elimariereacts

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