KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 1 — K-pop girl group Gfriend performed to an enthusiastic crowd on Saturday, June 29, at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam.
The nearly full-capacity crowd were in high spirits — erupting in cheers when the sextet opened the show with their hit song Me Gustas Tu, which had some added Malaysian flavour.
At a press conference earlier, the girls had said they would be adding lyrics in Bahasa Malaysia to a song — Me Gustas Tu proved to be that tune, with Gfriend changing the chorus to “Me gustas tu gustas tu su tu du ru suka kamu!.”
All six members — Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB and Umji — did not hesitate to delight the crowd by addressing them with phrases between songs, such as “baby sayang”, “seronok tak” and “saya suka kamu.”
Gfriend’s fanbase, also known as BUDDYs, enthusiastically sang along as well as shouting fanchants.
Gfriend shows off range
As for the concert itself, concept-wise it almost felt as though it was two concerts as the two halves contrasted that much.
During the first half the girls wore pastel skirt suits and sang light-hearted tunes such as Love Whisper and Vacation, accompanied by whimsical background visuals.
Instead of an event-less intermission, there was a special video segment that was rather comedic — it had a special purpose, however.
It helped set the stage for two different unit performances, where the girls split up into two groups to perform the songs Hug Hug and Shy Boy.
During the second half, Gfriend switched to black and silver outfits, making two costume changes where the second one featured a whole lot more sequins.
The overall tone was also a lot more energetic with a rousing performance of the song Fingertip, while also showcasing their vocal abilities with a stripped down ballad version of Rough.
Despite a smallish venue, no back-up dancers and pre-recorded backing tracks, Gfriend still pulled off a nearly three-hour long concert that was never dull.
Even if you don’t know any of their music (I confess to knowing only three of their songs prior) it’s hard not to be drawn in by the girls’ enthusiasm, excellent vocal ability and warmth when speaking to their fans.
The only thing I could fault is the backing music being a little too loud to the point it threatened to overpower the girls’ singing voices.
Sowon told the audience as the concert neared its end that Gfriend had often read comments on their videos from Malaysian fans, asking them to please visit them.
Being able to fulfil their fans’ request made them happy too, the girls said, and also that they looked forward to returning.
Gfriend ended the show with the fan song Hope, with lyrics written by the girls themselves as a special gift to their fans.
Overall it was a memorable concert and testament to just why Gfriend, despite the highly competitive K-pop industry, is one of the top girl groups in South Korea.
Their new album Fever Season, featuring the title track Fever will drop today.
