Eric Nam: Before We Begin Tour in Chicago
Instead of touring alone, he is joined by the LA based duo Frenship who met Eric during one of their concerts in the past. The Vic Theatre is packed with Eric's fans (Nam Nation) on both the main level and the balcony.
Frenship kicks off the show a little later than expected but fans didn't seem to mind. James Sunderland and Brett Hite walk onto the stage, each with a guitar in their hands. They warmed up the crowd who nearly froze while waiting in line with a variety of songs including: "Remind You," "Knives," "Goodmorning, Goodbye" and "Capsize." Before ending their stage both singers thank the audience and throw guitar picks to them.
After a short intermission Eric makes his appearance. The first songs of the night are "Come Through" off of his latest album Before We Begin and the Korean version of "Runaway." Partway through the first song four backup dancers join Eric with set choreography that gets everyone moving.
One of the first things the singer jokes about during his opening talk is that the show is actually more of a TED Talk than a concert. He continues by mentioning the cold weather and how people in Chicago are wild. "It's freezing outside and people are still playing tennis OUTSIDE" Eric comments. "You guys are a different breed of humans."
Eric brings up something that his mother said during his last U.S. tour back in 2017. She tells him after on of his concerts that there's too many sexy dance moves in the choreography. Even though the 31-year-old tried explaining that all the body rolls were part of the dance she responds with, "Eric, God is watching you." Nam Nations can't help but laugh and the son admitted he didn't know how to respond. "I really didn't know what to say other than apologize to Jesus and keep body rolling."
Next up were the songs "I Don't Miss You" and "Wonder." The audience easily sang the lyrics to both English tracks and tried their best to hit every note perfectly. Everyone's voices blended with Eric's and created a beautiful sound.
Fans were delighted to hear "Good For You" live despite it being an older song released back in 2016. Quickly following is "Body" accompanied by the dance moves Eric's mother disproves of. Each body roll received loud screams from the crowd which brought a smile to the singer's face.
In the middle of Eric refusing to read some posters that Nam Nations brought that he deemed to be 'too inappropriate' his mic started malfunctioning, making the singer sound like a robot. He runs backstage to fix the technical difficulty and returns. However, while asking someone celebrating a birthday their name his voice gets warped again. "I sound like a creature from Star Trek" Eric jokes while making The Vulcan salutation.
"I have to ask. Is it statistically possible to have this many birthdays in one venue" the Atlanta born artist questions seeing multiple people claiming that it was their birthday. Eric asks one claiming it's her birthday what the date was. "I feel like I'm interrogating my fans" he jokes. Once he gets everyone's name, the crowd sings "Happy Birthday" and Eric tried relisting all the names.
Eric leads into his next song "Potion" by telling all the legal aged birthday goers to take a shot to celebrate. "Don't Call Me" appeared to be one of the favorite performances of the night judging by how excited people became. If anyone wasn't sure of the song's name Nam Nation changed that by yelling 'don't call me' as loud as possible every time the phrase came up.
One of the upcoming songs is usually when Eric throws water into the crowd and gives everyone a heads up. Because some people don't like getting hit by water he provides a few tips on how to avoid it. "You can duck. You can close your eyes because if you cannot see it than it didn't happen" he begins. "The person to the left or right of you can be used as a human shield, only with their consent. Or you just party and deal with it. It's up to you."
During "Idea of You" Eric suddenly jumps off the stage and meeting surprised fans at the barricaded. Keeping to his word, the singer throws water into the crows twice while singing "Like You." Everyone jumps up and down to the beat while singing at the top of their lungs the whole time with the occasional screaming.
A story about his mother is the topic for the final 'TED Talk.' Eric recalls the time right before the tour when he thought his mom got kidnapped based on a text message she sent. "The text starts with 'Dear Eric' immediately I panicked" he starts, believing she's been abducted and that it's a murder podcast waiting to happen or she got hacked. "Asian moms never write 'Dear Eric' Asian mom texts start with 'Yah!' That's how it starts."
Based on beginning, the encouraging words and a complex word in one sentence, Eric became convinced that he's mom was kidnapped. In the end he faced-timed her to make sure nothing bad happened. "I guess she used Google Translate or she used the dictionary for SAT words" he adds.
The purpose of his story was to paint a picture of how thankful Eric is to everyone in he audience. "As a Atlanta born Korean-American kid, I had to go to Korea for almost ten years and try to make something of myself there so that I can come back and perform here tonight."
When people asked why he went all the way to Korea to start his music career Eric would tell them that the United States didn't give him any options. "But it is here now and you guys are here for it" Eric shares. "You choosing to be here is not only just a cool show or whatever but hopefully, I like to think it's a statement of you choosing inclusion and acceptance."
The concert continues with "How'm I Doing," "Love Die Young" and "Cave Me In." Eric asks fans to turn on their phone's flashlights as he sings "Love Die Young" and the crowd sways back and forth with their lights held high. After "Cave Me In" the soloist starts singing the chorus again before letting Nam Nation take over.
The time for taking a picture with the audience arrived. As Eric sits at the edge of the stage he calls for the tour photographer to come out. Everyone does their best to pose and be seen for the picture and after a handful of shots there was one more request. Instead of ending with just a picture a special video gets created. The crowd stays silent at the start while the camera focuses on Eric who talks before panning out to capture all the screaming Chicago Nam Nations.
With the conclusion of the mini photo shoot, Eric goes right into the title track of his third mini album "Honestly." Hands were in the air multiple times during "Can't help myself" to match the choreography on the stage. Everywhere you look all that can be seen are hands pointing to the left doing a wave like motion.
As soon as the singer leaves the stage, fans start chanting his name begging for him to return. Their request got answered a minute later as Eric returns to perform "You're Sexy I'm Sexy" with his back up dancers. The last song of the night, "Congratulations," is a must listen, especially after a break up. All the lyrics are sung with so much emotion from both Eric and those in the crowd.
With one last bow the concert officially ends. Higher level ticket holders remain in the venue for the meet and greet while everyone else bundle up to face the cold Chicago weather once again.
Comments
Post a Comment