IU's First Exclusive Concert, Uncle Fans Go Wild

IU started her first exclusive concert tour series “Real Fantasy” in Seoul, Korea on June 2. More than 8000 excited fans joined IU in two days. Under the title of “Real Fantasy,” IU freely crossed the boundaries of reality and fantasy throughout the concert, presenting several different special stages and presenting the sides of IU even the most enthusiastic uncle fans were unaware of previously. For this unique experience, IU picked a theater-like performing arena instead of other big-scaled concert halls to stay close to her fans and communicate with them directly.

Many celebrities such as 2AM, Dynamic Duo, Leessang, Lee Juk, Ra.D, Lee Seung Gi, Heo Kyung Hwan, and soccer player Park Ji Sung joined IU at her first concert as guest performers or in the audience to celebrate the big day for this 20 year old diva.

IU started out her first exclusive concert to the grand harmony of an orchestra playing “Cruel Fairy Tale.” The song immediately mesmerized the audience, sucking them into the world of “Real Fantasy.” “Cruel Fairy Tale” was followed by IU’s hit single “You and I” and “Everything’s Alright.” Only after the third song, IU was able to officially greet her excited fans. She commented, “There are so many more female fans here compared to yesterday’s show. I was a little surprised last night coming down as I’m singing the first song. I’m so happy and thankful to have my female fans here.”

After a brief greeting session, IU continued to sing “Sleeping Prince in the Forest.” The performance of “Sleeping Prince in the Forest” featured IU pretending to kiss a dancer in prince outfit in laying in the middle of the stage. Although the audience could only the shadow silhouette of his particular performance, many male fans seemed upset by the performance as they screamed. However, IU soon appeased her fans by singing “Peach” and encouraging her fans to join in by saying, “Anyone wants to marry me? Then sing with me!”

The concert also featured an acoustic old K-Pop segment. IU was riding a moon-shaped facility in the air with her guitar and sang Kim Kwang Suk‘s “A Story of A Married Couple in Their 60s” and Jin Mi Ryung‘s “White Dandelion.” This special stage was followed by a special phone-call event with the audience. IU surprised the audience by calling her best friend actress Yoo In Na in the audience. She also called a male fan of hers who could not make it to the concert because his girlfriend wanted to see Jason Mraz performing instead. The lucky fan seemed startled and flustered all throughout their brief phone conversation.

IU also prepared a special segment for her parents. IU stated, “My dad loves to sing. I’ve been influenced by him greatly. Whenever he sang with his eyes closed, I thought he was the coolest guy in the world.” She dedicated Choi Baek Ho‘s “About Romance” to her father. After performing “About Romance,” IU showed some old pictures of her parents on the big screen as she sang WAX‘s “Threshold of the Twilight.” She thanked her parents, “Thank you for gifting me with the voice that doesn’t resemble anyone. Please love each other for a long long time.”

After singing the fan favorite, “Rain Drop,” IU presented duet stages of “Nagging” with Seulong of 2AM and “Teacher” with Ra.D. There were also several stages just for IU’s excited fans. In the middle of the concert, IU switched from using a hand microphone to a headset. She said, “My fans told me they wanted to see me dancing with both of my hands free, so I’ve prepared this.” She presented the stages of “The End of the Day,” “Love Attack” and “Marshmallow” with passionate dance performances.

IU did not forget about her always enthusiastic uncle fans, either. She performed “Uncle” and added a special performance with comedian Heo Kyung Hwan, who expressed all uncle fans’ love for IU in a short comic segment. For those fans who were disappointed that they could not take pictures of videos of IU throughout the concert as the policy prohibits it, IU voluntarily had a photo time and posed in front of thousands of cameras of her fans.

The dance remake stages, which IU claims that she put the most effort in preparing, was very impressive, too. IU performed powerful dance stages to Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow,” Rain‘s “Rainism,” Michael Jackson‘s “Billie Jean,” and Trouble Maker‘s “Trouble Maker.” Fans cheered for IU screaming “Dancing Machine IU!” IU continued the excitement from her dance remake stages by singing “You Know,” during which she encouraged everyone in the audience to stand up and prepare for what’s to come next.

The next song was IU’s first mega hit single “Good Day.” Fans excitedly greeted the song and started singing along. The deep and low voices of some male fans caught IU’s attention and caused laughter throughout the song. However, IU successfully executed her signature “Three-Level High Notes” and with each high note, the excitement among fans also increased.

As the concert reached its end, IU sang “Only I Didn’t Know” and “Last Fantasy” and the curtains fell. However, right before she disappeared behind the curtains, IU told the audience to demand an encore stage as loudly as possible. As IU had requested, the audience continuously shouted “Encore! Encore!” until IU appeared on stage again. This time, she had an electric guitar with her. She first sang “Take My Hand” and heightened everyone’s spirit. Right before the very last song of the night, “I Believe In Love,” IU told the audience, “There were some disappointing parts, but you guys helped me overcome them. I want to cry, but I can’t. I’m crying a lot inside, I’m crying because I’m so happy.”

After “I Believe In Love,” the curtains fell again, this time for good. IU successfully finished her first exclusive concert. Although the Seoul concert is over, IU’s “Real Fantasy” tour continues. IU will be in Ulsan, Jeonju, Suwon, Busan, and Daegu, performing two nights in each city.