Before boarding the GO Train, we stopped by Starbucks. Initially, I had wanted to wait till 3 PM to take advantage of the 50% off Frappuccino deal, but the Mocha Frappuccino that my friend was holding in her hand tempted me to get one of the icy drinks for myself.
Not wanting to get a plain ol' mocha though, I went for the new S'Mores Frappuccino, minus the whipped cream layer at the bottom to avoid a morning sugar rush. To be honest, the taste was quite alright, and much over-hyped in my opinion.
I got their Veggie Burger, as I'm not a fan of large chunks of meat, and was pleasantly surprised that its texture didn't resemble other veggie patties I've had in the past. It retained the juiciness and chewiness of regular meat patties, in addition to being just as filling. The rest of the burger was just as delectable, with just the right amount of mayo being added to the buns.
We decided to explore the mall some more before heading back, ending the window shopping with rounds at the Disney Store and Shoppers. (Did you know that Ruffles now makes Flame Grilled Steak-flavoured chips?!)
The Dream Stage began at around 5:40 PM after a quick MC segment from the organizers. The first half of the concert included stunning vocals from YouTube stars and some crazy amazing dance covers (SALJA stood out the most to me). The second half was definitely less entertaining than the first, making time pass by slower.
By three-quarters of the way in, it was evident that majority of the audience was not enjoying how the NU'EST concert was being pushed back. (Keely Valentine's dreaded performance made it even worse.)
When the Dream Stage finally came to an end, the audience was forced back outside to line up for the NU'EST show. Another hour long wait followed this. It was torturous to say in the least.
Thankfully, the concert started very soon after we were allowed back in. And what followed was absolutely bliss.
I didn't take any photos or videos during the concert, as I have this theory that you aren't enjoying the full experience if you steer you eyes away from the artists, even if it's only for a mere millisecond. I understand that other fans may want to capture the experience in the form of photos or videos to view it later and relive the moment, but chances are, you won't be able to film every second of your life, so why bother?
It's important to live in the moment, and not create distractions to prevent yourself from treasuring the moment as it is happening.
The concert was amazing and it almost felt like a dream to have experienced. The stars that I've gazed at through a screen ever since debut were actually performing before my eyes, only a few metres from my actual existence. It was a lot of digest all at once, and I suppose the excruciatingly long wait made the show an even more precious experience.
The MC cuts were shorter than I had expected: Aron did most of the talking (which was to be expected), but I wished that Minhyun and Ren had said a few more sentences.
This concert's encore was by far the best one I've experienced TO-DATE though! After a good three minutes of the audience cheering, "one more song!", NU'EST re-emerged in more casual attire to deliver three more songs, including "Sandy". It was at this point that the boys gestured for us to get up and jump along with them. The entire floor rose from their seats and we all jumped together as they sang. (Someone probably has a fancam of this hidden somewhere on the interwebz, but regardless of whether I ever lay my eyes on it or not, I don't think I'll ever be able to forget such a crazy reality.
As it's difficult to phrase fangirl observations in proper sentences, I shall just summarize my thoughts below.
Post Concert Thoughts/Observations:
- JR, Ren, and Minhyun are really skinny in person
- JR truly is a leader; he moved Ren's coat to the side of the stage to prevent any of the other members from tripping over after Ren shed it off
- Baekho's singing voice and speaking voice sound slightly different; his speaking voice is a bit softer and appears more bubbly
- Baekho is a truly earnest person - he was pleading with the organizer to let them perform again!
- Minhyun puts the greatest amount of effort into his performances; you could tell that he danced and sang harder than anyone else in the group. To be honest, they were all putting in 110%, but Minhyun just seemed to be working harder than all of them.
- JR doesn't have a lot of expressions, but gives off the appearance of someone who is responsible. I feel like he enjoyed the actual performance more than fan interactions though.
- Aron, Ren, and Baekho all have tattoos: Aron has a block of text on the lower left side of his upper body, Baekho has two on his chest and one on his right arm, and Ren has a small star on his chest. From fansites, it appears that Baekho also has one on the back of his right leg, and it's possible that Minhyun and JR also have tattoos, but these particular areas of their bodies was not exposed and thus I was unable to confirm this.
- Aron pulled Baekho's shirt down to expose his chest during one of the MC segments, while JR and Ren were acting playful on the other side of the stage.
- Ren reacted to the fans' screaming at Aron's actions by following up with a shirt lift and exposing his own abs for a split second.
- Minhyun is really cute and polite - he didn't talk much during the concert, but showed genuine smiles during both the Hi-Touch and Fansign events. (He didn't really react when I told him, "You're my favourite!" though. I guess he didn't really understand me ^ ^;)
- Minyhun has the most adorable, twinkly eyes EVER. I can't believe he's younger than me, but I think he's just earned himself a place on my ever-expanding bias list (XD).
- Ren is seriously the sweetest sweetie I've ever seen! He did serious amounts of fanservice during the entire concert. Not only did he wave and smile at the fans on the floor, but he didn't neglect any of the audience watching from the balcony either! During the last MC segment, he made sure to draw a big heart with hands and send it to us, saying that he loved Canada and promising that he would be back. (He posted this later on his Instagram as well!) He was also extremely sweet during both fan events, saying "Thank you very much!" during Hi-Touch and giving me the sweetest smile ever during the fansign. He's truly a beautiful specimen and I can see why everyone drools over him.
Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Shall NU'EST ever visit again, it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll go (and reschedule other events should my scheduled appointments clash). Pop GoesTheWorld needs to step up their organization game such that attendees don't have to spend over an hour waiting (and potentially missing their ride back home at the end of the show), but I have to admit that having Hi-Touch and Fansign events take place after the concert made interacting with the group all the more enjoyable!