beyondasiaphilia

A Sleepless Night: CNBLUE North America tour review

NOTE: since this was such an epic event, my reflections on CNBLUE’s recent North America tour will be split into two parts.

CNBLUE rolled into North America last month for a whirlwind eleven-day tour of four lucky cities. It’s been eleven long years since CNBLUE toured the US so this was a big deal for their long-suffering fans who have been waiting more than a decade for them to return to these shores. I couldn’t make the first stop of the tour in Toronto but I was able to attend the other three shows and, needless to say, a good time was had by all.  

CNBLUE was the very first South Korean band to have a world tour way back in 2013-14, which included two stops in the US, in New York City and Los Angeles, but since then they’ve concentrated their attention on Asia, to great success. But with the advent of the Kpop era in the West, after seemingly every other Korean act passing through the US, it was long past time that they came back. Because of the long gap since their last visit here, the fans were extra excited to see them. and vice versa, I think.

New York City

The word for the show in New York City is intense.

Their first US show was at the Knockdown Center in New York, a former glass factory in the middle of the industrial center of Maspeth, Queens. The venue is mostly known for its rave and DJ events, though other live acts including LCD Soundsystem, Frank Ocean, and Animal Collective, among others, have performed there. The big, flat space is spacious and industrial, with brick walls, exposed beam ceilings, and sliding barn doors. Capacity is about 2000 people, which is smaller than most of the venues that CNBLUE plays in Asia, where they average at least 10,000 people per show. I was lucky enough to be at the very front of the stage against the barricade but friends who were farther back at the bar said that the sightlines were good despite the lack of rake in the floor.

Due to various confusion in the line to enter there was some tension in the hall, but once the show got started it was a happy, high energy show. It was great to hear band leader Jung Yonghwa kibbutzing in pretty decent English and the relatively small venue meant that the audience was really close to the stage, so Yonghwa pretty much chatted with the fans throughout the show. He’s leveled up his English skills quite a bit and was able to carry on conversations and express complex thoughts fairly easily. In comparison, bassist Lee Jungshin’s English was somewhat rudimentary, with drummer Kang Minhyuk’s skills falling somewhere in between.

Due to meniscus surgery on his right knee, Yonghwa had a more than two-month layoff from performing live, which seemed to have been good for him as he was in very good voice, showing off his huge vocal range and ably singing everything from high-powered rock songs to tender ballads. One of the highlights of the show was a two-song mini-set of the ballads To.My Love and Then, Now, and Forever, where Yonghwa played piano and sang. After the conclusion of both songs the audience was rapturously silent for several seconds absorbing the sheer emotional beauty of his voice. 

Yonghwa also belted out all the rock songs, effortlessly hitting ululating high notes on several of the band’s most energetic songs including In My Head, I’m Sorry, and Coffee Shop. The two-month layoff seems to have done wonders for his voice as it was strong, stable, and rich. He also looked a bit less bulked up than in recent tours, also possibly due to being laid up after his knee surgery. He also wasn’t able to run around quite as vigorously as in the past, and when he jumped he favored his right leg a bit, sometimes surreptitiously hopping on one foot, and he didn’t climb on top of the piano during Radio like he usually does. But he managed to exude a huge and infectious amount of energy and enthusiasm and within two songs he had the audience screaming and jumping along with him. Any fears that his knee injury would lessen the intensity of his performance were quickly laid to rest. 

Minhyuk was alternately smiling and fierce throughout the show, holding down the beat with his steady, formidable drum skills. Jungshin strode around the stage on his long legs and provided able second vocals. Being so close to the stage I could more easily see the coordination between the band members as they hit their marks and the rapid musical changes, such as the jazzy break in Tattoo that they nailed perfectly. 

Yonghwa also showed off even more of the lead guitar chops that he’s been working on lately. He’s getting pretty good and his guitar runs are notably faster and more varied than when I saw the band live six months ago in Seoul. Their usual sideman Jung Jaepil wasn’t available for this tour, so his brilliant lead guitar was absent, but that role was ably filled by Keun Park, who remained in the shadows but whose sparkling guitar fills greatly accentuated the arrangements. Also missing was CNBLUE’s usual fifth man, session keyboardist Klozer, whose work usually fattens up their live sound, but in the smaller and more intimate venues, with a more rock-based setlist, it wasn’t that critical. The three main members were easily able to fill up the hall with their presence and with their musical skills.

The setlist was a streamlined version of the concert that I saw back in Seoul last September, with fully six songs absent (Face To Face, Y Why, Feeling, Have A Good Night, Let Me Know, and Blue Stars), so the show roared along at top speed. The smaller venue also meant that steam jets replaced the firepots from their arena shows, but there were still confetti guns shooting out shredded paper bits at strategic moments. Despite the snafus getting into the venue the show turned out just fine, as CNBLUE performed with their usual skill and intensity, and everyone went home happy and satisfied.

Los Angeles

The word for the show in Los Angeles is energetic.

Unlike his styling in New York, where his hair was wild and curly, in LA Yonghwa had his hair straight and slicked back and he wore a black leather jacket and black trousers. It was a much slinkier, glamourous look than New York, where he seemed to be harkening back to The Ramones in his black t-shirt and jeans. Jungshin and Minhyuk also wore basic black.

Interestingly, during the sound check session, a short, three-song set for those audience members paying extra, Yonghwa wore loose Carhartt shorts which revealed the analgesic patches on his right knee. During the show he also stumbled slightly at one point toward the end of the set and needed a bit of a hand getting up off the stage after sitting down for the photo session. But other than that he didn’t seem too hampered by his recent knee surgery as he studiously avoided overly strenuous jumping and running. I think for most of the audience who might have been unaware of his recent injury he didn’t seem to be bothered at all and appeared to be his usual energetic self.

Yonghwa also repeated a version of the same ments as he had in New York, but he did it with such sincerity that it seemed very naturalistic. The man is a born entertainer, not least in his ability to convincingly deliver his lines night after night. As with the New York show, he kept up his running dialog with the audience almost exclusively in English, with a bit of Korean thrown in. He also expounded on his love for tacos, which he’d also eaten in New York. I hope someone takes him on a taco crawl through Boyle Heights the next time he’s here so he can have some real Mexican food. Yonghwa also threw out a few random Spanish phrases like “Te Amo” and “Hola!” He also dropped more slang, at various points in the show randomly shouting phrases like “Awesome!” “Bussin!” “Slay!” “Periodt!”and “Facts!” and at one point claimed “I am a language genius.” He also continued his swearing streak, at one point shouting “Make some fucking noise!” to the delight of the audience. Once again his jumping was much more restrained than usual, restricted to a few modest hops and spins. But that isn’t to say that he was standing still, as he was in constant motion during the entire show, whether dancing, swaying, tossing his mic, or waving his arms, as well as playing guitar or piano. 

The sound was also a bit cleaner and much louder than in New York–I could feel the bass drum speaker reverberating through my body and my ears were ringing after the show. And at least from my vantage point, the audience seemed to have more Asian members as well, probably reflecting the Southern California demographics. As in New York the band’s engaging stage presence and humorous patter quickly had fans eating out of the palm of their hands and the floor shook when the audience jumped along with the music.

The band members also seemed a bit more relaxed at this show, either getting over their jet lag or their opening-night jitters, or just getting more into the groove of the tour. For me the highlight again was the piano-focused version of Then Now and Forever. Yonghwa put every ounce of emotion into this version and after the climactic vocal descension at the bridge he seemed to struggle a bit to hold back tears. Minhyuk played most of the song with his eyes closed, and he also seemed to be feeling the strong emotions of the song.

Also outstanding was the live version of their latest title track, A Sleepless Night. The song itself is a basic groove, following a simple three-chord progression, which allows the band to embellish and elaborate over it. Jungshin’s bassline in particular was strong and supple in this song, and I loved his slowed-down finger-picking that closed out the song.

San Francisco

The word for the show in San Francisco is ecstatic. 

The concert in San Francisco was the loudest and mostest yet. CNBLUE put on a flawless three-hour show, full of high-energy, musical chops, emotion, humor, and gorgeous music. Opening up with six of their rockiest rock songs makes me think that they designed this setlist with North American audiences in mind, especially for those who might not be familiar with their more recent material. Though they made their name back in the day as kpop idols it felt like they wanted to update audiences to their more recent incarnation as a full-fledged rock band. 

Seeing three different shows in a row, it was amusing how Yonghwa’s between-song patter followed the same script with slight variations, yet he delivered it so smoothly and naturally that it felt entirely spontaneous. He’s also so comfortable in his own skin onstage that the very few mistakes he made he shrugged off easily. At one point he started to say “ten percent” when he meant “one hundred percent,” but he quickly recognized his error and laughingly corrected himself. As on the previous stops he also deployed a few f-bombs and hell yesses, which you’re definitely not gonna hear in Japan or other Asian territories. His delight in this was very evident, like a small child tasting a sweet for the first time.

Since it was the last night of the tour he and the other two members left it all out on the stage and once again their enthusiasm and love of performing was infectious, as the audience lustily sang along throughout the show. The effects were not extensive, but the confetti was strategically abundant. At one point red and blue streamers shot from cannons at the front of the stage, draping dramatically on the riggings on the Warfield’s high ceilings. Yonghwa also slightly favored his right leg again, but he still managed to dance exuberantly and hype up the crowd, especially during the last set, which included their disco classic Cinderella. The high-powered rock song Between Us, the penultimate song of the show, took off like rocket fuel while Yonghwa danced like a dervish and adlibbed ecstatic high notes and harmonies. 

During the first encore at the climax of an exuberant version of Can’t Stop Yonghwa belted out a high note that fully lasted fifteen seconds, and to be able to bust out a lengthy and stable extended high note after singing nearly twenty songs over the course of two and a half hours is a testament to his vast talents as a singer and a performer, and at that moment Yonghwa was clearly very pleased with himself. By the end of the show in San Francisco he was flying, and the audience reflected back his ecstasy. He also expressed his pleasure and satisfaction with the tour, commenting “We need to start again at Toronto, then New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco again.”

On this tour Yonghwa flexed his fluid and elastic vocals, but he’s also added in guitar solos on top of his rhythm guitar duties. As with his singing, his solos are innovative, fun, and precise. I hesitate to make the comparison but he’s approaching Prince territory in the range of his abilities, from stellar songwriting to blistering guitar work to wide-ranging, emotional, and powerful vocals, He also played the piano beautifully, danced joyfully, and projected to the balconies with ease. Jungshin on the bass effortlessly held down the beat and mixes up thumb popping, plucking, and slides up and down the frets. Kang Minhyuk as always was tireless on the drums. 

CNBLUE had a monster year last year, releasing a full-length album in Japan and a mini-album in Korea and playing more than sixty concerts, as well as their usual Korean celebrity activities, so by the end of 2024 they probably were pretty exhausted. And although the two-plus month layoff waiting for Yonghwa to recover from knee surgery may have at first seemed like a setback, in fact the enforced rest seems to have done them all well, so they entered this tour with guns blazing.

Though it’s been a long eleven years since their last shows here in the States, their return to North America went brilliantly. Judging from the rhapsodic responses of the audiences at the three shows I saw, as well as the band’s joyful delight at performing here, I don’t think it will be long before they’re back again.

May 8, 2025 at 6:30 am 2 comments