2NE1 Minzy: I learned what love is through our concert

2NE1 [YG Entertainment]

2NE1's second mini-album has probably meant more to the girl group than being just another release. They promoted most of the songs from it including "Don't Cry," "Lonely," "I am the Best," "Hate You" and "Ugly" and all of them placed No. 1 on music charts. Hence their concert held in Seoul from August 26 to 28 marked the end, as well as the climax, to their record-breaking activities. Their concerts were sold out and 2NE1 poured their all into the two-hour long shows where they sang all of their songs. Below are excerpts from the press conference after the last show on the last day of their first-ever concert.

<#10_QMARK#> How does it feel having held your first concert since your debut?
CL: We worked on our weaknesses up until the last day of the concert by changing the order of our performances so we were extremely busy the whole time. That's why I'm sad to see that it's over but I've realized that concerts really are a lot of fun. Sandara was on the verge of crying before the first show. (laugh)
Sandara Park: I was so overcome with emotion that I choked up. And I don't know why but I shed some tears as well. Today was the last day of our show as well as the last day we're promoting our second album so I really choked up with emotion.
Minzy: Getting to communicate with many people through our shows was just great in itself and I felt a lot of energy. I think I learned what love is through our concert.

<#10_QMARK#> Love? (laughs)
Minzy: I think I came to feel what the love is between a fan and a singer by receiving the emotions they expressed toward me at the concert. (laugh)
CL: Although we've lost our voices and we had a tough time physically, we realized that a lot of people work really hard for the four of us. We're very grateful about that and I think it's important that we worked harder even because of that.

“I liked how we could look at each and everyone's response.”

2NE1's CL (left) and Park Bom [YG Entertainment]

<#10_QMARK#> Now that you have experience preparing for concerts, what do you think is the difference between performing for those versus on television?
CL: We try to act as freely as we can when we're on television but we have even more freedom for concerts. I realized that this is why singers want to sing.
Sandara Park: On music programs, you can't help yourself from trying to look pretty all the time since you're on camera. (laugh) But I liked our concert because I could just sing and jump about as I please. I thought I wouldn't be able to jump about for two whole hours because I'm not strong enough to (laugh) but we managed to pull it off so I now know how important our fans' energy is.

<#10_QMARK#> The Olympic Hall that you performed at is a medium-sized concert hall. Don't you want to perform at a bigger venue?
CL: I personally think this it was the right size for us. I really liked how I could look at each and everyone's response during the concert. I don't think it would be good to perform at a venue that's too big because the bigger the venue, the more difficult it gets to keep in tune with the audience and I'm sure the audience too are there to listen to us and feel our music. I think it worked for us perfectly.

<#10_QMARK#> What did your producer Yang Hyuk-suk say of your shows?
CL: We were very busy the first day because we changed about the order of our concert a lot but from the second day on, he told us we worked hard. Does that mean we did well? (laugh) So I told myself I'll just have fun today. Plus Ji-yong (G-Dragon) came to our show all three days and Teddy came as well. We used to be the ones that go to watch other people's concerts so it felt different seeing the YG Family come see our show.

<#10_QMARK#> Park Bom, your cellist sister participated in the concert as well.
Park Bom: This is the first time we did something like this and I was worried our performances wouldn't go well together. But we ended up working well together and I personally think it was a good opportunity. I almost cried during our performance.

“We will update news on ourselves wherever we are.”

2NE1's Sandara Park (left) and Minzy [YG Entertainment]

<#10_QMARK#> Your fans from overseas sent you 2.2 tons of rice ahead of your concert. Where do you plan to use it?
CL: We were told we could decide where to send it so we plan to donate it where it will be of most use after the four of us discuss on it.

<#10_QMARK#> You're set to go to Japan after the concert, right?
CL: We'll be releasing our first album in Japan and plan to hold a concert there as well which will be the exact same performance as this. This is the longest time since our debut that we've promoted an album and we performed all the songs from it at our concert. We also shot music videos for all of them. So as much as we've worked really busily, I'm happy because it feels like we've done a lot. We'll probably start thinking of what to do next while taking a break.
Sandara Park: We will update news on ourselves wherever we are since I have a me2day account so I'd like to ask my fans to wait for us. (laugh) We'll always act like we're close by, even if we're far away.

<#10_QMARK#> What's your next goal now?
CL: We showed our fans many sides to us through this album so we're worried they may be sick of what we do in our next album. That's why we want to present them with a new type of shock next time we meet with them. That's always our goal. To stun everyone. (laugh)

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