Exo thrills with well-oiled 'Machine'

MAKING A SECOND visit to Thailand with, quite literally, a big bang, hugely popular Chinese-South Korean boy band Exo put on two packed, eardrum-threatening shows at Impact Arena last weekend.

The fans had counted every one of the nearly 280 days since their last visit and rewarded the group on their return with phenomenal ticket sales. All 20,000 seats for “TrueMove H presents PLANET#2 – The EXOluXion – in Bangkok” were booked online within 15 minutes of the sale announcement on May 30. Organiser SM True says that’s a record for them, even compared to last year, when the online booking lasted all of 20 minutes.

Exo has lost three of its original 12 members in the intervening nine months – Kris Wu and Luhan last October due to legal problems and Tao the previous July. But that only meant there were bigger slices of the glory cake to share among the nine remaining members. 

The reception was tremendous, with the Thai fans singing along in seemingly fluent Korean, especially on high-tempo hits like “Mama” and “Machine” and on ballads like “Christmas Day” and “Miracles in December”.

The screams were deafening throughout the three-and-a-half-hour session from an audience of mostly teenage girls, a racket that testified, along with the kids’ admirable knowledge of the Korean language, to Exo’s popularity here – and elsewhere. The boys have garnered global recognition in several categories of awards.

And it was easy to see why last weekend. Quite apart from the members’ individual talents, the robust and highly synchronised dancing so characteristic of Korean pop groups was fully augmented by the use of five cleverly arranged stage extensions, storytelling themes, good use of video technology and lighting and startling pyrotechnics. It all combined to make the show dazzlingly impressive even for those in the audience who weren’t idol-crazed teens.

The staging ensured access for the fans all around the concert hall, especially for those standing up front who paid the top price for the show – Bt4,500. Five hexagonal stage extensions connected to the main rectangular stage via a single walkway. Three giant screens, the largest in the middle flanked by smaller ones, kept track of the action, although it would have been nice if they’d carried translations of the lyrics (for those of us who hadn’t memorised the words in Korean), or even the titles of the 28 songs performed.

There was translation into Thai when the boys took breaks to chat with the fans at four different moments, ably provided by a woman joining them onstage for the purpose. And what they said in Thai drew enthusiastic responses, along with a lot more screaming. Several times during the show they promised to deliver an even better performance if the crowd would scream louder, and they got perhaps even more than they bargained for.

Performing without the need for a full band onstage, Exo relied on taped backup while Baekhyun played guitar on some of the ballads. Regardless, their dance moves were riveting in themselves, both on the main stage and the five extensions, where the audience could really get into the action. The highly athletic synchronised movements matched the highest Korean pop standards, though the boys did seem to get exhausted later on and they didn’t impress as much in their individual free dancing.

Among the tunes presented were their latest singles, “Call Me Baby” and “Love Me Right”. But “Mama” was the big finish, with the ballads “Promise” and “Angel” remaining for the encore. 

Yes, they promised to come back again, but they didn’t say when, and then they disappeared behind the curtains. It’s left to the fans – most of whom lingered on in the hall, cheering and screaming – to start counting the days again.