Breaking up is hard to do
There won't be a dry eye in the house when K-Otic plays its farewell concert
The much-loved pop outfit K-Otic is scheduled to say goodbye to fans with “K-Otic the Memory” on July 15 in Bangkok’s Royal Paragon Hall and while acknowledging it’s likely to be a difficult night, all five say they are not planning to cry.
In fact, they don’t want their farewell concert to be sad at all and they are planning lively set.
“We have been rehearsing,” says Pataradanai “Koen” Setsuwan, who, along with the rest of the band, dropped into The Nation’s office earlier this week. “Our show will feature lots of songs from our four albums as well as special releases from the five years we’ve been together,” he says of the two-hour concert that won’t include any guests.
The five-year-old boy band has called a two-year break, at least under the name K-Otic, as Korean-born member Jongbae Park heads back home to undertake his mandatory two-year hitch in the army.
Leader Panu “Poppy” Chiraguna is waiting to hear about a scholarship that will see him studying overseas for six months.
However, music company RS, under its teen-oriented Kamikaze label, will keep the three remaining members – Visava “Tomo” Thaiyanont, Pataradanai and Kenta Tsuchiya under contract.
“There will likely be some mixed feelings during the concert. We’ll be taking fans back to relive memories of different times during our five years,” Koen adds.
The band’s last single “Pheun “ (“Friends”), which marks their hiatus, will be one of many highlights.
Koen says RS has no immediate plans for the three remaining members and that everyone is concentrating on making the farewell concert their best show ever.
“The K-Otic brand will be preserved and not used until we are all back in Bangkok and possibly reform,” Tomo says.
Jongbae has a special message for his fans: “During my military training in Korea, I hope you guys wait for me. After that, if I have an opportunity to come back, I probably will come to see you. I’m going to miss all of you for sure. Take care. I love you and thank you for your support over the past five years.”
“Thank you for the past five years we have been together,” says Poppy. “It has been a great time, I have great memories that I shared with my fans, and I am looking forward to coming back to see all of you. The past five years have been precious memories. Everyone has been an inspiration to me, and I wish we would have another chance to meet and share memories again.”
From August 2 to 6, the five boys will travel to South Korea with 10 Thai teenagers to see Jongbae off. They say the mood is likely to be sombre on the return flight to Thailand. But their future together remains hopeful.
