Usher weary, but alive for first Seoul concert
By Ines Min
Staff reporter
Saturday evening thousands of fans gathered for one man: Usher. From Korean celebrities ― including the likes of Jun Ji-hyun and Jung Woo-sung ― to American expatriates here for military service, a range of ethnicities and ages were brought together with the beats of the R&B star.
Usher gave his first performance in Seoul at the Olympic Gymnastics Stadium in Olympic Park, Saturday night, organized as part of the Hyundai Card Super Concert X series. Playing to a packed house of roughly 10,000 fans, the first half of the show saw nary a bottom touching the seats of the broad arena.
With no opening acts, the artist ― born Usher Raymond IV ― jumped straight into the show with ``Caught Up,'' inciting roars of cheers from his fans. Wearing a white tank top and pants, accented with a black leather jacket and boots, the sunglasses-clad Usher charmed audiences with his only concert in Asia.
The 31-year-old was on tour for his sixth studio album ``Raymond v. Raymond,'' which was released in March. However, staying conscious of the fans' love for classics, Usher dedicated most of the first half of his concert to older hits.
After introducing each of his band members and a quick change of clothes (this time to all white), Usher re-emerged to sing the 2008 ``Love in This Club.'' The sexy number included some closer moves with his back-up dancers, calling for loud cheers from all genders in the crowd.
Finally speaking to his fans at length, Usher kept his speech simple, with a hello to Seoul and a friendly ``How you all feeling out there today?''
``It's been a long time since I've been here, but every time I come, I want to give a show and an experience you can't forget,'' the singer said, referring to his promotional appearance in Korea back in 2004. But he guaranteed that no matter what other artist follows in his wake, ``they'll never do it like (this) again.''
The enticing words dripping with sexual undertones segued perfectly into ``Hey Daddy,'' the first single and Billboard hit from his latest album. Giving the cheering crowds a thoroughly charismatic and alluring performance, Usher also began showing signs of wear and tear, having completely drenched his shirt in sweat.
But the artist soldiered through, taking it easy with slower tracks and a moment to introduce the dancers. After singing ``U Got it Bad'' ― also from ``Raymond v. Raymond'' ― Usher finally revealed his eyes from behind his dark lenses.
Wiping his face with a towel, the tired, but still lively Usher took a handheld microphone for some human beat-box rhythms. Complemented by some sweet dance moves, the singer seemed to regain a bit of his strength, though still laggard in comparison to other performances.
Even so, his live version of ``There Goes My Baby'' was indubitably one of the best moments of the night, with an epic climax of his smooth vocals. Following up with ``She Don't Know,'' Usher chose to close out the night with the 2004 ``Yeah!''
But the crowd went wild after his disappearance from stage, with shouts of ``one more!'' and ``Uh-sher'' calling for an encore. After a few minutes, the singer reappeared with a final, monotone look: black T-shirt, pants, boots, studded suspenders and a black bowler hat.
With one last burst of energy, Usher sang ``OMG,'' getting the audience pumped up and jumping ― an action that caused the floors to reverberate and heighten the mass enthusiasm of the 10,000-plus crowd.
Although the performer was worn with fatigue and sound technicalities marred the show, Usher made sure to give as best a show as he could. For the many who were seeing the R&B artist for the first time, it was a sign that he appreciated the audience just as much as they did him.