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| Singer-actor Lee Jun-ho performs during his concert on Aug. 14 at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium at Seoul's Olympic Park. Courtesy of JYP Entertainment |
2PM's Lee Jun-ho shows off his performing skills at 'Before Midnight' concert
By Dong Sun-hwa
Lee Jun-ho had a brilliant time in 2021 as an actor, thanks to the stellar success of his drama, "The Red Sleeve." The 32-year-old assumed the role of King Jeongjo of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty in the 17-episode historical romance series, which depicted a love story of the king and court lady Sung Deok-im ― played by actress Lee Se-young.
The series wrapped up with a 14.3-percent rating nationwide and was followed by Lee winning the Best Actor award at the prestigious Baeksang Awards this year. This is the first time that a K-pop-idol-actor has received this prize in the 58-year history of the Baeksang.
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| Singer-actor Lee Jun-ho during his concert on Aug. 14 at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium at Seoul's Olympic Park / Courtesy of JYP Entertainment |
During Sunday's show, Lee performed 16 songs in front of some 5,000 spectators. He opened the concert with uplifting songs like "So Good" and "Ice Cream," and then crooned some sentimental ballads like "Believe" and "Like a Star." The crown jewels of his show, however, was his performances of "Insane" and "Pressure" that highlighted his artistic maturity. For "Pressure," the singer appeared on stage in black, shackled in chains and sang the song in a black blindfold, visually representing the tension he was experiencing.
"Through 'Before Midnight,' I wanted to show you what my summer looks like," he said. "The first part of this concert shows my afternoon, while the last part gives a picture of my night."
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| Singer-actor Lee Jun-ho performs his song, "Pressure" during his concert that took place on Aug. 14 at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium at Seoul's Olympic Park. Courtesy of JYP Entertainment |
Since "Before Midnight" was a concert for fans Lee also spent much time casually addressing the audience. He shared how he uses his free time and talked about the behind-the-scenes stories of filming "The Red Sleeve."
"I always had a plan to hold a fan concert, but could not fix a venue for quite a long time," he said. "But luckily, me and my management company JYP Entertainment unexpectedly were able to book this place (SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium). I feel great to see so many of you here. Thanks to your glow sticks, I felt like I was a shining star when I was on stage."
Lee is scheduled to hold two more fan concerts in Tokyo on Aug. 20 and Aug. 21, more than three years after playing his last solo concert in Japan in 2018.
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