Event
Eric Nam WOWs the audience with grand performances to end ‘There And Back Again’ Australian tour
On September 8th, fans were lining up with excitement for Eric Nam‘s ‘There & Back Again‘ tour in Melbourne at The Forum. The lineup grew as it approached door opening time. As it hit 7:30 pm, fans were ready to get inside the hallway to see the beautiful and majestic venue where the side stairs led to the Merch area while further into the venue led to the bar, which was open for non-alcoholic drinks.
The evening began with fans chanting for the opening to begin, prompting GrentPerez and the band (Drummer Charlie and Guitarist Jack) to enter the stage like no other, embracing the cheers that were coming their way. As the band started to play, the drum set and the guitar came buzzing through the speakers, giving us a burst of vibrations. This really got the crowd going, feeling the vibe and enjoying the set list that GrentPerez have prepared.
He has a way of engaging the audience, making it super enjoyable to watch and listen to. He played with the beats of his tracks by kicking and dancing when the beat drops. It was clear that he had a wonderful time on stage. He also added many props to his stage to enhance and make the performances fun, including playing around with siren sound effects, using the megaphone to create contrast and using his mouth to make funky saxophone tunes. He even got Jack doing it along with him, as they both swung their guitars to the beat.
For down time, he talked about the tracks that he would sing, as well as interacting with the crowd so that they were ready for Eric Nam‘s presence. He even performed a track that wasn’t yet released! Overall, he had a soothing voice that paired up nicely with the band. He ended his opening act with lots of hearts and kisses to the crowd before exiting the stage.
The moment the equipment was properly set for Eric Nam‘s performance, Eric Nam‘s band entered the stage, causing immediate cheers and chants from the crowd. This allowed Eric Nam to have a grand entrance onto the stage with the song, ‘Any Other Way‘. He was embracing that Hawaii vibe as every move that he made was done with purpose, fitting with the drum beats of the band. Every time the beat hits, he made a body roll, danced to the vibe or hand played the guitar, hyping up the fans for the rest of the night.
It then naturally transitioned to the track, ‘Don’t Call Me‘ where his back-up dancers entered the stage and filled the stage with fun dance moves. They helped enlightened the vibe as Eric Nam too danced with power for the chorus. The dancers had happy facial expressions to engage the fans to dance and jump along to the beat. Finally, Eric took a break and introduced himself and welcomed the fans to his concert. He also said thank you to those “Boyfriends, parents“, etc. who had to come involuntarily to his event because someone they knew wanted to come. He talked about how this wasn’t “A Ted Talk” but he will talk about what he wanted since it was his concert, causing an eruption of laughter in the crowd. Eric was a natural on stage and knew how to get the audience’s attention.
Continuing on, Eric Nam performed another two tracks, ‘What If‘ and ‘Lost On Me‘ before he took a break and spent time interacting with the fans. He really took the time to get to know his Melbourne fans and find out who was new to his fandom and who were veterans. He was someone who could read the atmosphere and interact accordingly with how fans respond to him. Eric Nam just had this charm that is irreplaceable, making him so loveable and friendly.
For ‘Echo‘ and ‘Paradise‘, the lighting director did an amazing job of changing up the light to fit the mood of the song. Especially for ‘Paradise‘, the lighting director really brought out the paradise in the song. The beautiful contrast between the purple and the sudden use of green for the chorus really captivated everyone. Fans were surely shouting and cheering Eric and the dancers on as they moved to the beat of the track. It was an exhilarating moment to be part of. While for ‘Echo‘, the lighting by the band really draws our eyes to Eric and the band, especially since the light was much dimmer. He was in the spotlight and everyone just focused on his every move. The moment, he picked up the water bottle and started to jump with the beat, the fans were all at the moment and the water splashes that came their way were a touch of fresh air that electrified the moment. It was the moment to be at and we all didn’t want the night to end!
Now, it came to the point where everyone started to calm and so, Eric Nam whipped out a surprise and told fans that he would perform a few random acoustic tracks where guitarist Ryan would be accompanying him. The two tracks that he performed were ‘I Don’t Miss You‘ and ‘Good For You‘. Before he performed them, he taught fans some sections of the track and told them to sing along to those sections. For ‘Good For You‘, he said that there were some Korean words, making it more difficult. He went on to compliment how well Sydney went and that we can do the same!
By the end of it, Eric Nam commented that the Melbourne fans were quite attentive, really paying attention to when they needed to sing.
He marched on with ‘One Way Lover‘ and ‘Love Die Young‘, where he showed more of his dance moves. He really nailed the sexy moves with the number of body rolls he did. During the stages, he also loved to move from one end to the other so that he was able to interact with everyone. He always remembered to give waves, hand hearts and lots of love to the audience. There was also lots of interaction between the dancers and Eric Nam, making it such an enjoyable view. What was even greater was that the band was having a wonderful time on stage as they mouthed along to the words, played around with the beat and swung their guitar to the beat. There was even a part where Eric Nam asked fans to get their flashlights and engage with the song, leaving us all swaying side to side to his song as he belted and really hit those high notes. Those moments surely left us feeling the chills!
After that came the part that happens at every Eric Nam concert; that was the time to sing Happy Birthday to those who had their birthday on the day of the concert. Thus, he was able to point out some people in the crowd. Many of them were quite young, prompting Eric to say that this was one of his youngest crowds in a while that he had on tour. After naming a few in the crowd, he got everyone singing Happy Birthday along with him! Before he continued on, he mentioned how Hip Hip Hooray wasn’t a thing back at home so he asked fans what it was. This prompted the fans to chant it and teach him how to do it. Thus, he said “Hip Hip” and fans said “Hooray“. As those chants stopped, the crowd started chanting “Aussie Aussie Aussie“. Thankfully, Eric heard what it was, and let out a chuckle before he chanted “Aussie Aussie Aussie“, resulting in the fans going “Oi Oi Oi“. Then, Eric played around with those chants, getting the fans to follow along!
Before his final ment, Eric Nam had performed ‘You’re Sexy I’m Sexy‘ and ‘Honestly‘. During this final ment, he thanked the fans for taking their time to come; he mentioned how there were millions of things to do on a Wednesday, but fans have chosen to come to see him. Eric talked about how there weren’t many people like him who are doing what he is doing. He said that this is a step towards a better future. He pinky promised the crowd that he will make sure he will return as long as fans will continue to come. Eric took a photo with the crowd. A special thing that he did in every city was introduce the city and make the fans scream as loud as they can! This was filmed by their photographer before he continued with ‘Congratulations‘ and finished off the song by exiting the stage. During this moment, it allowed the band and the dancers to have their moment with the crowd before they too disappeared.
At this point, we all knew what was coming! Fans began chanting “Encore” and “Eric Nam“, which prompted the band to come back on stage! What was different is the fact that the band were wearing the Merch hoodie! Then, Eric Nam came out and was also wearing the Merch hoodie and sang ‘Wildfire‘ and ‘I Don’t Know You Anymore‘. He wrapped up the show by once again thanking the fans! He also had fans cheer for his dancers, his band, GrentPerez and those who were working behind the scenes to make this happen. Eric gave the crowd one last bow before he left the stage, ending the beautiful night.
Overall, the event was one to be at and every moment captured all of our hearts. He had a voice of an angel and it was just so beautiful to listen to in a live event. From the dancing to the singing, he brought it all onto the Melbourne stage!
Once again, thank you to Eric Nam and GrentPerez for bringing an unforgettable performance to their Melbourne fans. We would like to extend our thanks to Live Nation for giving us the opportunity to cover this event.
All Access Asia will continue to cover exclusive concerts in Australia, so stay tuned!
Written by Tracey
Photography by Cindy
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