Concert tour commemorating the release of the 20th full-length album begins in Seoul on the 23rd.
29 hit songs performed over 2 hours
“Can you sing like this when you’re my age?” jokes
Regarding the 20th full-length album, “Unfortunately it ended, but I did my best.”
Cho Yong-pil’s time goes backwards.
If you only listen to the audio of Cho Yong-pil’s performance, you might exaggerate a little and say this. As if reading the audience’s thoughts, he joked, “Can you sing like this when you’re my age?” As cheers of “Oppa” and “Big Brother” erupted from all over the audience, he smiled and said, “If there is someone at this age (who calls you Oppa), come out and see me.” As his passionate singing resonated throughout the concert hall, even middle-aged and older audience members seemed to have returned to their youth.
‘King of Singer’ Cho Yong-pil began a national tour commemorating the release of his 20th full-length album at the Case for Dome (former gymnastics stadium) in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 23rd. He returned to his fans with a new song with a youthful feel, and the song that started the performance was ‘Flame of Asia’, a song included in his 7th studio album, singing, “Young people of Asia / Let’s go together for eternal love.”
Cho Yong-pil, who came on stage wearing a purple jacket and sunglasses, sang ‘Pride’, ‘Forget-Me-Not’, ‘I Like You’, and ‘I Love You’ without stopping, along with the thick performance of the band ‘Great Birth’, with which he has been working together for a long time, with a powerful rock sound. It captivated the audience. At the Seoul concert at the end of last year, he poured out his energy generously, as if trying to make up for the disappointment of not being able to show 100% of his skills due to a cold. The detailed stage production, including dazzling laser lights, colorful videos, and fireworks exploding from time to time, also added to the attractions.
After a national tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of his debut in 2018, he stopped performing for four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has been meeting fans every year since 2022. He joked, “It’s nice to see you often these days. I usually perform in December, but this time I performed in November. Maybe I’m getting older, but I don’t like the cold.”
After 4 performances in Seoul, performances were also held in Daegu and Busan.
Cho Yong-pil seemed to have paid special attention to communication with the audience during this performance. While singing a medley of ‘Not Me’ and ‘When I Was Young’, which were not originally planned, he said, “I sang it for the first time in a long time last year, and I kept getting calls saying they wanted to hear it again, so I put it back in during rehearsal the day before yesterday.” “It gives us strength, please sing it louder as if you’re exercising,” he said, requesting that they sing along, unlike usual, and occasionally handed the microphone to the audience. Before singing “The Woman Outside the Window,” he said, About the background, “In 1979, the head of Dong-A Broadcasting’s radio station called and asked if I could sing the theme song for a drama that was to be aired on January 1, 1980, and he would like me to write a song, so I listened to ‘The Woman Outside the Window’ over the phone and wrote it down. It was. ‘Candlelight’ is a song I created in 1981 when a producer I met in a parking lot said, ‘I need to write a theme song for a drama called ‘Blessing.’”
In the new album, I sang ‘That’s Okay’ and ‘Instant’. He announced at the time of the album’s release that it would be his last album, and also said at this concert, “(The regular album) was unfortunately the 20th album, but I did my best.”
The hit song parade, which included ‘Short Hair’, ‘Come Back to Busan Port’, ‘Friend’, ‘Leopard of Kilimanjaro’, ‘I Can’t Find You’, and ‘Mona Lisa’, reached its peak with ‘Let’s Go on a Trip’, then went into silence for a while before the encore stage ‘ It continued with ‘Reunion in Memories’ and ‘Dream’. The cheers for the King of Singers as he left the stage after finishing the last song ‘Bounce’ continued for a while even after he disappeared. After completing four performances in Seoul until December 1, including this day, Cho Yong-pil will continue his tour in Daegu on the 21st and Busan on the 28th of next month.
Reporter Go Gyeong-seok kave@hankookilbo.com
The categories of this article follow the classification of media outlets.
The category an article belongs to is classified by the media company.
News organizations can classify an article into two or more categories.
* From the perspective of an aspiring musician, what key takeaways about longevity and audience connection can be learned from Cho Yong-pil’s career?
## Open-Ended Questions for Discussion:
This article reports on a recent concert performance by legendary Korean singer Cho Yong-pil. Here are some open-ended questions to spark discussion around key themes:
**Cho Yong-pil’s Career and Longevity:**
* What does it mean for an artist to remain relevant and popular across several generations, as demonstrated by Cho Yong-pil?
* What factors might contribute to such enduring success in the music industry?
* The article mentions Cho Yong-pil emphasizing communication with the audience during this concert. How important do you think audience connection is for an artist’s longevity?
**The Power of Music and Nostalgia:**
* The article mentions that Cho Yong-pil’s performance seemed to transport older audience members back to their youth. What is it about music that can evoke such strong memories and emotions?
* How might different generations interpret and connect with Cho Yong-pil’s music?
**Cho Yong-pil’s Performance and Artistic Choices:**
* Cho Yong-pil is quoted as saying that this may be his last album. What does this statement suggest about his perspective on his career and legacy?
* What artistic innovations or choices were evident in Cho Yong-pil’s performance, and how did they contribute to its impact?
**The Concert Experience:**
* How do elements like stage production, band performance, and communication with the audience contribute to the overall experience of a concert?
* What are the unique qualities of a live music experience compared to listening to recorded music?
**Impact on Korean Pop Music:**
* What influence has Cho Yong-pil had on the development of Korean pop music?
* How does his work continue to inspire and shape contemporary music in Korea?
These open-ended questions aim to encourage thoughtful discussion and analysis of the article’s content, prompting individuals to share their perspectives and explore the broader implications of Cho Yong-pil’s music and career.
