2NE1 - Nokia Theatre - August 24, 2012

By LA Weekly Mon., Aug. 27 2012 at 7:29 AM

Timothy Norris

By Tiffanie Lee

2NE1's first international tour brought the K-pop girl group to Nokia Theatre on Friday. The show felt like a stellar girls night out, and you could tell they were feeling quite at home, too.

There's no denying that group leader CL is a star, and not just back at home. While it's true that another K-pop star PSY is hot in America right now with his song "Gangnam Style," CL is arguably the crossover messiah K-pop has been waiting for.

Timothy Norris

Still, her solo segment of the show didn't go so well. It started with a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," and later moved into Madonna. Despite all of the lasers, pyrotechnics and designer threads, it was kind of a mess.

Meanwhile, Minzy proved to be a real dark horse. When the band formed in 2009, she was merely 15, the youngest member of the group. Now, she's making 2NE1's gaggle of male dancers work for their lunch money, and her voice has improved immeasurably.

Minzy was comfortably flowing with CL or belting out notes, and sometimes bested main singer Bom, always maintaining a smirk and a waggling tongue. In fact, she and CL seemed the most comfortable on stage, particularly shining in their rap duet "Please Don't Go."

Bom, however, struggled to sustain the rich, powerful voice she's celebrated for. Still, she was redeemed in the stripped down renditions of her solo hits, "Don't Cry" and "You and I."

Though she possesses the voice of a diva, she neither looks nor acts the part. In 2NE1 she is the token absent minded cutie, but her talent is best experienced without the cacophony of euro beats and screeching from her band mates.

As for Dara, her voice is weak and delicate to the point of brittleness; she needed relentless auto tuning throughout her solo song "Kiss." Still, this former soap star in the Philippines definitely knows drama. She pranced around stage as the words "Sexy Dara" splashed across a sparkly LED screen full of kisses. It was awkward.

Jeremy Scott, widely known for styling 2NE1, outfitted the group in neon Adidas jumpsuits, replete with air-sprayed names and giant portraits of each girl. Trust that the show was worth it just for the style showcase alone.

The encore consisted of their original version of "I Don't Care" and closed with another performance of "I Am the Best." The Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am and apl.de.ap promptly stormed the stage and crashed the K-party.

Location Info

Venue

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Nokia Theatre

777 Chick Hearn Court, Los Angeles, CA

Category: Music

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2012, 2NE1, August 24, Nokia Theatre

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muchonj

I had a lot of fun at the concert! I actually am so excited for K-pop in America, its def. very popular now! And yes, they are going to be better in the near future! plus it was their first time in the sates! oh and check this out, an english version of 2NE1's "I LOVE YOU" by Radio for the People:

http://youtu.be/WFt-IvhY2mA

My2Cents

2 Like

Sometimes people think that the music industry is for strong voices only. But there are those who we listen to because their voices are soothing. Try listening to Dara singing acoustic and say that she is weak. Coz she's not, her voice is soft, delicate but not weak and brittle. Sometimes background checks are not enough especially when you're talking about a musician, a singer, a dancer, an artist, a fashion icon or whatever it is. These girls don't compete against each other, they compliment each other. They are not group together because they all belt out. They do belt out in their own ways but not the way this author thinks. They were group together coz they were balanced together. Go to 2ne1's youtube channel and look up for their performance of I Love You with the guitar genius Sungha Jung and listen to her sweet voice. If you still don't like her, who cares that you're just up against those who love her.

macquiad_xi10

@My2Cents

very well said :)

PROcrastinator100

1 Like

so, how many came for the concert?

kramirez018

@PROcrastinator100 Since jt's a sold out concert, the whole Nokia theatre was filled. So 7,100 people came just to see 2ne1.

ernest.kunitake

I think some points she makes is true Bom seems kept in place for her parts even on the facebook interview she's just on the end spacing out(100% she would have been texting if given a cell) however if you see the encore with wil.i.am she just lets loose as does Minji(check out the fan cam of her dancing right in front of the cam during the encore and when she goes to the center stage to dance you can see the back up dancer put her hands over her mouth in amazement) Sandara always comes off soft(which is why I am glad she shave the side of her head to give more of an edge to her) but she can sing good enough to almost win the star circle in the PI how is that not having a voice? CL is the total package she can dance she can sing she can freestyle rap all the girls have been through a lot and sacrificed a lot they work their asses off every practice and Blackjacks rewarded them with a SOLD OUT show at the Nokia Theater the critics can say whatever they like but they will never be able to deny sales figures

kramirez018

1 Like

I have to disagree about your review on Dara's performance. It was one of the crowd's favorite and very far from being awkward, at least from what I saw last Friday. Audience went crazy when she performed "Kiss". As for Bom, I didn't think she struggled at all. 2NE1 CONCERT WAS HUH-MAZING!!

hearty.vanessa

2 Like

Dara's voice IS delicate, but it's not weak. In fact, I love her voice. It balances the strong voices that the other girls have. In Dara's past interviews, she introduced herself as the "fresh vocalist". Also, Dara's solo act was not awkward, at least from a fan's point of view (mine). I don't see how it's awkward because we got to see Dara's sexy side, which is reeeeeeeeeeeally different.