CNBlue – Live in Japan – 2014 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
CNBlue to put us into a Friday frame of mind. Much has been written about the Music scene in Korea. At the moment, it seems to be a hotbed of “Boy Bands”, going under the Kpop banner; tightly choreographed groups with slickly produced songs and music videos that fairly ooze adolescent sex appeal.
There’s also a very active Indie community in South Korea; strongly reminiscent of the more commercially successful bands in the UK (Franz Ferdinand, Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys).
CNBlue is one of the more evocative bands of the genre to come out of Korea.
The following comes via their Wikipedia page, and should you get caught up if you’re unfamiliar.
CNBLUE (Korean: 씨엔블루) is a South Korean pop rock band formed in 2009. The band consisted of Jung Yong-hwa (leader, guitar, main vocals, rap), Lee Jong-hyun (guitar, vocals), Kang Min-hyuk (drums), and Lee Jung-shin (bass). First bassist Kwon Kwang-jin left the band after they released their debut Japanese extended play Now or Never in 2009, and was replaced by Lee Jung-shin.
CN is an initialism for Code Name, while BLUE is a backronym for burning, lovely, untouchable, and emotional; it is meant to portray the images of Jong-hyun, Min-hyuk, Jung-shin, and Yong-hwa, respectively.On January 14, 2010, CNBLUE debuted in Korea with the lead single “I’m a Loner” from their first Korean EP Bluetory.
CNBLUE’s first live performance took place in Tokyo, Japan, at the entrance of Shinjuku Station in early 2009; it was one of at least 20 other bands performing in the area. By mid-June 2009, the band began to perform on the streets and in live clubs. They formally debuted on August 19, 2009 with Now or Never. The mini-album was recorded completely in English, and failed to chart on the Oricon Albums Chart. In late September, their original bassist Kwon Kwang-jin left the band and was replaced by Lee Jung-shin later that year. Their second extended play Voice was released in November. Recorded with both English and Japanese tracks, Voice peaked at number 227 and charted for two weeks. Guitarist Lee described the band’s independence in the country as “tough, but equally rewarding”.
CNBLUE held CNBLUE 8TH ANNIVERSARY FANMEETING on January 6, to celebrate their debut anniversary.
On March 5, 2018, Yonghwa enlisted for his mandatory military service.
While Yonghwa was conscribed, CNBLUE proceeded to their CNBLUE Official Fanmeeting 2018 “Boice Airline” in Nagoya, Osaka, and Kanagawa from March 8 to March 15.
Jonghyun and Jungshin headed to Thailand for “2018 LEE JONG HYUN & LEE JUNG SHIN 1ST FAN MEETING ‘J VS J’ IN BANGKOK” on May 27.
The band also held their 2018 Global Leading Lotte Hotel CNBLUE Fanmeeting in Seoul “Everlasting Promise” on June 2.
Minhyuk and Jungshin quietly enlisted for their mandatory military service on July 31.
Jonghyun also enlisted on August 7.
They released Best of CNBLUE/OUR BOOK [2011-2018] on August 29. The album contained songs from their debut in Japan in 2011.It also included the new song, Don’t Say Goodbye, which was recorded before Yonghwa’s enlistment. The music video of the latest song was uploaded on CNBLUE’s Youtube channel on July 17.
The band is expected to be back on 2020.
So between now and then, hit the play button, crank it up and check them out.
