MyMusicTaste provided Black Roses with an exciting opportunity as The Rose flew over to Europe to have their first ever European tour! The Rose’s Jaehyung previously mentioned how he had wanted to tour in Europe. Thanks to MyMusicTaste along with the Black Roses, him as well as his members were able to fly to Europe to tour.
Despite the group only releasing 2 singles, this didn’t stop the group from conveying their outstanding talents, from instrument playing, beatboxing and more. And thus, the concert experience begins.
As the audience area began to slowly form, The Rose’s logo flashed on stage whilst the fans anticipated the group’s entrance. When the show began, the screams from the fans filled the venue. Already, you knew who had appeared whether you were at the front or the very back of the venue. The Rose approached the stage, being greeted with screaming fans as they each grabbed their instruments preparing for their set. The resonating sounds which surrounded the venue began to play as The Rose started to perform.
For the fans who had known The Rose from even before debut, you may have recognised some familiar originals. These were showcased at the concert, such as ‘Beautiful Girl’ which has some interesting lyrics. An example would be ‘my name is Sam, and I like some ham’. Funnily enough, Woosung who goes by the name, Sammy (or Sam in this case) was questioned about his lyric choice. He responded stating that he didn’t actually like ham – How ironic!
But the Black Roses were fortunate enough to gain special renditions of some of The Rose’s unreleased tracks. Having the opportunity to gain access to unreleased tracks is always a commemorative moment as a fan, and hearing a live rendition makes it even more so personal. To list some of their unreleased tracks which were performed, there was ‘OMG’, ‘ILY’, ‘Baby’ and ‘California’.
One of the most intriguing performances which stuck out would have to be the members’ talents. Whilst it was already amazing that they had the ability to play the instruments they do so well, watching the members’ switch instruments and play each others’ topped it. The drummer, Hajoon took the guitar and presented a performance which combined his guitar skills with his beatboxing skills. It was an unexpected moment which left the fans breathless.
The loudest cheers had to go to The Rose’s official releases, such as ‘Sorry’. As the beginning of the song began to play, the audience couldn’t help get excited. As the fans came together to sing along to the song, it’s no wonder the group demonstrated success from their releases. The Rose has already been recognised, as Billboard announced the band as one of the top 5 breakout artists to watch in 2018, particularly through their song ‘Sorry’. To quote the article stated that it was “rare for rock-leaning bands to make a major K-pop impression upon debut, but The Rose’s gorgeously emotive “Sorry” was able to do that, scoring a spot on Billboard’s year-end critics’ song list and confirming themselves a multifaceted, new talent on the scene.”
Though The Rose are recognised for their two songs ‘Sorry’ and ‘Like We Used To’, they didn’t limit themselves to performing a number of covers. The covers included the likes of British artists, such as Ed Sheeran or Coldplay, or even American artists such as Bruno Mars or Pharrell Williams. For the special performances, Hajoon and Woosung performed a rendition of Zak Abel’s ‘Say Sumthin”. The song has also been famously performed by the likes of DEAN. On the other hand, Dojoon and Jaehyung performed James Bay’s ‘Scars’. Whilst Dojoon took centre stage for the performance, Jaehyung switched instruments and went for the drums.
Despite performing a number of English covers, the group also took the opportunity to perform songs from home. In particular, the group decided to cover songs from YG artists such as G-Dragon and 2NE1. Though 2NE1 has unfortunately disbanded, The Rose covered their song ‘Missing You’. The song provided a nostalgic feeling, commemorating the impact that 2NE1 has made to the K-POP community. They also provided a heartfelt rendition of G-Dragon’s ‘Untitled, 2014’.
However, it wasn’t right to end the concert without providing a special happy birthday song for Woosung. The singer’s birthday fell on the following day of the concert, on the 25th of February. But taking into account of the Korean time zone, the evening of the concert was his birthday. The fans gathered together to sing along to a special happy birthday rendition for the singer, commemorating his day of birth.
As the concert drew to an end, the group conveyed their gratitude for the fans as well as MyMusicTaste for providing them with the chance to tour in Europe. Following their thanks, The Rose announced that they would be touring the US. The Rose came together for a final picture, holding onto the British flag as the fans provided an individual performance of ‘Like We Used To Be’. The fans provided a solid attempt at the song before their struggle of trying to reciprocate the Korean lyrics, but the group couldn’t help but laugh. The concert ended with the fans and the group reuniting to perform ‘Like We Used To Be’ as one.
