In 2014, BIGBANG’s member Taeyang announced his first solo world tour concert “RISE”, which kickstarted in Korea in October 2014. And his journey doesn’t end there as you would already know by now that the idol continued his world tour concert in other countries, including Malaysia.
Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to be exact. And we were there!
My day officially started at 5pm when we rocked up to the stadium in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, riding on an anticipation high that gradually increased as the minutes ticked away. To be honest, I wasn’t really excited about the concert until I realised that I was only an hour odd away from finally seeing Taeyang perform live. In Malaysia. Less than 100 metres away from me. Breathing the same air. Insert-all-sorts-of-fangirly-remarks-here.
It wasn’t before long that Stadium Negara was filled with Taeyang fans and VIPs (as BIGBANG’s fans are lovingly called), judging by the amount of VIP crown sticks that filled the place. And then the chants started, as the lights slowly dimmed and the sun began to set (no pun intended). At this point, I felt like I’ve never been more excited in my life.
Well, sorta, except for the time when BIGBANG came to Malaysia as part of their “Alive GALAXY Tour” in 2012. Right on point, Taeyang opened his concert with a dance-y track off his new album, “RISE”, entitled “Body”. He later kept the momentum up by introducing one of his more popular older hits, “Superstar”, off his 2010 album, “Solar”.
A few songs later, he finally took a break from dishing out his dance moves and belting out on stage to formally greet his fans.
During the talk, he spoke about his “RISE” journey, explaining that it was something that was 4 years in the making. He also said that in those 4 years, completing the album and finally meeting his fans again on this “RISE” world tour is all he could think of. This was of course greeted by squeals and screams from adoring fans.
After which, the concert continued.
Truth be told, it became a massive “RISE” party as Taeyang performed one song after another off his new album, back-to-back. This was topped off by a “cherry on top” and a big surprise for fans when he introduced “Stay With Me”, and unveiled a large, supersized G-Dragon on the screen behind him. He then went on to sing “Good Boy”, another GDYB (acronym for “G-Dragon” and “Young Bae”) collaboration and also the song that was released under YG Entertainment’s HipHop Project.
The full tracklist is as follows:
- Body
- Superstar
- Move
- You’re my
- I Need A Girl
- Eyes, Nose, Lips
- Only Look At Me
- Wedding Dress
- This Ain’t It
- Ringa Linga
- Break Down
- 1AM
- Stay With Me
- Good Boy
- Let It Go
- Love You to Death
- Bad Boy
- Fantastic Baby
- Re-Encore
- Eyes Nose Lips
In between songs and right before the encore, Taeyang also picked out some lucky winners who’d later go home with a pair of all-white Nike Air Force 1 shoes off his feet and an official merchandise item (a white cap) off his head! Let’s not forget that he spent a few minutes jazzing up his encore by introducing the “RISE” concert entourage aka his equally talented band as well as the amazing dancers.
Last but not least, after tossing little nuggets of comedy into the mix (he pretended to climb into a hole in the raised platform on the stage), Taeyang wrapped up his first ever solo concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a repeat performance of his most recent hit ballad, “Eyes, Nose, Lips”.
A photo posted by Hype Malaysia (@hypemy) on
Needless to say, he left his fans breathless 
Fun fact: The idol returned to his hotel (JW Marriott) almost immediately after his concert at Stadium Negara, as soon as he wrapped up the “Meet & Greet” session with some lucky fans. After which, according to some Twitter fan accounts, he was seen boarding a bus with his crew. Apparently, the bus later took Taeyang and his “RISE” entourage all the way to Singapore, where he was scheduled to perform on 8th Feb (Sunday) night.
As seen in the screenshots above, yes it’s legit and Taeyang confirmed it during his concert in Singapore.
For those of you who missed the opportunity to see Taeyang live in Malaysia, well, hang in there because we hear that a BIGBANG world tour will happen soon! G-Dragon said so himself 
Also, if you want to feast your eyes on some videos from the concert, hit up our Instagram. Meanwhile, see the pictures from the 2015 TAEYANG “RISE” World Tour Concert in Malaysia here:
*Pictures from IME Productions.
For more information, visit IME Productions’ Facebook page.