The stage curtains fell to reveal a futuristic white car out of which jumped G-Dragon, showing again that the K-pop star doesn’t do mediocre.

The star, whose debut effort Heartbreaker clinched the title of Album of the Year at the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, drank the adulation in for a minute or so while being all cool and suave. The night then got off to a high-energy start with him performing his latest hit, “MichiGO”, followed by the lead single off his 2009 album of the same name .

The 2-hour concert on June 29 marked the first time that the charismatic leader of popular boy group Big Bang, has taken the stage alone here, even though the guys had been here a few times. And judging from the screams he garnered from the mostly-female crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore was ready to see GD, as his fans call him, shine on his own.

Mention the stage moniker of 24-year-old Kwon Ji Yong, and people either hate or love him. From his outrageous fashion choices such as his long man-skirts to his radical musical style of producing whatever genre he likes, the petite performer who is barely 170 cm tall is unapologetically extreme.

And he plays this to his advantage on stage, going all-out to display his myriad of personas – be it tough guy or sweet boy – to charm the 7000-strong audience. His 2-night stop in Singapore concludes his One Of A Kind World Tour that saw him performing in 13 cities, including Beijing and Bangkok. The tour started in Seoul on in March.

Although bereft of his band of Big Bang “brothers”, G-Dragon confidently owned the spotlight, be it by employing some heart-melting aegyo (act of cuteness) with countless pouts and winks or strutting with swag.

Just when you thought the excitement in the room couldn’t get any higher, it did with the appearance of rapper CL, leader of hip-hop girl group 2NE1. Together, the beautiful duo performed “The Leaders”, a song that originally includes producer Teddy Park as well. With CL flaunting her toned midriff in a revealing black outfit, everyone couldn’t help but have their attention diverted from G-Dragon.

But GD soon reminded them who they’d come to see, charming them with his sweet-talking ways when he turned to address the crowd.

“Did you miss me?” he said, pausing for the expected wave of sharp screams.

“Cause I really, really, really, really… missed you guys.” Generous with his cheeky grins and flirty winks, GD didn’t hesitate to reveal the side of him that has captured the hearts of countless girls. For a performer who entered the industry at a tender age of 8, mastering the tricks to wrapping the audience around your finger is perhaps to be expected.

And for this eager crowd, another side of this seasoned entertainer was soon revealed when G-Dragon broke into “Butterfly”, “Missing You”, “That XX”, and “Without You” in quick succession. All 4 songs required him to use mostly his smooth falsetto instead of his usual rapping. Given the slower tempo, he was able to relax a little and display a more gentle personality. This is a switch from the usual tough swagger he assumes on stage.

For some, like polytechnic student Angelina Tan, this is the side of G-Dragon they like the best.

“The part where there’s the guitar and he sings acoustic songs is very nice,” the 22-year-old says.

When GD asked if they were ready for “the best”, he was introducing his guests, 2NE1. They gave us their 2009 debut “Fire”, followed by the well-known “I Am The Best” and 2010 hit “Can’t Nobody”. Because 2NE1 is frequently referred to as the female Big Bang, their fun performance was a good fit with G-Dragon’s set.

With “Obsession” and “She’s Gone”, the stage was put to good use as G-Dragon had to climb up a  structure that spanned the whole height of the stage to reach a girl figurine dressed in red. For the 2 songs, he was transformed to play the part of a crazed lover. Although he didn’t face the crowd while singing, the bad boy image was enough to send pulses racing.

When time came too quickly for everyone to go, G-Dragon couldn’t let them leave before some teasing. After the last song, a pumped-up mash-up of his “Crayon” and Big Bang’s “Fantastic Baby”, the stadium was plunged into darkness for a good 5 minutes. Then a video of himself played, with messages like “Still here?” and “Get out!” on it. The disappointment of fans at the short night proved unfounded, though, as he eventually did 3 more songs – ending with a remixed “MichiGO” – but not without making them shower him with more adoring cheers in between.

“I like how with just 1 concert he can show off so many different emotions and expression,” polytechnic student Nasirah Nasrul, creator of Big Bang fan Twitter account @Bigbang_news, told UrbanWire.

“He isn’t my favourite member, but it’s still GD, you know?” enthused the 20-year-old, who has over 79,000 followers on her account.

The Dragon sure knows how to give people a good time, but to fans, this solo act is just an appetizer for when the 5 Big Bang boys will hold a concert here again  And GD knows it too, promising he’ll “be back soon with [his] brothers”. They are set to kickstart the September F1 weekend with a concert on the 20th.

And despite the great time they had, that was best thing fans had heard all night. Asked whether they would catch them despite having attended last September’s Alive Tour stop in Singapore, both Angelina and Nasirah responded with a resounding “yes!”

 

PHOTOS: YG Entertainment & ONE Production