Sunday night, SHAWOLs from around the world flocked to Chicago to spend the evening with one of the most beloved groups in K-Pop, SHINee.
Filling the Rosemont Theater with excited energy, fans of SM Entertainment's most beloved quintuplet jumped to their feet as SHINee took to the stage. Opening the evening's event with "Everybody," the entire audience sang along as light sticks waved and balloons bobbed to the music.
After a quick costume change, SHINee was back, to formally introduce themselves and express their joy in being able to spend this evening getting to know their U.S. fans. As the theater rang with the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd, there was no way anyone in the room could doubt the fans' excitement at being able to be a part of SHINee's very first U.S. fanmeeting.
As if the love fans had for their beloved SHINee couldn't already be felt throughout the theater, the evening's coordinator, SubKulture Entertainment, had gathered videos submitted by fans from across the globe, compiling them into a touching video that perfectly expressed the love, gratitude and well-wishes felt by every SHAWOL in the room. Touched by the video, SHINee was quick to return the love, thanking their fans for all the support they'd received over the years.
From there SHINee was back on their feet to perform "Hello," and the audience was more than happy to sing and dance along.
Settling themselves in for a little Q&A time, SHINee graciously answered a handful of questions which SubKulture had collected from fans, prior to the meet. Among the questions asked, Jonghyun being forced to decide which member he would most like to work with as a sub-unit was one of the more memorable. Stumbling his way through an answer he couldn't quite come up with, he admitted this was one of the most difficult questions he'd ever been asked. Ultimately he decided he would like to work with both Onew and Key, an answer wholeheartedly approved of by the audience.
With the questions answered, it was time for a little fan interaction. Escorting 20 lucky fans on-stage, the chosen few were divided into groups of 4 and each group was assigned a number. Drawing blindly from a box, each member of SHINee pulled out a numbered ball which correlated to 5 teams of fans. With each team set, a heated game of charades ensued, with the boys acting out various animals, objects, occupations, movies and instruments while their teammates tried to guess what it was their actor was trying to convey. In a very close match, Taemin's team proved victorious, scoring 12 points while Jonghyun and Key's teams scored 10 and Minho and Onew's teams each scored 9. As punishment for losing, Minho and Onew were forced to demonstrate their aegyo while Key, Taemin and Jonghyun plopped down on the floor of the stage, eager to watch this rare performance. It wasn't long before both SHINee and the audience was rolling with laughter as Onew and Minho attempted to win over the heart of an angry "girlfriend" with their cute charms.
Wrapping up the time set aside for chatting with their fans, SHINee disappeared backstage for another costume change while the audience enjoyed a montage of video clips filmed during last year's SHINee World Tour. It wasn't long before the boys were back on stage to perform a stunning 3-song set that included fan-favorites, "Replay," "Lucifer" and "Sherlock."
A behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the "View" MV was the perfect segue into the group's final performance of the evening. Stopping hearts and stealing breath, SHINee wrapped up the evening with an extraordinary performance of "View."
With nothing left to do but express their love and gratitude to their fans, SHINee gave their final farewells. Waving goodbye, the boys slowly headed back stage, their hearts seeming to be almost as heavy as those in the crowd. Not wanting to say goodbye, the boys lingered on-stage as long as possible, soaking in the love poured out by their fans. With a promise to return, SHINee slowly made their way off-stage, leaving their beloved SHAWOLs with hearts full joy and a million beautiful memories. Truly, it was a night to remember.
