Far East Movement Headlines Asian American Artist Lineup...That Included a Proposal!

Let me start off by saying that this was not your ordinary concert — out of the 8 performers, only 3 were actual singers. The very first performer, David Garibaldi, painted canvases of Lady Gaga to remixed club songs. A production team who in their own words “only make movies” garnered just as many screams from adoring fans as the main act, Far East Movement.

Even though I arrived nearly 3 hours before the start of the August 28th International Secret Agents (ISA) concert in New York City, there was already a line wrapping around Webster Hall. My friend quickly found out on Twitter that the line had started at 2 in the afternoon. Before arriving at Webster Hall, we passed a handful of kids lining up at Irving Plaza for Envy On The Coast final shows and I had thought they were fanatics. Right then, I knew that this was going to be something special.

ISA held a press conference before the show where many of the artists shared a similar story — their parents are all waiting for them to go back to college and get a “real job.”

Lydia Paek talks about juggling her career and school. Photo Credit: Joyce Lim/MTV Iggy

One artist, Lydia Paek, is in her senior year studying to be a pharmacy technician while pursuing her dream of becoming a singer and dancer. Right before the concert started, artists started to move in and out of their dressing rooms causing the VIP balcony to become a frenzy of screams. When asked where they found out about the artists, the girls I interviewed answered that they’ve only ever seen them online but they still were drawn because “they’re different, unique and something we’ve never seen before.”

The night started with a high-impact performance by David Garibaldi who painted portraits of Lady Gaga and Jay-Z to remixes by the artists themselves. The packed hall and crowded VIP area was pumped and ready to enjoy themselves but that’s when the the flow of the concert was disrupted. David Choi’s acoustic rendition of “Always Hurt” and Jennifer Chung’s lovely self-composed song “The Way You Do,” did garner quite a few “I love yous,” and Lydia Paek’s cover of “Let It Rain” was beautifully sung. However, misjudged sing-a-longs and a tempo that didn’t fit the audience caused the packed house to quiet down for the first and only time during the whole night.

Kevin Wu, Ryan Higa and Lydia Paek acted as the night’s hosts but they only served to make the night feel more and more like Korean Night at a local high school with their awkward exchanges. The show may have progressed more smoothly with the exclusion of the hosts but I’ll admit that in a way, it added more charm.

After the hosts introduced Quest Crew, they immediately launched into two choreographed songs and then they held individual solos. Mimicking a fight to Britney Spears and thrusting their hips to Lady Gaga, Quest Crew proved just why they won America’s Best Dance Crew. Just minutes after Quest Crew finished, Wong Fu Productions showed two short films and The Allergy got the most laughter with its clever method of bringing a no-smoking campaign to light. After the guys finished their speech, that’s when the sweetest moment of the concert happened. Ted Fu of Wong Fu Productions proposed to his girlfriend of many years in front of the 1200+ audience while everyone watched in disbelief.

Ted proposes!!! Photo Credit: Joyce Lim/MTV Iggy

By the time Far East Movement launched into “Like A G6″ the entire venue was shaking from the fans. Their mix of club and hip hop created an energized set with the help of a few people including…an ape during “Go Ape.” Kevin “Kev Nish” Nishimura, James “Prohgress” Roh, Jae “J-Splif” Choung and Virman “DJ Virman” Coquia got everyone from the concert on stage for their last song.

The show ended perfectly…with a shout out to MTV Iggy.

Everyone joins in for FM's last song. Photo Credit: Sunny Kim/MTV Iggy

ISA Trailer for NYC and L.A

Photo Credit: Joyce Lim/MTV Iggy