November 9th, just 3 days after Super Junior's 8 year anniversary, Super Show 5 landed in London.
Doing my duty for Omona, here is an exclusive full report from Wembley Arena!
+ Some stuff that isn't so exclusive.
Airport eventSuper Junior being Super Junior, going to the airport on November 6th (there 8 year anniversary) was obviously an opportunity for a fan event. After all- every airport trip is an opportunity for some kind of fan service for Super Junior. Being the dumbasses they are, of course fancy dress was their service of choice.
Social Media updates:
You do know that tomorrow is Super Junior's 8th anniversary since debut, right? It wouldn't be Super Junior if we were to just pass the day. There will be an airport fashion event on day we fly to Mexico. All you guys have to do is just watch and enjoy. And so that there is no harm at the airport, please be in order and keep ELF's kind and beautiful image!
Tomorrow is 8th anniversary ^^ Mexico, London !! Super Show!! With an anticipating heart, I bought (a new bag) after 5 years. My new bag !!^^ see you at the airport tomorrow !!
Thank you ~~~ from. Sukira's passionate listeners kk Thank you for congratulating us for 8th anniversary ~~~♥
8 year anniversary ^^ Cake
The time of 8 years. There isn't anything that I am not thankful for. Fans, members, manager hyungs, and those who work for Super Junior, thank you so much. I will protect, treasure, work hard, and love. Thank you.
"Thanks to the efforts of members 8 years ago, we all have SJM. Even though we couldn't work hard together from the start, I'm glad to have your company for this 5 years. Happy SJ 8th Anniversary @/希天才 @/崔始源 @/Donghai1015 @/GameGyu88 @/haohaohyuk @/神童SD928 @/希天才"
You do know that we were able to do this because we love you guys, right? I will come back well after performing in Mexico and London! Thank you for loving us for 8 years. We will love you more too~ ELF Mansae(hurray)! Suju Mansae! We are Super Juni-or!!!!!!
Why are you like this~~
Suju, let`s continue for a long time ^^ Always Thankful and Love You!!
SJ & ELF
At the Lounge
Going overseas this time with WhyStyle passport case!
For 8th anniversary!^^ When I was a handball player in 5th grade :) on bottom row, 3rd from the left^^ It`s Donghae. I will go to Mexico and London for Super Show 5 and come back^
It's been 8 years with Super Junior, congrats congrats, and at the same time I would like to thank everyone! I've always felt a bit apologetic towards our friends who are not with us currently, but I would still like to thank them! Henry and Zhoumi have had a hard time recently as well, but for you guys to be able to hold hyung's hands and stay with us until now, thank you! And most importantly, ELF, thank you!
Thank you to reporters who came out to the airport~ and thank you to SM staffs for preparing the photowall, red carpet, and cake!!! I will go to Mexico and London for Super Show and come back
First thing's first: I was unamused to say the least that Zhou Mi had announced a week or so previously that he would not be attending due to failure to obtain a visa. By 'announced' I mean he bumped into my bezzie mate/SunshineZhouMi master and told her
(read her fanaccount btw to coo at him being a total sweetheart, before that she did catch him in the airport which is where he gave his first indication that he would not be going to London). He also said it was unlikely that Henry would be attending, but then we were told that Henry would be going to London through a seemingly reliable source.
It was then announced on 5th Nov via the organisers for Mexico that Heechul would not be attending due to an apparent schedule clash. At this point we thought Henry was coming, but then 6th rolls around and Heechul's at the airport but isn't actually going to Mexico, and Henry's in Hong Kong.
So we were kind of messed about when it came to know who was attending at who wasn't and I'm a wee bit annoyed that SM and the concert organisers didn't think to publicly announce who would not be attending, or more specifically, that Henry and Zhou Mi would not be attending (and the UK organisers just left it to the Mexican fans and Heechul to announce Heechul's non-attendance), and instead left it to Zhou Mi to inform the fans that he wouldn't be going to Mexico or London. Little things like announcing that Heechul won't be attending through a concert organiser but not bothering to announce the non-attendance of Zhou Mi and Henry make it fairly clear that SM/concert organisers still consider Henry and Zhou Mi to be guest of Super Junior and Super Show, which is incredibly irritating to the vast majority of European and American/Mexican fans. Many European fans were annoyed because, after paying £150/€200 for tickets they couldn't get the whole show/whole group over here and didn't even have the courtesy to tell us through
any official medium.
To then rub salt in the wounds, the promoters for SS5 Malaysia confirmed that Heechul will attend that stop on the tour, as will Zhou Mi and Henry who they very irritatingly referred to as 'guest stars'.
European fans tried to stay positive and expressed their disappointment through a video to Henry and Zhou Mi, which we then spammed them with in the hopes they'd respond (they didn't but the video is cute)
Members in attendance for SS5 Mexico and London: Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Siwon, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun, Siwon, Eunyuk and Kangin were also booked to Oxford University on 10th but tickets were limited so I didn't go to that. Sorry 'bout it.
Social Media Updates 
Canada kk Nice~~
Sleepy~~~~ *0*
Layover in Vancouver
To Mexico! Go go go!
Suju is behind you guys^^ Good luck in taking SAT today !! Don’t forget to eat breakfast ! :)
I didn't think this would be uploaded.. ㅠㅠ sm..... Why are you like this~~ kkk
Recently I worked too hard.....Look!
Thank you
LOVE THAT WE FEEL IS GREATER THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US
The 9th, be there or be square. Everyone please watch, the producers said we can only continue to meet everyone if we break 1million hits. CL (Chinaline) fellows are under a lot of pressure haha.
Please love "Idol True Colors" a lot kk ^_^
(Zhou Mi, Jia and Fei aired a Bora Radio Show for MBC on 9th at 10am CST their first guests were Kris and Lay of Exo M and Tasty aka more of Zhou Mi's mates. 10am CST was 2am GMT so, yeah, I didn't see it.)
the weather is cold, cold, be careful.
Goodnight! I'm going to sleep already. See you in my dreams
This was actually a video oops
First place I went after arriving to London was Apple store~~ hehe Results from using Ipad Air.. It's fast, thin, and light but there's not much difference!
London Eye~~
At the Big Ben~~~ Trying to look moody kkk Isn't this the Big Ben that was in Michael and Jane's conversation from 7th grade English text book kk Ryeowook-ee, you (have become) successful
Here's some of Donghae's instagram videos that i cba screencapping because i hate instagram:
London's Setlist
Mr. Simple
Bonamana
Super Girl (Korean Ver.)
It's You
Sexy, Free & Single
SPY
Isn't She Lovely (Kyuhyun Solo)
Drag Show!
Saturday Night by Son Dam Bi (Siwon Solo)
Loving You by S.E.S (Ryeowook Solo)
Bloom by Gain (Kangin Solo)
Ice Cream by Hyuna (Sungmin Solo)
Alone by Sistar (Siwon, Ryeowook, Kangin & Sungmin)
Hello (Donghae & Eunhyuk)
Oppa, Oppa (Donghae & Eunhyuk)
A-Oh! (Korean Ver.)
Shake it up!
Rockstar
Gray Paper (Kyuhyun & Ryeowook)
Ballad Medley:
Daydream
Bittersweet
Someday
Memories
Wonderboy
Sunny
Dancing out
So I
Sorry, Sorry
Miracle
Sapphire Blue
Marry U
Notes from the show
The reason why Super Junior has such longevity and a fanbase that remains stable and loyal through years, scandals, and albums that aren't exactly good is because they are real entertainers and excellent performers. They make you laugh, they make you smile, they make you sing along and dance and they make you feel valued as a fan. The nature of the group and their rather relaxed group image allows them to be warm and friendly with their fans; they can tease, they can make fun of themselves and each other, there is very little that they won't do, and they somehow manage to make a concert with a crowd of 10,000+ feel cozy. It was one of the most laid back and fun crowd atmospheres I've ever been in. I had a lot of unfortunate things happen through the day but my overall experience was still overwhelmingly positive because of the atmosphere, the performance, and the people I met.
Super Junior have a good approach to play with the crowd and create that happy, fun atmosphere and make the crowd feel involved in the show, rather than passively observing. They create little in-jokes they share with the fans, say adorably cheesy things, and take the time to try to learn a least parts of the language native the the country they perform in. They take the time to point out all the different flags in the crowd and thank people for travelling, they tell the Korean students and expats to be friends so they don't get lonely. They kept the crowd engaged, involved and interacted as often as possible.
They get the fans invested and keep their fans through the whole package: the personalities, the fun, the performance, that friendly, approachable aura and the illusion of closeness between them and the fans. They don't always milk the fan/idol relationship my pretending it's something it's not, but the truly, sincerely appreciate their fans, the support, and really care about what they are doing and making sure each fan leaves happy.
They must have been utterly exhausted. They performed in Mexico on the 7th, spent the 8th travelling, and landed in London at around 10am with no time to rest properly before the concert. Yet, they did not let their exhaustion show. Their smiles stayed bright, genuine and unstrained. They waved at queuing fans from the hotel windows (the Hilton is across a single lane road from the arena. Fans had been there since 7am ish? I arrived at around 1pm right in time to see Donghae waving from the 6th floor), they smiled through the night and gave all their energy and effort to ensure the fans of London left satisfied with the show.
Ever been to a concert where the performer really obviously couldn't care less about the expectations of the crowd and gave a lackluster performance? I have. I completely lost interest in that band by the end of the concert. Super Junior had every reason to not quite be on top form and yet they were playful, energetic, and exceeded my expectations. I left loving them more than I did going in. I left liking songs I really didn't like before (Rockstar, for example, is a song I hated and skipped forever but in concert, because it is such a high energy, fun song and the group perform it so well I now love it). I left with a whole new respect for members I maybe didn't appreciate so much before. I really appreciate the level of professionalism they showed, and that extended to outside of the concert too, right to how they treated the fans they bumped in to around London while sight-seeing, right up until the moment they left England, through the Oxford University event and outside of their scheduled events in the UK.
Despite missing 3 of the 5 people in the group I actually have a vested interest in, I wasn't left feeling unsatisfied or like the concert was lacking. Their absence was noted, but what I received in terms of the performance was entirely pleasing.
I feel like a few members deserve praise. Ryeowook definitely gets mad props for covering 80% of Yesung's lines, singing them perfectly without needed to imitate Yesung, and nailing his own lines as well. Ryeowook's voice has not flaws whatsoever. He then has the audacity to also be absolutely adorable going to every corner on the stage looking at, waving at and making hearts at every fan he possibly could.
Sungmin is horrendously underrated by all, imo. His voice is a lot stronger than he is given credit for and he is a fantastic performer. He has a lot of energy and really knows how to work a crowd and play with them. There was a moment in one song where he took one of Yesung's lines and I was honestly really surprised by his voice. It honestly made me realise that he hasn't had many opportunities to fully display his vocal talent he's actually pretty amazing.
Kangin is a shit lot more attractive in person than you could possibly imagine. He's also very, very sweet. Probably knowing the least amount of English in the group, he made up for it in non-verbal communication and fan service through the concert. He did seem to favour my side of the stage so I got a whole lot of Kangin, and I saw the moment where he interacted with a girl in the handicapped area and took off one of his rings, kissed it, and passed it to her.
Donghae was, without a doubt, the most amusing person on stage all night. He's really obviously been working hard on his English and it has really paid off. His stage-personality is endearing and hilarious. Similar things can be said about Kyuhyun. I am biased to hell when it comes to Kyuhyun but he was adorable, funny and sweet through the concert. He also stood out for his efforts to interact with as many fans as possible.
All in all, it was a wonderful night. There had been some bitching about the price and the missing members but every person on stage worked their hardest to ensure the concert was worth every penny spent.
PhotosThese are my photos. They aren't so great and I got bored/lost interest in taking photos after a while because I wanted to dance around.
other people's photos
Videosmy videos:
Member introductions
Isn't she lovely
Hello
Gray Paper
Intro before Oppa Oppa
Some of Sorry Sorry
Other videos:
Second talk -no one knows any words to Beatles songs and KyuWook sing Sorry Sorry AnswerSapphire Blue and a talk - If you watch for nothing watch from 3:30 ish for Donghae being hilarious.
So I intro talk
Kyuhyun's cheesey cute ending chat
(what you don't hear is that the crowd was really, really, really loud for Kyuhyun)Donghae's adorable ending speech
(Donghae was on top form all night omg I love him)Rockstar
Daydream
Miracle
Marry U
Sources:
Airport event photos: WorldWideElfs (
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,),
Ryeonggu,
Siwon's twitter,
SMTownengsub,
StarKyu,
SJBlueKingdom,
Raichanxd,
Heechul's Instagram.
Social Media updates and translations: Zhou Mi's weibo (
1,
2), Zhou Mi's twitter (
1,
2,),
Heechul's weibo, Eunhyuk's twitter (
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11), Ryeowook's twitter (
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12), Kangin's twitter (
1, 2), Donghae's twitter (
1,
2,
3,
4), Siwon's twitter (
1),
Siwon's weibo, SMTown/Super Junior Facebook&twitter (
1,
2), NKsubs (
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
16,
17,),
worldwideelfs, SunshineZhouMi (
1,
2,
3),
luvopera, shindong's instagram (
1),
Shindong's twitter,
Donghae's instagram, kpopinstagram (
1,
2) 彧 木元 (
1,
2,
3,
3)
Setlist Info (Mexico):
SuperJunior UKSS5London stuff: zoekwen,
nandemo, RWLuv1 (
1,
2, ), Maekja711 (
1,
2), adila (
1,
2,
3,
4) My youtube (
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7),
super junior facebook, AquaMarine (
1,
2,
3),
sjbluekingdom (
1,
2,
3,
4,
5),
Marmice88,
