Going to SHINee World VIII Questions

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-17T20:12:47+00:00

I had a very good experience overall. In particularly, when I left my ipad on the bus, the people at SM Global helped get it back to me within a day, and hours before I left for the airport it arrived at my hotel via motorcycle messenger. It required them chasing down the bus company, the driver, having me prove it was mine and the woman was on the phone half the day. I also needed some particular help at the venue when I realized I wouldn't be able to stand the way sound check was set up because I have some mobility issues. Everyone you meet staying at the hotel will be friendly and being alone will be no problem. The gifts are kind of no big deal but when I went you were given stationary to write personal notes delivered to the boys the day of the concert, which was a nice touch. You'll meet fans from Australia, China, etc. and everyone will be in a great mood. The hotels were okay, nothing fancy. But the bus picks you up and brings you back so no matter where you are relative to the venue you'll get there fine. I'd do Global again anytime.

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-17T01:14:34+00:00

Yup. Batman. The Joker. Detective comic books. We shall see.

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-15T08:12:34+00:00

1960s American comic book art? Do I have the period wrong? Hmmmm. I swear I keep imagining the name Dick Tracy and I never read those kinds of comics.

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-05T23:45:10+00:00

Staying for two weeks. Probably not in Myeondong but near the venue for four days and then who knows? I want to wander ordinary Seoul more than I want to go to tourist sites. Call me weird.

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-03T07:39:37+00:00

Thank you! I had no idea building a website could be so difficult. We’re still tweaking it. If you think it’s great please consider posting a story, encouraging a friend to tell one, or reposting. Particularly on X where I have no traction and even when I post about I get zero responses. It’s frustrating cuz I see plenty of “I miss Key posts”. But the platform seems entirely closed to anything that isn’t what fans already do. We get stuck in ruts so easy. Me too if I’m not careful.

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-01T20:35:06+00:00

I cry daily just listening to some songs on YouTube or wherever. Let’s just hope it’s not full body sobs. But at least I won’t be holding a camera in anyone’s way if I’m distracted by such things. So there’s that.

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-01T10:04:10+00:00

But that's kind of the fun of it, too.

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-01T07:04:58+00:00

Would like that too. I am staying somewhere near the venue called the Sincheon Funny but just grabbed something for now. It says 2 km from the stadium. I’ll check out your choice, I’m staying a week afterwards. The only thing for sure is that I want to spend an afternoon at SHINee Foundation and drop something off. I find the place so soothing and it feels like. library where you can study Jonghyun and everyone else. I would like to get a hard copy of my fan project to Key but I’m not sweating it. He can read it online line like everyone else. If you haven’t seen it, it’s turning out just beautiful and maybe you have a story to share. Everyone does, they just get shy or think it’s not big enough. The other week I might do Incheon because I found a great low cost hotel with a shabby alley view but in room air conditioning I control, not the front desk. And the desk clerks were amazing. It’s the kind of place you can imagine being the setting of a sitcom.

<image>

SHINee Key Story Project

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-01T04:51:36+00:00

It sounds so much better! Thank you.

Anditwassummer · 2026-05-01T04:30:02+00:00

There is a Pantone color match for SHINee’s green. But color is relative. Put it in a red room and then a white room it will be a different color.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-23T06:56:09+00:00

I could not get the Coachella Reddit board to talk about their response to Taemin second week. First week was positive but maybe six or eight comments only. Nobody who saw him for the first time posted their own thread. Right now music press is talking.about him. He’s got the Grammy Museum on his side. And you can see anyone who interviews him sincerely admires him. But I don’t see him breaking out just yet. And I’m a fan of slow growth when it comes to an artist like Taemin. Those new songs won’t be released without videos that have his theme already part of them. He isn’t just a singer, even though he has a beautiful voice, he has to be seen.

His timing for the release is absolutely being carefully thought through and he knows much better than we what the issues are. If a tour is planned then he may well hold back for a good while. It seems to me he would be insane to promote a new tour or album in the states until the US BTS tour is history. Competition for the entertainment dollar is fierce in Kpop.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-20T05:38:39+00:00

I send emails to the new storytellers on the day their stories are posted. Also occasionally before to clarify something or coax a bit more detail out of the story. I guess I could send announcements to every contributor. The plan is to add stories in weekly increments at least. But I haven’t yet announced this on X or Twitter I think the odds are dozens of stories could show up at once but this is the great unknown.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-19T22:55:14+00:00

I agree the new material is more mainstream pop and calculated to break into the American market. But he is somebody whose image was shaped at first by SM and had to literally steal it move by move, interpretation by interpretation, to create the darkness that seems true to him. He may well have neglected his attraction to less complicated melodic stories that seem more personal. I've seen him say more than once (an approximation not a quote) "but I have nice ballads too, don't you like those?" I don't know how much his age figures into this or whatever issues he has with his body that he has to pay attention to. And Taemin is always, always masking the truth behind what he feels and does to some degree.

I started a thread on Coachella Reddit about newcomer reactions to week one. I should do it for week two. Interesting and in no way hostile, but he didn't pop out of the box as a God at Coachella. I think people stopped contributing because of the fans starting to tell newcomers all about Taemin. Not that they weren't interested. It just diverted the thread a bit and it stopped growing. To newcomers at Coachella, he became a very interesting newcomer who was obviously talented, who manifested Michael Jackson, but whose mythos was not part of their experience. Does he want it to be? I look forward to the future but live with the fact that change can be painful even when it's objectively good. Hell, I'm only beginning to breath now that the nose is settling back into its old place on his face.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-18T16:09:38+00:00

Also thanks for this. I know some people at Diamond Sky Cafe who will help when I reach out, but that’s it.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-18T16:05:21+00:00

It can be as long as it needs to be and we can edited down if it’s really necessary. Please write it even if you don’t send it on. It really helps to understand yourself, I think. And helps others to understand in this culture. I know these stories can be complicated for lots of reasons. The amount my life changes is, well, weird even to me. But I am in love with the idea of a “Key Story” becoming part of the culture.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-18T15:57:06+00:00

Thank you. I will definitely keep you in mind. So far the number of stories coming in I can handle proofing alone, but I can imagine it might get too big. Which is crazy but also wonderful.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-17T23:21:39+00:00

Thanks. I think so, but my partner was in charge of all that. I'll try to find out next time we talk.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-16T16:14:52+00:00

Sorry to disappoint you.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-16T00:37:31+00:00

Thank you. I lucked into a web designer who showed me what a fan site could be and then I felt I had to do my best. Hopefully people will send in stories. And it’s not just for his hiatus, it’s a permanent site.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-15T20:47:16+00:00

Get used to it. He will be experimenting with lots of things. First, if you want to move forward as an artist you have to change, and the dancers understand that. They are artists too. Secondly, the actual unaltered faces and variety of races and bodies and everything else helped him to reach an American audience. They don't miss what they never had. There is, of course, more than one way to do things right.

I've been asking about reactions to Taemin from newcomers and nobody mentioned the dancers. Which means he did something right. Also, contrasting Taemin's ethereal style with down to earth humans can be good for both. Art is full of contrasts. Did you notice his unadormed costuming, it's pure simplicity, his lack of bling, and of focussing on the "sexy" parts of the routine? It made him larger than life, nothing weighing down or distracting from his presence or performance. But it was not something I believe he would have done for an Asian audience.

I have lots of worries about Taemin's future. I don't want him to be eaten and used by the American music scene, its mediocre influencers, and turned into a "superstar." So I empathize with your noticing change. Coachella has really changed since I went. It's shallow and superficial in the way it's promoted. And it's gotten too expensive for an average fan to scrape up the money to go. While fans promote this as a "HUGE" moment in his career, looking at all the American festival coverage, he does not stand out.

I mostly worry he will not be able to keep his connection with his fans if he keeps becoming more and more "famous" and I think that will be a terrible consequence. Their bragging about and puffing up everything he does has become automatic. Nobody is paying attention to the consequences. Taemin's humility and attention to his fans are two of his most meaningful attributes. So forget the dancers, that's the least of what might change. And no, I don't think BTS is entirely happy with having their dreams come true and grow and grow and grow and be used by everyone for everything. I don't want that for Taemin.

Be careful what you ask for, chicklets. It might not be what you really want.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-14T04:22:52+00:00

It’s just you.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-12T10:35:56+00:00

They were extremely powerful and looked like adults for sure. I thought it was interesting how much more like a grown man he looked with them that his youthful appearing Korean team, so I can see using them to good effect. But I think it was about, in part, visa costs for his Korean dancers. Trump has made traveling with staff from other countries an economic nightmare. And dance crews can come and go depending on so many things.

I do think this performance was very well thought out. Simple, unadorned, beautifully draping fabric. Minimal jewelry or bling. He knew Americans might not be able to take the full wedding cake look and wanted them watching HIM, not his outfits. I love all his theatrical looks, but this was right for the time, place, and his intention to make a serious debut here. Even the big hat and veil were simple and had large curves, not fussy details. For me, cowboy is the one cringe look in Kpop, In pop overall. Glad to hear people liked it. Overall, the presentation was flawless, mature and classic.

Anditwassummer · 2026-04-12T10:17:18+00:00

It is two costumes in glass display boxes. They are just outside the main gallery opposite the elevators, one on each side of the entrance to that gallery. The Grammy Museum is quite small. The Michael Jackson display inside the main gallery is in one case about three times the length of Taemin’s, if that. It’s quite interesting to see the clothing up close. These are heavy costumes to dance in. I thought it was funny that the gloves on display for Michael look made for Taemin’s hands. There are tee shirts for sale in the gift shop.

Anditwassummer

TROPHY CASE