LIVE FROM NEW YORK: Fashion Night Out, A Rising Eastern God and SMTown Madness

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post of Melismatic for some breaking news...

Last Thursday was an important day in the lives of retail and fashion here in my native New York City. "Fashion Night Out" is basically an excuse to go spend lots of money in the hopes of getting 1) free swag, 2) discounts, 3) free booze, 4) free food, 5) see celebs.

So basically, it's a night out to look forward to all year long. Duh.

Imagine my intense fangirl excitement when I learn the day of that two fifths of almighty TVXQ! (the HoMin fraction) would be touching down in New York as newly appointed ambassadors to the Lacoste fashion brand and would be attending Lacoste's "Fashion Night Out". Rumors flew that there would be a live fan meeting with the two boys, not just on Thursday but potentially again today (Saturday) at the Lacoste live fashion show.

So, of course, I completely re-routed my entire "Fashion Night Out" plans in the hopes of sighting them. You may recall if you are a long time reader of this column that almost a year ago to the day (sort of), I saw in person the other three fifths of TVXQ via JYJ's first live American showcase, also here in New York. A part of me postively glowed at the idea of completing my brag-able listing of gorgeous Risen Gods of the East I've seen in person with my own eyes.

I landed amongst new found friends in a tight cluster on the street outside the Lacoste flagship store on Madison Avenue near Rockefeller Center right around 7PM. The street was already bustling because of "Fashion Night Out", and the fact that underground turned mainstream quirk act Foster the People was also set to perform at the Lacoste event. A part of me bristled that I had nothing for my gorgeous future husband and his BFF to sign, but in the end, that didn't really matter. Yunho (U-Know) arrived right around 8PM, walking to the event with this camera crew entourage from his hotel, reportedly a few blocks away. A swarm around him ignited almost immediately. There was no way to get even remotely close to him, but I am proud to say I did see his face at least (and isn't that where the money is, SM?), complete with black hipster glasses, with my very own eyeballs.

Yunho was swept up and in to the Lacoste event and disappeared from sight. A few minutes later, he came back out, again in a swirl of people and left in the opposite direction, leaving a flash stampede in his wake. While we waited for him to exit, we were inundated by bemused tourists shoppers. A few people asked if this was where Justin Bieber was expected to be (I believe he was appearing at that very moment over at Dolce & Gabbana). Even the police asked us who was inside that was creating such a frenzy.

NYPD: Who's in there?

Mel: U-Know.

NYPD: Who?

Mel: U-Know --

NYPD: {thinking he's funny} No, I don't know.

Mel: No, his name, it's U-Know. Yun-ho. He's a Korean popstar.

NYPD: {confused} Okay.

In the end, my Changmin never made it to Lacoste, and we ended up leaving shortly thereafter (there was no real reason to stick around and my feet, in stilettos all day, were literally on fire). So this leaves, just one Rising God left to be seen in the flesh. This would piss me off royally, seeing as he's my ultimate bias and all, but...

Yesterday, tickets for the SM Entertainment mixtape presentation of their flagship artists, finally making its East Coast American debut where else but MADISON SQUARE GARDEN went on sale and GUESS WHO GOT TICKETS?

If you guessed Mel of Melismatic, ding ding ding, you win! Ron, tell 'em what they win!

I snagged myself seats in Section 106 (right hand side of the stage, toward the end of the long supposed catwalk, above the floor seats which I have reason to believe would be a literal blood bath, especially for someone of my barely 5-foot tall stature even if I could get my hands on them). So, in just over a month's time, I will be seeing live and in concert:

-Kangta, the former frontman for SM's original boy band, H.O.T. (High Five Of Teenagers...yeah, I'm not joking) and current soloist
-BoA, KPOP's reigning Queen a la Britney Spears with vocal chops
-U-Know and Max of TVXQ!, description not needed

-Super Junior, my most current all-consuming obsession

-Girl's Generation, the original nine-muses
-SHINee, who's whispers are the Lucifer

-f(x), the adorable babies with serious attitude

For those of you keeping track of my KPOP addiction, that night alone will play house to the vast majority of my serious Korean pop favorites. If they had been able to throw in 2NE1, 2AM and B2ST, I probably would cease to exist from spontaneous combustion and would at least have permanently scarred vocal chords. 

Keep it locked to the blog in the weeks leading up to SMTown NYC, as I continue to mouth off and squee over the songs I hope to see performed live right in front of me. Fingers crossed that Changmin and I's eyes lock whilst performing "Before U Go", and he decides then and there he must find me, sweep me off my feet, fly me back to Korea and marry me with Yunho and all of Super Junior serving as groomsmen. I will insist on Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu also being invited, and given the circumstances, they will all make up and reunite. All of SHINee will bemoan how lucky hyung is to proclaim his love so openly and Donghae will leave the reception early to cry about how Changmin got to me first. I'll feel bad, and considering having one minor tryst with him, but instead find myself breaking up his and Min's inevitable fight over me before Changmin and I head on our honeymoon to Spain, where he will pen several gorgeous love ballads for OT5 TVXQ's upcoming big return stage, inspired by yours truly in both Korean and Japanese.

Wait...where was I? Oh right -- SMTown NYC is October 23rd. Stay tuned for more fangirl ridiculousness. Guaranteed.