INTERNATIONAL CONCERTS
This year's international concert line-up has been mega, with plenty of mainstream, underground and nostalgic acts to catch. The year started off with a show by the popular American alternative act Imagine Dragons, who returned to Bangkok for the second time since 2015. The rock quartet brought its chart-topping singles Radioactive and Demons to play before Thai fans, as well as tunes from their recent album Evolve (2017), such as Believer, Thunder and Whatever It Takes.
Oasis frontman and Britpop icon Liam Gallagher was on a world tour to support his first solo album, entitled As You Were, and Thailand was also very fortunate to get to welcome the world-famous singer-songwriter at his concert at Bitec Bangna Hall, and sang along to his new single Wall Of Glass, as well as classic Oasis tunes like Wonderwall, Champagne Supernova and Live Forever.
After letting local fans wait for years, London electro-rockers The xx finally performed a full live set at the sold-out Thunderdome Muang Thong Thani concert. The band had recently achieved widespread critical acclaim for their album I See You.
The end of January saw Canadian lo-fi electro-popsters Homeshake make their debut show in Thailand, with local support acts including Game of Sounds and Pink Moon.
American soul singer/songwriter John Legend made his first Bangkok visit in March as part of Legend's "Darkness And Light World Tour 2018" in support of his 2016 album, which spawned hits like Love Me Now and Penthouse Floor, a collaboration with Chance The Rapper.
In April, award-winning American pop diva Katy Perry performed her second show in town, on a tour promoting her fifth album, Witness. And Thailand was a part of the Asia leg of Katy Perry's fourth world tour. The singer-songwriter wowed the local crowd that night at Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani with hits like Chained To The Rhythm, Bon Appetit and Swish Swish.
Multi-platinum-selling superstar Bruno Mars brought his "24K Magic World Tour" to Bangkok, and performed two sold-out concerts at the end of April. It was his second concert here after "The Moonshine Jungle Tour" in 2014. The singer is best known for his old-school R&B, soul and funk music, with hits like Just The Way You Are, The Lazy Song, Uptown Funk and, more recently, That's What I Like and Versace On The Floor.
It was like a dream come true for fans of One Direction as former member Harry Styles, now a solo artist, made his Bangkok debut in May. The performance was part of his "Live On Tour", in support of his self-titled debut album released last year. The heartthrob's concert was joined by opening act Warpaint, an American all-girl indie rock band known for their songs Beetles and New Song.
In July, the Grammy-nominated hip-hop star Anderson .Paak was in town with his band The Free Nationals for a concert at Voice Space, Viphavadi Rangsit Road. The rapper gained a fan base all over the globe, including in Thailand, after the release of his critically acclaimed 2016 album Malibu, which took old Motown and Stevie Wonder-style influences in a contemporary funk direction.
A few months after the tragic death of Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, the band's co-lead singer Mike Shinoda made a stop in Bangkok in August to play a show as a solo artist as part of his "The Post Traumatic Tour".
Up-and-coming English singer-songwriter Dua Lipa performed live in Bangkok on Sept 17 to the packed crowd at GMM Live House at CentralWorld. The singer won over local fans with her string of smash hits Hotter Than Hell, Blow Your Mind (Mwah), Scared To Be Lonely, New Rules and IDGAF.
In October, British pop-soul singer Sam Smith gave a smooth Bangkok debut concert at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, where the singer performed most of his well-known songs, as well as newer tunes from his second record The Thrill Of It All, which debuted atop the UK album chart and the US Billboard 200.
Concert promoter Have You Heard? satisfied music enthusiasts in the month of November with two giant projects, including a concert by the legendary Japanese indie-pop artist Cornelius, and the brand new international music event called Mahorasop Music Festival with the headliners such as Slowdive and The Vaccines.
Mark your calendar for some big international concerts coming up in Bangkok in 2019, including a show by London-based quirky pop collective Superorganism on Jan 13; Los Angeles soul quintet The Internet on Feb 21; Adam Levine and his band Maroon 5 will return to Bangkok for a fifth time on March 9; American guitar virtuoso and pop icon John Mayer will meet up with Thai fans again on April 3; legendary synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys will be in Bangkok as part of their "SuperTour" on April 4; American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz plays on May 19; and English indie-pop band The 1975 will return to Bangkok on Sept 13.
KOREAN SENSATION
2018 is indeed the year for K-pop group BTS, or Bangtan Boys. The seven-member sensation has won Top Social Artist at the Billboard Music Awards two years in a row. Their Korean-language album Love Yourself: Tear was ranked No.1 on the US Billboard 200 and US iTunes chart. In September, BTS spoke at the United Nations for the Unicef "Love Myself" campaign, which advocates against youth violence. During their world tour "Love Yourself", BTS performed at several 20,000-seat arenas as well as at New York's basketball park Citi Field, capacity 45,000. Next year, they will be the first Korean group to hold a two-day concert, at Rajamangala National Stadium on April 6 and 7. And the 80,000 tickets for the two-
Black Pink.
day performance have already sold out.
This year, the K-pop foursome sensation Black Pink has also gained wide international recognition after releasing their album Square in June. Their single Ddu-Du Ddu-Du is the most-viewed Korean music video in 24 hours on YouTube recently with more than 552 million views. Black Pink is the first K-pop girl group to put on a three-day concert -- "Black Pink 2019 World Tour [In Your Area]" from Jan 11 until 13 at Impact Arena in Thailand. Recently, the Thai member of the group, Lalisa "Lisa" Manoban, became the most-followed Thai celebrity on Instagram, with 11.6 million followers.
Throughout this year, many K-pop acts, including big names like Exo, Got 7 and Super Junior, performed in Thailand. Aside from the foremost artists, several performers came from the show Produce 101 Season 2 -- the massively successful male singing competition on music channel Mnet. After the show, many participants temporarily formed groups such as Wanna One, Nuest W, JBJ and MXM, and held meet-and-greets and concerts. Next year, these performers will return to Thailand as solo artists or with new groups. Fans must prepare a large amount of money to welcome them.
THAI TOP POP ARTIST
BNK48 and Palitchoke "Peck" Ayanaputra were still main attractions on the Thai pop-music scene in 2018. Japanese idol group BNK48's single Fortune Cookie has continually been popular since last year and became one of the most-searched-for Google terms this year. With the huge success of the group's first generation, 27 members of the second generation were selected from 94 finalists. The girls also appeared together in a documentary about the group, BNK48: Girls Don't Cry.
As for Palitchoke, this year he held his first solo concert, "Peck Palitchoke: First Date Concert", and released his first English-language single, Nobody Like You. Recently, he was awarded Best Asian Artist Thailand at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, where another Thai singer, Thanwa Boonsoongnern, aka The Toys, also won Best New Asian Artist Thailand. He performed his hit Gon Ruedoo Fon (Before The Rainy Season) at the music ceremony.
Last May, rap enthusiasts were thrilled to see two rap singing contests, Show Me The Money Thailand and The Rapper Thailand. Though these two shows had excellent receptions, the winners of the programmes haven't been able to break through into the mainstream market since the show.
The only rap song that could capture Thai hearts in 2018 was Prathet Ku Mee (What My Country's Got), sung by the group Rap Against Dictatorship, which went viral in October. The song spoke about anger and frustration toward state corruption that Thai listeners can relate to.
Led by heartthrob rocker Artiwara "Toon" Kongmalai, the show "Bodyslam Fest Wicha Tua Bao Live In Rajamangala Stadium", on Feb 9 and 10, must be the most-anticipated concert for the next year.
