Shinee concert in Singapore: Blackpink’s Lisa was at K-pop group's nostalgia-filled show

Swifties weren’t the only happy fans at the Singapore Sports Hub on Saturday (Mar 2) – while Taylor Swift performed at the National Stadium that evening, Shinee was at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in the afternoon for their own show for Shawols aka their fandom.

The veteran K-pop group was in town for their own tour, Shinee World VI: Perfect Illumination, their first in Singapore since 2012. Neeedless to say, it has been a long wait for their Singaporean fans.

“We grew up, and you guys (grew up, too),” Taemin said as he greeted the fans. He, along with Key and Minho, were the only members in attendance as Onew remained on hiatus.

But the trio were more than enough. The set list was tweaked to perfection as they opened with throwback songs, including Sherlock, Dream Girl, and Lucifer. As Key put it: “It’s been over 10 years. We had to remind you what Shinee was!”

And indeed, it was the best decision they could have made as Singaporean Shawols sang along fervently to the band’s old songs.

Teri, a longtime fan of 15 years, told CNA Lifestyle: “Shinee was part of our teens and it just brought me back to when I was younger. Thank you Shinee for coming back to Singapore even though it took 12 years.”

The K-pop idols certainly did not disappoint as their concert was jam-packed with intense choreography and standout vocals from all three members.

Despite being on a tight schedule, they managed to get a taste of Singapore quite literally. Key mentioned that they had chilli and pepper crab the day before the concert in their waiting room, and Minho added that his favourite was the pepper crab.

Minho and Taemin also went for a swim the day before the concert. “I was too exhausted. I couldn't do it with them,” quipped Key.

The latter was the main spokesperson for the night due to his English proficiency. As it turned out, the singer had gone to the US on an exchange programme for six weeks when he was younger, where he lived with a host family. Since then, he’s been speaking it frequently, conversing with international fans on livestreams and with English-speaking choreographers.

And then there’s the curious case of Lisa. The Blackpink star was spotted just a few days back at Changi Airport and we now know why she was here – to support Shinee.

We weren't quite sure if she did attend the Shinee concert. Did she just drop by to say "hello" to the boys before shuttling off to Taylor Swift next door (she was spotted on the second night of Swift's show), or multi-tasked and caught both shows? Either way, Lisa wasn’t the only K-pop star to lend Shinee some support.

In fact, she was accompanied by some friends, including ex-CLC member Sorn. The two are known to share a group chat with other Thai K-pop idols, such as Got7’s BamBam and NCT/WayV’s Ten. From Sorn’s Instagram stories, it seems they were seated pretty close to the stage.

During the show, it was clear that the two other Shinee members – Onew and the late Jonghyun – were not forgotten. The concert featured an animated video for the song 1 Of 1, where five figures were seen decked out in the same colours the members wore for the music video.

Nevertheless, the three members who were in Singapore filled the stage with their energy and witty comments.

As the concert drew to a close, Shinee raised their pinkies to promise fans that the next show would not take another 12 years – good news, no doubt, for Singaporean Shawols.