Six hours back to So Cal on Mother’s Day was pretty bad and wanted to detail my m&g before I no longer understand my note so didn’t post yesterday. My sister got to see SOI in SAP, so happy she’s soon-to-be Nathan fan. Here’s a quick write-up of my 2018 SOI I finished during my late lunch so pardon any mistakes. I will share the m&g tomorrow.
I’ll start from the beginning.
A concert size crowd greeted us as we arrived outside of the venue parking, our excitement immediately exploded as we admire the long lines (yes, I want to have a great sold out for Nathan and the SOI family). As we were searching for will call office, as previously noted, Yuki appeared and we were a bit star struck when she welcomed 4 pretty rad dressed people (looks like choreographers) through the VIP door. The show didn’t start at least a quarter after ticketed starting time as people were still in line to get in by 19:20 so we were able to quickly grab some bites. Lucky us, as we were lining up Alice was also in line (what?!, doesn’t she get VIP club box cuisine delivery), my friends convinced me to just do it or I’ll beat myself up for the rest of the weekend while they suffer. I was received with a welcoming smile when I greeted her (aww), after a brief rundown of how great Nathan is (as if she didn’t know) we thanked her and mama Chen for the family support, she thanked us and said he’s happy to perform for the home crowd, very relaxed and looks forward to meet the local fans; she was quite engaging the whole time we were gushing about her brother haha sorry. Just quickly go through the rest of people we came across – Romain, Mariah and Sebatien waived back when they were spotted waiting for the VIP elevator, Cheryl Burke is beautiful and nice in person
and Arden Cho apparently was sitting near our area so we quickly said hi when she was walking out during the intermission. Based on the venue staff, the show was sold out with around 9k and the energy inside was incredible, a little to my surprise since I was expecting a semi-mellow atmosphere, instead, it was full of electric vibe from audiences of all ages. Our seats were 4 rows from the floor seating so we’re pumped to get the show started.
I LOVE the prelude, a marvelous way to open and build the audience energy. Nathan & Adam were at the very beginning, you can tell the audience wanted to cheer and start screaming but was like mmm, should we start now or too soon? haha
Then it finally came when Nathan’s name appeared on the jumbotron (the photo they chose was perfect
), the audience finally unleashed the gift aka screaming, and cheered throughout the prelude.
Raise Your Glass – I think it was perfect to have Ashley kick start the show with her sass and commanding presence. The costumes from close viewing range wasn’t bad, the vibrant colors work well with the lighting and almost made the black net unnoticeable. When Nathan came out with the other two guys, the audience was ready, teen or not teen, you can hear high pitch screaming exploded it was amazing; we the audience was officially ready for the show.
BFTE – Since Vincent started the solo segment, the crowd energy, mainly the screaming has been building but not sure when, probably when Adam finished his (and boy does he know how to amped up the screams), the seating sections from all 4 sides unconsciously formed each of our own scream team LoL really, the competition has begun and we were gamed! When Nathan was introduced as World Champion the audience reached the first peak and went crazy. I think from the first BFTE performance to this stop, he definitely added more layers and finesse to his number, the arm strokes, turns to the contour lines, unfolding before you as an artwork was just breathtaking to see it before your eyes. The choreography had a lyrical presence with a deep sensitivity to the mood of the song; really related to why we enjoyed the musician’s song before this performance. You can hear girls expressing their love and loud screams whenever he did a quad or triple jumps haha as the elders near us amusingly chuckled. When the performance was finished, even the older audience was loudly cheering him on, you can also hear lots of cheering from the men, and I knew I needed more water during intermission. Oh my friend forgot to record it because of Nathan
Shape of You – Seeing it live was pretty good even though the song and choreography still didn’t resonate with me, it was still well received by most. A fun moment for me was when M/C were on another end dancing, Ashely and he were chatting and pointing to the audience while M/Z were in character. All in all, it was a fun piece to see him in and I felt he’s comfortable with her even though she may not be cute ice dance pairing some Nathan fans wish to see, the relaxing and free spirit between them was appealing. Now I do feel that’s more important as the bonding is more vital than the matching appearance appeal.
Feel It Still – The audience LOVE this song and the boys killed it. The Cali hipster vibe is real in the venue, he looks super fine in the costumes, aside from the black rolled up sleeves this one is my favorite. We all clapped along and the men in the audience definitely enjoyed this group piece the most by far accompanied by lots of screams and some shout outs from the ladies. Nathan was doing a lil dance warmup (?) when he came out on the ice, it was so adorakable
He’s one special fella!
Nemesis – The beautiful karma this was. We had to make sure one of us didn’t forget to record this time or we’ll be crying after the show LoL The screams went off as soon as his short intro came on and spurts of love confession went on as he performed. He added more finger/hand movements to this version!! And extra open arms movements when he was facing the audience, I was lucky to be seated in one of those sections (aww, an air hug from Nathan
). From his facial expression, the music & lyric to his intense passion behind each motion as he skated across the rink was a beautiful dream you never want to wake up from. The tempo and the structure of the whole program was amazing live, it was wonderful to be soaked in that 3+ magical minutes. He was sent off with nonstop screaming
One favorite moment came after he disappeared behind the curtains, I heard some quiet whispers of compliments on this performance, and I looked around with a smiley. Yes Nathan, you are a rare diamond.
Finale – This is a great song to put an exclamation mark to a dreamy night. I was too busy following Nathan to pay attention to the performance itself, righteously so. I love our audience, I’ve been to plenty indoor concerts and this was a very loud audience and confirmation - the 4 seating areas were definitely doing scream aka loudness competition throughout the night especially the second half. I think Adam, Ashley, Nathan and Madison/Zach had fun making us compete. It was sweet bonus when he skated to our side and waves back at us aka the hyper waiving squad haha
Nathan definitely was the king of the home turf and I never thought intermission can be fun when we came across many people chatting about the performances and about Nathan. I came away with a new depth of appreciation for some skaters and we can’t wait to see them again next year (Nathan said he’ll be there – “we’re a family”). A word of advice to those who are going to the next 4 shows, bring lots of water or you’ll lose your voice after SOI.
ta ta
. 
:luv17:
: Really hope Nathan can try to speak more Chinese when interviewed by a Chinese media. Don't be shy Nathan Boi, although you are kinda camera shy anyways.
