omonatheydid | CN Blue Is First Foreign Artist to Perform in "Countdown Japan"

CN Blue has added another accomplishment on its long list of achievements for 2011. On December 28, the four-man band became the first and thus far only foreign band to perform in the prestigious Japanese annual year-end rock festival “Countdown Japan.”

CN Blue livened up the Galaxy Stage on the first day of the three-day rock fest with eight tracks from their various Japanese releases. Leader Jung Yong Hwa, also on vocals and guitar, led the crowd with a cheer and proceeded to open their performance with “Mr. KIA,” off their first major debut single, according to the recap on the “Countdown Japan” official web site.

The band continued with “Rain of Blessing,” also from the major debut release and “Illusion,” from their last indie release “392.” CN Blue then performed “Just Please,” “One Time,” “I Don’t Know Why” and“Kimio” from their earlier indie albums released in Japan. They ended their performance with “In My Head,”the title track of their major label debut.

“It is so cool to be here with dear artists. It’s a good way to spend the new year,” Jung Yong Hwa said.

Reports found it worthy to note that CN Blue sang only in pure Japanese and English, and that they were versatile in shifting their sound from rock to pop and back. “In My Head,” in particular was remarked to have been able to fuse both the rock and pop elements of CN Blue’s signature sound. A quick review also praised the complementary vocals of Jung Yong Hwa and fellow vocalist-guitarist Lee Jong Hyun, as well as the backing vocals of bassist Lee Jung Shin.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, this was really fun,” drummer Kang Min Hyuk is quoted as saying. “Let’s rock! I’m excited for next year.”

“This band is interesting,” the review on “Countdown Japan” concluded.