A lot of people came from far and wide to see BIG BANG today at Anaheim's Honda Center. Some of the people are hard core BIG BANG fans having tailgated nearly all stops in this World Tour - coming from Japan, crossing over to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and finally in the United States to see the quintet group of five perform to an American audience.

Everyone was filled with enthusiasm, with some even coming to the event venue as early as morning. The crowd began to thicken as dusk arrived. Prior to the concert, people were busy lining up and taking part in the sponsorship festivities provided by Samsung Corporation - the Galaxy SIII experience. Other people were lining up to get their hands on the elusive and exclusive ALIVE Tour merchandise.

With the 11/2 concert as the additional date for the Southern California leg of the said concert series, the crowd was treated to a wonderful preview of what's to come tomorrow, based on the outcome of tonight's concert alone. 

For this event, there was a slight delay on the start time due to having stage difficulties in the beginning, and the crowd was not let in until later. Yet, the concertgoers were patient and understanding of the situation - wanting a mishap-free experience and the safety of the performers.

As was done in previous concert stops, BIG BANG performed to tunes from their latest albums, singing to "Still Alive," "Tonight," "Hands Up," "Fantastic Baby," "Monster," among many others. They performed to a set list of more than 20 songs, proving their stamina and unending energy. They also each performed special collaboration and solo stages, much to the delight of each members' legions of followers. The five men happily gave their all and best performance, given the warmth they were receiving from the audience - who were singing with the boys throughout and even did a melodic chorus when Haru Haru was played closer to the finale. The audience was also treated to a double-encore at the end, with BIG BANG not being let in back into the backstage after the first encore as the crowd gave a deafening roar for another one.

The enthusiasm of the crowd was matched by BIG BANG's truly world class performance. YG Entertainment's band of five, G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri, has proven their versatility in their particular genre of music, as well, as guaranteed a rock-out and heartfelt performance everywhere they go. Their strengths as individual performers were also illumined throughout the event - as a group, as individuals and in collaboration. Truly, the synergy found, where the sum of powerful individual parts make up the whole, in BIG BANG's performances explain their explosive appeal. It is that unity, that uniqueness that ensures BIG BANG is still alive.

Writer: Dorothy A | Photo Credits: Honda Center, Mark Francis Photography, Dorothy A