Three Years of Longing, a Diva Offering Comfort Through Song

Park Jeong-hyun Solo Concert 'Jigeum' Held for Four Days at LG Arts Center Seoul
Sings 20 Songs from Debut to Upcoming Unreleased Tracks
"A Stage Filled with Memories and Longing, Hope You Found Comfort in the Songs"

Singer Park Jung-hyun. Photo by Bonbu Entertainment

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] "Over the past three years, the most frequent and intense emotion we've felt is probably longing. So, I wanted to sing songs that talk about memories and longing."

At the solo concert "Now" held on the afternoon of the 21st at the LG Arts Center Seoul in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, singer Park Jung-hyun sang her debut song "My Day (1998)" as the first song and expressed her longing for the stage she couldn't stand on and her fans during the past three years.

Behind her, dressed in a purple suit, the stage was filled with pink silver grass and a long staircase. There were no flashy performances or any effects. Only Park Jung-hyun's voice resonated purely, and the 1,300 audience members responded with cheers.

This concert was especially meaningful as it was Park Jung-hyun's first solo concert in three years since "The Road to Meet" in 2019. Following the acoustic guitar sound-highlighted "The End," Park Jung-hyun sang "Black Diary," a candid song about farewell, and confessed, "A melody kept lingering in my head, and I wondered whose song it was, but looking back, it was my own song. It’s really embarrassing, but I even forgot it was my song and kept thinking, 'Whose song was this?'"

Singer Park Jung-hyun is holding a solo concert titled 'Now' on the 22nd at the LG Arts Center Seoul in Gangseo-gu. Photo by Bonbu Entertainment

Expressing the longing of the three years when she couldn't be with the audience in a cheerful way, she continued to sing songs from the seasonal project released since early this year, such as "Connecting the Nameless Stars" and "Let's Be a Family." Park Jung-hyun also unveiled the previously unreleased song "A Word" from the last autumn album of the series mini-album (EP) for the first time on this concert stage, introducing it as "a song I worked on again after a long time with composer Hwang Sung-je and lyricist Park Chang-hak." The lyrics, "Words that I loved you, words that I was happy because of you, words that I miss you deeply," contained her affectionate feelings toward her fans.

Following a ballad that highlighted her unique voice, Park Jung-hyun arranged "Dreamer," "Lovesickness," and "Havisham's Waltz" into a powerful rock sound medley and introduced it, saying, "Fans called it a 'mad song' by adding the character for madness (狂) because they went crazy watching me sing these songs," explaining the background of the song selection.

She then lifted the mood with "Let's Be a Family" and "Flying in the Sky," elevated the audience with "By Chance" and "Connecting the Nameless Stars," and chose "Song for Me," which she recently performed as her life stage on the Netflix music variety show "Take One," as the final song, offering beautiful comfort.

"Fans loved this song so much that even though I wanted to sing it, I couldn't because it was difficult, but I chose it this time to deliver a message of comfort," she said. "I wanted to tell you that an unimaginably wonderful world is waiting, so I sang it as the last song."

Singer Park Jung-hyun is holding a solo concert titled 'Now' on the 22nd at the LG Arts Center Seoul in Gangseo-gu. Photo by Bonbu Entertainment

For the past 20 years, Park Jung-hyun has chosen "Good Country" by Poet and Village Chief as the final song of her concerts. Ending her performances with a message promising the moment to meet again, she returned to the stage in response to the audience's encore calls by singing "The Magic I Once Had" and concluded with her signature song "P.S. I Love You." "Even in the moments when you live forgetting me, I will live remembering you / I love you / I love you / Only you / Forever."

Accepting the changed world and wanting to live a better future, Park Jung-hyun clearly demonstrated her "now" as a musician through her signature songs, recently released new songs, and unreleased tracks. Her greeting to the audience, "Let's enjoy the now," landed in the hearts of the audience as a message of care and comfort after a long longing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.