Blue Moon World Tour

Background

The tour was announced on 23 January 2013 by FNC Entertainment, with the official poster released on 28 February. This marked the band's first world live tour following their joint concert with labelmates FT Island in Los Angeles, USA in May 2012 and exclusive concert at IndigO2 in London in September 2012.

In March 2013 FNC Entertainment announced they were in negotiations for concerts in China, namely Beijing and Shanghai, Europe, North America and South America, which would make the band the first South Korean rock band to hold a world tour of this kind.

Concerts

The Australian concerts marked the first time the band performed solo in Sydney and Melbourne, also the first Korean band to do so. The tickets for the 11 May Hong Kong concert went on sale 11 March and the 7,000 tickets were sold out within five minutes. An additional show on 10 May was added and tickets went on sale on 20 March. An extra show in Malaysia was added after tickets for the Singapore concert were sold out.

The first concert of the world tour in Taipei was played to an audience of 11,000 people, where the band played 24 tracks. During a press conference held on 5 April, leader Jung Yong-hwa performed an acoustic version of his self-composed lead track "I′m Sorry" from EP Re:Blue. The two concerts in Hong Kong were played to an audience of 15,000 people, where the band celebrated Lee Jong-hyun′s birthday on the second and last day of the concerts.

The tour continued into 2014, and the year's first concert was in New York City in Times Square. It was the band's first United States solo concert and their first concert on the East Coast. The 21 January date coincided with a major snowstorm, and the band worried about fans waiting outside in lines. The city's DramaFever's coverage included photos, and a review that referred to the band member's participation as actors in Korean drama or k-drama for Television in South Korea, and noted Jung Yong-hwa's "flawless English." In their only pre-concert interview, with Billboard K-Town, Lee Jung-shin said that the strong chart showing and sales of EP Re:Blue gave them the opportunity for the world tour and the trip to the U.S. Jung Yong-hwa, who wore a guitar strap with an American flag design, said the band had dreamed of playing New York City for a long time and was glad it was happening. The band discussed their comparisons to America's Maroon 5 and Jason Mraz; and influences of Bruno Mars and Kings of Leon, as they are recording new music. The band had a photo shoot and interview session with the city's MTV K and did additional photo shoots in Times Square and on the Brooklyn Bridge, which were used for a teaser campaign for their fifth mini album Can't Stop. The first and second teaser photos were entitled "Before Sunset in NY" and "Before Midnight in NY."

For the second leg of their U.S. tour, the band made a return visit to Los Angeles, having done a previous concert there with F.T. Island in 2012. Their interview with Dumbfoundead aired as a special on Mnet America's show, "Danny From LA", hosted by Danny Im and Dumbfoundead. During questions and answers, Lee Jong-hyun said that the hardest part of being in a rock band was headbanging, stating "after the New York concert, my body is still aching." Kang Min-hyuk explained the meaning behind the name of the tour, that like a Blue moon which is rare to see, "we wanted this concert to be, a more special and meaningful tour." Mnet America aired an additional special of the band, "Mnet America Headliner Special #5 - CNBLUE", which referenced both U.S. concerts; with footage of the New York City snowstorm on concert day, and panel members noting the attraction of a variety of fans to the band, "ages from 12 through 79", both male and female. The panelists note the band's love of American music, their similarity to Maroon 5, and their greatest inspirations, Jon Bon Jovi and Great Britain's Eric Clapton.

The Mexico City concert was the band's first concert in Mexico, with an audience of 6,000. In an interview on 26 January, the band said that, due to their skills as musicians, they had received encouraging reviews and good sales in countries of Latin America. They said they were willing to learn more Spanish and collaborate with Spanish speaking musicians. The band spoke Spanish to the audience, Jung Yong-hwa called "Mamacitas" to them, and the audience blew soap bubbles during the song "Love Light". The band said, "We are thankful and amazed by the fact that there are fans who like our music, even though they are half the world away from us. We were impressed by their passionate response to our performance."

The concert in Lima, Peru was another first for the band. The city's newspaper, El Comercio, covered the event, documenting the growing popularity of k-pop in Peru, from JYJ's 2012 concert, thru 2013's list of shows, which included Super Junior and Kim Hyun Joong, among others. The articles cite differences with previous k-pop's scenic choreographies and CN Blue's live music, played by musicians. The band chose Peru, along with Mexico and Chile, where record sales had peaked. Local media filmed videos of fans singing the band's songs, dressed in traditional Peruvian clothing for the airport greeting, and an announcement of the band's travel plans (visits to an art museum, Government Palace, Park of the Exposition's gardens and a local restaurant). The city's k-pop internet radio station, Radio Kpopway's DJ, videoed some of the concert for YouTube. Events included a press conference and a promotional fan Meet and Greet. The concert was listed in About.com's Peru Travel section, stating that South Korean rock and pop bands were coming to Lima in increasing numbers. A late concert venue change took the concert to the busy vacation area of Costa Verde, Miraflores District, which made Lee Jong-hyun happy, as he said the beach reminded him of his birthplace city of Busan.

The last concert of the tour was 31 January 2014 in Santiago, Chile, where the band arrived in time to enjoy the Lunar New Year with traditional rice cake soup Tteokguk. This was the first solo Chilean concert for the band, who had performed in Viña del Mar in 2012 with the Music Bank World Tour. Having arrived on January 29, the band toured the capital city and took photos with some lucky fans. After the show, Lee Jong-hyun and Jung Yong-hwa posted Twitter messages of thanks to the Chilean fans, blessings for the New Year, and gratitude to all the fans who supported their World Tour.

Media

On 26 September 2013, the band released their first photo book since their debut, "Blue Travel," 180-pages (along with DVD of making), featuring the band in Sydney, one of the two Australian venues in the tour. The photos represent the members' four different styles with themes called 'Nostalgia,' 'Shelter,' 'Experience,' and 'Healing.' Preorders began on September 5, and on both September 8 and 9, the release ranked number one on Japan’s HMV and Tower Records charts and on September 9, ranked number one on Korea’s Kyobo Book Centre order chart.

On 24 February 2014, MNET America released a video documentary series, "Go! CNBLUE" with footage from the tour's concerts and behind-the-scenes in New York City, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. Lee Jung-shin narrates, with English subtitles.

On 30 April 2014, the band released videos of the tour on their official YouTube channel, with footage by individual band members. The videos are entitled "CNBLUE BLUE MOON World Tour CAM in Malaysia (Min Hyuk)","CNBLUE BLUE MOON World Tour CAM in Guangzhou (Yong Hwa)", and "CNBLUE BLUE MOON World Tour CAM in Shanghai (Jung Shin)"

On 14 May 2014, the band released another 110-page photo book of the entire 18 city tour, "CNBLUE WORLD TOUR [BLUE MOON] MAKING BOOK", including two DVDs 'Special Interview' and 'World Tour Making Film', in Korean and Japanese versions.

Personnel