“Music, action! Lights, action! Your screams, action!”

The first night of Psy‘s annual year-end concert “All Night Stand” began with a cue for the audience, and it was clear throughout the night that the fans would be an integral part to bringing the show together.

Psy, who kicked off the show with the dance track “Right Now,” walked around the specially extended stage urging people to scream louder and play harder. Performing the songs perfectly was clearly second in priority to making sure every member in the audience would be as exhausted as Psy once the night was over. 

Between songs, Psy would make sure the enthusiasm did not die down, saying things like “I always notice the groups of people who sit down right after a song is over,” or “I want you to scream with every last bit of energy you have!” His songs were always punctuated between verses with one word: “Jump!”

But all of those efforts seemed unnecessary; the 12,500 people who packed the Gymnastics Arena at Olympic Park clearly did not need any more encouragement. They roared, jumped, sang and danced with abandon, so much so that Psy tweeted after the concert that he had met “an audience who can outlast (him)” for the first time.

“It’s so loud, it almost feels like it‘s a recorded track being played,” he said to another roud of cheers.

Some major highlights came in the middle of the seventeen-song set, after Psy performed the lead track “Napal Baji” from his new album. First, as per tradition, Psy did a parody performance of girl group EXID’s megahit “Up & Down,” complete with a yellow top with breasts that spewed sparks from one side (the adajacent side malfunctutioned). Second, K-pop star Rain appeared as a surprise guest to perform three songs - “It‘s Raining,” “How to Avoid the Sun” and “Hip Song.” The crowd gave him as much love as they did to Psy, singing along to his hits.

The second half of the concert was adrenaline-packed, with Psy breaking out anthems like the Korea fight song “We Are the One,” “It’s Art” and the legendary “Gangnam Style,” as well as his other new lead single “Daddy.” When “Gangnam Style” came on, it was an amazing sight to see, with thousands of people all jumping in unison.

After the regular set, Psy stood behind a turntable and took everyone on a trip to the past with a medley of seven dance songs from the 2000s.

The three-hour concert was everything that people would expect of Psy, who is famous for his ability to excite and move a crowd. His year-end concert has established itself as one of the best Christmas parties around, so much so that Psy acknowledged “a lot of people come here not to see me, but to see what the vibe is like.”

If anyone in the crowd fell into that category, they were soon converted -- all eyes were on Psy throughout the night.

Psy‘s “All Night Stand” concert series, which sold-out all its 50,000 seats, will continue until Dec. 26. His Christmas Day concert is slated to be broadcast live through Naver’s V app.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)