Last Saturday, The Inter-Asian Council (IAC) and Japanese Students International (JSI) held “An evening with David Choi,” a concert to benefit the Japanese relief effort.
After the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan this past March, the IAC decided to re-dedicate the event, which was originally going to raise awareness for Hepatitis B. The resulting concert brought around 260 students to Bloomberg to support Japan and see David Choi, singer, songwriter and YouTube star, perform.
The event raised more than $400 which will be sent to the Japanese Red Cross. All guests were given an envelope at the door for monetary donations, and JSI sold wristbands for $5. In addition, 10 percent of sales from David Choi merchandise, including T-shirts and CDs, were donated.
For $5 more than the door price of $10, audience members could buy a special meet-and-greet pass. The JSI also had a table for making cards for Japanese children. The cards will be sent to the Japanese Embassy in D.C.
“It’s all going to the Japanese Red Cross, which is one of the largest humanitarian organizations around in the region affected by the earthquake,” IAC co-president Lester Kao said.
Senior Catherine Liow was hopeful that the donations from Hopkins will help in some way. “I think it’ll help,” she said. “I’m not familiar with how the donation process is going right now. I don’t know how it’s doing at Hopkins. I do know the overall situation, that Japan’s not getting a lot of aid. I read about that. So I hope that Hopkins is a different story . . . ”
The Hopkins Octopodes opened for Choi with a performance that included popular songs such as “Bad Romance” and “Breakeven.” However, Choi was the focus of the evening, and the reason many of the audience members attended.
“I [was] really excited,” Angela Li, class of 2010, said. “I’ve been a fan of him since freshman year so it’s unreal to see him in person.”
Choi, an LA native, is the 6th most subscribed to musician on YouTube. His videos have been viewed over 85 million times and his music has been featured on NBC, MTV, VH1 and in numerous commercials overseas. Choi’s first album came out in 2008.
Choi started off with a song from his first album, “Something to Believe.” He played guitar and vocals in a laidback style, with lyrics most young people could relate to. His songs ranged from the humorous “My Company,” which is about Facebook stalking, to the bittersweet “You Were my Friend.” Although most songs in the concert were original, he also performed a cover of “Rocketeer” by Far East Movement. Choi doesn’t have a favorite song to sing, because they are all important to him for different reasons. “I don’t really have a favorite song because they all bring me back to a different person or time,” he said after the show.
Choi pulled out his iPad in the middle of the concert to take a video of the audience and post it to his Twitter account.
As expected from a YouTube artist, Choi makes extensive use of the Internet to reach out to his fans and potential audiences. Although some people bought special meet-and-greet tickets to meet him personally later, Choi lingered outside the auditorium for several minutes immediately after the concert to meet all his fans. Many chose to stick around, forming a line for Choi and the merchandise table. He was enthusiastic and patient, even sitting for multiple poses with a group of middle school girls decked out in homemade fan T-shirts. As a result, the event continued well after the advertised 8:30 p.m. end time.
“It was not planned, but Choi really wanted to meet everyone,” Lester Kao, co-president of the IAC, said of the delay.
The chance to see the musician in person was welcomed by his fans at Hopkins.
“I spend a lot of time on YouTube, so I’ve seen a lot of Choi’s videos, so it was cool to actually see him live,” senior Catherine Liow said. “It was cool to listen to some of his original stuff because I guess most of the stuff I listen to when I’m browsing YouTube [are his] covers.”
Freshman Rachel Lee also enjoyed the live performance. “I love him on YouTube, but live is always better,” she said. “I’m really excited for his last song, ‘By My Side’.”
Many of the IAC members themselves were fans of Choi’s music. “I thought it was amazing to see such a famous YouTube star on stage live, performing all these songs,” sophomore IAC member Allen Zhang said. “And it’s also nice that he’s doing this all for charity too.”
“[It was] really, really amazing,” freshman IAC board member Jasmine Wang said. “I was really excited to see him. I wish [the concert was] longer.”
The concert also broadened Choi’s fan base, at least within Hopkins. Freshman Fannie Tao heard about the event from a friend on the IAC board. She had heard of Choi before, but grew to like him after the concert. “He was really funny. He kept the audience entertained,” she said. “I’m not that big of a fan, but . . . I like him now. Before I didn’t really listen to his music.”
Choi, who chose to come to Hopkins because Kao invited him, said, “I’m always happy to help out.” Although his schedule has him travelling all over the country, he participates in benefit concerts when he has time.
“Yeah, [I perform for charity] once in a while, when I can squeeze it in,” he said.
Kao, took the lead in organizing the benefit concert, contacting Choi, taking care of logistics and delegating roles to other IAC members.
“I think it went really smoothly,” he said. Kao attributes the success of the event to early planning. He contacted Choi in Jan., and members of the IAC and JSI began planning the concert in Feb. When the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan in March, it was just a matter of switching the cause for an event that was already falling into place.
“We started planning at least in February,” Wang explained, “but then [the tsunami] happened in March, so we switched it then.”
“We wanted to switch gears to help out the people in Japan,” Kao said. “Originally [the concert was] to raise awareness of Hepatitis B, which affects Asians and Asian Americans at a higher rate.”
The audience seemed to perceive the event as well organized, despite the last-minute change of cause.
“They kept us up to date with when to check in and reminded us of when it was happening and that it was all for a great cause,” Li said.
Tao agreed. “I think this was really well organized compared to other events.”
There will continue to be more earthquake relief events on campus. Upcoming events will likely be headed by the JSI, Kao explained, since they have a stronger connection with the Japanese Red Cross.
“There are going to be other events [to benefit Japan],” Kao said, “but most of them will be spearheaded by JSI . . . They know who to contact in the Red Cross and a lot of them are native speakers [of Japanese].”
Through the benefit concert, the IAC and JSI demonstrated the capability to respond to the current needs of the international community in a timely fashion and to create a meaningful event, even though the monetary contribution of the Japan benefit concert was miniscule compared to the magnitude of the loss in Japan. “I think every little bit helps in some way, so hopefully we made a difference,” Kao said.
