Earlier this year on March 21, 2016, Got7 — the headlining K-pop boy band presently for JYP Entertainment — made their K-pop comeback with their latest extended play, a mini-album titled Flight Log: Departure. The featured song promoted with its release, “Fly,” was so popular, it earned nine first place championships across four music competition shows including M! Countdown, Music Bank, Inkigayo, and The Show. About two weeks later, the second featured song on the mini-album, “Home Run,” was released too.
The numerous first place wins on music competition shows for “Fly” and with the positive reception of the second song “Home Run,” along with the mini-album itself, is just the beginning. Got7 needs to capitalize on Flight Log: Departure through more promotion. Got7 will be participating in an international tour known as the Fly Tour. Unfortunately, they might not have their leader JB on tour. Still, Got7 will continue performing with six members.
According to earlier reports translated from Asian news outlets Pop Herald and MK Star, Im Jae Bum, better known by his stage name JB, suffered a spinal disc injury which may prevent him from participating in overseas concerts for the Fly Tour. JB found out how dire his situation was after going to the hospital after experiencing back pain during a concert rehearsal. To make sure he does not hurt himself more, JYP Entertainment made JB sit out Got7’s April 28 performance on M! Countdown and the first two stop of the Fly Tour, both taking place in Seoul. JB also had t sit out of the press conference on April 30 too.
At this moment, JYP Entertainment is doing all they can to get JB back to optimal health. From today April 29, they have about a week because Got7 will continue the first leg of their tour in Shanghai, China on May 8. Afterwards up to June 24, there will be four concerts in Osaka and Tokyo Japan, two concerts in Bangkok in Thailand, another concert in Guangzhou in China, and two concerts in Singapore. The second leg of their tour starts on July 1 in which they will perform in five cities in the United States which includes Dallas, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The Fly Tour officially ends with the third leg, a singular concert held in Hong Kong on July 30.
Got7 only having Mark, Jackson, Junior, Youngjae, BamBam, and Yugyeom perform may prove disastrous for the Fly Tour. According to Soompi, JYP Entertainment offered full refunds to those who bought tickets for the two concerts in Seoul if they choose not to participate because of JB’s absence. Initial reports possibly show that nobody refunded their tickets as the attendance for both concerts totaling 10,006 people is rated as a 100 percent attendance rate.
The same luxury cannot be guaranteed for Got7 when they perform in concerts outside of South Korea. The Chinese, Japanese, and Thai might not be as accepting to watch a concert if one of their members are missing. As for the American concerts, the possibility of a patron cancelling their tickets if JB is absent is rare to non-existent simply because K-pop concerts taking place in the United States are rarity on their own.
For now, all the K-pop community can do, especially those who identify as “I Got7” (official fan club of Got7), is wait. JB and JYP Entertainment, as mentioned earlier, still have a week which is more than enough time for JB to be healthy enough to go on tour. If not, JYP Entertainment will most-likely have a backup plan formulated by then.
[Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images]