Party at KCon: Concert Night Two

Here it is, the night we were all waiting for (and when I mean we, I mean me and my group of friends who are all crazy obsessed with a certain band.) Yes, we really liked the night one as more than one of us came way with a big girl crush on Amber (or a bigger one than the one we went in there with) Block B was amazeballs, But really they were just icing on the BTS cake. Yep. Tonight was the night we would be face to face (or, more often than not because of where our tickets were, face to butt) with BTS.

However, that is the end of the night and that’s not how you tell a story—lets get started shall we?

Unlike concert one, I came prepared, having used my camera sparingly at the red carpet  so to be sure that would make it through the entire night with plenty of juice in my camera. (Full photo gallery at the bottom of the post)

Cherry and I were already coming into the concert with a big high as we had the red carpet right before where we were almost face to face with BTS—which is an electric high that doesn’t just leave your system—that’s a high that’s going to leave you humming for a while. So basically our fangirl was already set to stunned.

We learned something else from the previous night and managed to get in on time so we could see all the pre-show. Which was good because they were a lot of fun. First off was a duo who played the violin and sang. While I couldn’t really pay that much attention (the BTS fangirling would just not allow me to absorb quiet and gentle music) I have since listened to some of their work and find them to be really good, someone I would check out on my own.

The next pre-performance was a taekwondo group performance which was just so freaking cool. You can see their whole performance here. I didn’t mean to record the whole thing, but once I started, it was hard to stop. Here I joked with Molly that I could now see a reason for Kcon making everyone signing waivers. Broken pieces of wood flying into the crowd might not have been the best choice. (Luckily, we were out of the shrapnel sphere so we were able to sit back and watch without a splinter-y care.) I did see someone catch a large piece and wave it around for the rest of the performance. So in that case, I say cool—free souvenir.

Then it was time for the real show to begin. Are we ready for some Monsta X?

The ladies in front of us who immediately jumped to their feet certainly were. (Although turns out they were just constant concert standers.) Monsta X is one of those bands that while I ever listen to their music they are just a lot of fun to see live. They are one of those bands whose dance moves are so sharp, so athletic, it’s just something to experience in person. Again, it’s not that I dislike their music, it’s just that with all the options out there, I never really remember they are out there. It reminds me of Vixx. Great in person but otherwise (for me) forgettable. I can say they had some great outfits, all black with some intriguing cut outs or lacings.

I’d like to think if they ever came here for a full concert I’d shell out the cash to see them. (But then again, this could be due to the fact that right now I’m really jonesing for a full Kpop concert. BigBang was in October and that was way too long ago.)

When they were shuffled off the stage, who was next? Twice! Before they came out they were opened with a mini-performance by a cheerleading team. It would have been an uhhh…okay moment like the previous nights appearance by Quincy Jones, but when Twice popped up wearing their coordinating Lakers cheerleading outfits, it all made more sense. (Or at least more sense than GFriends faux leiderhosen from the night before.) 

I hadn’t really been looking forward to Twice, but believe it or not, their performance was a lot of fun — even I found myself singing along with their Ooh Ahh song. Who knew I even knew that song?? I blame KCon immersion therapy. They were cute, perky, and full of energy. Their dance moves followed through with the cheer theme, which I give them credit for as I do love a commitment to a theme.

Though I’m not a big fan of his actual music, I was super looking forward to Eric Nam’s performance as he’s just super charming and I’m quite the sucker for that. There was the added bonus of the high probability of an Amber colab as they are good friends in real life and Amber had already announced on Instagram that she was sticking around for a surprise performance—and if that was indeed going to happen it would probably be with Eric—it just made sense. Unless they were in the midst of a giant fight over who was more adorable, and then maybe she’d pop up with Monsta X just to spite him. Hmmm…now that I’d like to see too. “I’m the adorable one!” “No, I’m the adorable one!”

As expected he was charming, he did have special guests and one of them was, in fact, Amber (guess they came to the agreement that they were both equally adorable) and we all, predictably, freaked out. One thing I have to say is—what up Amber with those mom jeans? I know you have your own unique style, but those were just unfortunate on you. However. The two of them had a lot of fun together and that was reflected in their performance and the crowds reaction.

Next? Was a group who, after seeing them on the red carpet, I as interested in finding out what they brought to the (musical) table as you don’t get a lot of duos in Kpop. Davichi. (Not Davinchi as I kept wanting to call them and Cherry kept having to correct me.)

They came out and immediately singing a song which screamed OST. (come on, you can just tell, right?) When the song came to an end they confirmed that not only was it from an OST, it was from Descendants of the Sun (I’m guessing they got an invite on the power of that alone.) These ladies were the powerhouse voices—each taking turns belting out parts of their songs. You know, the “Look what I can do” style of singing. One of them had gold glittery shoes that I loved. Made me all jelly over 1) those who can wear gold glittery shoes and 2) those who can pull off gold glittery shoes.

Another band I was interested in checking out? Astro.

Zombiemama has nothing but good fangirl-y things to say about Astro and their webdramas, and their — whatever it was that she gushed over — once she said she loved their web dramas I realized she’d gone a bit around the bend and moved on. So I needed to see what they were packing. Turns out? Astro? Not for me. If they are like the male version of an aegyo drenched girl group. Cherry says they are endearing to her as they are a lot like B1A4—and I like B1A4, right? Which means I should like Astro, right? The thought did give me pause—for a single second. However, while B1A4 may have some aegyeo to them, their music has much more dimension to it. Or maybe I’m just trying to justify my liking one over the other. I did spend a lot of time during their performance wondering as to who was who in that crazy-pants vampire webdrama they were in—but I was ultimately unsuccessful. I’m pretty comfortable saying it probably wasn’t the guy in the Mario outfit.

There was a very special performance by one of the girl groups who did a cover of Uptown Funk. Turns out I’m a fan of every version of that song. Then one of the boy groups came out and did another English cover song. I know I should be more specific, however, the entire time they were performing, I was getting my inner squeeee prepared. It went something like this “BTS IS COMING BTS IS COMING!” (Heaven help me if I’m ever able to land tickets to a full concert of theirs as I would probably die. Lean over and die. Worth it? Well, get me some tickets and lets find out!)

There was just one band between me and the guys, the Girls Generation sub-group, TiTaeSeo. They shined in coordinating red sequined outfits. The crowd went wild. Sometimes I forget just how popular Girls Generation really is. While they performed, I recognized one of their songs as the first one when they premiered as the sub group. It might actually be one of my favorites of theirs as I remember loving the old Hollywood look of the video. It was still Jessica’s birthday and she was really excited to be there and pointed out her whole family who came to see her. Let’s all together…awwwww! It was also the 9 year anniversary of Girls Generation as a group and someone within the crowd came prepared, and pink pages were passed around the crowd for us to wave at them congratulating them on their achievement. Did I wave my paper? Gah. Sorry, no.

I’m a terrible person. I should be punished. They should stop their performance in protest and leave the stage. Ahem. Yeaah. I don’t have ulterior motives here—however I did warn you—I’m a terrible person. Or a very good BTS fan.

Finally — it was time! I knew it. The crowd new it. The excitement level in the room went from excitement to full on crazy fangirl.

In the middle of the stage there was a giant hanging circle, which came down and covered the middle of the stage. However, from our vantage point, you could see down into the middle of the now open hole in the stage, which gave us an exciting sneak peek—BTS hiding in the hole. (Yes, I realize just how far I’ve sunk.)

I freaked out. The stage rose hoisting the boys into the inner circle and at that point all we could see was the shadow of their feet. Did I take a picture. Yes. Yes, I did.

It really made my imagination whirl, how must if feel to be on that stage, hearing all these people screaming and shouting…for you? It has to be an amazing experience. Oddly though, the music began and the circle didn’t rise, instead they began their performance hidden away with the exception of a camera that was in there with them, circling around, projecting it on the big screen.

Let them out!
Let them out!

Finally, they did. And it was magnificent. Unfortunately, they just moved too fast for me to get a lot of good pictures of them mid dance.

They performed Fire (squeee) Save Me (squeee x 2), Cypher 3 (wahoo) and Dope (by that time I was dead so I couldn’t tell you how it was.)

Molly and I did record the entire thing so you can check out a pretty terrible fan cams if you want to see what we saw. (Or a shakier, blurrier version of what we saw.)

Downside Sadside? You could tell — these guys were TIRED. They are crazy professional so they managed to hide it mid-set and put on an amazing performance, but during the down times when the lights were low? Sleepy bunnies. Yeah, with their schedule it is completely understandable as they had just flown in a few hours before as they’d had another performance on the other side of the world just the night before. I’m hoping that after this they got a well deserved rest, but something tells me that this is not the case.

One of my favorite non-performance moments was when, after the first performance song Hoseok (JHope) nelt down to tie his shoes. It took him a while and Rap Monster came over, patted him on his back, and turned my heart to a mushy gushy pile on the stadium floor. With this band you love the big moments in the songs, but also the little moments like this—sharing water, back pats, or Rap Mon, at the end of the concert, trying to herd the other members to the edge of the stage so they wouldn’t be in the way of the other bands coming out for their goodbyes. Rap Mon is such a dad.

The closing was cute as some of the groups had confetti fights along the stage.Amber and Eric were adorable with each other

and Jimin wandered the crowd being all… Jimin.

It was a great ending to a great night.

See you next year, KCON!