On March 24th, I went to my first K-pop concert. For those of you who don't know, K-pop stands for Korean pop. My best friend and I went to see a band called BTS (Bangtan Boys) in Newark, New Jersey, and it was nothing like I've ever experienced. This is the story of seeing my first K-pop show!
Let's start with how I got into K-pop. So, my best friend is really into South Korean culture and actively listens to a lot of different K-pop bands; BTS is her favorite. BTS consists of seven men: Rap Monster, Jimin, Jin, V, Jungkook, Suga and J-Hope. Just to give y'all an idea of how popular of a band BTS is, their latest album, Wings, charted at #1 on iTunes in twenty-six countries, topping big artists like Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Crazy, right?!
Prior to being introduced to BTS by my best friend, I never would have even known about how large of a reach K-pop had, let alone listened to it. After I learned about BTS and got into them, I realized just how contained America is in terms of media. Think of a top-charting artist right now off the top of your head. I bet you whoever you thought of was an American. Sure, English artists are popular in America, too, but odds are, you probably didn't even think about an Asian artist. That's what I mean about America being so contained; there are phenomenal artists who are right under our noses that many of us won't even hear about because of how primarily self-absorbed American media is.
Despite this apparent containment, BTS's 2017 American leg of the Wings tour is sold out at all three locations. In fact, the shows sold out in five minutes. Seriously, it was madness. My best friend warned her mom and I that getting tickets would be incredibly difficult, but I had no idea it was going to be that crazy. I remember sitting on her couch thinking about just how intense the show was going to be if buying the tickets was that frenzied. I was not disappointed.
Waiting in line for the concert, the fan-culture was present from all sides: girls holding signs with the members' faces on them, banners in Korean text and BTS merch as far as the eye could see. IT. WAS. BEAUTIFUL. Never before in my life had I ever seen people so openly into the band they were seeing. Everyone we met was very friendly and talkative, too, which is not something you often experience. I've been to plenty of concerts, but none like this. I'm accustomed to fandom and what being a fangirl entails, as I'm a member of the Supernatural fandom, but to see that same sort of mentality exist for a band, a Korean band, is incredible and fills you with awe, especially as someone who is new to the whole K-pop scene as an American.
Once we were let inside and as we waited for the show to start, my best friend and I sat at our seats. At all the shows I've been to, I've never seen people so hyped up for the performance by the band's music videos that were playing on the two screens on either side of the stage. The music was softly playing along with the videos as the crowd waited, yet everyone was loudly singing along and screaming during their favorite parts of the video when their favorite member (a.k.a. bias) would appear.
Another thing I had never seen before were the light sticks. In Korea, pop bands have a special light stick their fans bring to concerts. BTS's light stick looks like a circular, clear bomb with a lit fuse as the top. Literally everyone had one, including myself thanks to my best friend. (Thanks, Krystin!) The crowd looked like a sea of stars and it was absolutely beautiful, especially during the last few songs when everyone placed a colored bag over their "bomb" to make it look like a different color. Each section was given a certain colored bag so as a whole, the entire audience would be a rainbow.
Along with the light sticks, another thing that really amazed me was how everyone was singing along with the lyrics, which are in Korean. I've been getting into BTS, so I don't know all of the songs and lyrics by heart, but I knew enough to follow along and sing along with the crowd during some parts. It was just crazy to hear all of these people who were primarily Americans who spoke English belt out these fast and complex Korean riffs. Being in a room with that many people who destroyed the stereotype that Americans are intolerant of those who don't speak English or who speak broken, heavily accented English warmed my heart.
As Rap Monster said during one of the band's breaks in between songs, "Music and performance transcends language, countries, and races."
The members of BTS were so humble, thankful, and interactive with all of us despite the language barrier. They put on one hell of a show that I'll never forget and would love to go to again. Even if you're not into K-pop, this article is meant to encourage you to broaden your horizons. Go out and find something you love from another culture and learn. Reach across boarders and unite with others because we're all part of the human experience.
Thank you, Krystin, for helping me expand my interests and try something new. You're the best best friend anyone could ever ask for. I love you! *finger hearts*
