One of my favorite things to do, even though I don’t do it as often, is go to concerts. They are such a fun and wonderful experience to go and enjoy, especially when your ultimate favorite artists are the ones on stage. I have been to a total of seven concerts and am hopefully planning for at least two more for this upcoming year. I have been to American concerts (or English concerts, I like to say, just because I mainly speak Spanish), Japanese rock bands, and Hispanic and K-pop concerts. I have to say that going to different concerts that are very different in style and community taught me that each genre has its own culture.Â
Personally, while I love the artists that I go see at concerts (if not, I wouldn’t pay to go see them), I prefer the K-pop concert culture. It is just so much fun and makes you feel like you are part of something bigger than just the music, in my opinion. From the start of announcing a concert or a world tour to slowly releasing information about it, locations and venues are announced, and after that is when the craziness of getting and buying tickets occurs. With all honesty, doing the online queue and obtaining tickets is the most stressful and nerve-wracking experience, no matter the concert. This, and deciding and confirming who you are going to the concert with, are the toughest pre-concert battles. But, after the stress and finally getting the tickets, it is prepping season. The concert would be months away from the moment tickets were obtained, but my sister and I would start planning mostly outfits, lightsticks, and setlists right away. For us, it is not only what to wear, as in what pieces of clothing match and go well together, but about who or what we are inspiring outfits from. Is it going to be a member of the group, our bias (the person we like the most in the group), our bias-wrecker(the person we like the second most in the group), or a meme-based outfit? Is it going to be inspired by the colors of the album or by a song? Or by a video, which means deciding between music, performance, presentation, or dance practice videos. We do a long research of what we are going to be inspired by, outfits on and then on what is needed to be created. The concert outfits are such an important part, in my opinion, of the K-pop concert community. The day of the concert is as if you walk around a fashion show with the amount of creativity and uniqueness each outfit is, and the people are always nice in complimenting each other.
The next thing on our list is always lightsticks. When I mention this and if you are not familiar with K-pop, you might think of the thin light stick that you have to bend in half for it to glow in the dark. But, in K-pop is this elaborate light that you bring to concerts in order to show support for your group, especially because every group has different lightsticks. For me, the lightstick contributes to the different identities each group has. For example, Stray Kids’ lightstick, the nachinmbong, has the words “You make Stray kids stay” engraved in the compass without direction, which represents the group being their own guide to accomplish their dreams. The words are a message to STAY, the fandom, of how grateful they are for their support. “As someone who lived without family for a long time. I’m very glad to have you guys as my family,” said Bang Chan, the leader of the group, in a concert at their last world tour.
As the concert starts approaching, we start to be more focused on the possible setlist for the concert and more aware of watching social media, especially TikTok, for any spoilers. As well as checking mini events happening before the concert, such as random dance plays, which is when someone puts on random K-pop songs and anybody that knows the choreography starts dancing with others. These are so much fun to watch since I don’t know how to dance. Lastly, in the more serious aspect of concert planning, my mom and I book plane tickets, hotel, and transportation if needed. Now that we have checked everything on our to-do list and it is concert time, we arrive maybe three to four hours early to enjoy the events and get merchandise. And, when it is concert time, you forget about everything and just enjoy the concert.
When the concert starts, it’s the time when every worry, stress, problem, and sadness leaves the mind for at least three hours. Not every group is like this, but the ones I have seen make you feel like you are part of something bigger and that music is what brings us together. And before you think, “You don’t understand what they are saying,” some people learn the language before coming to the concerts. Others have heard the songs so many times with subtitles that they know what they are saying, and others simply don’t understand, but that’s okay. Second, if the group or members of the group do not know English there is a translator present to help with the communication. Either way, I don’t think any of these things matter because the songs just speak to you; they make you feel a certain way. For example, I had a moment with a song where I felt understood and comforted as if the song was telling me I was doing okay and to not worry. Let me make clear the song was in Korean, and I don’t know Korean. I later looked up the lyrics, and the song was called “Grow Up” and talks about how you are doing well and how we have to experience hardships in life to grow up. So, K-pop concerts are about having fun, creating friendships, dancing, expressing love and support for each other, and as a reminder that we are never alone in life. We always have someone next to us to help and support us, whether a friend, a sibling, or a group of strangers from across the world.
Stray Kids Lightstick 
Various Lightsticks 
Images from Pinterest