As a Northeastern K-pop fan, there aren’t as many chances to see your favorite group in concert, so when that chance comes, you better take it. Back in October, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to see one of my all-time favorite groups, SEVENTEEN, in concert at UBS Arena in New York. I just had to share what an incredible experience it was and give my review of the concert overall!
The Ticketmaster tragedy
As we are all aware, the ticket war for your favorite artists can be devastating, exhausting, and all-around tragic. When tickets went on sale for this concert back in August, I knew it was going to be tough, but my friend and I were manifesting to the moon and back. When your favorite artist is coming anywhere near you on tour, possibly for the first time in years and maybe even for the last time in years, the desperation to go is overwhelming, even if it costs you an arm and a leg in addition to your life savings. Our plan was simple: I was getting in the queue for the Sunday show and my friend for the Friday show. We did not have pre-sale or anything so we were really just hoping for the best. When the time came, we both logged on and were immediately floored by the sheer number of people in the queue. I believe I was about the 12,000th in line, while my fellow soldier was placed at a discouraging 27,000th spot. Those are the moments when you realize how difficult the ticket war is. It’s not for the weak and honestly, I don’t think it’s for the strong either. We sat there on FaceTime, wondering what we could possibly do while our spot in that dreadful online queue slowly inched forward. I was getting nervous because my line was moving at a decent pace which meant I was facing the pressure. I knew there probably wouldn’t be many options by the time I got there so I had to move quickly. I had my payment methods all setup, I just had to click our seats and checkout (easier said than done). My hands were shaking when Ticketmaster alerted me that my turn was up next. My screen refreshed and it was almost comical as I watched the few remaining seats slip from my fingers, the whole stadium turning gray as I unsuccessfully tried to snag even the highest nosebleeds. My friend was shouting encouragement through FaceTime as I realized our fate was sealed. It was hard to break the news, and we sat there for an hour hoping and waiting for some seats to become available. Unfortunately, they did not, and we had to give up the chase for the time being.
The real ticket master
Our hopes were dashed and morale was low when October rolled around. My friend and I had been texting because obviously we really wanted to go, so we decided to just go all in and try to find the best deal possible. My amazing and wonderful friend scoured for resale tickets, begged people on Reddit, and checked Ticketmaster constantly. I was comparing prices and doing research about a week and a half before the actual concert date when we hit another standstill because the resale prices were just so expensive. Nosebleeds were around $400, but seats close to the floor were around $500, so wouldn’t it be more worth it to spend more for a much better view? I felt like I had the angel and devil on my shoulders because ticket prices these days are ridiculous, it’s so hard to justify spending almost half a grand on concert tickets, but the other half of me is ready to throw logic out the window for a night of fun. We weren’t fully committed to a decision yet when our miracle came along. On a Wednesday morning (pretty sure I was in class), I received urgent texts from my friend saying she had found tickets in section 102 for the bargain (somewhat of a strong word) price of $240 per ticket. I typed as fast as I could, basically yelling “GO GO GO” through the screen. I’ve never been more stressed waiting for her to confirm that we got them.
You might be wondering; how did we manage to find such close seats for that price? Well, technically, they had a “limited view” which sounds scary, but we double-checked and it wasn’t like we were behind the stage or had a giant pole in our faces. It was a “limited view” because we were located on the right side of the stage, but not facing the stage head-on. Our view was perpendicular to where we could almost see backstage. We weren’t able to see the big screens head-on, and when SEVENTEEN moved to the extended stage further into the crowd sometimes we could only see their backs, however, when they were on the main stage they were so close to us, and the venue provided large TVs in our section so that we could clearly see everything as well. I would also like to give props to SEVENTEEN because they do such a good job of spreading out and constantly moving so that all sides of the arena feel included. They were constantly rotating, running up to the railing to wave at us, and dancing on different areas of the stage. I never felt like I was missing out on anything from where I was, and just couldn’t believe they were right there in front of me. I owe the biggest thanks to my amazing friend and MVP, Sass, for stalking Ticketmaster and scoring us those amazing seats after so many failures.
Concerts during the semester
Once I knew the concert was actually happening, it was a whirlwind of preparation. I had about a week to plan my outfit, make a sign, get all of my assignments done, and figure out our transportation plan. Most of the concerts I had been to were during summertime, so having to figure this all out in the middle of a very busy semester was interesting, to say the least. Of course, the concert was on Sunday night, and my professors assigned the most work I’d ever had due at once for that very weekend. That might have been the most productive Friday and Saturday nights of my life as I steadily trudged through my work. I knew we were gonna get back really late Sunday night (Monday morning technically), so I locked in and finished it all on Saturday night. I wanted nothing hanging over my head so I could fully enjoy the night.
Trains, trains, and more trains
We knew we were going to take the train to Grand Central Station because I think, personally, no one should ever drive in New York. Usually, I go to Union Station in New Haven, but this time we decided to drive to the Stamford station and take a shorter train ride from there. As soon as we parked, the train we needed signaled its arrival in 3 minutes, so we had to go running from the gate. We wanted to have plenty of time to be able to eat and get to the venue. We made that train and were able to relax for a little bit before we arrived at Grand Central. We had about an hour before we needed to catch the train that went straight to UBS, so we ate at this cool food court in K-town. It wasn’t long before we had to rush right back to Grand Central to catch our next train because we knew all of the SEVENTEEN fans would be lining up soon.
We hustled back to Grand Central and had about 5 minutes to catch this train. I was feeling confident until we kept descending and following tunnels that I didn’t even know existed in the underbelly of Grand Central Terminal. At this point, the train was scheduled to leave in about 2 minutes and we didn’t see it or any train tracks in sight, so we started booking it. I absolutely despise running but my motivation was solid here. My lungs were burning, but I did not slow down. It was honestly such a bonding experience because we met other fans along the way. I remember sprinting past this one girl and she asked me, “Are you going to the Seventeen concert?” I said, “Yes I am!” and then suddenly she began running behind me as well. Before I knew it, I was leading a pack of fans to this train, even though I wasn’t even completely sure where I was going. We descended down a final staircase and finally, the train was in sight, and the conductor was waiting at the doors. I made sure my friend was with me (I had almost lost her earlier) and we hopped on right before the train started to leave. I had to take my jacket off since I was sweating bullets and wheezing like I had just run a marathon (which honestly it felt like I had), but we made it! It was so cool because the train was full of fans headed to the concert so we got to see people’s outfits and signs. The energy and excitement in the air were palpable and made the unwanted cardio workout worth it.
Getting in the venue
The train took us right to UBS Arena, where we were then shuttled to the outside waiting area. I got us a place in the general admission line while my friend went and scoped out the area. K-pop concerts are so fun because even just waiting for the concert feels like a big event. People are trading photocards, handing out banners, and spreading fan projects, all creating a big sense of community. Even the security was having fun, with one security guy starting chants and engaging the crowd through a megaphone while we waited in the cold. When the doors finally opened, we slowly inched closer to being inside and being that much closer to the main event. We noticed quickly, however, that our line was moving much slower than the other ones. We were getting a little nervous as it got closer to show time. Our line was wrapped around the side of the building, but when one of the security staff said that there were over 10 entrances, I knew something wasn’t right. I kept going on my tiptoes to look over everyone and there was a whole crowd of people farther down that were moving pretty quickly indoors, so I sent my friend ahead to see if those lines were better. She quickly called me and I made a break for it, going around the back of our line to find that the rest of the entrances were wide open and had much shorter and quicker lines. Luckily after figuring that out, we got inside with only about 20 minutes until showtime.
fan experience (merch + Photos)
We skipped the busy downstairs merch line to try and find a shorter one upstairs but to no avail. They were all long already. The venue also had this cool photo opportunity with a big picture of the group. We got in line for that and had fun talking to all of the fellow fans around us. We all helped each other take pictures and laughed at each other’s poses. Then we headed to our seats where it all became real. I was even more shocked in person at how good our seats were. We got to sit for a few minutes and rest our feet before that amazing moment when the lights turned off and everyone was just waiting for the group to appear.
The concert
The concert itself was absolutely incredible. SEVENTEEN came out the gate with so much energy. I was floored, I just could not believe they were actually in front of me dancing like crazy. We all know SEVENTEEN are the kings of synchronicity, but to witness it in person was mind-blowing. They really are the kings of performance. As a fan, I’m used to just seeing concert clips through TikTok, but to actually be in the moment felt so exciting. One thing to know about SEVENTEEN is that they will be chaotic. K-pop concerts are usually formatted a little differently than normal concerts, with the group first performing about three songs and then going down the line to introduce themselves and give a fun little mini-speech. After a certain amount of songs, they go off stage to change outfits while they play a “VCR” (which is kind of like a mini-movie) where they show a bunch of clips of the group in the different album concepts. After the VCR they come back out and usually do a random, funny skit with the background dancers.
SEVENTEEN concerts are especially cool because they have 13 members total, and split the members up into units. There’s the Hip-Hop unit, the Vocal unit, and the Performance unit. In a SEVENTEEN album, they’ll have songs that have all the members and then each unit will have their own song as well. So I was super excited to see the units perform their songs. Each unit performed two songs at the concert, but I’ll talk about my favorites. The Hip-Hop unit came out strong with “Water” which has very similar vibes to “Fein” by Travis Scott featuring Playboi Carti. It had the whole arena going crazy. Then the Performance unit came out and performed one of their newer songs “Rain” which has a very addicting melody and really awesome choreography. One of my favorites of the whole night, the Vocal unit came out and sang one of their newer songs “Candy”, a soft and sweet almost Christmas-like love song where I got to hear DK and Seungkwan’s heavenly vocals so clearly. All of the unit songs are so unique but so good in their own ways. It constantly impresses me how one group can cross genres and still sound authentic.
Some of my other favorite songs of the night were “Super”, “Ash” and “God of Music.” The intensity that they put into their performances even if the song is darker or more lighthearted is so admirable. I sat there in awe the entire time because no matter the song, no matter if it was the beginning or end of the concert, they were working so hard to give us an amazing experience. Another reason SEVENTEEN concerts are so fun is because they really engage with the crowd. They have dedicated time to do dance battles with fans and have fans sing the high note in one of their most famous songs, “AJU NICE” (also listed as “VERY NICE” on Spotify). It was so funny and wholesome to see SEVENTEEN interact with fans and laugh with us. You really feel appreciated as a fan in that space, and it’s so cool to see different fans give back the same chaotic energy and hype up the crowd. I remember one girl sang an opera version of the “AJU NICE” high note and had all of us shocked, including SEVENTEEN.
One of the most famous parts of a SEVENTEEN concert, and one I was most excited for, is their famous tradition of never-ending “AJU NICE.” I’m not entirely sure when this tradition started, but during their concerts, SEVENTEEN’s last song would be “AJU NICE,” a very popular, fun, and fast-paced party song. They would make everyone jump and go crazy for the last song. But then it became this hilarious game where they would say their goodbyes and then the song would play again, with no warning, and they would start the encore again. It grew and grew until not even SEVENTEEN knows how many times “AJU NICE” will play. It could be 3 times, it could be 15 times, hence the never-ending factor. I cannot believe I got to experience it myself. I believe we got hit with it 8 times, I honestly don’t even remember I lost count. But it was so fun, the SEVENTEEN members would run all around the area and wave at us and tell us to jump, no matter how tired we were. They would even trick each other and after the chorus had ended, they would say the words “Aju Nice” and the song would play again. It’s such a fun and creative way to end the concert, and as a fan, you really feel like you’re getting to spend more time with them. At the actual end of the concert, all of the members give a little goodbye speech, which always makes everyone a little emotional. But I would also like to note that I was literally matching jackets with my bias S.Coups, so I was busy freaking out about that.
All in all, I spent the whole three hours having the time of my life. To be able to see some of my favorite songs performed right in front of me, by one of my favorite groups was truly unforgettable. I kept looking over at my friend in shock because I couldn’t believe they were actually real. It was a little disappointing that one of the members couldn’t be there due to him having already started his mandatory military service, but the rest of SEVENTEEN did such a good job mentioning his name and leaving a space for him. I danced and sang until my lungs and my legs gave out, and it was all worth it, even being sore the next day. I’m so grateful that I was able to attend this concert and make such special memories with one of my closest friends.
“Pcd” is real and I have it
Unfortunately for me, as soon as the concert ended I was in a daze. I couldn’t believe the magic I had just witnessed. We were heading out and realized we still didn’t have merch, so we hustled back down to the first-floor merch table and there was basically no line, so we hopped right in and got a commemorative T-shirt. After that, we had to face the trains once more. The entire arena was trying to get on the earliest train to Grand Central, and we almost didn’t make the first one, but fate lent us a hand and we hopped on the crowded train. That seems to have been the theme of the day. Then we just sat there in silence for a bit, trying to process what had just happened. We had that train ride and then the train back to Stamford and the drive home from Stamford to process, but all we could think about was how much we missed them already. Now that I’ve confirmed SEVENTEEN is indeed real and not a figment of my imagination, nothing will stop me from seeing them in concert again. I know ticket prices and transportation can be very difficult to attend any concert, but if you’re wondering whether a SEVENTEEN concert is really worth it, I can 100% tell you it is.