KCON LA Day 1 - Convention
KCON has two parts:
- The daytime convention
- the evening concert
The evening concert is a 2.5-3 hr concert with many performers, each doing a short set of 2-4 songs, longer for headliners.
The convention has booths for Korean food, beauty products, and associated companies. There’s also a few small stages with performances/appearances by lesser known idols. The Artist Stage, the biggest of these stages, had performances from middle-tier groups (not the most popular, but pretty well established).
I bought a ticket for each evening concert. A good seat for Friday, a cheap seat for Saturday, and a “good” seat on Sunday (put a pin in that). The good seats included convention access on those days, and I decided not to bother getting Saturday access based on the Artist Stage schedule and my lack of interest in the booths.
The only Artist Stage I REALLY wanted to see was &TEAM. They were scheduled on the first day at 3pm, the last group.
I heard online that the lines to get in the convention can be gnarly. I bought an “Express Pass” the night before so I could use the shorter lane and get inside faster. I was really nervous I wouldn’t get in and get a spot in time and miss them. The con also hyped up the use of virtual queueing through the app, with earlier access for Express Pass holders. That seemed worthwhile to make sure I got to see &TEAM. Later I found out the early access was only for booths (don’t care) and they never enacted the queue system for the stages, so it didn’t give me any advantage.
So early morning I got dressed and walked across the street to join the queue at 7:30. One hour later I was wrist-banded, security screened, and waiting in another queue indoors. The convention didn’t start until 10a. And again, my group was on until 3p. Uhhh, what am I doing here?
It was fun to see everyone dressed up, receive “freebies,” and cheer on the people going to audition for a dance stage with the idols. I started chatting with the people around, trying to get tips for the weekend. A very nice 38 year old from Minnesota was next to me, attending solo for her 6th time. She gave me some good info about the con layout and we had a fun time chatting about the groups. Her “ult bias” is Junhee from A.C.E and I’m also a big fan of his, so that was fun to talk about.
At 10 they released us while scolding “no running!” as fans speed-walked to the artist stage. I joined the throng, and quickly realized there was no reason to be there that early. There was plenty of room. No way was I going to sit here for hours and hours. I had no need to “barricade” the GA section (there was a closer VIP barricade for those who paid top dollar). Even the back of the room had fine views.
I did a lap about the con floor. Lots of fans want to get the beauty product samples from all the booths. They gave us “Stamp Relay” badge to get stamped and hyped up the free tote we would receive to hold all out winnings. I had zero interest in playing the sample-collecting game. Apparently that’s how Express pass used the virtual queue - to hold a place, to access a marketing booth, to post on your social media, to receive free samples in return. No thanks!
So I left! It seemed like a power-move, walking out past literally thousands of fans still lined up to get in. With my wristband I can quickly return later in the day (thanks Junhee-fan for confirming!).
I walked to Fika Fika and had a delightful brunch away from the crowd.
Fortified and caffeinated, I came back to the con just before noon and settled in to knit and watch some other groups on the Artist Stage.
Finally they were here! &TEAM!! K dancing right before my eyes!!
They were so good. Unfortunately this confirmed how much I hate GA standing room - everyone jockeying and squeezing about, holding phones above their heads. Pretty awful even for someone my height! I loved their show, but was looking forward to seeing them on stage at night from my assigned seat.
This is already a long post, so I’ll share concert pics in a follow-up.