Concerts I've Been To | 🎶

I've been to a good handful or so of concerts in the last few years so I'd like to share about them and the experiences surrounding them! I'll go in order with dates. 

Conan Gray - April 11th, 2022

This was my first concert, I attended with my sister. I was super nervous as I hadn't been to one before. I didn't know about virtual tickets so I printed them out and regular paper and brought them in a folder. This was also just when we started coming out of lock down so I was worried about Covid; but surprisingly most of the attendees weren't masked... I'd gotten an Astronomy shirt. I predicted it a bit, but it turns out him being in our city was meant to be the big reveal for his 'Superache' album since it has roses and he was in the "City of Roses."

Oddly enough, despite how much I liked his music at the time, I almost stopped listening to him completely right after the concert. 

Pixy - April 7th, 2023

This is the first concert I'd been to with my friend! My city at this point rarely got K-Pop related concerts, let alone one I liked. I was worried about not being able to see and wore demonias which was a very bad mistake on my part. Very quickly I realized my feet were killing me. I'd gotten two shirts, a lightstick, photocards, a poster, notebook, and a tote bag! I'd gotten a bit too excited and dropped my lightstick while waving it around before the concert started, but it stilled worked despite being cracked. A lot of tall people did block a lot of my view and it was extremely hot in the venue, but it was great! I could feel the music vibrating the floor and finally got to hear their songs live. This is a clip of the end of the concert, mostly of my biases Lola and Sua.

Rina Sawayama - September 28th, 2023

This was my first time going out of state with my friend! We'd gone to the Seattle Aquarium, which was my first time being to one, and had pho and thai tea before the concert. While leaving the aquarium, my pants had ripped and had a 4 inch wide hole but thankfully I had another set of clothes in my bag! I actually went into the concert pretty much blind. I listened to a few of her songs here and there but didn't know any of them too well. At the time I mostly knew cherry and it still remains as one of my favorites from her. The venue was extremely crowded and someone kept doing high pitched whistles right next to us but it was still fun! I got both a vinyl and a "She is me and I am her" shirt. Through the concert I came to really like Frankenstein, STFU!, Imagining, and Comme des garçons (Like the Boys). Here is a clip from later in the show.

Loossemble - October 5th, 2023

This was a lot of firsts. It was my first time on a train, the first time really going out of state, my first time on a plane, I pet a string ray, and tried green curry for the first time! My friend and I travelled pretty far for this concert. It was the first US tour for a Loona subunit after such a long legal battle with their old company. We arrived on the day of the concert and by the time we could check in, we were beat. I'd slept for a good hour or so before the concert and walked to the venue while half asleep. I also had to get a shirt from the aquarium and wore it to the concert due to soaking my hoodie while trying to pet the stingray at the Aquarium of the Bay. I honestly splurged a lot. I got a full signed album set, a t-shirt, and a lightstick. It wasn't necessarily emotional for me, but relieving and maybe euphoric? I'd been a fan of Loona since 2017 and they had just gotten out of this year long legal battle. Even though the trip was tiring, it felt like a lot of weight was lifted by finally getting to see them happy and performing again. The day after we actually took a plane home. It wasn't as nerve-racking as I thought it would be, but the pressure in my ears was terrible and lasted for hours afterwards. Here is a clip from the beginning of the concert.

Chuu - December 4th, 2023 

I love Chuu! This concert was actually pretty tiresome though! We arrived on the same day again but this time our hotel was on a large hill... I did end up meeting one of my "oomfs" from twitter! She was really sweet and I bought photocards from her. I got a signed album set, a banner, and a shirt. I'd also gotten another for our friend that didn't travel with us to California, but his album didn't have photocards... I was really stressed and worried I'd lost them but it turns out the venue was selling half full albums and half empty ones? It was odd. We did end up bringing stuffed frog plushies and our Loona lightsticks this time around! Seeing Chuu was actually really emotional. She had a lot of issues with their old company so her legal battle had been going on a lot longer than the others. Her finally being free and able to be on stage with new music, even if by herself, was a lot. I'd ran out of storage numerous times during this concert. Chuu performed a rock version of Heart Attack and it was amazing, I'm really hoping she releases a studio version at some point. The day after the concert was extremely hectic. We'd gone to see the sealions and went to Amoeba Music! I got Nmixx's A Midsummer's Nmixx Dream, Aespa's Better Things, New Jean's OMG albums, and a copy of Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. I also got 'Para Para,' a CD from a Japanese group called Chai. After the music store, we tried to catch a bus to a restaurant. The restaurant ended up being closed so we were going to head to the store then the train station. The bus to the train station never came... so we ended up cutting it extremely close and getting an Uber to the station. Here is a clip of Chuu's Heart Attack performance. 

Odd Eye Circle - January 29, 2024 

The trip for OEC was probably the most difficult for me. We were staying a day longer but it was just really stressful. We first tried to go to In-N-Out and the amount of people crammed inside was extremely overwhelming. On the day of the concert, the place we tried to eat at ended up having roaches as well... While trying to commute to the concert, a friend that was there with VIP was telling me pretty much all the merch was understocked and that nothing was available.. Once we got there, the venue listed was actually the building next to the address as well. I'd been really stressed out and had a bit of a shutdown. What really topped it off was being handled numerous "Objekt coupons" by staff. Objekts are essentially NFTs that their new company uses.. Once the concert actually started, I felt a lot more relieved. I was able to focus on the music and the members and it really helped get rid of the flooding emotions. The lighting was a bit off at some points but it was otherwise really fun! The girls all performed extremely well and performed a good majority of their discography. Here's my recording of 'Love Me Like'

Erika de Casier - April 6th, 2024

I actually wasn't familiar with her music at all. My friend really likes her and had shown me a song previously but, like with Rina, I went in pretty much blind. The venue was in my city so it was a lot more relaxed. I really enjoyed the band After that opened the show. The show was pretty fun. You could tell everyone there was really passionate. Around half way through I actually ended up focusing in on the drummer. It was crazy seeing how fast he was moving and the coordination needed to switch from drums to hand instruments and back to drums. I've definitely got a newfound appreciation for drumming and drummers. 

Next Concerts!

So far I have secured concerts for two more tours! I will be seeing Purple Kiss with VVIP and Secret Number! I'm really excited and glad that more "small" groups are coming over to the US and hope we continue to see more foreign acts here. I know I've definitely missed out on a few like Chai, Bad Bunny, and Girl Ultra. Now that I've got a few concerts under my belt I'm going to try to seize the opportunity to see more artists when I can.