Day 60 -- (G)I-DLE Concert!

This morning I studied for my final and had some ramen in the morning before going out for Greek Day in the early afternoon to fuel myself for the long hours ahead. After an hour-long subway ride I got to the venue, KPSO Dome at 3:00 for (G)I-DLE's "i-DOL" concert. Even though I was there three hours early, the line for foreigners to pick up tickets was over a quarter of a mile long, so I am glad I got there early when the line was shorter than it would be later on. Once I finally got my ticket, I found a shady spot outside of the venue and read and studied vocabulary until we were finally let in. I got to my seat quickly and talked to the girl sitting next to me for a bit before reading some more before the concert finally started.

It was an amazing concert! There were a ton of backup dancers and most of the songs had choreography which was fun to see in person. There were also some cool effects used on the stage itself, with pyrotechnics and stands that lifted the members up in the air. I also loved the organization of the concert. After the first set of songs, we watched a skit the (G)I-DLE members did on the video screens while they changed for the next segment of the concert, where each member did a solo song or dance. After that, there were three more skit breaks and costume changes throughout the rest of the concert. I thought that it was super fun we got skits, tons of different outfits, and a chance for each member to have the spotlight.

It was also interesting to see how concert customs were different in the United States and South Korea. There are a lot more products associated with concerts in Korea, like "lightsticks" fans can buy that light up in tune to the music, or the free posters with lyrics that they gave everyone to hold up for photos at the end. Fans also gave out free merchandise that they had made themselves -- a girl standing next to me in line gave me various photos of the members that were in the format of a photo booth.

Behavior during the concert was very different too. In the United States, people often sing along to songs and cheer extensively, but at this concert singing along was more limited so everyone could hear the artists, and the applause and cheering after a song was short so that the concert's schedule could remain on track. None of this was required; they are just the typical concert customs here.

The concert was three hours long, and as soon as it was over I dashed out of the venue to get onto the subway back to Ewha. Back at the dorm, I ate some gimbap and Melona and sorted through my hundreds of photos and videos from the night.

Blog edit: While I was waiting to get into the venue, people who work for Cube Entertainment (the company that manages (G)I-DLE) asked me to do the choreography for the song Klaxon, and it ended up being briefly featured on the official (G)I-DLE social media accounts!