I’ve wanted to see EXO since… well since there were 12 members (ugly laughter + possibly also crying) The problem was finding someone willing to spend their life savings on tickets with me because if I missed this show, the next time they come around it would just be Joonmyun feat. holograms of all of his previous band members – you KNOW SM would have the technology to do this!!!

Fortunately, a few days before tickets went on sale, my friend Whit was kind enough to put me in touch with her friend, Dee so we could be concert buddies! After a whispered excuse at dinner time “SorryIHaveAnEmailIHaveToGetToRightNow” and lots of Skype shouting, Dee and I were sitting comfy with horribly expensive!!! tickets to see EXO.

Dee and I met up the day of the show at PruCenter around mid-afternoon in the hopes of scoring some free fansite swag, but unfortunately, all of it was long gone. Eventually we resigned to waiting on the ENORMOUS line while I admired Dee’s AMAZING LIGHT UP LED SIGN!!!

How cute!! Everything about Dee is cute!! She introduced me to a bunch of her friends as well who were also cute and nice!! In fact, so many fans at the venue were super cute and lovely.

By around 4pm, the initial buzz of being so close to see EXO was starting to die off and turned into full blow anxiety as the sun set, which made the occasional gust of wind + light drizzle unbearable. Much of the stress was attributed to my having a camera in my bag :x I’ve never had an issue at previous shows, but security was extra tight this time and many times staff would walk down the line and threaten to tear up the ticket of anyone caught with a camera. We watched through the windows as GA bags of all sizes were confiscated all while our lines inched along.

It was MINUTES before the start of the show when we finally cleared security. Dee and I were amongst the last people to enter the venue despite somehow being there 5 hours before showtime?! During the last few meters to the door, EXO started streaming backstage on V app and the collective group of us still stuck pre-security all crowded around Dee’s phone to watch the clip – whereupon Dee shouted CHANYEOL HAS WHITE HAIR and I thanked the kpop god for taking kind pity on me. They were, unfortunately, not kind to Dee – security confiscated and discarded her adorable LED sign :(

Once inside, we ran sprinted towards the merch booth, did a quick 10 second survey, and then rushed hurriedly to our seats. I had barely taken off my coat & settled in when the MUSIC STARTED. There was an incredibly cheesy vcr & lots of screaming and THEN

Oh my god I could die!!!! What an experience!!!!! I LOVE CONCERTS SO MUCH!!!!! I had such a good time. ^~^ EXO were such great performers and I couldn’t believe that I was seeing them with my OWN EYES. They’re SO BEAUTIFUL >3< I don’t remember/know how much of these shows are lipsynched, but they sounded so wonderful and I just about lost it whenever one of my Favorite Songs came on. I thought they did a wonderful job despite all the drama with the promoter and especially given how last minute this tour seemed. I was bummed that Yixing couldn’t make it, but everyone collectively screamed extra loud for him! Tbh I was kind of having trouble looking at even eight members (WHATIFWESTILLHADTWELVE). Also no lie I was locked in on Chanyeol 90% of the time!!!!! WHAT A LOVELY BEAUTIFUL ANNOYING BOY ^3^ Everyone was seriously Very Cute – I’m EXO trash forever!!!!

Thank you again to Dee for being the sweetest & cutest concert partner!! It’s too bad that we couldn’t get dinner together, but it was so much fun meeting you and I’m sorry I laughed at you when you cried lmao!!!!

My pre-concert morning was A Series of Unfortunate Events because I managed to get up late and missed my bus. Y and I then took all the wrong trains and even got off at the wrong stop. However, if we hadn’t gotten ourselves into such a mess, we wouldn’t have run into the following person…

We were standing at a street corner trying to figure out why we are so terrible at navigation, when I noticed a bunch of noisy teenagers in caps started jogging towards us. We didn’t pay them any attention, but when they were within earshot, one of them yelled “IT’S SO COLD! WHY IS IT SO COLD?! IT’S. SO. COLD”. I looked up from my phone and noticed that the one at the center of the group had a familiar face. I tried to glance non-discreetly (READ: NOT CREEPILY) as they hop-skipped around us at the corner and climbed into a black van. As soon as the door of the van slid shut, I figured it out, furiously grabbed Y’s arm and whisper-yelled THATWASJUSTINBIEBER at her. To which, Y started laughing hysterically just because. Amazed and confused that no one noticed Justin Bieber strolling down a street in Manhattan???? All I can say is that Justin Bieber is bad at making weather appropriate fashion decisions. The 8th was the day after the snowstorm and while Manhattan didn’t get too much snow, it was still pretty cold out. Most people were in puffy coats and boots, whereas Justin was in sneakers, jeans and a hoodie. Poor cold inappropriately dressed Justin Bieber.

My day did not pick up after this point! Even though we found our way to Penn Station, we couldn’t find our friend Eilene inside the actual building. We spent at least 15 minutes walking in circles yelling things like, “Do you see Perfumania? No? How about Dunkin Donuts? You passed it?” In the end, we didn’t have time to grab lunch like we planned and opted for something we could eat on the train. Ultimately, I decided that honey BBQ wings would be easier than hot wings. Turns out hot wings are hardly spicy and trying to eat honey BBQ wings whilst smushed into a train seat in a giant coat is a very difficult task. I swear that the man across from me was judging me.

The concert wasn’t until 8PM, but we arrived early at the Prudential Center at 5PM in the hopes that we would get moved up if there were seats unsold. We spent the next few hours …. charging our phones. It’s a sad way to spend your time, but everyone was outlet hunting since PC posted a message prohibiting cameras. Everyone had to get the maximum battery life out of their phone cameras.

We did a bit of exploring and the setup for the events in the arena were identical to those of the Anaheim concerts. Samsung had booths for fans to learn about the Galaxy S3, after which you’d get a flashing blue Alive Tour bracelet. I wanted to be decked out in lights, but I didn’t have the patience to wait an hour for someone to sell me something I couldn’t afford :| Instead, I headed to the souvenir table in the hopes of picking up the official BB crown light stick. YG opened an eBay shop selling it a few months before the US tour dates. I watched it sell out and restock at a higher price, but didn’t think to buy one because I wasn’t sure I could make it to the show. BAD DECISION because it was being sold at the venue for $30 vs the original $22. In addition, the staff told everyone that they had no stock of the light sticks – they had been waiting all day for the shipment to arrive, but it was 2 hours before the concert and no one was sure if it would make it. I spent the next few hours hovering awkwardly between both souvenir tables and trying not to look desperate and sad, which I’m sure I was unsuccessful at.

In the meantime, we did some people-watching and admired the fans that dressed up for the concert – heels! tights! incredible hair! Some people looked faaaaabulous, which apparently was reason enough for other fans to take creepy photos of without asking permission? Wow, personal space. There were fans with really great fansigns and headbands as well. I felt underdressed and under-decorated to be honest, but I knew I would be miserably cold otherwise so I moved on. Plus, I didn’t have VIP tickets so no one was going to point me out in the crowd just because “IF IT SQUINT, IT SEEMS THAT GIRL SITTING ALL THE WAY OVER THERE LOOKS REALLY GOOD IN THAT OUTFIT. PLEASE COME ON STAGE AND WE’LL SERENADE YOU BECAUSE YOU JUST LOOK TOOOO GOOOOOD.” ㅠ^ㅠ

We finally entered the concert area at 7PM when security announced that “doors” were open. Our seats were in Section 1 Row 8, which we knew were good seats, but they were EVEN BETTER than we imagined so we were extra surprised. I know a lot of fans wanted tickets in Section 7 because the seats are ideal in terms of distance and angle, but the Prudential Center is a comfortable size and anyone with tickets in the lower section is going to have a great view. Unfortunately, there were still empty seats by the time the concert started so Big Bang didn’t get to perform to a full house on their first night :( For my section, however, it was good news because it meant we had the opportunity to move up – we ended up in Row 4. EXCELLENT. In case this is helpful for future concerts, the view in the photo above is halfway down in Section 1 at about Row 18-20. The one below is at Row 8 and all other photos are from Row 4.

ANYWAY IM ALMOST DONE TALKING. I went back to my seat at around 8PM and was in the middle of trying to take a group photo with my friends when everything suddenly went dark
and everyone lost it

(Apologizing in advance for the amount of noise and oversharpening in the photos. Photography was technically prohibited and I only lucked out that security let me use my small digicam. Plus, two very short clips that will make you glad I didn’t take more…)

Fantastic Baby!!! I missed photos of Still Alive, Hands Up and Tonight because I was afraid to take my camera out, but security really didn’t care SO. Mesmerized by GD!!!! Taeyang was soooooooo excited about life. The entire audience was standing and cheering – Section 1 actually didn’t sit down for the WHOLE NIGHT which was awesome. The fans in front of me leaned against their seats for the majority of the show and so I didn’t have to struggle to see over anyone! Seriously such a great view.

During the dance break, Eilene leaned over and yelled THE LIGHT STICKS ARE HERE!!!! and pointed at the fans in front of us who were now busy unpacking theirs!! I kind of thrashed wildly and pranced up the stairs. Luckily (??) there was no line in the hall so I plopped down my money and ran off with my light stick. It didn’t occur to me that I should have checked it before leaving because there’s a small chip in the center and I’m positive I didn’t smash it into anything. UGLY TEARS. The lack of announcement about the sticks arriving meant we didn’t have a yellow ocean :/ Stupid Liar

Seungri, Taeyang and Daesung stayed behind on the stage for a talk and everyone was so cute!! They made every effort to speak in English. No one knew but GD knew how to say “Jersey”?! Everyone said NEW JERSE. SEUNGRI STARTED YELLING “THE LOOF IS THE LOOF IS THE LOOF IS ON FIRE” and everyone was shrieking and thrashing wildly with laughter. WHERE DO YOU LEARN THESE THINGS SEUNGRI. Taeyang talked about how difficult it must have been for everyone to get to the show that night. Big Bang was stuck in Albany for several hours when JFK airport lost power during the snowstorm, so he talked about how they had to change 3 planes and how he understood the struggle. He then said it was cold outside so he was going to make sure they give us a hot show and I made a gargling laughing shriek. Somehow it got back to Seungri who went “I’M THE FUNNY GUY I HAVE TO MAKE THE JOKE THATS MY JOB” and then Daesung went “No.”. HA HA HA. They taught us how to do the Fantastic Baby dance and I remembered that my limbs are made of wood and I dont UNDERSTAND. Taeyang said a lot of things that started with “Yo” and ended with “Homie”. Then they broke into a BEATBOX VERSION OF CRAYON AND I KNEW WHAT WAS COMING

GD and TOP came out to do PPEOKIGAYO and High High and I kind of flopped over in excitement. I handed my camera to Y and forgot to reset the exposure settings so everything came out like a bright blur of excitement, but hey I got to see it all with my own eyes.

Seungri performed Strong Baby and came out with A GUN LASER?! AND FIREBALLS?! WHAT?!?!?!?! It was great. Halfway through the song he switched to 어쩌라고

Everyone came out to perform Gara Gara Go and Number 1, both of which are my FAVORITES because I know all the lyrics!!!!! Number 1 is still so funny. Expert lyricism!! BB performed Cafe on the extended stage with standing mics so I stopped taking photos because I wanted to see things.

TALK #2!! GD said TOP HYUNG and then TOP started speaking in English and it was a BLARGHAYARHAHGY kind of English. IT’S SO GREAT in a terrible way. This was also when Taeyang figured out how to say New Jersey properly?!?!?! So proud :)))) He asked if we checked out/bought GD’s album and then Seungri chipped in to say that his performance was “…great. Actually he’s a genius. I love him! He’s my hero! In my heart! I love you GD!!”

HELP. LOOK AT THEM THEY’RE ACTUALLY SO CUTE. GD covered his face in embarrassment and Seungri went on to say he “really wanted to see GD perform One of a Kind. It’s my favorite”. Then they did a BEATBOX VERSION of One of a Kind. I LOVE OOAK I LOVE SEUNGRI FOR BRINGING IT UP.

Bad Boy I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH

Surprise outfit change. Blue, Love Song & Monster. I think I just made various crying sounds throughout Blue and Love Song, but I’m positive I started wailing “This song is soooo saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadlkaj;lksj;fj” at one point.

TAEYANG SOLOS. He started with 나만 바라봐 and then got down on the floor and it became WEDDING DRESS and the arena ERUPTED IN SCREAMS. Everyone loves Wedding Dress (but no one knows the lyrics HAAA) AND THEN

More things I thought I was prepared for!! Daesung sang 날개 and came out in an incredible pair of wings. I saw the harness but still screamed and flailed wildly when he started flying AHHH.

The acoustic version of Haru Haru is the loveliest, but we served the same embarrassment as the Anaheim crowd because someone asked us “Do you know this song!” and we yelled back “YES!” but when the song started, no one knew the lyrics. OOPS.

Mini-talk but I’m blanking on what the content was. I think someone said it was their last song and I inhaled sharply and panicked even though I knew there was an encore?!

Lies and Last Farewell SO MANY FEELINGS WHEN LIES HAPPENED. Nothing will ever be better than 거짓말 and old school Big Bang.

And then the stage actually went dark. After a few minutes, the fans started to chant ENCORE ENCORE. The band members on the right started waving their light sticks and everyone copied them thinking it would ~give us an encore~, but it continued for at least 10 minutes in the dark. Right when everyone was getting tired, everyone came back out with great jackets and TOP had The Best Hat Ever.

I stopped taking photos during the encore performances (Heaven, Bad Boy, Fantastic Baby, Feeling) because there was too much to look at. At one point, Taeyang climbed down a few steps and sang straight to a single fan for at least half the song?! I might be putting this in the wrong place, but I’m positive it happened. GD threw his own hat backstage and put on a fan’s hat. Daesung splashed water on everyone and TOP did the same … only he emptied an entire bottle of water on one fan’s head. W O R S T. He also did a lot of shimmying and wiggly dancing which was unexpected and hilarious because WOW SURPRISE TOP DANCING. Seungri grabbed a panda hat from someone and also switched to Psy’s horse dance at one point. I believe Taeyang ran off stage and ran around the banisters, but I might have been too busy screaming “I’M SO JEALOUS” to pay attention. I just need to say Daesung was EXTRA ATTRACTIVE during the encore.

The end :( We asked someone to take a photo for us and after failed attempts at finding our other friends in the hall, we headed outside to take photos with the Big Bang balloons? lamps? The walk to the train station was just chattering about how great the show was and everyone tried desperately to squeeze themselves onto the 11PM train. We managed to bump into some friends at Penn Station where I talked to a girl who actually got a Big Bang Samsung S3 cover and was going to go to the show on the 9th. MY ETERNAL JEALOUSY!!

FINAL THOUGHTS

OH MAN IT WAS INCREDIBLE. I’ve been a fan of Big Bang for so long (6 years!!) that it was like a dream come true to finally see them in person. Everyone is extra handsome. They’re such good performers and even when they’re doing solos, they command the attention of the whole audience. SO MUCH CHARISMA. SO MUCH STAGE PRESENCE. My love and adoration for GD grew exponentially. Taeyang was really hyped all the time and was always the last to leave. Seungri won me over with all of his English jokes and his willingness to talk/joke. On the other hand, I wish Daesung spoke more, but I spent so much time staring during the encore so it’s okay. TOP. TEMPO. All my feelings about TOP are “He is soooo handsome. How can he be soooo handsome. SIGHHH. Is he dancing?! YES?!”. We didn’t get as much fanservice in the form of items being thrown, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a result of all the stories about fighting during the Anaheim shows.

My biggest regret is letting some pre-concert issues stress me out. It was a nightmare buying tickets for a large group and then having to resell them when we changed our seating arrangement. It made the concert experience tough to swallow since I spent so much time looking for buyers instead of getting excited for the show. The storm made transportation tough as well, but that’s a minor issue compared to all the hardships everyone else had to endure. Really, it was an incredible show and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to attend. Extra happy that I managed to get my light stick in it end – it’s a great pick-me-up! Speaking of the light stick –

For anyone who is thinking of buying one, you might want to do some prep work before you take the light stick out to a concert. The 5 gems that are attached to the tips of the light are actually individual plugs that just slip into the socket. They’re not secured in any other way. A number of people, including myself, lost some of the gems at the concert because a few are loose enough to fall out with vigorous shaking. There were tons of fans who stayed behind searching the floor of the venue for their lost pieces. Luckily, Y had suggested that I removed them when I noticed I had lost one. She managed to find me another to replace mine with. Which brings me to another point – these gems are not all made the same. The 4 original gems that I have are coated with a reflective material, but I would say they’re clear in appearance. The one Y found for me has the same coating, but is frosted white. Why are they different??? Anyway, unless you’re worried YGE might make interchangeable gem plugs in the future, my suggestion would be to superglue the plugs in place to prevent them from falling out.

ONE HAPPY FAN! Thank you for reading! As promised – KISSES ɛ for making it through > 3000 words

A friend of mine won tickets to be in the audience at MTV’s Best New Band mini concert and graciously allowed me to be her +1 to the show. Unfortunately, she couldn’t make it the day of, but I went to the lineup to see if the staff would let me in anyway. I was fortunate enough to meet two very sweet fans who didn’t have a +1 and put me down as their guest ㅠ^ㅠ

The wait for the show wasn’t too bad except that it was very cold out. I was bundled up because I disregarded the instructions to look “club ready” HAHA. There were, however, some people who dressed up for the occasion and looked fantastic. It was an alright experience on line – no pushing, a little bit of line cutting, but lots of camaraderie when it came to holding places on line for those who needed a bathroom or coffee run. The only discontent came when staff pulled up people from the back of the line and gave them special access to the interviews upstairs in the MTV studios. People towards the front of the line were quite upset about that (myself included!!). Most people agreed that they thought the fans at the very front of the line who had been there since 5AM deserved the VIP treatment instead :/

It was already dark out by the time guests were allowed to enter – I was there since noon so the wait in total was approximately 5-6 hours. I bumped into the SAME FRIEND from elementary school/the NJ concert and she became my surviving-the-crowd partner once we entered the studio, but we made a big mistake rushing to the front of the stage instead of taking the mezzanine. A lot of the taller fans managed to squeeze us out of the way and that coupled with jumping from the crowd meant we couldn’t see much. SHORT PEOPLE LIFE OBSTACLES #104: STANDING CONCERTS.

The crowd was really receptive and excited for all the acts that performed including La Vida Bohème from Venezuela, Gyptian from Jamaica and Yuna looked like this so I will save you the headache. You have to check out Yuna, though because her voice is incredible – so calming and sweet. I was blown awayyyy~

Everyone in the audience went insane when 2NE1 came on stage. The girls looked amazing and their performances were ON POINT. They sang a total of 4 songs: Fire, Can’t Nobody, Lonely & I am the Best and then were “crowned” the best new band of 2012. They were so cute, energetic and lovely!! The biggest surprise for me was that Dara was much shyer in person than she appears on shows. CL has so much stage presence and the crowd lost it for Minji whenever she had a dance solo. I was in love all night with Bom’s hair wowww. It was a ton of fun!