lachrymosy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lachrymosy) wrote2024-10-25 06:38 pm
lachrymosy) wrote2024-10-25 06:38 pm
Entry tags:
Fan Account: Seventeen 2024
I saw Seventeen in Chicago this week and here I will do a classic fan account :) I have some of my pictures and fancams embedded here; they aren't really the best quality so I have them set to unlisted, but they're kind of nice and fun to include!
I missed the Be The Sun Tour, which happened when I first started properly getting into Seventeen. I wanted to go but the timing was too crazy, and at the time I didn't have any friends locally to go with me, so I decided not to. It ended up being a good thing because I got COVID that same week, but nevertheless, I was sad to miss out! So this year I decided I really wanted to go. I also have a friend who is a big fan so I asked if she wanted to go too and she did! She was the best concert buddy too because neither of us wanted to spend too much money, we both have jobs to get back to, and we both had pretty chill expectations.
Despite chill expectations, I was a little worried about how our experience would be because I accidentally booked tickets in the LAST ROW. I got so overwhelmed with Ticketmaster that somehow I just grabbed two tickets without thinking and then I was like "oh no." However, since they were centered with the stage and well within our budget, we decided to keep them. This ended up being GREAT. I didn't realize that at Allstate Arena the opening to the seats started from the back row, which was extremely convenient, and the row we were in only had six seats, so we weren't too cramped or blocked in. I also concluded that being centered with the stage was preferable to being closer but off-center. We always wanted the cheap seats so I'm not sure our view of the members' faces would have been THAT much better if we'd spent more, and we could see everything happening on stage. It was great.
It was also great that our seats were right by the entrance because we were almost late. There was a car accident on the highway as we got closer to Rosemont. We were making great time before that, but as we got closer, we watched the ETA slowly tick up, then go back down, then tick up again. I really didn't want to miss the opening number so I was trying to speed a little without also getting in an accident, and of course it was dusk at this point, so not the safest roads. However we arrived at like 7:27 or something, rushed in, and got to our seats as they started playing the Maestro mv on the jumbotron! (As an aside, the worst driving I saw from others that whole night was from fellow concert-goers leaving the venue, OH MY GOD DRIVE BETTER. Anyway.)
From the moment I entered the arena I was a little overwhelmed. I'm not a big concert-goer in general and the only other Kpop concert I've been to was Day6, which was quite a different experience. I had been disappointed by my Day6 experience so I wasn't sure what to expect here, but from the moment you entered the venue the screams and lights were pretty surreal.
Then the show started with "Fear" and it was a really powerful opening. When they first started appearing I had this moment where I was like omg, they really have left my computer screen and they're here? Again I'd describe this as a little surreal... despite being an RPF writer I don't think I'm particularly parasocial with Seventeen; I like them a lot but I really like writing about how it feels to be within such a strange career, which I think dampens the parasocialism. Nevertheless seeing them appear was just kind of wild. It felt like they lived in my computer screen until that moment and I was like OH.
During the first song I also had this epiphany that THIS is what it's all for. All those years and years of training, all the ways they're so dependent on the company, all of it—it's so they can go out and perform at this incredibly high level. They're basically athletes of performance. I think that level of performance probably does require so many sacrifices of other things—but from the get-go, they were truly amazing performers. I think it really says something to be on a stage that size, with that much production, and always seem like the most important thing on stage.
I think it was also in the first or second number that I realized how connected their teamwork is to that level of performance. Like, obviously Seventeen's teamwork is great, but the amount of trust that must be involved to know as you perform those numbers that every single one of you will also be performing at that same high level... idk the Pacific Rim AUs write themselves, lol. They were so connected and in sync and I immediately understood that all that team bonding is for THIS.
I didn't record fancams for all the numbers but after my Day6 experience I knew that I wanted to record a number of videos and then just be in the moment for the rest. I think I got a good balance of that! Once I got all my epiphanies out of the way I was also able to just enjoy the show. The adrenaline was so high and they delivered song after song.
I'd been joking with my friends before I went that I was afraid my bias would shift to Mingyu during the concert (afraid, because that's embarrassing) but it didn't actually... I just ended up more SCoups-biased lol. All of the members were really impressive though. I didn't really feel the absence of Jeonghan and Jun too strongly until Aju Nice, when I found myself really wishing they were there. (As a cute moment, SCoups did Jeonghan's bow at the end of Aju Nice...)
Some of my observations of the members... First of all, Dino's charisma on stage is so big it's kind of shocking. During Lilili Yabbay I didn't even watch the jumbotron but just watched HIM, because even though he was so tiny from my vantage point, he was the only thing you could look at in that moment. (Also, they modified Lilili Yabbay in a nice way to make up for the lack of Jun, though I still missed him there a bit.)
SCoups is so happy to be on stage and it's palpable. He also looks GREAT on the concert jumbotron, lol. Also, neither he nor DK are worried about his leg at all... I saw a clip someone posted of DK jumping on his back at a previous concert, and in this one, he lifted DK to do the "you are my AN-GEL!" part in Adore You and then they both FELL OVER. Witnessing him be that monumentally dumb in real time was really something. Wow you really are the guy from my computer screen.
Hoshi is ridiculous. Wow he loves being on stage. The horanghae moment made me laugh out loud... Like, wow. What a performer he is. DK too was so incredibly silly and so incredibly ON, but so so good at what he was doing... like there is something really special about BSS's energy level, sincerely. I think BSS were possibly the most popular members with the crowd as well, but it's hard to say.
Another thing that made me laugh were Wonwoo's resplendent pecs. Why did he look like that. During the hhu numbers I typed out "his pecs 🤣" on my phone just to communicate that to my friend so we could laugh together. But honestly all the members' working out has paid off. They look great on the jumbotron.
I was so impressed by the crowd work at the end. BSS led that, mostly Seungkwan and DK, and WOW... looking back it is amazing how they manage to seem so genuine and connected with a crowd that size. The whole arena was invested in those crowd moments and all the silly things they did. That is a SKILL to relate to an audience like that.
Their synchronicity and charm as a group was also so lovely to see. The way they authentically tease each other while remaining so connected with the audience, idk it was interesting. There were some great moments, like during the encore Dino ran down to the lower stage and on the main stage Seungkwan started gesturing to all the members to wait, and they all just stood there and watched him until he realized... then he went and did a bit of a kind of sexy dance for the arena, so I guess that prank worked out for him lol.
Who haven't I mentioned... Mingyu was in top form. He gave his ending speech all in English and his lisp is even more pronounced in English, which was charming. Minghao was even more endearing in concert somehow, and very memorable in the Perf Unit stages. Woozi seemed so happy to be there and was also very popular with the arena! Joshua was great but his ending speech kind of made me laugh because it was so parasocial; you could tell the crowd liked it though. Vernon is also an excellent performer and I think really good in the concert setting.
(Also, there was a moment where I think Vernon was legit pissed at DK lol... I saw someone post a clip of this but the audio didn't really capture it. Vernon and Dino were letting other members do their Aju Nice raps, so Seungkwan did it first and then Vernon handed his mic to DK. DK SPITS in to the microphone as he does it, and in the arena you could hear that it was really shrill and loud. Vernon ripped out his in-ears and genuinely looked pissed lol... he got over it but based on how it sounded over the sound system, I'd probably be pissed too.)
I saw some stuff before I went about people complaining about the setlist, and for me the major issue with it was that one of the central numbers was Love Money Fame and it's... not that good. I mean, it's okay. First of all, I don't think Hybe promo'ed the English version of the song enough because it felt like NO ONE knew the English lyrics in the arena lol. Second, I don't know... it's not a bad song but it feels like the kind of song Kpop companies make when they're chasing Western radio play, and it just felt kind of low-energy and disconnected from the rest of the setlist. Personally, I think it would have gone a long way to add FML to the section with Home... FML isn't one of my favorite songs of theirs but I think it's stronger, it was a single, and it would have fit well.
I suspect the setlist was partially chosen so as to de-emphasize the absence of Jeonghan and Jun, and I thought that did work well. The other members filled in the gaps well. I love the nod to Jeonghan with his vocals playing during Fear and Fearless while the LED screens play angel wings/light changes. I think there is a song that retains Jun's vocals too but I can't remember which, just that I noticed it in the moment. I'm really sad I didn't get to see Jeonghan because I love him, but his absence didn't detract from the whole experience for me.
I'm trying to remember what else I wanted to say... One thing is that Performance Unit is truly my favorite unit. They are sooo good. I also recorded all of Rain... Rain my beloved, it should have been you! I've decided that Rain would have made a great group title track. They could have done a gritty city pop/retro disco concept. It would have been amazing. Nonetheless, as far as the stage design it was also one of my fave performances.
The whole ending part of the concert is SO fun. I laughed out loud every time the members did their Holiday dance—like! The mv come to life lol! I thought it was a nice touch that the members sing bits of other songs not in the setlist during their ments by taking crowd requests.
Also, shoutout to the interpreter because interpreting in real time like that is NOT easy, even with performers as seasoned at talking for the interpreter as svt. The whole production was so impressive, so well-run and expansive, and the stage was really beautiful... I finally got the deal with the lightsticks when seeing them change color in relation to whatever the stage was doing, lol.
Okay... I may edit this if I think of something I forgot but it's already quite long, so I'll end it here! All in all it was a great concert experience. I def had some of the good 'ol post-concert depression yesterday LOL; my adrenaline was SO high (not just for that but also the five some hours of driving roundtrip) and I felt it dip for a bit the next day. Worth it though—incredible experience. Seventeen puts on an amazing show!
I missed the Be The Sun Tour, which happened when I first started properly getting into Seventeen. I wanted to go but the timing was too crazy, and at the time I didn't have any friends locally to go with me, so I decided not to. It ended up being a good thing because I got COVID that same week, but nevertheless, I was sad to miss out! So this year I decided I really wanted to go. I also have a friend who is a big fan so I asked if she wanted to go too and she did! She was the best concert buddy too because neither of us wanted to spend too much money, we both have jobs to get back to, and we both had pretty chill expectations.
Despite chill expectations, I was a little worried about how our experience would be because I accidentally booked tickets in the LAST ROW. I got so overwhelmed with Ticketmaster that somehow I just grabbed two tickets without thinking and then I was like "oh no." However, since they were centered with the stage and well within our budget, we decided to keep them. This ended up being GREAT. I didn't realize that at Allstate Arena the opening to the seats started from the back row, which was extremely convenient, and the row we were in only had six seats, so we weren't too cramped or blocked in. I also concluded that being centered with the stage was preferable to being closer but off-center. We always wanted the cheap seats so I'm not sure our view of the members' faces would have been THAT much better if we'd spent more, and we could see everything happening on stage. It was great.
It was also great that our seats were right by the entrance because we were almost late. There was a car accident on the highway as we got closer to Rosemont. We were making great time before that, but as we got closer, we watched the ETA slowly tick up, then go back down, then tick up again. I really didn't want to miss the opening number so I was trying to speed a little without also getting in an accident, and of course it was dusk at this point, so not the safest roads. However we arrived at like 7:27 or something, rushed in, and got to our seats as they started playing the Maestro mv on the jumbotron! (As an aside, the worst driving I saw from others that whole night was from fellow concert-goers leaving the venue, OH MY GOD DRIVE BETTER. Anyway.)
From the moment I entered the arena I was a little overwhelmed. I'm not a big concert-goer in general and the only other Kpop concert I've been to was Day6, which was quite a different experience. I had been disappointed by my Day6 experience so I wasn't sure what to expect here, but from the moment you entered the venue the screams and lights were pretty surreal.
Then the show started with "Fear" and it was a really powerful opening. When they first started appearing I had this moment where I was like omg, they really have left my computer screen and they're here? Again I'd describe this as a little surreal... despite being an RPF writer I don't think I'm particularly parasocial with Seventeen; I like them a lot but I really like writing about how it feels to be within such a strange career, which I think dampens the parasocialism. Nevertheless seeing them appear was just kind of wild. It felt like they lived in my computer screen until that moment and I was like OH.
During the first song I also had this epiphany that THIS is what it's all for. All those years and years of training, all the ways they're so dependent on the company, all of it—it's so they can go out and perform at this incredibly high level. They're basically athletes of performance. I think that level of performance probably does require so many sacrifices of other things—but from the get-go, they were truly amazing performers. I think it really says something to be on a stage that size, with that much production, and always seem like the most important thing on stage.
I think it was also in the first or second number that I realized how connected their teamwork is to that level of performance. Like, obviously Seventeen's teamwork is great, but the amount of trust that must be involved to know as you perform those numbers that every single one of you will also be performing at that same high level... idk the Pacific Rim AUs write themselves, lol. They were so connected and in sync and I immediately understood that all that team bonding is for THIS.
I didn't record fancams for all the numbers but after my Day6 experience I knew that I wanted to record a number of videos and then just be in the moment for the rest. I think I got a good balance of that! Once I got all my epiphanies out of the way I was also able to just enjoy the show. The adrenaline was so high and they delivered song after song.
I'd been joking with my friends before I went that I was afraid my bias would shift to Mingyu during the concert (afraid, because that's embarrassing) but it didn't actually... I just ended up more SCoups-biased lol. All of the members were really impressive though. I didn't really feel the absence of Jeonghan and Jun too strongly until Aju Nice, when I found myself really wishing they were there. (As a cute moment, SCoups did Jeonghan's bow at the end of Aju Nice...)
Some of my observations of the members... First of all, Dino's charisma on stage is so big it's kind of shocking. During Lilili Yabbay I didn't even watch the jumbotron but just watched HIM, because even though he was so tiny from my vantage point, he was the only thing you could look at in that moment. (Also, they modified Lilili Yabbay in a nice way to make up for the lack of Jun, though I still missed him there a bit.)
SCoups is so happy to be on stage and it's palpable. He also looks GREAT on the concert jumbotron, lol. Also, neither he nor DK are worried about his leg at all... I saw a clip someone posted of DK jumping on his back at a previous concert, and in this one, he lifted DK to do the "you are my AN-GEL!" part in Adore You and then they both FELL OVER. Witnessing him be that monumentally dumb in real time was really something. Wow you really are the guy from my computer screen.
Hoshi is ridiculous. Wow he loves being on stage. The horanghae moment made me laugh out loud... Like, wow. What a performer he is. DK too was so incredibly silly and so incredibly ON, but so so good at what he was doing... like there is something really special about BSS's energy level, sincerely. I think BSS were possibly the most popular members with the crowd as well, but it's hard to say.
Another thing that made me laugh were Wonwoo's resplendent pecs. Why did he look like that. During the hhu numbers I typed out "his pecs 🤣" on my phone just to communicate that to my friend so we could laugh together. But honestly all the members' working out has paid off. They look great on the jumbotron.
I was so impressed by the crowd work at the end. BSS led that, mostly Seungkwan and DK, and WOW... looking back it is amazing how they manage to seem so genuine and connected with a crowd that size. The whole arena was invested in those crowd moments and all the silly things they did. That is a SKILL to relate to an audience like that.
Their synchronicity and charm as a group was also so lovely to see. The way they authentically tease each other while remaining so connected with the audience, idk it was interesting. There were some great moments, like during the encore Dino ran down to the lower stage and on the main stage Seungkwan started gesturing to all the members to wait, and they all just stood there and watched him until he realized... then he went and did a bit of a kind of sexy dance for the arena, so I guess that prank worked out for him lol.
Who haven't I mentioned... Mingyu was in top form. He gave his ending speech all in English and his lisp is even more pronounced in English, which was charming. Minghao was even more endearing in concert somehow, and very memorable in the Perf Unit stages. Woozi seemed so happy to be there and was also very popular with the arena! Joshua was great but his ending speech kind of made me laugh because it was so parasocial; you could tell the crowd liked it though. Vernon is also an excellent performer and I think really good in the concert setting.
(Also, there was a moment where I think Vernon was legit pissed at DK lol... I saw someone post a clip of this but the audio didn't really capture it. Vernon and Dino were letting other members do their Aju Nice raps, so Seungkwan did it first and then Vernon handed his mic to DK. DK SPITS in to the microphone as he does it, and in the arena you could hear that it was really shrill and loud. Vernon ripped out his in-ears and genuinely looked pissed lol... he got over it but based on how it sounded over the sound system, I'd probably be pissed too.)
I saw some stuff before I went about people complaining about the setlist, and for me the major issue with it was that one of the central numbers was Love Money Fame and it's... not that good. I mean, it's okay. First of all, I don't think Hybe promo'ed the English version of the song enough because it felt like NO ONE knew the English lyrics in the arena lol. Second, I don't know... it's not a bad song but it feels like the kind of song Kpop companies make when they're chasing Western radio play, and it just felt kind of low-energy and disconnected from the rest of the setlist. Personally, I think it would have gone a long way to add FML to the section with Home... FML isn't one of my favorite songs of theirs but I think it's stronger, it was a single, and it would have fit well.
I suspect the setlist was partially chosen so as to de-emphasize the absence of Jeonghan and Jun, and I thought that did work well. The other members filled in the gaps well. I love the nod to Jeonghan with his vocals playing during Fear and Fearless while the LED screens play angel wings/light changes. I think there is a song that retains Jun's vocals too but I can't remember which, just that I noticed it in the moment. I'm really sad I didn't get to see Jeonghan because I love him, but his absence didn't detract from the whole experience for me.
I'm trying to remember what else I wanted to say... One thing is that Performance Unit is truly my favorite unit. They are sooo good. I also recorded all of Rain... Rain my beloved, it should have been you! I've decided that Rain would have made a great group title track. They could have done a gritty city pop/retro disco concept. It would have been amazing. Nonetheless, as far as the stage design it was also one of my fave performances.
The whole ending part of the concert is SO fun. I laughed out loud every time the members did their Holiday dance—like! The mv come to life lol! I thought it was a nice touch that the members sing bits of other songs not in the setlist during their ments by taking crowd requests.
Also, shoutout to the interpreter because interpreting in real time like that is NOT easy, even with performers as seasoned at talking for the interpreter as svt. The whole production was so impressive, so well-run and expansive, and the stage was really beautiful... I finally got the deal with the lightsticks when seeing them change color in relation to whatever the stage was doing, lol.
Okay... I may edit this if I think of something I forgot but it's already quite long, so I'll end it here! All in all it was a great concert experience. I def had some of the good 'ol post-concert depression yesterday LOL; my adrenaline was SO high (not just for that but also the five some hours of driving roundtrip) and I felt it dip for a bit the next day. Worth it though—incredible experience. Seventeen puts on an amazing show!