Fans lined up outside The Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture on Halloween night. Some wore costumes to celebrate the holiday, while others showed up in their concert best. All of them were there to see rookie boy group CLOSE YOUR EYES perform at their sold-out show, “BEYOND YOUR EYES.”
Some of the fans had especially creative costumes, and I had the chance to talk with several of them. The most popular costume turned out to be fans dressing up as a pizza slice or as a pizza delivery person. When asked why they were dressed like this, fans said in CLOSE YOUR EYES’ music video for “Snowy Summer,” there was a scene where a pizza delivery man came to deliver pizza and every member died. So that was why they dressed up as pizza or a pizza delivery person. Check out the music video by clicking on this link. The scene they mentioned was the intro of the music video.
Who Is CLOSE YOUR EYES?
CLOSE YOUR EYES (hereafter CYE) is a global project group that debuted in April 2025. The band was formed from the top seven contestants of the 2024 K-pop survival audition program Project 7, in which contestants competed in a variety of missions for a place in the debut lineup. The group will promote together for three years. Here is the final ranking of the members:
Ma Jingxiang
Sakurada Kenshin
Jeon Minwook
Seo Kyongbae
Song Seungho
Jang Yeojun
Kim Sungmin
CYE was formed with the goal of creating music that stands out for its sound as much as for its striking visual performances. They hope to make songs that listeners can enjoy with their eyes closed.
The Music Speaks for Itself
That goal clearly resonated with the fans in Chicago. Many told me they fell in love with CYE because of the music, and that they “never skip a CLOSE YOUR EYES release.” Their recommendations for new listeners included:
“Snowy Summer”
“Paint Candy”
“All My Poetry”
“To The Woods”
“Slowly Bleed”
A Night of Nonstop Energy
Fans and members kept the energy high from start to finish. The venue echoed with fan chants from CLOSERs, CYE’s official fandom, and the crowd danced along to the title tracks and upbeat songs. When the slower songs came on, the fans sung along with the members. The setlist showed off the depth of CYE’s catalog, how natural they look on stage, and how talented each member is.
Between songs, the members shared that they had arrived in Chicago late the night before, so they hadn’t had much time to explore. They did manage to try deep dish pizza, which they loved. They also said they hope to return to the US before the year ends.
Busy Since Debut
CYE has kept busy since their debut. They have released two albums, “ETERNALT” and “256th Note,” and have been on their “BEYOND YOUR EYES” tour since January. The tour started in Korea and continued through Japan, Canada, and the U.S. It will wrap up its North America leg in Toronto on November 4. Along the way, the group has also released a comeback, promoted on Korean music shows, and earned their first music show win. Members Yeojun and Minwook are currently hosting the popular music program “MBC M Show Champion.”
The Canada and U.S. dates of the tour are presented by J&B Entertainment, a Canada-based promoter that brings K-pop acts to fans. Their recent work includes JUNHEE’s Canada tours and NouerA’s 2026 tour. They have also brought many artists to headline the Toronto Korean Festival. Chicago was the second-to-last U.S. stop. CYE will head to New York next, then finish the tour in Toronto.
It’s been a while since I attended a concert as a fan. Recently, I have only been covering concerts as a concert photographer / journalist. I debated a lot whether I should attend the SF9 concert. When the concert was first announced, I was shocked because of the VIP benefits, admissions ticket, and everything was sold separately. To be honest, it was just way too expensive and far away. So I decided to not attend the concert even though I really like SF9.
However, fans started circulating that there was a sale on the tickets. And after much thought, I ended up buying last minute tickets to see SF9 live in Kansas City, Missouri. VIP tickets for the stop was 50% off if you use the code FANTASY. Regular GA tickets for the show was 80% off if you use the code FANTASY80 so it was a great deal! You could attend the concert with GA tickets for ~$15!
It was so shocking to see VVIP and VIP set up the way it was. VVIP had group photo with the artist and VIP had fansign with the artist. Usually, VVIP had more benefits than VIP (ex. group photo AND fansign). But this one was split and you had to choose between one or the other. I guess the only thing you were paying for if you got VVIP was earlier access to choose your seats. After much debating, I decided to go with the VIP experience because I would rather have a signed poster than a photo with the artists since I already planned to do the snapshot option.
For as shocking as the ticket prices and benefit system was, the experience itself was super great and well organized. It was one of the best concerts and concert experiences I had ever had. Check in was super quick and easy. I arrived at around 2:45PM, was able to quickly check in and get my VIP lanyard, premium concert admission wristband, and snapshot tickets. I was in and out within 5 minutes.
Studio PAV had a queue system (like they do in Korea) and “No-Line” rule, so your entrance queue number was based on your ticket tier and how early you bought the tickets. Since I bought my tickets last minute, I was at the back of the VIP line. But, thankfully, that wasn’t too bad for this concert and venue because we were at an seated auditorium.
VIP Experience
I thought the VIP experience was really well done. Since we were in a seated auditorium at a community center, they didn’t really have a room to split VVIP from VIP. We all entered the venue based on our tier and queue number and was organized to sit in the chairs in front of the stage. Once we were all seated, the staff quickly told us what was going to happen and what to expect. The directions were loud and clear. VVIP was seated in the rows before us. They will go up on stage based on their seats and wait in line on the left side of the stage. Each person must have their phones ready. When it was their turn, they handed their phone to the staff member, sat in the chair in front of SF9 and got their photo taken. It was fun to watch because most people had a pose they wanted to do with SF9. So it was funny, cute, and exciting to see what each fan had planned for their 1 For All photo.
After the VVIP’s finished their last photo, the boys went backstage. The staff quickly set up some tables, chairs, and markers for the VIP fansign. Then VIP’s were instructed to stand up and line up in our correct order. SF9 came back out. When we got on the stage, we got a poster and went up to the table where SF9 was sitting. I think the order for the fansign was Chani, Hwiyoung, Inseong, Jaeyoon, and Youngbin. The fansign goes by really fast. I really just wanted to say hi to each member and look them in the eye because I wasn’t able to do that with ONEWE (I was too nervous). Inseong surprised me by asking for my name. I was shocked and all I said was my name. I don’t even remember saying “hello” or “thank you” to him.
After the fan sign ended, the boys went backstage again. Then we had sound check and the boys performed 3 songs for us. The seating for soundcheck was how we were sat when we first came in. After soundcheck ended, we were organized into our seats for the show.
Seating
How did seating go? We were moved to the top seats after sound check. They separated us as Premium or General Admission. Then they started calling out numbers for VVIP + Premium Admission ticket holders. The order went as below:
VVIP + Premium Admissions
VIP + Premium Admissions
VVIP + General Admissions
VIP + General Admissions
Non-VVIP/VIP fans came in after all of VIP was seated. They were lined up outside and came in as following:
Premium admissions
General admissions
I think the only other thing that was shocking was that merch was closed during the concert. If you needed to pick up snapshot tickets or wanted to check out merch you had to wait until after the concert if you didn’t pick them up before the concert. When I checked with merch, they only had some photo postcards and no other merch. A lot of people bought last minute snapshot tickets. You could still buy tickets before the concert but you had to buy them online then show the QR code to the merch volunteers when you went up to pick it up.
Concert
The concert was so so so so good! SF9 debuted in October 2016 under FNC Entertainment. Their debut song is “Fanfare”. They just hit their 9th year anniversary. Happy anniversary! If you are looking for a boyband who is really good at interacting with their fans, has a great sense of humor, and has great songs, SF9 is the band for you! They have a lot of really great and popular songs like “O Sole Mio”, “Good Guy”, “WARARU”, and “Tear Drop”. They also just released the song, “LOVE RACE,” earlier this year. Check them out! You won’t be disappointed 🙂 You can watch a highlight of the concert below:
Snapshot Experience
After the concert ended, they gave people without snapshot tickets time to trickle out of the auditorium and into the lobby and for people to pick up their snapshot tickets if they have not yet. Then, we were all separated based on whose snapshots we had. If you had snapshots for more than one member, you just have to go to the back of the other member’s line after you finished taking your photos.
They called Youngbin’s line first so I got up and went to his line. When they finished organizing everyone, SF9 members came out and stood in front of their lines. We were asked to tell them what number pose we wanted to do with the member. I had snapshots with each member so I tried my best to be time efficient and went to the members with the shortest line after each photo. This was a great plan because I was able to successfully take photos with each members with no issue. When the line finishes for a member, a Studio PAV staff announces it and asks if there is anyone else with snapshot tickets for that member. If no one responds, the member goes backstage and rests.
The members were so sweet. I really thought it would pass by super quickly and I wouldn’t get to say anything to the members except for “hi” and “bye” but I was really shocked when Youngbin, Hwiyoung, and Chani spoke to me. Thank you for the kind words. It was a really great experience. Since I am usually a festival and concert photographer staff, I am usually taking photos of these fan interactions. But this was the second time I attended as a fan so it was really nerve wrecking for me. It helps me relate to how fans feel.
It was a really great experience. If you guys have the chance, I really recommend attending one of their other stops before the tour ends. They still have a few stops in Texas and California left. 🙂 Thank you Studio PAV for the great organization and experience!
With the rising global influence of K-POP, it is no surprise that K-POP has become a major cultural phenomenon. Millions of people from around the world collect their albums and photo cards, feature K-POP songs in TikTok videos, and sell out their world tours. This global phenomenon has also given rise to vibrant fan cultures — one of the most prominent being dance cover performed by fans.
The Midwest K-POP Festival (MKF) is the largest K-POP Festival in Minnesota, drawing participants from across the Midwest to compete for a chance to represent the U.S. at the prestigious KBS Changwon K-POP World Festival in South Korea. The competition includes multiple rounds, featuring both dance and vocal categories. Supported and hosted by the Korean government, the grand prize is an all-expenses-paid trip to South Korea to learn more about Korean culture and compete on the global stage. The Changwon K-POP World Festival also includes performances from K-POP idols. So, if you get the chance to compete in Korea, you might be able to see your favorite band!
MKF is usually hosted by MKDC (Minnesota K-Pop Dance Crew) and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Chicago. MKDC is a local cover dance team that started at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. They participated in the festival in the early years and won various times. Now, they work more on the back end by organizing and assisting with the event. During the show, MKDC can be seen performing various times during the event to keep the crowd entertained and let the contestants rest. This year was a little special as MKDC teamed up with Axis, a popular Chicago dance team to showcase performances between competitions.
Other than the performances, the competition also featured an excellent MC and past MKF participants and music producer Rino—who has worked with major labels like YG Entertainment—as part of the judging panel. The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Chicago also attended the event and can be seen showing his support by giving an opening speech. He thanked the participants for their love of K-POP and Korean Culture and for the participant’s months of hard work and dedication to making this a successful event.
It was a great competition with many talented groups. Prism Kru from Chicago won the competition this year. They later went to compete in Changwon. The full video from the performance can be watched on YouTube.
![[Concert Recap] Attending my first Studio PAV Concert as a Fan (SF9 LOVE DAWN Tour – VIP + Snapshot Experience)](https://project1004.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/BlogImage.jpg)
