Tag: midwest kpop

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!