My First BTS Concert: Part 1

Sorry, it’s Just Too Much to put all in one post.

November 28, 2021 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, California

It’s been two-and-a-half weeks since the concert, and when I say I am not done processing it all, I mean that. There are so many elements to the day…and I think I’ll break this post up that way vs telling the story chronologically, so I can prioritize the most important elements, both good and bad.

Since I’m me, I’ll start with The Bad.

But before I do that, let me just express how GRATEFUL I am that I was able to go and have this experience. I’m grateful to these seven men (and their staff and management company and all the people that help them be in all our lives) for bringing an element of joy into my everyday life. I’m grateful that the concert was able to happen at a time when I was ABLE to go, financially, emotionally and physically. Just a few years ago I never would have been able to manage an adventure like this – I couldn’t have afforded it, I wouldn’t have been comfortable to go do this BIG THING all on my own…etc. In a few MORE years I may not be able to afford it again, so…I appreciate the universe giving us this tiny covid break when the members could come to the US and perform for us right NOW when I was able to be a part of it.

Okay.

The Bad

Bear in mind, I have only been to I think 4 concerts in my entire life, the most recent one being the Stones over 30 years ago right here on Long Island. The stakes were low as I was not a HUGE fan…I like some songs and can appreciate their contribution to music history. My first boyfriend was a HARDCORE Stones fan, used to drag me to midnight concert showings at a local theater where he and his friend would mouth along with every word uttered and the air-guitaring was nonstop. So I have a history with them and a respect for their musical legacy, so…I went along with friends to see them. But because I was not an EMOTIONAL fan, I had low expectations. We had seats close to the nosebleeds, but who cared. It never occurred to me to want to be physically CLOSE to them. Also, little financial outlay was involved. I’m sure Russell paid for my ticket, we drove to the venue, there were no airline tickets or hotel or rental car expenses.

So, little financial investment + no expectation = no disappointment.

HOWEVER. With the BTS concert, BIG financial investment. Concert tickets, airfare, parking, ubers to and fro, meals, the little extras you buy to go on a trip, etc. And, even more importantly, big EMOTIONAL expectations. I WANTED to be close to them. When they shook their heads I wanted the sweat to fly off and hit me. I wanted EYE CONTACT. I wanted to SEE them. Their height, their expressions. I wanted to be up close.

I tried, REALLY TRIED to get floor seats right up against the stage, but the ticketing processing was so convoluted and intimidating, I almost didn’t get tickets at all. But just as I was about to give up, the ticket in the VIP section opened up and I grabbed it. I thought, VIP! These must be great seats!

SoFi Stadium is a football stadium. So it’s BIG. Really really big. It’s, well…the size of a football field. Plus seats. And the VIP seats are great. For football games. Not so much for concerts. The stage is all the way in the center of the field…and I was to the side of everything. In football it’s great to be right smack in the center cuz play goes in both directions. But not so much with a stage that’s mainly to one side.

It has been said that “there is no bad seat at a BTS concert,” but…my takeaway from watching many, MANY IG and TikToks from others at the concert is that it’s probably best to be close to straight on facing the stage…even if your seats are higher up.

Next time.

I was right smack in the center of that gold spot. Which LOOKS really close to the center stage. On paper. But there were 1000+ people on the floor around the stage, to give you an idea of how much floor room there was between the stage and the front edge of my section. And I was then 9 rows up.

All this to say…that when they came out on stage…they just looked like tiny dancing white sticks. Wayyyyyyyyyyyyy over there.

So I mostly watched them on the giant tv screen – and it was GIANT – the full width of the football field. So on screen they were GINORMOUS. But. Two things: 1) I ALWAYS watch them on a screen. I came to a concert to see THEM. Live. In-person. Close up. And 2) on screen, you’re watching Cameraman’s Choice. If he was filming Jimin singing when you wanted to see Hobi’s dance moves, well…you were outta luck. If you wanted to watch the choreo of the whole group but they were focused in on ONE member, well…yeah. You get the idea. Also, they used a lot of digital effects on the screen, like graphics and split screening, etc., which, to me, sort of was a distraction.

I must say, though, the cameramen work HARD. They’re strapped into a giant gimbal and video camera and they Never Stop Moving. They must have Legs of Steel.

So, that’s the SEATING part.

Next, SOUND. I’d heard that the stadium had pockets of good and bad acoustics. Sigh. You can’t win’em all. I was in a BAD sound spot. I could more or less hear the songs, cuz I’m familiar with them. But when they SPOKE…I could not understand a WORD. Someone would be talking, saying, I GUESS, how happy they were to be back performing…and a roar would go up in the crowd and I’d be like WHAT? WHAT? WHAT DID THEY SAY?? Sigh. That was SO DISAPPOINTING. And while I do have hearing issues anyway, this was not just me. The people around me couldn’t understand either 🙁

Then there was the disorganization, under-staffing, and poorly-trained staff outside.

When I got there, which was sort of a cluster in itself…and I got there at NOON for a 7:30pm show, I wasn’t taking any chances…I’d heard horror stories from the show the night before (I was there the second night) that they were just not prepared to manage SO many people coming to the show (50,000 each of the four nights), They started letting people in too late and they were taking too long checking their tickets, covid vaccination proof, and bags prior to entry. The show was supposed to start at 7:30, and at 7:45 they were still letting TONS of people in…so they just started saying JUST GO IN and they checked NOTHING. Not tickets, not vaccine proof, not bags for weapons, etc. They waited til 8pm to start the show and I saw a lot of people on social media say they missed the first 2-3 songs and their opening talks.

So the next night, they opened up ALL the entrances (12) so the lines at each would be shorter. STILL. That’s still over 4,000 at each entrance and they were STILL not prepared. They had ONE GUY at my entrance, to manage all those people and keep things in order. Let me back up one step.

When I parked (and I had pre-purchased parking so I wouldn’t be miles away and have to wait for a shuttle…along with tens of thousands of other people…so I was right up close to the stadium, yay), I asked the parking lot guy where my entrance was. The stadium is a giant oval (football stadium). Picture an oval clock face. I was parked at 5:00. I asked how to get to my gate. He points for me to go counter-clockwise (towards 4:00) to entrance 12. I walked. And walked. And walked and walked and walked. On a hot sunny day at noon. And I don’t DO hot sunny noons, so. I FINALLY saw “12,” with an arrow. So I walked in the direction of the arrow. And walked. And walked. Finally, I was like…this looks familiar. And I realized I was all the way back to where my car was parked. It turns out that my entrance was at 6:00!!! Like 100′ to the left of where I’d started. But he’d had me walk ALL THE WAY AROUND in the wrong direction practically to where I started! A mile and a half!!! Yeesh. I was DRENCHED.

Fortunately, Entrance 12 was in the shade and had some concrete wall things for sitting. I sat with a couple 20-somethings who were lovely and friendly til around 1:30 when we saw people were starting to actually Line Up. We were probably 20th in line by the time we stood up, and at the back of the front section (there were some barricadey things where the front front people were and we were just at the back of that).

Well, by being in that particular spot, we became the gatekeepers to ALLLLLLL the people who approached the barricade area, thinking that’s where the line was. And we had to keep saying, well, yes, this is the LINE, but the back of it is over THERE, that’s where you need to go….and “over there” got further and further away as the afternoon wore on. So people got more and more disgruntled and around 4:30 (the doors were to open at 5:30) a HUGE rush of people started pouring in trying to get right where we were. Line Guy couldn’t manage it on his own, the new people were starting to ignore US…it was getting a little overwhelming. Finally, a couple of LOUD and brave Armies (BTS Army, not US Army, haha, things hadn’t gotten THAT out of hand. Yet.) who had been watching us try to direct people for the past couple hours, came over and really took charge, shouting and getting in people’s faces and MAKING THEM MOVE BACK, ha. I wish I’d gotten their names to thank them.

It’s always good to have some POWERFUL WOMEN around. I’m pretty much only capable of meekly pointing Over There. So I was very grateful for them.

But pretty quickly even they were not enough (nor was it their job!) and Line Guy FINALLY called some additional security…who quickly assessed the situation and called the cops, who were getting there JUUUUSSST as I and my new line friends were being let into the stadium.

And once everyone was INSIDE, peace and BTS love reigned and all the stadium-lapping, line-waiting, crowd-managing, riot-fearing was forgotten.

I had to split up with my friends 🙁 but I got into my seat before everything filled up…..and breathed A Big Sigh of Relief. I’d MADE IT. I WAS AT A BTS CONCERT.

Stay tuned for Part Two: THE GOOD.