K-pop fans and artists alike descended upon Los Angeles this past weekend for KCON LA 2023, America’s foremost K-pop convention, and this year it was bigger and better than ever. Expanding to a full three days of activities and three nights of concerts, KCON was a marathon event for fans who couldn’t get enough of their favorite artists.
The Ringer’s principal K-pop fan, Kate Halliwell, set herself a challenge: Be there for every single moment, sunup to sundown, and find out just how much K-pop content one woman can physically, emotionally, and spiritually withstand. Her only hopes for survival? Comfy shoes, buckets of coffee, and prayers to Taemin.
Day One
Friday morning
It’s 9:17 a.m. KCON has not yet begun, and I’m already feeling silly. Here I was, acting like attending three full days and nights of KCON would be a hero’s journey, worthy of documenting every moment, and now I’m standing outside Crypto.com Arena in front of a group of fans who have been camping on the street since Wednesday. They’re not even close to the start of the line, which apparently started on Tuesday.
These particular fans are waiting for general admission for the Sunday night concert so that they can get as close as possible to their favorite group, ATEEZ, who will be headlining. They’re taking shifts, and they’ve got tarps, blankets, umbrellas, and plenty of patience. “It’s kind of fun because you get to hang out with friends,” one girl tells me. “You get to talk for hours and bond. It’s just part of the experience.” An experience that is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not for me, but as I head toward the convention center, I have to respect the commitment—and in comparison, I’m suddenly feeling a bit dramatic about my three-day journey.
Nonetheless, several hours in and I’m back to wondering how I’m gonna do this. I’ve worked my way through only a fraction of the convention floor, and I’ve already browsed photo cards, attempted K-pop choreography, pretended to be a K-drama star at the Viki booth, spun what feels like 100 prize wheels, and won very few of the promised prizes.
I’m also dodging fans left and right—as soon as the doors opened, people dashed toward the barricade of the convention floor stage, which wouldn’t see actual idols for several more hours. But if there’s one thing I know about K-pop fans, it’s that they love to wait—and damn, are they good at it.
Friday afternoon
I need some expert tips on surviving long K-pop events, so I decide to ask the busiest people I know: the members of NCT, K-pop’s most complicated mega-group. Lucky for me, WayV, NCT’s sub-group based in China, and Taeyong, the leader of NCT 127, are present today and happy to hit me with their best advice.
WayV’s main vocalist, Xiaojun, advises me to take lots of vitamins during busy days, while peppy rapper YangYang lets me in on his secret: “An iced Americano, with at least two shots.” (Perhaps this explains the peppiness.) Ten, WayV’s main dancer, pipes up and tells me not to drink too much coffee, though—just go with the flow, and take things as they come.
When WayV is done serving up much-appreciated advice, we take a moment to discuss their first U.S. appearance and interview, which happened earlier on the convention stage (turns out they’re the idols that those fans were running for). YangYang says seeing the huge crowd that turned out to greet them was thrilling—they’ve never been in America as a group before, and the very loud reception from fans was far more passionate than they expected.
Taeyong, who is performing as a soloist tonight, arrived early this morning after an overnight flight from Seoul. Despite being booked and busy—he and the members of WayV are simultaneously preparing for an album and a series of concerts with the full NCT 2023 group—he’s bright-eyed and bubbly, revealing flashes of tiny pink gems on his teeth every time he smiles.
“It’s definitely hectic. There’s a lot going on at the same time,” he says, “but at the end of the day, the fans are waiting for me, and that’s what gives me the strength to get through when things are crazy.” I tell him that a few of those fans have made themselves particularly identifiable this weekend by recreating his pink and blue mullet. He laughs and promises to keep an eye out for them in the crowd during tonight’s show.
Friday evening
Maybe it’s because I just talked to Taeyong and Ten, two OG members of SuperM, but I’m seeing little tributes to SM’s iconic supergroup everywhere I look tonight at Crypto.com Arena, ahead of the first of the three KCON concerts. One cadre of fans has brought giant SuperM banners for Ten and Taeyong, as well as their SuperM groupmate Taemin, tonight’s headliner. And among the sea of green light sticks for NCT and WayV and aqua light sticks for SHINee, I spot exactly three pink SuperM light sticks. I am at peace.
Once the concert gets going, it’s not enough to say that WayV’s fan-favorite song “Love Talk” brings down the house. It’s possible that every single person in this arena knows every single word. There’s twerking involved. I think I blacked out through most of IVE’s set to follow, though their dance break for “Love Dive” may have revived me.
Taeyong and Ten are back after IVE to perform their duet, “Baby Don’t Stop,” which they’ve reunited for on and off during the past five years. When we talked about the song earlier, Ten said that even though he doesn’t see Taeyong as much as he used to, they don’t need to practice “Baby Don’t Stop” at all anymore. “It’s in our blood. The music and the dance moves just come out naturally.” Taeyong proves Ten’s point by giving an incredibly similar response mere minutes later. “No matter where we are or what we’ve been doing, when we meet on the stage, we’re completely in sync.”
The final act of Friday’s concert is Taemin of SHINee, my all-time favorite musical artist, and I honestly have nothing left to write about him that I have not already written, and said, and shouted. My editor is tired of hearing about him, my friends are tired of hearing about him, my cat is tired of hearing about him. I’ll spare you all and simply say that he’s the best to ever do it, and judging by the reception from the KCON crowd, we’re all in agreement.
Night one ends as all of the artists circle the stage, greeting each other and their fans, and I watch Allen of CRAVITY perform a series of intricate rituals to corner Taemin and profess his love and admiration. I get it, buddy. Proud of you.
My camping friends from this morning shout a hello as I pass the GA line on the way back to my car—they’re all settled in for one more night of waiting for ATEEZ, and morale seems to be going strong. I vow to appreciate my mattress a little extra tonight in their honor.
Day Two
Saturday morning
It’s bright and early, I haven’t even had breakfast yet, and someone is getting a tattoo in the middle of the KCON floor. It’s a good thing that I didn’t discover this booth yesterday, at the height of my emotions, or I might have Taemin’s face on my arm right now. I keep it moving, just to be safe.
The headliner of the day is ATEEZ, and their fans seem to have made a recent transition from pirate fashion to cowboy fashion, in line with this year’s music video for “Bouncy.” All the cowboy hats are cute, but I have very strong feelings about ATEEZ’s pirate roots, and right now the convention floor is kind of giving Mojo Dojo Casa House.
In the back corner, Dream Stage auditions are in full swing—each day, talented fans dance for a panel of judges, and some are ultimately chosen to join their idols onstage for a special performance later during the concert. (It’s a great tradition—I tear up every time.) Last night, fans danced with IVE, and now today’s group is doing their best to get on stage with ZEROBASEONE. Booth workers next to the audition stage are impressively cheerful, despite having to hear the same songs repeated for hours on end throughout the day. “At least they’re catchy!” one jewelry seller admits. She’s so strong.
Saturday afternoon
I’m next to the fans in the red carpet room this afternoon and wishing I’d brought my concert earplugs, as the volume for ZEROBASEONE and ATEEZ reaches decibels for which I was unprepared. No judgment, of course—Zhang Hao deserves every scream that he gets.
Everyone looks great, but in terms of fashion, the girl groups are eating the boys up today. XG’s body glitter is blinding as they walk by, Kep1er’s rocking some very sleek pinstripes, and CRAXY is in their Reputation era, snake earrings and all. If the fits are a representation of the performances to come, tonight is gonna be fun.
Saturday evening
Nothing hits like a good KCON cover, and tonight’s show opens with two perfect choices: XG with 2NE1’s “I Am The Best,” and XIKERS taking on BTS’s “Burning Up (Fire).” Then, Seonghwa gets out his sword for ATEEZ’s cinematic “Wonderland” stage, and the bulk of the show flies by from there.
When Rain appears fully shirtless for his set, in classic Rain fashion, I couldn’t help but wonder: How many times in KCON history has anyone gotten this naked onstage? KCON really has a family-show vibe, and there can’t have been very many full six-packs on this stage in the past 11 years. A historical investigation for another day, perhaps.
As Rain finishes his striptease, it’s time for all those Kens in cowboy hats to have their moment—ATEEZ is here to make it bouncy, and they do not disappoint. (They never do.) Fans in America don’t always know the customary chants that accompany K-pop songs in Korea, but when it’s time for the final chorus of “Guerrilla,” we all know our lines: The entire arena erupts into coordinated, deafening screams of “BREAK THE WALLLLLL!” I hope those campers loved every single second.
As I walk out of Crypto again, Jongho’s high notes ringing in my ears, I nearly trip over the beginning of the camping line for Sunday’s GA section, which at this point is largely populated by Stray Kids fans. One girl says she’s been watching the livestream of tonight’s show on her phone, despite being able to hear echoes of it from the street. According to Twitter, another GA camper apparently killed time by doing a fan call with Chenle of NCT Dream. KCON really does belong to the multis.
Day Three
Sunday morning
When I came up with this whole “Surviving KCON” idea, I was thinking I’d be documenting long days, sore feet, and tired but happy fans. As far as I expected, the only Rain I’d have to survive was of the singing, gyrating variety. But the universe decided to take my pitch literally, and now the poor campers are braving a literal hurricane as I hustle past them under an umbrella. We’re in for an interesting day.
Sunday afternoon
There’s a lot to love on the final day of the convention—the last group of fans is headed for the Dream Stage with ITZY’s “Wannabe,” a dance I tried and failed to learn in the dark days of early 2020 quarantine, and I love seeing them succeed where I so thoroughly fell short. ATEEZ is on the convention floor, drawing huge crowds; booths are giving away all sorts of free stuff since it’s the last day, and the mood is surprisingly good.
Then the earthquake hits.
To be honest, it sounds more dramatic than it is. The earthquake doesn’t have much of an impact within the convention center—alarms go off on phones, various people claim they felt it, but loud noises and earth-shaking screams are pretty commonplace at KCON, so most people barely notice. Still, it’s a bit much—can we pick one natural disaster and stick with it?
Sunday evening
On the final night of the KCON concerts, we are damp, disgruntled, and welcomed by the irrepressible cheer of Stray Kids leader Bang Chan, who appears to be the happiest and driest person in the arena. His energy is oddly soothing, and by the time EVERGLOW, who has been on hiatus for far too long, performs their legitimately perfect song “LA DI DA,” I’m back on my concert high.
It’s the biggest night so far for the girl groups, with EVERGLOW, Lapillus, ITZY, and (G)I-DLE all bringing out some of their greatest hits. (G)I-DLE’s “Queencard” has the whole venue singing the catchy, if slightly confusing, chorus: “My boob and booty is hot!” (A reporter next to me wonders, “Which boob is hot?” We may be losing it.) And speaking of boobs, Rain seems to have started a trend—all sorts of idols are flashing their abs onstage tonight. I fear KCON is no longer a family show. Hard to be mad about it.
After a few other highlights, including The Boyz grooving in hot pink fits and JO1 launching each other into the air while covering Seventeen’s “Super,” Stray Kids is here to bring us home. They make the most of the interactive KCON atmosphere, weaving through the audience to dance with fans and staying onstage until the last possible moment. And with a final grin and wave from Bang Chan, KCON LA 2023 finally comes to a close. Hurricanes, earthquakes, and all, we did it.
I’m leaving the venue for the last time, noting thankfully that the usual camping area is finally clear of fans, when I see a short line of people next to Crypto in folding chairs and umbrellas, with bagged tents beside them. I’m confused—why would KCON fans still be camping, and in a new location? As far as I know, there’s nothing left to wait for.
As it turns out, they’re not here for KCON at all—they’re camping for Drake, who performs at Crypto the following two days. His fans just started lining up an hour ago, and they’re cautiously optimistic for the night ahead, since the storm has pretty much passed through. They’re so dry, so awake. So shiny, so new, so freshly showered. I wish them luck, and move along—if they need any survival tips, they’re in the right crowd.
