Meeting up with Lola after Sunday night’s Red Carpet, we made our way over to the Staples Center, to join in the tens of thousands of other fans in line, waiting to get in. With so many people attending the final concert of KCON 2016, it took us a while to get in and find our seats. By the time we were all settled in, the opening acts had already started which meant we had almost no time to wait before the concert actually started.
Just like Saturday night, the concert opened with the most dramatic video, hosted by Lee Min Ho. However, unlike last night, there was no actual Lee Min Ho there to welcome us to the evening’s festivities. Instead, Monsta X just kind of appeared out of nowhere and OH MY GIDDY FLIPPING AUNT! I was SO NOT prepared for that! There was no warning. No heads up. No “Hey, prepare yourself because Monsta X is opening this sucker and you’re about to die.” Nope! It was just, “Blah, blah, blah… Welcome to KCON…” Then… BAM! A wild dancing Wonho appeared! Talk about having a moment! I was caught so off-guard by his and Shownu’s sudden appearance that I literally fell over.
Needless to say, I was a total mess throughout all of Monsta X’s performance. I just… I couldn’t keep myself together. At all. I don’t know how I managed to get any pics of them because I couldn’t keep my phone in my hands. Every time I tried to take a photo, the boys would be their wonderfully amazing selves and I’d darn near throw my phone! I’m pretty sure I had everyone around me convinced that I was a stark raving lunatic but I didn’t care. These were my boys and I was gonna cheer for them until I lost my voice or my heart stopped. Whichever came first. At least Lola, being the Monsta X lover that she is, was right there with me, fangirling to our heart’s content.
With only 3 songs in their set, you’d think that I wouldn’t really have enough time to work myself into a tizzy but I did so when Monsta X’s set ended, I was kind of hoping TWICE would be next so I could take a moment to compose myself. But they weren’t. Instead, KCON thought it would be a good idea to kill me off early by having ASTRO perform next. So that’s what they did. No sooner had Monsta X taken their leave than ASTRO appeared and I kid you not, my heart darn near exploded. I was so freaking excited to finally be seeing my munchkins perform in person that I really didn’t even know what to do with myself. I’m pretty sure I squealed and cheered and (again) made myself look like a total flippin’ idiot but I just couldn’t help myself. I mean, I was watching ASTRO perform! Right there! In person! And I was close enough to see their faces (without having to rely on the giant video screens that flanked the stage) and squeal over their cuteness and swoon over Moonbin and Rocky’s dancing and… AUGH! Even now, my poor fangirl heart can’t believe I actually got to see ASTRO in person. But I did! And it was wonderful! And I think I need to shut up now or I will continue spazzing over ASTRO for pretty much the rest of forever. (Because yes, I am that hopeless.)
When ASTRO’s set finished, I collapsed into my chair, praying that whichever group was next would be one that would at least let me catch my breath, if only for a moment. I can’t tell you how thankful I was when TWICE made their appearance. That’s not to say I didn’t sing and dance along with them during their set (because I totally did) it just took me a little while to get there because I had to force my heart to stop trying to pound its way out of my chest. Once I calmed down a bit, I was able to join in all the fun that was TWICE’s set.
And then Eric Nam appeared, dressed in his rock ‘n roll jeans and leather jacket and gosh darn it! Eric Nam is not supposed to have that sort of affect on me! Sure, he’s cute and his voice is completely ridiculous (in the best way possible) and I love listening to him sing but SERIOUSLY! I. Do. Not. Swoon. Over. Him. Or at least that’s what I kept telling myself as I sang and danced and squealed my way through his entire set. In my defense, he did have some pretty great guest artists perform with him including: KOLAJ’s Teesa Houston (which, watching them perform the song they collaborated on earlier this year, live, was amazing!) and JinJin (yes, I had a total meltdown when he appeared) and Amber (Oh gracious! Don’t even get me started!). Whether I swooned or not doesn’t really matter. What did matter was that this set was so flipping fun, I really didn’t want it to end.
Sadly, end it did, and much too soon! But there was more concert still to be enjoyed so it’s not like I was really too sad; especially not when DAVICHI appeared on stage! These two lovely and incredibly talented performers completely blew me away! There’s something magical about hearing one of your favorite OST tracks being sung in person, it just brings the whole drama back to life and well, when it’s a drama as memorable as Descendants of the Sun, well… Let’s just say it was very easy for my drama-loving self to slip into a very happy place.
Transported by the stunning vocals of DAVICHI, I might have stayed in that other world for the rest of forever, but KCON had arranged a very special way to jerk me right back into my spazzy fangirl reality. Opening the evening’s special stage set, TWICE returned to the stage to perform “Uptown Funk” and Oh. My. Word. You talk about fun! Singing and dancing along, Lola and I had so much fun! And then Monsta X appeared (again out of nowhere!) to perform “Moves Like Jagger” and OH DEAR SWEET BABY FLYING MONKEYS! I darn near passed out, right then and there! Obviously, I really shouldn’t be anywhere near Monsta X when they perform, as I’m likely to suffer some major medical emergency and die, but OH! What a way to go!
It took all of TTS’ performance to bring myself down from another ridiculous fangirl high and honestly, I don’t remember a whole lot of it. I know Tiffany was really excited to be back in LA and super happy to be able to celebrate her birthday with friends and family. I know the trio promised they would be releasing a new single soon. But other than that, the only thing I can remember is that they wore really sparkly red dresses and I wondered if anyone would ever dare to wear something like that outside of a concert setting. (Yes, this is really how my brain works and yes, I know it’s messed up, but what can you expect from someone who brands herself as a zombie?)
The end of TTS’ set brought with it a roar from the crowd so tumultuous, I could almost feel the ground shake. This was it. The moment we’d all be waiting for a dreading, all at the same time. The evening’s final act was upon us and when it was over, KCON 2016 would be nothing but a memory. Of course none of that was really going through my head at that particular moment. It was more like, “OHMYGOSHBTSISNEXT! BTSISNEXT! BTSISNEXT! SOMEONEHOLDMEI’MSONOTREADY! ITHINKI’MGONNADIE!”
Obviously I didn’t actually die during BTS’ set. (Or did I? My ghost could be typing this from the great beyond…) But I came pretty darn close! You’d think that after seeing BTS perform in New York, I’d have been prepared for their performance in LA. But I wasn’t. Not even close. When they opened their set with “Young Forever” I started to cry. When they performed “Fire,” I found myself caught in this weird place where I was crying but I was also singing and dancing and maybe laughing (which I sometimes inexplicably do when I’m really excited) and I’m pretty sure I was shaking from such an overwhelming rush of emotions. By the time they got to “Save Me” I was a total mess and when they came to “Cypher Pt. 3” there really wasn’t much point to my existence anymore. Yeah… I didn’t survive this set. Not at all. But I had fun! Oh boy, did I have fun!
By the time BTS wrapped things up, I was a total mess but it didn’t matter. I’d seen my boys! And not just BTS, but Monsta X and ASTRO as well. All on the same stage! On the same night! And I’d cheered for them and sang with them and danced with them and cried over them and made a complete idiot of myself a thousand times over and had so much fun doing it, I had a really hard time believing that I’d just experienced all that I had. Not willing to let the magic of the evening fade, I just sat in my chair for a bit. Just kind of soaking everything in. Lola and I chatted for a while, reliving all of our most favorite moments of the evening. (Like when Jimin waved at us… Because he totally did, even though we were like 20 rows from the stage. *cough*Let me dream!*cough*)
Eventually we agreed it was time to make our way outside to meet up with our friends, which we did and the moment I stepped foot out the door, the magic was gone. It was inevitable really, seeing as how this was the end of not just KCON but the end of my wonderfully amazing time in LA. In the morning I’d be winging my way back to Chicago but I chose not to think about that. Instead, I decided to revel in the last lingering bits of magic around me. Making the most of every moment I had left, it really wasn’t until we were on our way back home that the finality of it all hit me. Blah! I’m so not a fan of goodbyes!
Lucky for me, sitting in a car full of girls who’d just experienced a weekend of amazing Hallyu fun, we had a lot to talk about which meant I didn’t really have time to dwell on any lingering feelings of sadness. Instead we chatted and squealed and laughed and fangirled all the way home, which is exactly how any post-concert trip home should be. By the time we got home, it was late and we were all exhausted. I would have loved to have crashed as soon as we got home but Lola and I had a flight to catch the next morning which meant packing needed to happen before sleeping. Begrudgingly, I packed up my stuff, cursing under my breath the whole time. (Not because I was mad I had to pack, mind you, just because packing was a very real reminder that my time in LA was quickly coming to an end and I just wasn’t ready for that!) With everything but the necessities packed, I bid my friends goodnight and collapsed into bed, letting visions of completely swoon-worthy and stupidly lethal, punky biases carry me off to dreamland.