A look inside KCon LA

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

You Haven't Seen True Fandom Until You've Been to a K-Pop Convention

In a designated area inside the L.A. Convention Center, the slippery EDM intro to the huge hit song “Fire” by K-pop superstars BTS blasts out from the speakers. Suddenly a mass of young girls (and a few boys) rushes into the center of the carpeted floor and start to dance in unison. About 50 tweens and teenagers, moving en masse like the inside of some human clock — and they all know the moves.

This is the scene at the fifth L.A. edition of KCON, a convention of “All Things Hallyu.” Hallyu refers to the Korean culture wave that has improbably spread to the world from the tiny peninsular country roughly the size of Kentucky. Hallyu refers to the global influence of K-pop, K-dramas, K-beauty and Korean food. And KCON, according to Angela Killoren, the COO of CJ E&M America, the company behind the convention, is all about the fans.

“I’m absolutely a huge fan of the fans,” she tells me on Sunday afternoon, sounding weary on the last day of the three-day convention. A total of 76,000 of those fans walked through the KCON doors over the weekend, the largest total ever for the flagship edition.

There are fandoms, and then there are K-pop fandoms. The mostly youthful fan base is obsessed not only with the music, but with the drama that goes on behind the scenes. Daily on social media, they eat up each transcendent moment, judge each misstep (or “mess”), and flock to defend their “bias” (K-pop-speak for favorite member of a group).

At KCON, their idols leap from YouTube into reality. Beyond the dance area, there are opportunities for “fan engagements,” an element of which is the “hi-touch,” a receiving line in which the K-pop star or stars sit behind a table and a row of lucky fans double-high-five them. This usually leaves the fans in a blubbering puddle as they descend the staging area. I watched a hi-touch with rookie K-pop group I.O.I., and the faces of the fans made me question every time I previously thought I had seen joy.

Killoren sees KCON as a safe space for American K-pop fans, who despite the global Hallyu invasion are still a small subculture in the U.S. Many K-pop fans connect in thriving online communities, but might not be able to chat about the latest G-Dragon news with their classmates at school. “Fans just want to come and geek out together,” says Killoren. “We’re bringing their digital experience to real life.”

And there are opportunities for fans to become stars themselves. For most K-pop hits, a separate dance video is released showing the choreography featured in the video. On the convention hall stage, a group of 10 UCLA students called The Koreos dance a flawless interpretation Seventeen’s “Very Nice.” The Koreos have done K-pop dance covers on YouTube — a cover of EXO’s “Monster” posted in June has over 819,000 views — since they met in 2014.

When I ask member Annie Joo if she feels like a K-pop star when she’s dancing, she replies, "Not really.” But she’s giggling while holding a four-foot trophy the group will share after winning the "Kpop Battles" dance competition.

The third places winners, D2, a talented African-American duo made up of sisters Diamond and Destiny, are an indication of Hallyu’s appeal beyond Koreans and Korean-Americans. In fact, many of the fan performers are non-Korean, and the crowd in the convention hall, while predominantly East Asian, is more diverse than at most music festivals. In fact, KCON itself has been expanding into different markets. Last year, the first non-U.S. KCON debuted in Tokyo, and this year there were KCONs in Paris and New York, where Korean populations aren’t nearly as high as in Los Angeles. “Everybody has been pleasantly surprised by how well it travels,” Killoren tells me.

But the L.A. KCON is still the centerpiece, and there is truly something for everyone.

Out on the L.A. Live courtyard, L.A.’s best Korean food vendors — Roy Choi’s Kogi BBQ Taco Truck and the trendy Raindrop Cake among them — serve long lines of people sweating in the midday sun. Inside, a screening room shows episodes of the best K-dramas like Answer Me 1988, Cheese in the Trap and Descendants of the Sun.

There are panels that range from “Korean Celebrity Beauty Inner Secrets,” featuring YouTube beauty vloggers Belinda Yoo and Victoria Loi, to “Queering the Family In and Through Korean Dramas” featuring a panel of gender studies academics, including Dredge Byung’chu Kang, a PhD in Anthopology at UC San Diego. He describes how the Flower Boy trend of South Korea, in which which “pretty boy” men act aegyo (cute) and feminine — regardless of sexual orientation — has spread to Thailand’s LGBTQ community.

Later, on a fascinating panel called “Behind the Scenes with the Producers of S.M. Entertainment,” Ryan Jhun, the man behind a good portion of K-pop’s biggest hits, leads a panel of songwriters — all Americans who work on songs at the Seoul headquarters of S.M., one of the top labels in Korea — though a very intimate audience Q&A session. By the end of the panel, Jhun has offered his contact info to everyone in the audience who wants to send him demos. He also tips that the new I.O.I. song was written by 20 writers, and will be “like nothing that has ever been done before.”

On the convention center floor, attendees test the programs of Korean VR companies, and sample the wares of Korean start-ups like 247 Security, who are showing off their Volt smartphone case that doubles as a stun gun, sending out a 50,000 volt shock to attackers. And if you purchased a one-hour reservation, you can sit in the Flower Boy Café, a small coffee shop-like area where pretty boys sit and chat with you. “We literally walked around Koreatown in an extensive casting process,” says Sain Lim, and events coordinator at CJ, who co-produced the café with Emily Koh. “It was hard work looking for all these cute boys.”

There's a little cosplay at KCON, but not much. Amanda Yang from San Francisco is dressed up like Girls’ Generation (better known as SNSD), and tells me she keeps up with the drama on K-pop subreddits. More typical than full costumes are fashion accessories that signify K-pop fandom. Larry and Audrey, two ladies from Irvine, and Andy, their friend from Pasadena, sport surgical masks printed with the logo of their favorite band, BTS. And the Chinese sprout fad — wearing a plastic flower or bean sprout clipped to the top of your head — seems to have spread to KCON as well.

But the most surprising fad isn't wearable. The K-pop community, particularly its rappers, seems to have an affinity for the Atlanta hip-hop dance move, the dab. It can be seen everywhere during KCON, from attendees posing for pictures, to the main stage during the concert at the Staples Center.

The centerpiece of KCON is the MNet “Let’s KCON Let’s MCountdown” two-night concert series, featuring top K-pop acts, new and seasoned. Other years have been more cohesive, but this year’s selection of acts is impressive. Younger acts and groups like I.O.I., Twice, Eric Nam, Dean, GFriend, Astro and Monsta X set the mood with high-energy performances, usually capped at three songs.

The younger acts give way to veterans like SNSD subgroup TTS, Amber from EDM superstars f(x), balladeer duo Davichi, hip-hop crew Block B, and iconic dance-pop group Shinee. Even Turbo, a popular group in the 1990s, make an appearance. Superstar actor Lee Min-ho (Boys Over Flowers) emcees Saturday night along with Amber, whose boyish style has made her something of a K-pop gay icon. Headlining Saturday night, a sportswear-dressed Shinee cruise through an unexpected selection of fan favorites like “View,” “Beautiful” and “Everybody,” before tipping off that they’re in the process of recording a new album.

But the love for Shinee was nothing compared to the sound that tears through the stadium when Bangtan Boys (better known as BTS; Bangtan is a little-used Korean word for gunpowder) take the stage as the headliners on Sunday night. Louder than a space shuttle launch, a packed house screams all the way through the set of hits like “Forever Young” and “Fire.” The Boys cap off KCON with their hip-hop/EDM smash hit “Dope” before an explosion of confetti rains down on the crowd.

Fans pour out onto Figueroa Street, exhausted but unsatisfied with the 72-hour convention. “It was too short,” I hear one girl complain, her voice hoarse from screaming. That typifies the Hallyu experience: Once it sinks its hooks into you, you can’t get enough.


76,000 fans, that's more than I thought. At least there was no erotic fanfic workshops this year. Also, 20 writers for just one song seems kinda excessive, no? A few pics at the source, including one of the "Flower Boys" from the cafe. Did you attend any of the KCons this year, Omona?

LAWeekly

Comments

[ah0000.livejournal.com]

I went to Paris and NY (I live in NY but was in Europe coincidentally and wanted to see f(x) lol).

Both times I was SHOCKED by the decibel level of BTS fan screams. I brought ear plugs with me in NY and actually used them because my ears hurt so much. But it's really nice that the fans were so excited for the show, I think that really sets the vibe.

I'm surprised tho I thought usually shows like this go in order of seniority so technically TTS probably should have gone last in LA, no? I mean I get it from a fan base perspective I guess, BTS fans are something else.

What I also thought was interesting is that so many of the groups were relatively new but it seemed like the fans knew of all/most of them. Idk maybe the groups are just all more well known internationally? Like I was surprised to see Astro on the roster, and even Day6 had a lot of people singing along to their songs.

[shiroki-tenshi.livejournal.com]

My guess is that if Girls' Generation had performed as a group overall, they would have headlined. But yeah, fandom too. If TTS headlined, I think there would have been a riot.

I'm surprised that Astro had loud cheers. Same with Monsta X. But they are all good performers.

[caipirinhas.livejournal.com]

I don't really love the author's "But the love for SHINee was nothing compared to ... Bangtan." I wasn't there. So, I have no clue if that's true or not, but I can see that rankling some people (including me, lol since I live for both groups).

And is Dope really EDM? Save ME is... and neither are really ~smash hits. The author didn't do the greatest research since they mistitled Young Forever and didn't stylize SHINee correctly. But whatever, give them love, LA Weekly.

And I went to KCON NY. The convention in NY is so, so sad compared to the unbelievable LA one. And a few of the panels in NY were really poorly managed and had not so great speakers. But I know they are still really building up that location compared to LA that has way more of a foundation.

I will forever be jealous of that LA lineup though. You had such a nice mix of talented rookies in both boy and girl groups. And some of the most hugely popular groups around right now.

Hope all the omona-ens who went had a great, safe time!

[shiroki-tenshi.livejournal.com]

I went to both nights. Might have been where I was sitting but I feel like Sunday night, there were very loud cheers for the boy groups that performed. Seemed louder than for SHINee. (I got irked by the guy's stylizing of SHINee too haha)

Definitely had to wear headphones. It was funny because at least where I was sitting, the people around me were sitting down, covering our eardrums while SO. MANY. PEOPLE. STOOD UP AND WERE SCREAMING.

BTS definitely had more screams than SHINee. I think because of the fact that that BTS is a younger group and they came out during the Hallyu wave really hitting the States while SHINee has been more established. And I think social media also has helped the younger groups. I really love SHINee (my first bias) and to be honest, I am thankful that they seem to be content where they are, not at the popularity levels of EXO or BTS, but popular enough and...SHINee fans don't seem as...crazy. There were so many BTS fans crawling around yesterday that I was kinda scared...ha ha ha...

[caipirinhas.livejournal.com]

BTS is my bias group (and SHINee is like... my second bias group), and I felt like such a bad stan at KCON NY compared to the rest of the fans. I don't like screaming at all. It's damaging to your voice. So, I was standing and bopping hard/jumping to Cypher part 3, but I was just singing along or muttering to my sister "this is amazing, but I think I'm going to suffer hearing loss. Next time, earplugs!"

[chouta-angel.livejournal.com]

Basically your entire comment here summed up my thoughts about the SHINee/BTS thing. It made me sad about how lackluster people were on Saturday because that was my night because all 3 of the ones I wanted to see the most were on that night and then even the others (except gfriend) on Saturday impressed me way more than anyone at Sunday's show (except Monsta X, they were awesome).

[lovealwaysliana.livejournal.com]

I went to LA last year and NY this year. NY is so much smaller but I liked that I had a chance to do everything fairly easily. Hit up all the booths, go to panels, go to fan engagements, eat, hang out. I do look forward to the building it up and bringing it indoors tho!

[hilary-faye.livejournal.com]

This year was such a mess in terms of organization, especially compared to last year where stuff just seemed to run more smoothly. The concerts themselves were also a little underwhelming but maybe it was because I was only really excited for Shinee and Astro. Or maybe just the crowd in my sections both night were dead as hell until BTS came out on Sunday idk. It did seem way more crowded this year. I was glad I did most of the fun free giveaways and convention related stuff on Friday because the weekend was nuts. I had a good time though all and all. Managed to get a bunch of audience session things for free so that's always fun

[junhyosungs.livejournal.com]

I've gone to the past 4 Kcons in LA and I would say by far this has been the best year for me. It was wayyyy more organized, the convention part was fun, and I loved the artists. I went to the fan engagements for Twice and IOI and i had hi touch for gfriend so that was an added plus! the only thing is that the stage sucked.. i was in the p2 section which was the back pit so whenever they were on the first stage i couldnt really see :( but i stayed out of the pit and went to the back the entire time so I could see really well otherwise. i also may or may not have cried twice came on. Until next year kcon~

[jazzygyu.livejournal.com]

That was basically my experience in NYC. Like I loved it. I went to Eric nam and Seventeen audience engagements and I had a hi touch with day6 and the overall concert was good. However, having p2 standing is defiantly a disadvantage when the idols are on the first stage. It wasn't so bad the first day cuz I was right at the front and their where less people (the first day didn't sell out) however the second day I didn't get the best spot, I'm already short and that was the day BTS fans where there so they where pushing quiet a bit.

[junhyosungs.livejournal.com]

yeah there was way less people the first day! I stayed out of the pit bc i cant really handle it for a 3 hour long concert like kcon unless i'm in the front and i didnt wanna deal with crazy bts stans lol i had so much fun in the back though! my friends and i were dancing so much and it was way more chill than being in pit. and eric ahhh!!! omg i saw him at a restaurant the night before having like a private meeting thing with a bunch of business men and i like looked inside without knowing he was in there and made eye contact and he smiled at me lolol we were waiting for a friend that was at the restaurant next door and i feel like he thought we were waiting for him it was so awkward

[jazzygyu.livejournal.com]

Lol I wonder if I saw you cuz I did notice a group of people dancing in the back. But yeah I left the pit halfway through BTS performance. I think I'll only do front seats at venues that's all seated. I have really bad knees and have had multiple surgeries so it really wasn't good for me to be standing but I really wanted to see seventeen and day6 up close but that didn't even really happen! Lol lucky! I honestly never paid attention to to Eric til kcon. He's a very charming and likable guy! Lol that sounds awkward. I'm always nervous that if I meet a celebrity I'll be awkward since I'm an awkward person in general. Like my hi touch with day6 was pretty awkward as well.

[lovealwaysliana.livejournal.com]

I went to Kcon NYC. There's a lot of black fans. I love it.

[jazzygyu.livejournal.com]

I went to the NYC Kcon cuz I liked the line up better. Like I HAD to see Seventeen and Day6. I basically liked every group/artist at the NYC show whereas the LA show I am only familiar with Shinee, BTS, and Dean. But I think next year I want to experience what Kcon is like in LA, I feel like it will be more organized. LA is just so far from me though...

[haixiao.livejournal.com]

kcon turned me into an ioi and a gfriend stan, i will admit it. the girls were so cute and such good performers.
i was 150% ridiculous during dean and shinee's performances, especially when shinee was on stage. my voice was absolutely destroyed all day yesterday because of how much screaming i did

[chouta-angel.livejournal.com]

omg yes about ioi! Those girls impressed me so much and now I want to know more about them. They were so much fun and just yes~

[lovebyelove.livejournal.com]

I only went Sunday for the concert but i am so sad and regretting that i didnt go Saturday to see Gfriend. ):

My section was crazy even for the newer groups there were people cheering. I'm guilty i was there for bts and I was going crazy. But i did cheer for everyone. I think my highlight though was Davichi! When they perform 8282. OMGEE i was singing the whole time. I felt so old that i knew that song while everyone else was like....dead. I had fun and I end up liking Astro eventhough they weren't my cup of tea. They were cute.

[baby-take-a-bow.livejournal.com]

KCon LA this year was my first KCon, and I had such a fun time. I ended up being able to get platinum tickets (spoiling myself as a birthday present to myself), and even though we could only see the backs of the performers for a bunch of the performances, I still loved the spot we were in. There was a lot of space to move around so I could move away from people if needed. Also got Twice and GFriend hi-touches which was cool.

I loved the lineup. Was there to see a bunch of groups like BTS, SHINee, GFriend, I.O.I, Twice... but the show has made me want to look some of the other artists that I know of but haven't really paid attention to. (Astro is absolutely adorable)

Also, the taekwondo group that performed during the pre-show on Sunday was amazing! Nearly got hit with a broken board at one point. lol

[jinkiestabi.livejournal.com]

But the love for Shinee was nothing compared to the sound that tears through the stadium when Bangtan Boys take the stage as the headliners on Sunday night.

This shit hurt my feelings, I'm not even gonna lie, lmao.

[abcd123.livejournal.com]

I went to ny but was watching my friends snapchat from LAs - while initially I was jealous cause they had twice, shinee and DEAN (then Amber at the last minute) - after seeing her updates/how crazy it was I'm kinda glad NY was smaller in comparison. I had fun - got to see seventeen and Eric nam, and watching my friend scream her head off at bts made it worth it lol.

also I cannot believe how popular bts is getting. Like both my experience seeing the fan decibel rise when they came out - and reading this (albeit the unneeded comparison lol) it just amazes me how big they've gotten. I saw a pic of their epilogue concert and I'm just sitting here like wow. I still remember staying up for their boy in luv showcase and now theyre here. Idk - it just gives me that if you work hard your dreams will come true kind of motivation? It's inspiring to say the least

[haesica.livejournal.com]

I went to Kcon LA this year and it was so much fun! Though being in P2 on Sunday was hell. There was so much pushing before and during BTS. I'm just glad I was able to see gfriend, twice and TTS up close!

[elisaorange.livejournal.com]

I'm so jealous.

I'd go for Block B and TTS.

[luxelet.livejournal.com]

the reaction for bts was INSANITY seriously it was kind of surreal and amazing to be part of the floor of staples center was shaking. bts is just the popular trend rn and the raw energy of the group and fans was just wow

i was a little sad shinee didn't get as much love on the first day but it was to be expected as they are still popular but not the trend. also they picked a really weird song selection...maybe because they were tired so they wanted an easier setlist but i was hoping for some of the classics

dean was soooo good too and monsta x was also really really good!!!! i didn't know turbo and davichi were gonna perform and hearing some of their songs took it BACK

also amber has great chemistry with both eric and key and they need to host something soon

[theharleyquinn.livejournal.com]

ia i was really taken aback by the shinee setlist.

[rabbitfacts.livejournal.com]

First comment here haha!

I'm super jealous I don't live anywhere near any of these cons, they sound amazing. I live in the UK and K-Pop very rarely crosses over to us. I was hoping to go to the France KCON but the tickets were just announced with too short notice for me to plan anything.

Sounds like these concerts are such a fun experience though!

[caipirinhas.livejournal.com]

Welcome. =)

[valeriemedia.livejournal.com]

I went to KCon in 2012 and I found it to be an unorganized mess. But it's nice to hear that it's getting better and better. I can also understand the BTS reaction. I went during mine basically to see babyEXO and their screams were unbelievable in comparison to the headliner (GD).

It is great to see everyone in one place who loves the same type of music you do though!

[callherblondie.livejournal.com]

But the love for Shinee was nothing compared to the sound that tears through the stadium when Bangtan Boys take the stage as the headliners on Sunday night.

Ignorant way to put it. But that's what you get when a clueless Western media outlet attempts to get clickbait & readership by joining in on the Kpop phenomenon. BTS is a fairly new band compared to SHINee and are at their peak right now. SHINee already had their peak a few years ago and now their fanbase has stabilized. You can't compare the two groups because they're in totally different stages of of the idol group life cycle. In a couple of years, some other new group will be what BTS is right now and BTS will be where SHINee is at now...if they're lucky and haven't fractured from internal strife and/or issues with their agency. BTS is having their moment, SHINee's already had theirs and their fanbase is solid even though it's not growing exponentially like BTS's is. (Also, BTS still hasn't even had a "mainstream" dedicated variety show on one of the major networks, just stuff on VApp, and SHINee was everywhere on variety at their peak and had Hello Baby.)

[azulapheonix6.livejournal.com]

Wish KCon NY was actually in NY instead of New Jersey. Ugh.. Maybe one day I'll meet some Kpop stars...

[chouta-angel.livejournal.com]

First of all:

In a designated area inside the L.A. Convention Center, the slippery EDM intro to the huge hit song “Fire” by K-pop superstars BTS blasts out from the speakers. Suddenly a mass of young girls (and a few boys) rushes into the center of the carpeted floor and start to dance in unison. About 50 tweens and teenagers, moving en masse like the inside of some human clock — and they all know the moves.

I actually have video of this. A couple of my friends and I stopped by a few songs before this because we needed a break from button/tattoo duty. It was CRAZY and felt like I was watching a stampede happen. Now for the rest of this long comment.

KCON LA was a lot of fun for me because of the people. I went for Block B. Like, 100% decided I was going when they were announced. If you saw people with Block B tattoos or hairbows or fanart buttons, they were because of my group. Anyways it was an interesting experience in general. We had fun because we didn't let the disorganization stress us out and we didn't wait around in all the lines. We'd hang back and let the lines for stuff die or do other things for a little bit. Ended up going to Eric Nam's fan engagement and that was 100% awesome. I would love to see him just stand in front of a crowd and talk/interact with it (basically a stand-up show but with him just talking, not necessarily cracking jokes the entire time).

Saturday's concert was amazing. The 3 I wanted to see most from this year's line-up were all on that night (Block B, SHINee, and Dean) but even the others were good. IOI was the biggest surprise. I'd never been interested in them before but they turned me into a fan. Especially Chungha! I could not keep my eyes off her, she was so great. Solo Amber was actually really impressive too. I've never been a fan of 'Shake that Brass' but her performance was great and she just had so much fun. The only ones I didn't really care for were Gfriend. They felt really robotic, especially coming right after IOI who were all relaxed and just having fun with their set. AND TURBO OMG THEY TURNED THE PLACE INTO A PARTY.

Sunday tho...honestly I think I should have stayed at my apartment and sold my ticket to someone else. It was really boring to me after Monsta X's set. The pre-show (especially the taekwondo segment) was fabulous and Monsta X were tons of fun. Definitely going to be paying more attention to Monsta X in the future. But everyone else? More or less a snooze fest for me. Davichi were amazing singers and did get my attention. TTS ended up being good too. I had more fun with TTS than I thought I would tho I wish they would have performed a different SNSD song. Something older like 'Gee' would have been awesome. And this will get me a lot of hate but BTS? Was actually a huge disappointment. I expect some differences between the way recordings and live versions of songs sound but they sounded like an entirely different group. Maybe they're just dead tired. They did fly in last minute but so did Monsta X. Monsta X literally touched down at 3pm at LAX and were first up but they had so much energy and were just having fun. Idk but anyways, LA basically proved to me that any love I might ever have had for BTS is dead and I'm looking at getting rid of their stuff that I've got now.

Still not quite sure how I kept getting the hook-up on flight and hotel info for artists tho. Found out about Block B's flights and then what hotels Block B, BTS, SHINee, Amber, TTS, and DEAN were all staying at. Didn't do anything with the info because bugging artists during their free time is not cool but it was still weird to just have that info and to just have it given to me freely too.

[ssantigurrl.livejournal.com]

i remember going to the first kcon ever in 2012 (i think) i got pit tickets and it was great bc it as cheap af