With things going back to normal, well relatively normal compared to the pandemic, we’re starting to see a lot more big events like concerts. Especially with the pandemic stopping things, we are seeing an influx of KPop groups coming on tour with the restrictions being lifted in South Korea. I even got to see Tomorrow X Together (TXT) in July when they came to Houston and oh my, it was unforgettable.
What really came as a shock to me was waiting outside hours before the show. If you want merch, you have to show up early to the venue because things will sell out. Being in July, it was sweltering outside in the Texas summer heat as I waited to be let into the venue to buy merch. If I didn’t have some items, I don’t know if I could have made it to the concert.
If youre going go to any concert any time soon and you have to wait outside for doors to open, here is a list of essentials you need for going to a KPop concert
- Lightstick
Each group, at a certain point in their career, will have a little light-up object made custom for their group so that they can add something fun to shows and show the artist their support by holding it. Lightsticks connect to the venue via Bluetooth and make a lightshow in the audience on their own. One issue, though, is that they run a pretty penny sometimes costing over $50. At least you can decorate them yourself.
- Portable Charger
There is absolutely nowhere for you to charge your phone inside the concert unless you want to camp by it. At the TXT concert, I had my phone always plugged in with the cord sticking out of my cargo skirt. It really came into play as the time went on and the baterry on my phone was going down as I was taking videos of the performance.
- Fan of some sort
With the heat here in Texas, standing outside for 30 seconds can leave you drenched. I remember waiting for three hours outside and almost passing out the second I made it to the metal detectors. I did have a neck fan but they tried confiscating it before I convinced them not to because I get heat exhaustion easily. To avoid scrutiny, a paper fan will honestly do the trick.
- Disposable water bottle
Pretty simple in and of itself. You can’t bring water into the venue, so what people would do is that they would bring a water bottle from outside and drink it before the show, tossing the leftover bottle. If it was too full, then people could have left it in a planter.
- OPTIONAL: Freebies to trade
I did not realize this was a thing until I went to the TXT concert, but people trade freebies at these events. They include homemade photo cards, stickers, candy etc. I actually have a freebie fake polarioid I got in Houston still in my wallet. It’s not required to make freebies, but it can be a lot of fun.
There you have it, a couple of items you need to triple check you have if you go to a KPop concert; hopefully this helps. I get to use this for when I go see some groups soon, and it reminds me I need to decorate my lightstick for one of them.