Say B-I-G to the BANG!

I had an extreme fangirl moment last weekend when I got to finally go to my first ever k-pop concert. It was no other than Big Bang, and even on my way to Fukuoka it was still a little surreal I was seeing the first band I ever listened to back in the day. Now my lightstick and concert merch are gracing my kotatsu, as I have no idea where to show them off in my apartment and I want to relive it a little longer.

Kim’s tantosha (school supervisor) played a blinder getting us tickets, as we were floor level and pretty close to the front. Not what I expected at all. It’s definitely an experience I’ll never forget. Everyone around us was so lovely, and my favourites were two girls in front who were cosplaying and would scream to the death whenever TOP spoke. Said girl was also balling her eyes out at the end of the night. 

I was pretty impressed I understood the majority of what was being said too, even if I was singing the Korean to some songs because I know it better than the Japanese.

I think I’m more in love than I was before, that’s for sure. G Dragon was just GD; TOP made my life with his pink hair and being petrified of speaking Japanese; I’m 99% Daesung was on something, and whatever it was I want some; I have a new found love for Seungri; and Taeyang was bloody beautiful and doesn’t know it yet, but we’re getting married.

I befriended a 17 year old girl and her mother who were sat next to me during the concert. They were massive Big Bang fans, telling me they had VIP tickets for the show the next night too. Since this concert was getting filmed, like most k-pop concerts do, to get released later, throughout the concert you actually got instructed what light stick to use for certain songs. Cue my bewilderment since I couldn’t read the Japanese fast enough. 

Have no fear, my new adopted family helped me out straight away and we even had a little giggle at how foreign this whole experience was to me, compared to the resident pros like themselves. This was followed by us busting out some dance moves, or as many I could get away with without hitting the little old lady next to me in the head. Big Bang really have a varied fanbase.

At the end of the concert, confetti streamers were blasted from the stage, and the young girl managed to catch one and insisted on giving it to me. It wasn’t until later that I realised that the streamer was covered in messages from each member, names the concert, and is nice for me to have as a memory. She also took a picture with me, added me on LINE and gave me an update on how the concert the following night went too.

Now I’ve caught the concert bug since I was super lucky to get tickets to this, so here’s praying I get to see even more of my favourite k-pop groups on their Japanese travels while I’m still here. I’ve also earnt cool teacher points with my junior high school boys who found out I went and they’re going next month. 

Even though we couldn’t take videos, here’s a sneak peek of the concert in Osaka, which doesn’t even do how much it was bouncing justice.