Last Sunday I went to see a K-Pop concert at Los Angeles' The Wiltern. A girl group with the name of Hearts2Hearts performed there and I was pretty excited to see them live.
I talked about this plan with a client and they said, "I didn't know you went to those!". I perhaps seem like a guy who doesn't go to concerts, and in general you'd be right about that opinion.
There was a time in my life I LOVED going to concerts. I loved rock and I loved going to rock festivals and concerts for my favorite bands. Then after a certain point I kinda stopped, I think the post-concert blues were particularly sobering after some concert I can't remember. I think it might be Radiohead.
While I enjoy listening to K-Pop I didn't really think of it as music-music. It was like a mixed art form of visuals, choreography, some vocals, and music. Rock concerts were meaningful to go because you don't know what kind of live rendition of a solo you were going to hear, but K-Pop concert is like listening to the same song you'd hear on the radio.
But my wife invited me to go to a K-Pop concert for a band she really liked and I (reluctantly) went, and I learned a lot about how K-Pop is experienced outside of Korea.
In my experience I think rock concerts are generally for people who want to have a good time listening to music and chilling, with the option to rock out. But K-Pop concerts were for people who were really passionate about the band.
Something jarring to notice is how much of the fans are general fans of K-Pop, and not exclusive fans of a certain group. You rarely see that in Korea, a person who's "in to" multiple groups at the same time. It's somewhat like a closed relationship where when you're seeing him/her, you don't see other people.
After that first concert I've been to many others. I learned that even if it's mostly the same song you hear on the radio listening to the artist while they have the biggest smiles on their faces along with a room full of people who are so excited to be there... That's the magical experience of K-Pop concerts.
Last Sunday I noticed a shift in me. Something had changed since my first K-Pop concert and I felt the difference, but wasn't able to pinpoint what it was. Upon deeper reflection, I found that I grew a LOT more tolerant than before.
You see a lot of variety in personal flair when you go to a K-Pop concert. People who are dressed from top to bottom with merch, Goths (!!!), Japanese Lolita-style, biker style, stage outfit, genderfluid / drag-ish looks, you name it.
Me, being a Korean who experienced K-Pop in Korea first, I'm used to experiencing K-Pop through a homogeneous collective where everyone dresses / speaks / enjoys in a similar manner. I remember thinking "why are they dressed like this in a concert like this?" x 100 in one concert in the past.
But now I see myself smiling at their happiness. They can really be themselves. Other people who don't get it might judge them, and they might feel the stinging sensation from the judgmental glares. But in a K-Pop concert all of that melts away as they rejoice in becoming one, but in different ways.
I saw some people exchanging things while we were in line. I've seen vendors trying to sell bootleg merch for people in the queue, so I assumed it was another one of those. Then all of a sudden the person in front of me turned back and offered me some stickers and photo cards of Hearts2Hearts.
I was a bit confused, and I told her I don't have anything to offer them and I'm not really interested in buying anything. But now she was confused, because...
She wasn't interested in exchanges. She was interested in giving.
Isn't that wild? In a world full of transactions and exchanges she was interested in generous giving. Then after that we had like 3 more people who just wanted us to have what they made out of love for Hearts2Hearts.
A bald man in khakis loves Hearts2Hearts. A long-haired teen in a giant hoodie loves Hearts2Hearts. A mom and daughter in matching outfits loves Hearts2Hearts. My wife and I love Hearts2Hearts. Chinese fans who traveled to see them live love Hearts2Hearts. A pair of African American friends who dance out to their songs love Hearts2Hearts.
A K-Pop concert tour might be the best way to increase your tolerance and open your perspective about what a diverse world united by the love of something can look like.
Billy Seol
July Life Coach
julylifecoach.com
