I went to the 19th annual K-pop Dream Concert in Seoul, on May 11, 2013. It is the biggest K-pop concert of the year, featuring a line-up of BtoB, VIXX, EvoL, SPEED, EXO, SNSD, B2ST, SHINee, KARA, Boyfriend, 4Minute, SISTAR, INFINITE, B1A4, SECRET, 2AM, U-KISS, ZE:A, Rainbow, Girl’s Day, Huh Gak, ZE:A5, uBeat, and T-ara N4.

When I first heard that I could obtain tickets, I thought about not going. It was a bit expensive, and I’m not sure if I would get much out of a Korean concert. I had already seen the K-pop band, 2pm, in concert, and thought maybe that was enough K-pop to last me. Also, the price of tickets for the Dream Concert was a bit high…

But, then, I realized that attending the Dream Concert was a pretty big deal. There’s nothing like it in the US. Can you imagine 20 of the biggest pop acts getting together to perform in the US? How much would those tickets be? And would I be able to obtain tickets to that hypothetical concert? Probably not, so… I bought floor tickets for the Dream Concert!

And, wow, it was incredible! Singing, dancing, fireworks, fire, smoke, spectacle upon spectacle. Since there were so many bands, each act only performed a few songs each. It was interesting to sit in a lawn chair on the ground of a soccer field, but it would break social norm to stand up for too long during the concert. It was interesting to see all the fancy and huge cameras people had in the crowd.

All the acts did a good job, but SHINee and B2ST were my favorite. I am happy I went. Seriously, wow, what an experience.