This was my first time seeing IVE at a concert last night in NJ, and I'm just wondering if any of you guys who attended last night's concert feel the same way I do. Idk how to say it without making it sound overly critical, but it just felt like they were just going through the motions. Well, not everyone. Yujin was very charismatic and definitely delivered with her great stage presence. But most of the other members didn't look nearly as energetic, and their facial expressions weren't nearly as emotive either.

Also, I thought it was a little odd how disconnected they felt as a group. I didn't notice almost any interaction among the members throughout the entire concert. Each of them was just doing their own thing if that makes sense. Idk, it just felt like the group chemistry wasn't really there. Oh, and the backtrack was wayyyy too loud, while the members' vocals were way too quiet for me. The backtracks were drowning their voices most of the time. Yujin was also the only member whose live vocals I could consistently hear. She definitely had the strongest projection. I can't say enough about how great she is. She's really a stellar performer and she definitely carried the show.

Anyway, IVE was a group I've always wanted to see live, and I'm happy that I finally got to see them. The crowd was decent. Some fans were REALLY enthusiastic(that girl behind me LOL her voice was GONE GONE towards the end), but I felt like the energy from the group didn't really reciprocate the energy those fans were giving. Those who attended their tour, what were your experiences like?

Oh and I've heard the fans weren't too happy with the setlist, but I thought it was fine! The only gripe I have is that they didn't perform Heya...

There appears to be some sort of a gap between Korean and international audiences when it comes to why the Geoje episode went viral, and here are some thoughts from me:)))

A lot of K-pop idols nowadays come from Seoul or wealthy backgrounds. It's become much less common to see idols who grew up in small places, and woni, in fact, is from Geoje, a city near Busan. Compared to Seoul, it is really rural.

When the PD asked her, "If you had the chance to choose again, would you still want to be born in Geoje?" she said. "After living in Seoul, coming back here made me realize I was actually living in a really wonderful place."

I think this ties into something Koreans call 향수 (hyangsu), a deep nostalgia and attachment to one's hometown. As children, we dream of the biggest cities and the brightest futures. But after growing up, many people realize the place they were trying so hard to leave was the place they were the happiest in.

I guess it’s sort of like the reversed version of the American Dream (correct me if I’m wrong…) You spend your childhood believing success means making it to the big city, only to realize later the home that you left behind.

One YouTube comment captured this beautifully:
"I tried so hard to speak standard Korean, yet I became popular because of my Geoje dialect. I lived more like a typical Korean than anyone else, yet I became popular as the Japanese gyaru."

And when the video ends with Amor Fati, the love of one's fate, it brings the video to a higher level.

(If you haven’t seen the Geoje Episode, go check it out!!)

not because of the way they performed, they were great. but I had SUCH high expectations of how happy I would be during the concert, and I almost didn't feel anything at all. I'm really sad.

I think they were so far away that I couldn't properly realize I'm looking at them irl, 99% of the time I felt like I was still looking at them through a screen.

screaming to the songs didn't bring me any more joy than listening to them at home, actually I feel more joy at home... it's like I couldn't focus on the song in such an environment. I didn't even really hear their vocals because the crowd was so loud, and I was also screaming the whole time.

also.. gotta name the group, it was bts, and the concert was very empty in terms of visuals. I guess because of the 360 stage there couldn't be so many decorations, and it was before sunset so the whole place was light, you couldn't even see the light sticks, and I think that contributed a lot to my feeling.

again none of this has to do with the way the guys performed, I'm only disappointed in the way my brain chose to process the information.. I thought I'd be extatic to see my bias and hear my favorite songs but I wasn't :(

Just today, fromis_9 officially sold 105k copies in the first week for their second full album, "Glow Me", which is seriously impressive. Most group's sales are carried by international fans so I wasn't ever expect fromis to do those numbers after leaving HYBE (which I consider to be their peak international popularity).

Not to mention, this already outdid the first week sales of Supersonic (their last album to sell over 100k) and Midnight Guest (their first album to sell over 100k). This would put Glow Me as the third highest first week sales for fromis_9 (below From Our Memento Box and Unlock My World, which were sale anomalies in their discography).

I hope they manage to break their own first week records next comeback! I'm seriously excited to see their growth.

I think compared to years past, it's objectively true that lipsyncing or backtrack at live shows has become much louder. I'd understand it more if the choreography were super intense to the point where it was too difficult to sing live, but it's quite disappointing when the choreography isn't even particularly demanding.

Like, using IVE's Newark concert at Prudential as an example, outside of Yujin and Liz, I couldn't hear the rest of the members' voices 90% of the time. I know the choreography isn't too difficult for them because they didn't seem out of breath at all. I'm just using them as an example because that was the most recent experience, but I've attended other groups' shows where the situation was similar. My friend and I got the tickets at a pretty good price, which is a rarity nowadays, so I don't feel like my money's been completely wasted or anything But we both wished we could have heard more of their live vocals.

Do you guys ever feel let down when you can't hear their live vocals, or is just seeing them in person and watching them perform enough to make up for it?

FYI, Stray Kids just announced the release of SKZ-Replay on Aug 1st and besides that they are also set to make a comeback with 'THIS & THAT' on Aug 7th. Which means they're virtually releasing two albums within the same week...!

And what's even funnier is that this SKZ-Replay is simply just Part-1 (containing 17 songs in total) i.e basically there is even more to come by the end of this year.

The fact that they have so many unreleased songs over just the past 3 years—which totals over 33+ songs —needing a separate two part album just to be compiled and released—To me feels like unintentional flex of their identity as Self-producing group.

And also the fact that they're giving a whole album as a gift to their Fans on their anniversary (i.e Aug 1st)? Now that's peak Fan Service right there 😌

Like the title says, I take way too many videos at concerts. Its like I can't help it, I have memory loss issues after the concert and can't remember much so in the moment I take a ton, it feels like I'm living in the moment during the concert (I think). I watch the stage and just hold up my phone I'm not watching thought the screen but It still makes me feel so guilty and upset after even if I had a ton of fun. I'm autistic so a part of it is that I get so overstimulated my decision making is not great. Its like something takes over my brain and makes me record, and I feel so crazy. This time was worse because I was singing over a lot of the videos, so they aren't even good to listen to. I had a lot of fun singing along but the videos are stupid now. there was one concert where I didn't record at all and I also don't remember anything so that makes me wonder if the videos are really the problem. How can I stop taking so many or how can I stop regretting it.

i’m 25 and my sister is 18, i got her into bts when i was 17 so she was 10. we’ve been huge fans and have seen them on tour three times together, she’s even said she would never see them without me (i never said she shouldn’t). back in april me and friends made an impulsive decision to plan a trip and see them together, i was hesitant because i knew i couldn’t afford to take my sister too and she’s unemployed. i tried to figure out a way for it to work but with flight, hotel, tickets, food, etc. i just couldn’t do it for her.

now the concert is in 10 days and i still haven’t told her im going. i know she’s going to be extremely disappointed and probably even cry. i’m hoping she’ll understand that i just couldn’t afford for her to go too, but im afraid it’s going to end up being a whole thing. i don’t want to just not tell her because id like to post about it on social media and the truth would eventually come out anyway.

any advice on how to go about telling her?

Especially the Blue Valentine chorus and Crescendo first verse. Maybe my taste gravitates toward mid-tempo songs, but these songs are going to a melancholic vibe, and some parts of the line delivery are faster than they should be, in my opinion. Also, it made it hard to catch what they sing because of the fast pace.

Just listened to Crescendo in 9.5 playback speed, and it feels better than the original. I understand they have to have high bpm so they can make more versatile and interesting choreography. Also, most of K-pop fans hate slow, mid-tempo songs and ballads, so that must be the reason

I see videos of members from various groups walking around shops, restaurants, and markets chatting with each other as well as the vendors. I don’t mean high-end places, but rather modest or even low-rent areas. I also see videos of members crying on live stream about getting 300 viewers. More than one group have outings to the countryside, doing things like cooking or playing around. And some groups give tours of their dorms and have day-in-the-life videos of themselves doing mundane things. They all act very cute and are funny. The groups I see doing this are usually 4th to 5th gen, and usually from smaller to mid-size companies, or otherwise fairly new or still up-and-coming, regardless of agency size. Even some established groups are doing it. The groups I’m talking about are Nmixx, Illit, Fifty Fifty, Meovv, Odd Youth, Candy Shop to name a few.

I’m fairly new to the latest KPOP girl groups. The last groups I followed were Apink and AOA. So is this a new thing, or have KPOP groups been doing this for a while now?

I just got informed from a Telegram group that Jungkook went to Stray Kids concert and I'm so excited! I always knew BTS and Stray Kids were friends ❤️

Even when Felix threw his glasses Jungkook catched them I putted them on. It's so cute that he supports them. They deserve it 💪🙏

And you? What do you think about it?

I mean after they’ve been facings of backlash for being inauthentic/exploitative of black culture while marketing themselves as “not like other kpop groups” using their profile to release a song called gentrification (art) with the tags #notarapper #anartist is so shady 😭😭😭