... And then I got kicked out of the 2NE1 concert....

Some pictures I pilfered thanks to a Google search - you'll understand why I had to pilfer later...

Sunday, I met Diane and a bunch of her K-Pop forum friends at Olympic Park in Seoul to attend the last of three concerts by the Korean girl group 2NE1.  This was the second K-Pop show I had been to and though I don't usually listen to K-Pop music, I was still excited about it because it is such a huge part of Korean culture and such a big part of Diane's Korean experience.

Just like the last show to which we went, we were in a standing section on the floor of the concert.  Instead of assigned spaces (because, how would that even be possible?!), we were assigned a number that told us how early we could enter our section.  So, obviously, the lower the number, the better chance of getting a good spot in the section.  We had pretty low numbers so we were excited to land really decent spots.  What we weren't excited about were the plethora of Japanese fan-girls vying for a better spot...  Let's just say I put my former boxing-out and elbowing skills to work trying to maintain our spots.  Christina (one of Diane's friends who, too, loves her some K-Pop) and I stood side by side, looking like bouncers in the section.  We were quite a sight, I'm sure :)

Once the concert began (almost an hour later), the crazy was unleashed.  There were four standing sections, broken up by a walkway that created the four separate sections.  We were in one of the back sections, so any time any members of the group came to the portion of the stage closest to us, there was a serious push forward in an effort to get closer to the group.  There was some serious boob to back action (a term we used in my sorority to signify standing WAY too close to someone).  If I had been anywhere but Korea, I might have felt violated :)

About halfway through the concert, we were sweaty, hot, tired of pushing and way thirsty, so we made our way to the back of the section in an attempt to spend some time outside, cooling ourselves.  As we sipped on grape soda and talked about how much we were enjoying the concert so far, I watched a handsome young Korean man walk down the adjacent stairs, accompanied by two bodyguards.  I figured he was famous and my suspicions were confirmed when both Christina and Diane said hello to a Taeyang, a member of the popular K-Pop male group Big Bang.  He was so nice, excitedly saying hi back to them and waving before being escorted backstage.  Delightful.  So went my first Korean celebrity siting!

We headed back into the show once we had cooled off a bit and decided to stay toward the back.  Toward the end of the concert, I was really wishing I could take a picture of what was going on, both to share with my students (who FREAKED OUT at the mere announcement of my attendance of this concert) and also to post on this blog post.  Photographs are strictly prohibited at all K-Pop shows and before the concert even started, it was announced several times that if anyone was caught taking pictures, they would be physically removed from the venue and their pictures would be deleted.  That was enough to deter me from even thinking about taking pictures, but as the end of the concert neared, I remembered that Diane had told me that many people had been taking pictures of the encore with no consequences.  Sure enough, during the encore, I looked around, noticing that several people were taking pictures or video of the song.  This was my chance, so I dug my camera out of the carefully planned hiding place in my purse and shot three pictures.  Immediately upon taking the last picture, someone grabbed my wrist and removed me from the show.  I had just enough time to wave goodbye to Diane as I was dragged into the lobby.  A girl approached me and took my camera.  She had trouble figuring out how to view my pictures, so I showed her.  She began trying to figure out how to delete the pictures and began just pushing buttons.  I tried to explain how it was done, but she must not have trusted me because she refused to accept my help.  After she figured it out and deleted my three (really crappy, I might add) pictures, she was confused to read a message on my camera screen about there being no images on my camera.  I tried to explain that the only pictures on my camera were the three I had just taken, but again, she didn't want to hear it.  Once she deemed it okay, I left the venue and headed for the subway. 

And so goes the tale of the time I got kicked out of a K-Pop show...  Wowza.