Seoul-lid Trip Day 2: YG Family Concert 2014

August 15, 2014
6:00AM

*WARNING: This post is photo heavy. HAHAHA!*

"Kwon Jiyong, Dong Youngbae, Choi Seunghyun, Kang Daesung, Lee Seunghyun, VIP, Oorin BIGBANG!!!" I was memorizing the fanchant as soon as I woke up. 

When we booked our flight to South Korea, there were no announcements yet regarding the date of YG Family concert in Seoul, I think we got lucky and I almost fainted (medyo OA sorry, haha) when I saw this announcement few months before our flight.

YG Family 2014 Concert was part of the AIA Real Life Festival. Tickets for the concert was unbelievably cheap, it only costs 126,000₩/person (Php 5,166)! Where in the world can you see the whole YG Family for that price? Only in Seoul!!! Waaaaa! The AIA Festival was a two day event, YG Family on the first day, Lady Gaga on the second. We only bought the first day tickets obviously, kkk.

This is the day that me, Lulur and Lyka have been waiting for! We can finally see Bigbang, like the real BIGBANG! We hurriedly went to Seoul Olympic Stadium because we know that most of the fans lined up even before the concert day.

We arrived at the venue around 9:00AM and we opted to eat first because we only saw a few people roaming around the area. We didn't know that this will be our first and last meal for that day. 

*They don't have breakfast meals :(*

While looking for the end of the queue, we made an agreement that if any of us went missing, we will meet at the GS25 near KFC and near the subway station. We were still happy while looking for the end of the line, but as soon as we felt that the line was never-ending we got a little worried. Imagine this, the line started at Greenbelt 1 and we were already at Landmark area and the end of the line is still nowhere in sight! EOTTOKE!!! We walked for another 100m and we finally found our spot. 

We waited for more than two hours before we got inside the venue. The line was moving really slow, but we were not complaining, all for Bigbang! Hahaha!

*FINALLY!!!*

The concert was opened by Rock N Roll Radio, they are Korean rock band (hence the name Rock N Roll). Most of the songs that they performed were in Korean that's why I didn't understand the meanings hehe. But I liked the beat! Powerful and soulful. If you want to know more about the band here is their youtube channel click: HERE.

The next opening act was from the American Pop Duo Twenty One Pilots! The duo describes their music as Schizoid Pop, I don't know what it means hahaha, but I like their performance. Even if their only two in the group, the audience became alive because the vocalist used the whole area, and I mean AREAAAA, the man even climb the trusses while performing one their songs! Hahaha!

We felt hungry and thirsty after their performance, but we don't want to leave our post because we are almost near the stage. It was 4:00PM already and the last time we had meals and drinks was 9:00AM. The intense heat from the crowd and sun is not even helping at all. That time Miss Nine was already on the stage. I wasn't able to concentrate during her performance because I'M SO THIRSTY! Hahaha! 

I braved the crowd and went to the store section of the venue which was a 10 minute walk away from our post. I bought six bottles of water, two bottles each for us, it was a little pricey because each bottled water costs 2,000₩ (Php 81). I hurriedly went back to our post, but it was not an easy feat. Some fans were staring at me because I was pushing myself just to get back, but most of them gave way. Whew. While we were drinking the cold water, I can see in my peripheral view the look of the other fans who also wants to drink so without any hesitation we shared our three extra waters to them. It doesn't matter if we were strangers, the need to survive the heat was the main goal, haha!

It was pass 6:00PM already, the sleepy crowd got hyped because they started to show music videos (MV) from different YG artist. Usually, this signals the start of the concert. After ten or more MVs, the countdown started, we were furious and excited. The Japanese fan was talking to me, I think she's sharing her excitement, I can't understand her but I just said "Yes! Yes!" and I smiled back... --3--2--1-- BAM!!!

2NE1 ENTERS THE STAGE!!!

They were almost within our reach. Crowd started pushing in front, back and sideways. It was beyond crazy. In just 10 minites, we lost track of Lulur. OMG!!! 

Before we got into any more trouble, me and Lyka decided to go further away from the stage where the audience was more "calm". And that's the time when Lyka realized she lost the crown of her Bigbang lightstick. Aigoo!

The crowd that day reminded of the time when I attended the Metallica concert in Singapore last 2013. Intense!!! Next to 2ne1, I think it was AKMU who hit the stage. 

I don't know any songs from AKMU but they really have a great voice..hehe After AKMU's sweet performance, the next performers were none other than: EPIK HIGH!!! OH MY MITHRAAAAA!!! Too bad their album Shoebox wasn't out during this time. Born Hater & Burj Khalifa would've been great to see live.

After Epik High's last song, lights went dim, the main stage was covered by a big screen, we thought that Bigbang's going to be next.hehe But it was Winner who stepped on the stage. I'm not much of a fan of Winner but I was rooting for Team A during the Win battle even if I had a tiny (HUGE) crush on Bobby. :) 

It was already pass 7:00pm when Winner finished their act. The ahjumma in me is feeling tired already. Then I heard a familiar tune... It was Haru-Haru's intro! My energy went from 70 years old lady to a 5 years old kid! They were literally coming from the TOP of the stage!!! I was so far from them but I was so happy just to see them clearly on the screen.

I was having so much fun!!! I sang along to their songs, I didn't mind that the crowd started pushing from different directions again. The feeling was unexplainable. After Fantastic Baby ended, I checked on my sides if Lyka was still beside but I wasn't able to see her. I was praying that both Lulur and Lyka remembered our agreement that we will meet at GS25 after the concert. Hahaha!

This post will took forever if I put into writing the whole event, so to shorten it a bit here are some of my most memorable performance during that night:

*Nyongtori Baby!*

*Lee Hi with 2ne1*

*Mr. Doom Dada*

*Eyes, Nose, Lips*

*Is this Deukie or Dony?*

And of course, the famous parody of 2ne1's I Love You by Bigbang:

Major OTL! Hahaha! It was during Psy's performance that I heard a familiar voice calling my name from the back. I looked back and I saw Lyka! 

It was almost 10:00PM, and we both decided to go outside and buy some water, Lyka was so pale already when I saw her, of course our life is more important than fangirling. hahaha! And we also thought that it is not safe to take risks since we are not in the Philippines plus we also have 9 more days to spare in Seoul. ;)

We no longer dared to go back near the stage and chose to view the concert at the side instead, we need to reserve our energy so that we can last 'til the end.

I can see that Psy was like the hero of the night even if there were many VIPs who attended the concert, hehe... The show was about to end when I heard the notes of Lies started to play. I stuttered when I joined the fanchant, it was surreal, joining the K-VIPs and I-VIPs. Aaaaaa I felt that I was an official VIP during that night.

After Bigbang's performance, the crowd sang an advance happy birthday song to G-Dragon since his birthdate is August 18.

The crowd got slightly thinner after Bigbang's performance, because the lights got dimmed already, maybe they thought that the concert is already over. Me & Lyka saw an opportunity to go near the stage.

For the Encore performance, YG Family sang Go Away, Gangnam Style and lastly Fantastic Baby! The concert ended still no Lulur in sight! 

It was almost 11:00PM and we tried to buy concert merch but the line was still long and we want to go back home before the subway closes. While walking near the subway, we finally saw Lulur, and guess where she is, she's waiting for us at GS25! Yeay!!! Our plan worked! The three of us headed back to Hongdae and rode the subway. 

Despite the heat and hunger we suffered through out the night, still, the concert was incredible, YG FAMILY DAEBAK!!!

I want to finish my Day 2 story here, but the events did not stop here,kkkkkkk... While were on the subway, I think the station that were already at that time was Sillim Station, all of the people went outside already. We thought that we can finally have the train all by ourselves. Then suddenly, lights inside the train went off. OTL. The subway is closed already. Hahaha! I don't even know where we were exactly, egg wifi was already out of battery, all I have is the info from the Jihachul app that Hongdae is still far from Sillim Station.

Most of the taxis we hailed are asking us a fixed price of 50,000₩ (Php 2,034) for a single trip from Sillim to Hongdae. Of course we declined their offer. Their asking price is too much, even if we were hungry and thirsty, our brains were still functioning properly to say NO to them. 30 minutes passed and we finally found a taxi who was willing to go by the meter, the ahjussi is not that good in English though. I told him to please take us to Hongdae Station and he did not understand us, and good thing I remember that the Korean word for Subway is Jihachul. haha! So I told him, Hongdae Jihachul, and he said, ne, ne. Yeay! In less than 15 minutes, we reached our destination already!

My eyes lit up when I saw our guesthouse's building. We were supposed to eat at a restaurant but we were all tired and decided to buy snacks at the food carts in Hongdae's streets. I bought Tteokbokki, Shrimp Twigim and Kimbap! Hehehe... Each order only costs 2,500₩, so in total, I paid for 7,500₩. We ate inside our guesthouse and forgot to take photo of the food we ordered because we can no longer take the hunger. Hahaha! 

HOW TO GET HERE:

Jamsil Sports Complex (Seoul Sports Complex)

Directions: Sports Complex Station, Line 2. Exit #6 or #7

-뿅 :D