Leveling Up in Fangirl - VIXX and Block B's Zico at a Free Concert Event in Seoul 140116/17

Fangirling in Seoul: A Fan Account
Written by- Kattack

I came home from Seoul a few weeks ago and let me just tell you- O.M.G.SEOUL.IS.AMAZING.

I will be writing a nice long post on all my adventures for Oddness/Weirdness in the coming weeks, but in the meantime I wanted to share a little teaser of my trip-  a fancam at a free concert event at the World Class College (WCC) Convention in Samseong-Dong, Seoul! Featuring the amazing Zico from Block B! *excited bouncing*

Not only was it my first fancam, but my first experience being a real "fangirl". Storytime!

So, a friend who I met up with in Seoul is immensely talented at finding out what's going down in the K-Pop world around her. She announced that VIXX and Block B would be performing a free concert on the Saturday (VIXX) and Sunday (Block B) of this World Class College Convention, and would I like to go. HELLS YES I WOULD! I'm in Seoul, I'm taking advantage of absolutely every opportunity to get my fangirl on that arises!

Day One: On the subway over this bridge- so pretty!

Day 1- In which I see VIXX:

We got there fairly early (around 8ish) and joined the queue of an already rather long line. Then we sat and waited around. According to the event, we were supposed to be let in around 10:30 am, but there was no movement and no communication at all. We really weren't sure what to expect, we didn't know what kind of stage it was, and we were nervous about even going to the bathroom in case they started moving.

So we waited and waited and waited, until around 1:30 pm when they started letting the line in to the event.  Let me tell you: chaos is not even a strong enough word to describe the running and screaming. We were pretty much the last ones to be let in and there was a fairly extensive line behind us by that stage. Lucky us! There was so much pushing and squabbling that we ended up just hanging towards the back and observing with wide eyes.

When VIXX appeared on stage, everything got even more out of hand, with the whole crowd of girls being thrown forward in this giant surging wave of screaming and cameras. Some even brought stools to stand up on and take their pictures! VIXX performed "Voodoo" and "On & On", which were pretty amazing to see up close and in real life (despite not reallyyy being able to see that much).

To be honest I think the best part was when these two guys from one of the Convention stalls (yeah, it seriously was just in the middle of this convention with stalls and things) joined in and started cheering and dancing and screaming next to us at the back of the crowd. They were having so much fun! They weren't fanboys but they were obviously amused by the craziness.

This little girl nearby had pretty much lost it while cheering for VIXX, but she was so little and right in the back. She had these handmade sign things that she was holding up, and the two guys were like "Who is your favourite?". She held up the sign and said "Ken Oppa!!!", and they literally took the sign from her, held it up high in the air and screamed

"KEN OPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

At that point the little girl lost it completely, and the three of them were in a squealing mess together- hilarious.

Vixx performing "Voodoo".

Apart from that, though, I was kind of disappointed. It was so disorganised, so crazy, and I hardly got to see VIXX.  :(  The question was whether we would bother coming out the next morning to go through it all again for Block B.

HELLS YES WE WOULD! I'm in Seoul, I'm taking advantage of absolutely every opportunity to get my fangirl on that arises!

So! Next morning on we go towards Block B.

Day Two: The same spot as the day before- but look at the different colours!

Day 2- In which I think I'm seeing Block B but it turns out to be just Zico:

We got to the venue around the same time as the day before, but the line was a little bit shorter and we were significantly further up then we were the previous day. We settled down in the style of the previous day, expecting to wait it through in the same way...

Except this day, Block B's Official Fanclub were there and oh, have they got this business sorted! I have never seen such tight organisation at an event! The convention security guards dealt directly with the Fanclub staff and then stepped back to let them manage the crowd. There were three main staffs, and you could tell one in particular was in charge. She would walk up and down the line in a very self important manner (I'd say she was in her early 20s), talking over to the crowd (from what I could understand it was words of fan encouragement) and receiving what I assume to be 'tributes' in the form of food and drinks from waiting fans. They also collected fan letters, which we thought was pretty cute. The line was sorted and reorganised about five times, being allocated into a line 3 across, then 5 across- we would be told to stand, then organised, then to sit back down. I noticed that they had also divided the entire line into sections, and we were in the first batch. Exciting!

At one point they called for those who would also be attending the fansign to stand. Girls dotted throughout the crowd immediately stood, holding on to new albums, cards and other merchandise which I presume was their entry into the fansign. They were then marked off a list one at a time by a fanclub staff and given a number, then told to sit back down in the line.

At about 11 am everyone stood up and the line started moving forward at a very calm and organised pace. Staff were handing out number slips, and I was number 118! We were then free to go wander around and do whatever we want as long as we were back in the same spot in the line with our number by 12:30. Wow. So much better then the day before!

So we wandered off to take a look around the conference itself, and ended up I making a little wooden boat haha.

I'm so talented.

When we returned, the line was already reforming, so we settled in to place and the staff started re-sorting everyone back in to their tight order. They called out for a second line to be formed for the fansign attendees, calling them out by number and sitting them in a line parallel to the main line. Some people were missing, which was weird, but they formed the line without them. You're not there, you miss out it seems. Fair enough.

Soon the lines were all sorted and the security guards told the fanclub staff that they can start moving in to the event. This time there was no crazy running, no pushing and shoving. The girls moved into the venue in lines 5 by 5 and got distributed into an already roped off area by the stage. We moved along and get pointed over to the left hand side of the stage, about 2 rows of people back!! So close!! We were right on the edge too, so it felt a bit more open and closer to the stage.

A man, who I presume was one of the event organisers, came over to us (the only three foreigners in the crowd) and asked where we were from. We answered and spoke to him for a little while before a deifying roar arose from the crowd and we saw a bleach blonde head duck in to a tent like thing set up next to the stage. Oh? This is odd? The crowd is only chanting ZICO ZICO ZICO. Why not Block B? Then we figured out that only Zico had attended on behalf of Block B, which was a little bit disappointing at first but whatever- it's ZICOOO.

There was a sort of MC who started first, welcoming and introducing and chatting about a whole bunch of stuff. At one point he noticed us and was like ":O *points* oegug-in!" (which is like 'foreigner' in Korean despite directly translating as 'Alien'). He then asked us through the crowd where we were from and were we here to see Zico. Obviouslyyyyy!

Then the man himself walked up on to the stage and HOLY GOODNESS he was amazing. He rapped three songs live and you can just tell how naturally talented he is. He also spoke for a little while between songs, drank some water, generally looked super handsome and then walked back off stage. At this point we were a little bit O.O from seeing him so close. He even made eye contact with me once. *smug*

Block B's Zico.

They then set up the table for the fansign and he came back up and sat down, still looking ridiculously handsome. The fansign was as tightly organised and calm as the crowd control outside had been. One by one the fans walked across, knelt in front of Zico's table, told him their name, received their piece of paper ("To Blah, SIGNATURE") grasped Zico's hand in an upright finger intertwining thing, and then walked beaming off the stage. It's a little odd to me the number of girls who covered up their faces in any way possible when meeting him... I guess they were having bad skin days? *shrugs* One girl gave him a headband, which he tried to put on and failed, then it was snatched by the strict looking lady who was standing next to him. Presumably some kind of manager.

They were filming throughout the event too, so we could follow closely on the giant screen behind Zico. One time the cameraman zoomed on Zico's face, and when the crowd started going "Ooooooo" loudly Zico looked up and turned around to see his giant face and he laughed. The cameraman was having a bunch of fun zooming in on unexpecting fangirls, who would then notice their face on screen and leap to cover it in anyway possible. At one point he turned the camera to me, and what do I do? Duck and hide my face? Hells no, that might have been dignified and sensible. Me? I grin like a crazy person and wave madly at the camera. 'Cause I'm really cool like that! :D

Then the fansign was done and Zico waved and walked back off the stage, and this concludes my very first proper fangirl event in Korea (I'm not going to count that Day 1 craziness) and it.was.so.amazing. *dreamy eyed*


Stay tuned for more exciting stories in "Kattack's Adventures in Seouland', exclusive to OddnessWeirdness.


Source: Written by Kattack. Images and video by Kattack, Kattack's K-World. Take out with full credit.

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