Month: September 2022

Today Sam turned 9 years old! We celebrated today and last Saturday, when he had friends over (mask-free after testing!) to play video games and watch tv and build legos. He wanted a low-key party like Jack had last time. Easy for me, dude! I put up some balloons and made goody bags and cake, and that was it! He invited his two closest friends from this year’s class.

Today at school Sam’s teacher gave him a bag of fun trinkets to celebrate. After school we opened family presents and then his other friend came over to play video games. For dinner he asked me to make spaghetti and meatballs. He was so full he didn’t have room for the ice cream or pumpkin streusel cake that I made. No matter, I think Jack ate 3 pieces!

This was a great present to me – a genuine smile for the camera:

Happy birthday, Sam! We love you so much. You surprise us and impress us every day!

Seventeen is a 13 member boy group that debuted in 2015. They are known for their precision dancing and “fresh teen” image. Their music varies in style so much, it reminds me of musical theater- the way it has different stories and moods. I started collecting my favorite k-pop performances in a playlist, and quickly had to make a separate list for my fav Seventeen performances because I had too many. That’s when I realized they (and Ateez) were my favorite group.

So the time was finally here, when I would get to see them perform in real life. They were incredible! Seriously, I always forget how different it is to watch dance live versus a video recording. I felt the same awe that I feel when I see a professional ballet performance. Their dancing was so much bigger, so much more energetic and powerful, than what I had been watching for years on my tiny laptop screen.

Miranda and I arrived at the Oakland Arena right before the doors opened. I was immediately stressed by the long line. Miranda kept me distracted by showing me pictures from her trip to London, and pointing out all the amazing outfits on the other attendees. It wasn’t too long before we got through security and into the arena. There was no signage and we missed the entrance to our seating area. With help from an usher we found our spot and a merch booth without an insane line. I got two T-shirts, and then we went back to our seats to enjoy the traditional pre-show music videos. Unlike at Ateez, they seemed to be showing the Seventeen videos in chronological order. It’s so fun listening to the crowd get hyped and cheer at the parts that are also YOUR favorite parts!

We had pretty great seats. Back in April, Andy became a temporary carat to sign up for the pre-sale with me. Together we battled Ticketmaster scalpers for these lower bowl seats at face-value.

At one point during the preshow I was texting and heard a gasp and cheer. Confused, I looked at the screen expecting a sexy moment on a music video, but Miranda said “Look at your lightstick!” It synced!!!!!!! Oh, this made me so happy!

The lightsticks are such a great part of k-pop concerts, and I always wanted to attend one where they synced!

Ok, time to get on with the show!

I don’t even know how to narrate the show experience? Here’s the setlist:

For fun, I put together a youtube playlist of the setlist in dance practice/best stage form: Link

I also started collecting better fancams than mine of the Oakland show: Link

But of course, this is a journal. So my personal photos and videos matter more. Here’s a dump of the many memories we captured. I took a lot of lightstick glamour shots too, because I love them so much! Oh, also, credit to Miranda for all the great pics and video. She has a great eye for framing and lighting (and holding still instead of trying to bop and film at the same time, like I do). Thank you so much!

Here’s the first third of the show:

Middle section by subunit:

And the second half:

We hung back from the crowd and took our time exiting. We descended on the most delicious smelling hot dog carts and each devoured one while wandering the lot, trying to figure out how to get a ride back to the hotel. Miranda let me gush and talk about the show for hours. I’m so glad that she had a fun time too. The crowd was enthusiastic, sober, and polite just as I predicted. SVT put on an amazing show.

We eventually turned out the lights, and had a late sleep until our midday flights. It was an incredible trip. I wish I could do it twice a year for my mental health. What a boost of serotonin when it was sorely needed. I miss Miranda already. Hopefully we can get together sooner this time around.

As for Seventeen, I get plenty of them. I’m eagerly following the rest of their tour. My plan to see them early paid off – of the nine US stops, ours was one of just four to have all members perform. The other five stops had some missing for being covid positive. Whew! They are touring Asia next, then will probably slow down for the award shows at the end of the year. Next year the eldest are due for military service, so this really was my one and only chance to see them perform for years to come.

Going over these videos and photos make me so happy. Also glad I sprung for the ridiculous crop top from the tour merch. See me rocking it in hip hop class the following weekend:

At the concert they took the traditional k-pop arena group photo, but they haven’t posted any of them yet. Some individual members posted shots where I found us in the crowd:

I’ll update the post if they ever release the full arena pic and I (hopefully) can find us.

여름밤에 우리를 새기고 ~~ engrave us on a summer night