Last year, Officially KMUSIC had the privilege of covering KCON 2k14, one of North America’s biggest K-POP festivals. This year, we got the opportunity to attend KCON, All Things Hallyu, again!
Since last year, KCON Los Angeles grew bigger and better, being held on July 31st through August 2nd at the Los Angeles Convention Center as well as the Staples Center. These three days were filled with fun, excitement, laughter and music. In the morning and afternoon, artists like Roy Kim, Zion T, Crush, Monsta X, GOT7, SISTAR, Block B, AOA, Daniel Henney, Son Ho Joon, Shinhwa and Red Velvet held fan engagements, where fans were able to hi touch and/or see their favorite artists up close! All of these festivities led to the highlight of the day, the M Countdown concert.
In the convention area, fans were able to participate in interesting games hosted by Verizon, Nongshim and more, watch live performances on the side stage, purchase fun Korean and KPOP goodies from different vendors, and visit fanbooths set up by local fanclubs like Red Velvet Global and Soshified.
While some fans were participating in their selected fan engagements with their favorite KPOP idols, others were able to enjoy panels and side stage performances. The schedule was packed with different panels, like How To Cosplay, Women in Dramas, and KPOP’s LGBTQ fandom.
Fan were able to pick a topic that they were interested in and hear more from Youtube stars and talented KPOP fans just like them!
If fans were not able to make it to an artist engagement, no problem! Some artists popped into the convention from time to time — KMUSIC was able to catch SISTAR’s Soyou giving a makeup tutorial and GOT7 strutting the catwalk while showing off their designer’s clothing!
Besides the main artists, other popular singers and dancer showed off their talents on the stage. A fan favorite was Jhameel, who sang and played guitar, making fans swoon with his raw talent and beautiful voice. Another moment that caused screams to ring throughout the convention floor was the dance cover by Henry and Miles and Buzzfeed’s Try Guys! Taught by choreographer Aimee Lee Lucas, Ned, Keith, Eugene and Zach performed EXO’s ‘Call Me Baby,’ SISTAR’s ‘Shake It‘ and Big Bang’s ‘Bang Bang Bang,’ stunning the crowd with their dance skills.
Roaming around the convention were some great KPOP cosplayers. Cosplayer Maiko, as GOT7’s Bambam, has even said that Bambam saw the picture that she posted on Instagram! So much time and dedication went into finding the perfect clothing pieces!
For most fans, the artist engagements made a huge part of their day! Monsta X’s fan engagement left many fans in tears of joy after giving these hip hoppin’ boys a hi touch! The fanboys were definitely happy to see SISTAR and Red Velvet in their own respective engagements. While hi-fiving the beloved ladies of SISTAR, fanboys danced and sang to their song ‘Shake It’, making the girls laugh heartily. One of the most popular groups definitely gave their iGOT7’s a meeting of a lifetime. With their cute smiles and super fan service, many fans were left screaming and shouting and chanting and crying. This all led to the action-packed concerts that were to come.
Rookie male group Monsta X brought the heat to the stage as they kicked off Day 1’s concert with their debut track, ‘Trespass‘! Member Wonho showed off his glowing sixpack as the rest of the group performed with all their hearts.
Next up was the boyband with a huge international fanbase, GOT7. Member Bambam apologized with aegyo for Jackson’s absence. Though Jackson was missing in action, the other six members made the stage ‘Bounce’! Every song they performed was ‘Just Right’! If I had to say, it was definitely an ‘A’ performance!
Despite the action brought by these top male groups, SISTAR owned the stage as they shook it in glittery shorts! Bora, Hyorin, Dasom and Soyu brought the summer time fun as they performed ‘Loving you‘, ‘Ma Boy‘ and a raving ‘Touch My Body‘ remix!
KCON had to slow down the stage with some nice ballads — graciously performed by Roy Kim. With his soulful voice and beautiful guitar playing, the entire crowd was captivated and serenaded with the beauty that was Roy Kim.
Day 1’s closers were none other than veteran group, Super Junior. The entire audience was turned into a blue ocean as the Kings of KPOP took the stage. Fans described Super Junior’s performance as a mini Super Show — performing their debut number ‘Twins‘ to fun dance singles like ‘Shake It Up‘ and ‘Oppa Oppa‘ to their hit tracks ‘Sorry Sorry‘ and ‘Devil.’ Super Junior did not disappoint with their black tuxes, mesmerizing harmony and energy-packed performance. Heechul even introduced a smashing drum solo during ‘Sorry Sorry,’ causing ELFS to ‘ignite the feelz.’ Special stages were one of the reasons why the audience was elated; Monsta X and GOT7 struck the stage with a heart-pounding dance battle while Soyou and Roy Kim sang a tear-jerking duet.We can forget to give Daniel Henney, Roy Kim, Danny Park, Siwon and Leeteuk for being some awesome MC’s!
And with that, the close of the first night of concerts had come! Only to excite fans for yet one more day! Stay tuned to Kmusic for a recap of Day 2!
Article by: Lina Hung
Photos by: Lina Hung
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