Seventeen at LA3C: Now let the post-concert depression kick in...
It's almost a week later and the show is still sinking in for me...
I am officially back in Toronto after a whirlwind weekend in Los Angeles, which included a flight cancellation and an extra day in sunny California.
As stressful as it was, I’m feeling sad that Toronto is icky and snowy right now. Anyways, going through all that trouble at the airport was worth it just for Seventeen.
Last Saturday, the 13-member K-pop group was in Los Angeles for the inaugural LA3C, which is a two-day music, art and food festival celebrating the rich culture and creativity of Los Angeles. Seventeen were one of the headliners. And if I’m being honest, I was kind of skeptical heading into the event as it experienced lots of hiccups along the way.
Just more than a week before the festival kicked off, headliner Megan Thee Stallion pulled out and was replaced by Lil Baby. That caused many angry fans demanding refunds. I personally was excited to see Megan. But I now realize she was probably taking some much needed time off before the Tory Lanez trial. That however, did not stop people from comparing LA3C to KAMP LA. During that event, artist visas were not secured on time, causing many to pull out at the very last minute.
I’m not gonna lie, I was kind of afraid Seventeen would drop out given their hectic tour schedule across Asia. But the moment we heard their visas were confirmed, I knew I was gonna be in for a ride.
I landed in Los Angeles alone late Friday night, prepared to attend solo but had friends standing in the VIP section. Luckily, someone messaged me on Facebook to ask if she could come with me as she was going alone too. So, we decided to meet up together and go to the festival grounds early to get a good spot. I love making new friends!
We arrived around 2 pm, and most of the venue was already filled with Carats (Seventeen’s fans). The event was 21+, which felt refreshing considering there was no crowding and pushing — just pure good vibes.
Seventeen were on at 6 pm, but acts including Shawn Wasabi, Kyle and Free Nationals came right before them with half hour sets. Although they were not my usual style of music, I had a lot of fun! Kyle especially had amazing and positive energy. It was absolutely hilarious when he asked the audience of Carats to let him crowd surf on a surfboard, risking their Carat lightsticks in the process.
Ten minutes before Seventeen were about to start, my feet were beginning to give in. But the DJ started playing “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction, clearly understanding how real the Directioner to K-pop stan pipeline is for so many of us (like me!)
The moment Seventeen’s intro VCR came on, the crowd went absolutely feral. “Hot” is my summer anthem. One only needs to experience the opening lines by Vernon and Mingyu (my biases) to truly understand what a hype song it is. Add in Dino’s dance break toward to end, and you just know you’re in for a treat.
Joshua, who is a native of Los Angeles, served as the group’s representative and interpreter during their time at LA3C.
“You guys make me really proud to be from LA!” he said.
“I heard that you guys camped out yesterday for us. That’s crazy! After we heard about that, we were like, ‘We gotta show them something special tonight!’”
One of the reasons why I love Seventeen is their hilarious interactions with fans.
“Have you guys been getting a lot of good stuff to eat?” asked Vernon, giving a plug to LA3C’s offerings.
“No? Because you had to stay here,” laughed Joshua, teasing fans who waited hours to see them.
Carats are also some of the funniest fans I’ve ever interacted with. While we were all waiting for the show to start, people were sharing screenshots of Vernon’s iconic meme face.
What was undoubtedly the best part of the show was the sub-unit performances. “Highlight” showcased the complex and fast-paced choreography by the talented performance unit (Hoshi, The8, Jun and Dino).
However, “Second Life” by the vocal unit (Joshua, DK, Woozi, Jeonghan and Seungkwan) was by far the biggest surprise, because Woozi’s bridge and high vocals are really what makes the song great. The girl behind me kept saying “Eat it up, eat it up baby boy!!”
My most anticipated performance however, was “Cheers” by the SVT Leaders (S.Coups, Hoshi and Woozi). Anyone who saw them on tour knows how disappointing it was not to have that on the setlist. So to finally get to see the famous hip shaking dance break, and Hoshi proudly putting up his middle finger was easily the cherry on top.
The rest of the members came back on stage for the final three songs of the show, singing “Darl+ing”, “Left and Right” and the infamous never-ending “Aju Nice.” Anyone who follows Seventeen knows the concert is never over when they say goodbye the first three times because they’ll suddenly hit you with a loud “AJU NICE!!” They spent the final 10 minutes of the show making the crowd jump to the song. I personally would have preferred the group use the last five minutes to sing another song like “Don Quixote.” But alas, I’ll take any live Seventeen performance — even if it is one hour full of “Aju Nice.”
When it was time to FINALLY end the show, everyone behind me kept saying “STAY STAY STAY!” I found it so cute when Mingyu left the stage saying “the airplane waiting for us!”, because it’s true. The boys immediately left LA back to Seoul about an hour or two later.
All in all, while LA3C was not without its flaws, I am happy it was Seventeen’s very first music festival appearance. I just wish there were more K-pop acts that could have came and performed. That would have made me more inclined to come to the festival a second day. But nevertheless, the crowd was fun and I felt safe. It was one of the best ways for me to see Seventeen with a great view without breaking the bank and fighting people for seats.
Last year, I was very sad I could not see BTS in Los Angeles, so I’m grateful I got to come to the city a year later to see Seventeen.
Finally, see me elsewhere!
Some exciting news to share. I am in Teen Vogue! I was recently asked to contribute to their list of Top K-pop songs of 2022, and I chose P1Harmony’s “Do It Like This.” Read my take and see which other songs made the list!
Finally, I wrote a piece about how films like Turning Red and Everything Everywhere All At Once redefined the tired ‘Tiger Mom’ trope for The RepresentASIAN Project. Give it a read!
Until then, follow Bunni Pop on Instagram for more updates!
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Fact checkers and editors are important, but few and far in between. They also deserve to be paid fairly. At this moment, I am doing this on my own for free. Accountability is important to me, so please address corrections and concerns by sending me an email at bunnipopnewsletter@gmail.com
HIGHLIGHT??? CHEERS???? SECOND LIFE???!?! Your ears were blessed!! They definitely made the most of the hour they had on that stage! So happy you got to experience it! I hope the boys go back on tour in the new year, but first, they deserve a few months off! Their schedule has been absolutely INSANE.
Also… I loved your little piece about P1Harmony’s ‘Do It Like This.’ P1Harmony is becoming one of my most played groups.