I attended my first concert on Nov. 13, 2019. It was at the United Center in Chicago. The group performing was a group from South Korea called SuperM. This group has seven members from four pre-existing groups under the entertainment company SM. The group features Taemin of Shinee, Baekhyun and Kai of Exo, Mark and Taeyong of NCT, and Lucas and Ten of WayV. Each member is good at singing, dancing, acting and modeling. They are called “The avengers of Kpop,” and they are also signed under Capitol Records. They debuted in America with their first album on Oct. 4, 2019. They have 1,800 monthly listeners on Spotify and have been on Billboard’s top 200 albums chart for five straight weeks at the time of publication.
I took the train to Chicago from Mattoon, Ill. and arrived at 1 p.m. The show started at 7 p.m., but you could start sitting at 5:30 p.m. and a lot of people were already at the venue. I met up with my friend from a suburb of Chicago, and we went to see Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, or “The Bean,” as locals call it. Because it had snowed, there was still some snow on top of the reflective bean-shaped statue. We took some selfies and then we were on our way to the venue. We took some trains and busses on our way there and we arrived at 2 p.m.
After we arrived and found our way inside the east atrium, I was surrounded by other fans of this group. Almost immediately, someone came up to me to offer me free photos of one of the members. Throughout my time waiting, I met many people and made friends. I met with people I had only known through Twitter and Instagram. I collected free things such as banners, stickers and photos to share with my friends back home.
The concert itself was wonderful. It was my first concert, so I do not have much to compare it to, but I had a wonderful time. The group performed a 90-minute show that included three breaks to talk to us, called ments. The members also performed solo stages throughout the show. It was so lovely to see the seven members from four different groups perform together. They danced and sang at the same time, and all their vocals were strong, and dance moves sharp.