Despite having reached the respectable age of nineteen, I actually have never been to a pop or rock concert before. Shocker.
So, 25 January 2019 was the day that I lost my concert virginity. And I am so happy to be able to say that my first ever concert was of my favorite band, Day6. (But maybe also ever so slightly sad, because I would probably never go to another concert as phenomenal as this one.)
They have been my favorite band for quite a while now (I will be making a separate post on how I got into Day6), so needless to say, I had been looking forward to seeing them live for ages. They have a reputation for being really good live performers, and they have released so many songs that I love, and I just knew their concert would be one to remember forever.
The moment it was announced that they would have a concert in London, I was so excited. I knew that if I could only go to one concert in my entire life, it would be a Day6 concert.
But the process of securing a ticket was not easy … :/ I was almost unable to go, but I got really lucky and I could not be more grateful for that. (When I found out I got a ticket, I think my heart exploded.)
So, eagerly, I awaited the day of the concert.
Most of my friends were not into Kpop, so I was unable to find someone to go with. Thankfully, Day6 has the most amazing fandom and I found a group of girls to go with on Facebook, literally the night before the concert. (Shout out to the single pringles ;P)
We waited in line for a couple of hours together, but honestly time flew by. We immediately connected and spoke like we had been friends for ages. It truly is so weird how you find people with whom you immediately share this sense of understanding. This waiting process also made me feel so proud to be a MyDay :D There were fans who went to the effort of printing banners for every single attendee of the concert, as well as giving out colored stickers to put onto your iPhone light, just so we could create a nice aesthetic as we lit our phones. People gave out free self-designed merchandise, passed around a Union Jack flag on which we could write our messages to Day6, looked after your spot in the line if ever you needed to get food or go to the bathroom … There were honestly just so many friendly faces around, along with this incredible sense of warmth and camaraderie.
When evening came, the line started moving and my brain just went haywire. I immediately was surrounded by this palpable sense of buzzing excitement as we gradually all filed into the concert hall. It’s weird how the rest of the night went by in such a blur, and yet simultaneously I know that it has distinctively marked its territory in my memory.
I remember going in and seeing the big neon blue word “Youth” displayed at the stage, and it was almost as if time slowed. I love that feeling so much, and yet I also dislike it because of my inability to verbalize it. The best way that I can describe it is probably like the feeling of catching a glimpse of a galloping unicorn from the corner of your eye as you venture deeper into some mysterious forest. It is that sense of having imagined something for so long, always doubting if you would ever be able to see it in real life, doing the best you can to learn about it within your limitations, and then knowing the opportunity to see it is just at your fingertips. It is that sense of convincing your brain that it is actually going to happen, even though you have always subconsciously carried this sense of pessimism, telling yourself it is only realistic that you might not get the chance to witness something so precious in your lifetime. Day6 was not on the stage yet, but seeing the stage alone was sufficient to tell my failing brain that something I have dreamt of for so long is actually happening.
Then finally, they came on stage. The crowd went crazy. They walked up to their spots, picked up their instruments and started performing I Smile.
In retrospect, that moment reminds me of the scene towards the end of A Cinderella Story, when that single drop of rain fell after months of drought, and then it just started pouring. It was just that exact moment when all the built up anticipation just collapsed as you see what you came for.
Now, I have listened to Day6’s songs a lot and I have seen videos of them performing live, so I expected the concert to be amazing, and I guess I thought there would not be much of an element of uncertainty. But somehow (eojodaboniiiiii), it had exceeded my expectations.
When the music started, I was washed over by this sense of familiarity and nostalgia, and yet I felt like my brain was being opened to an entirely new experience. I knew that those were the exact same voices that I had often listened to, but the feeling was so different when you experience how real it all is.
I love and admire Day6 a lot, and I have always known that they were immensely talented. I knew that they had great integrity as well, that all of the videos you see online of them performing live were as authentic as authentic gets. It was not until the concert that I realized I must have been subconsciously carrying a certain sense of skepticism regarding their music, this sense of thinking that they are way too good to be true. When I heard their voices in real life though, it completely dissipated. The quality of their live performance was just as good, if not better than their albums, and there is also this added dimension of rawness that makes everything a million times better. I remember hearing Jae mention in one of his older interviews that Day6 performing is essentially them baring their souls out for us, and that is exactly what the whole concert experience felt like.
The sense of connection between Day6 and the fans was so delicate and yet so powerful at the same time, and you knew that every single person in that room was cherishing that fleeting moment.
And I think it also never hit me what amazing instrumentalists they are until I saw it at the concert. Seeing things through a screen and listening to things from earphones really detracts from the entire experience, and even though on a cognitive level you would know how good they are, it does not come close to seeing them actually play live.
A couple of days prior, the set list for Europe came out, and I remember seeing so many of my favorite songs there.
As the concert went on, my brain was just going like: wow, this is the song that cheered me up that one time, this is the song that made me so emotional and yet I could not stop listening to, this is the song that I dance to when I just want to act silly at home, this is the song that adds that bounce to my gait as I walk to school in the morning, this is the song that is so cleverly composed that it blew my mind for a couple of days … (can you guess what these songs are haha) And as I sang along, it was just such a beautiful feeling to know that I was singing with them, that I was dancing with them. I guess over the past couple of years Day6’s music has slowly become a part of me but being there at the concert just took it to a whole other level, and it was so great to feel like I was part of the whole thing as well.
I did not cry at the concert, but I felt like I was on the verge of crying the majority of the time. The friends that I made there were honestly so amazing. We may not have known each other for that long but it was already so awesome that I had multiple shoulders around me to lean on as we were all just sharing that moment of intense emotion.
The sections where Day6 spoke directly to the audience was so amazing. Sungjin was like, “Remember us. Not us (gestures at Day6), US (gestures at everyone). And then Jae also told us that they would have our backs, just as much as we had theirs. He told us just how much of a dream it was for them to perform in Europe, something they had wanted to do for such a long time. Brian(Young K), Wonpil and Dowoon were so genuine as they thanked us for an amazing night as well, and they promised to come back. You could really tell that they were not just incredibly talented and charismatic, they were also such humble people. It made me feel so immensely honored to have been a part (albeit a small part) of their very first world tour.
On another note, the stage effects and graphics really added to the whole concert experience as well, and that was honestly something that I had not anticipated. Props to whoever designed the graphics because they were honestly so awesome. They showed the boys on the screen but also were timed to fit their performance perfectly. Each song had a specific set of graphics that just went with the vibes of every single song so well. That, along with the strobe lights and streamers and confetti, really made me feel like I was in a Day6 music video, especially for the song I Like You.
So as the end of the concert creeped up upon us, I tried my very best to cherish every single moment at the concert. And I just remember feeling so immensely happy afterwards. Yes, I was undeniably slightly sad that the whole thing was over, but I honestly could not ask for anything more. I got to witness my favorite band live, and they were even better than I had hoped.
It was like when I was in line, Jemma and I had this conversation:
Me: My friend was warning me about post-concert depression. I have no idea what it is like since I have never been to an actual concert before.
Jemma: Oh, yeah, it’s bad. You’ll just keep on listening to their songs for days.
Me: (laughs) Really?
Jemma: Yeah…
Me: I mean, it’s not like I don’t already do that.
Jemma: True. But afterwards it’s going to have a new meaning.
And then I just remember feeling this weight settle on me, and now I can fully comprehend just how true that statement was.
P.S. The very night that I came home from the concert, I did not go straight to bed but instead I tried to write down as much as I could remember about the concert. I ended up writing 2903 words in 43 minutes. If you are interested in reading my immediate, grammatically incorrect, unfiltered thoughts about the concert, just DM me😊