Stray Kids impressed fans with their most recent U.S. tour. PHOTO CREDIT: David Broccoli | Staff Reporter
When I found out that Stray Kids were going on tour in America, I freaked out. I freaked out even more when I found out they’d be coming to New Jersey three days after my birthday. I made it my goal to get tickets for the concert and I luckily succeeded because one of my friends got three extra tickets and sold them to me.
I have never been to a concert before in my life, so going to a K-Pop concert as my first one was such an awesome experience. I never really wanted to go to a concert before, because there was no artist I truly loved. That all changed when I started listening to K-Pop and I found all these bands that I love and want to see in person.
The concert was held in Newark, NJ at the Prudential Center. There were so many fans that went to the concert and I could feel the excitement and joy around me. People were dancing on the sidewalk in front of the center and having an amazing time, even before the performance began. There were also people selling Stray Kids photocards for fans to purchase.
Walking into the center and getting a feel for it was an amazing experience as well. I have never been in a stadium or center like that before. It was also my first time ever going to New Jersey, and being able to see the center where many K-Pop and Western celebrities perform was exciting. I got to see all the merchandise for sale and I actually got two shirts; one before the concert and another after the concert.
The concert didn’t start until 7:30 p.m., so I got to see the stage and find where I was sitting. My section was much closer to the stage than I thought it was going to be. The stage was lit green for the villainous theme of the concert.
I was talking with my friend who went the night before and she told me that they performed until 10:15 p.m., which is a lot longer than normal concerts. It’s impressive that Stray Kids didn’t have an opening act. Instead, it was just them performing for the entire concert which lasted three and a half hours.
I was dancing in my seat with the anticipation absolutely killing me. When the clock struck 7:30, I was more than ready to have the time of my life.
They started off with their title track “Maniac” from their last mini album “Oddinary.” When they first came out and I heard the beat to “Maniac” my heart started racing and my body sprung up and started dancing.
I continued to do this when they went on to perform other songs from that album like “Venom” and “Charmer,” and then all eight of the members performed a subunit song sung by Bang Chan and Hyunjin called “Red Lights.” My voice kept cracking because of how loud I was screaming. My cheeks hurt too because I couldn’t stop smiling.
It was only the beginning of the concert when they performed those songs, and I could barely hear my own voice over the roaring of everyone else in the stadium. The energy was just so overwhelming with everyone cheering and waving their lightsticks. The vibes in the stadium were just so powerful and you could feel the passion everyone had when they cheered.
They paused to introduce themselves and the leader of the group, Bang Chan, spoke to all the fans. Two of the eight members, Bang Chan and Felix, grew up in Australia and speak English fluently, so both of them serve as the “spokesperson” for the group.
After asking everyone in the stadium about how they were enjoying the concert so far, they proceeded to perform more songs from different albums of theirs. Every so often they would go off stage to change their outfits and would come back in a matter of seconds to continue with their performance.
My favorite part of the concert was when they all came out together in silk robes to perform another title track of theirs called “Thunderous” from their second full album “Noeasy.”
The three members that make up the subunit Danceracha, Lee Know, Hyunjin and Felix, came out and started dancing together and moving in a circle. The remaining five members then joined them at the end of the stage and performed “Thunderous” and their most popular song and title track “God’s Menu” off of the album “Go Live.”
I was having the time of my life at this concert. I recorded a majority of it, but some advice I got from my older sister who has been to many concerts was actually to watch the concert and not watch it through my phone.
My eyes were glued on the stage watching the group perform.
They paused and talked to fans multiple times, making the concert seem personal and well worth the wait.
Three times they went off stage, making the audience think the show was over, but would reappear for encores. Then they came out for a fourth and final time to perform some of their most heartfelt and uplifting songs.
They finished the concert with their song “Haven” which is one of my top three songs by them, and it made me so happy that they ended with that song because it fit so perfectly with the vibe and feeling of the audience.
Before they performed “Haven,” they did their final bow, thanked all the crew working the show, the instrument players and the fans for coming to see them. Each member said their own sweet and loving goodbye individually and then got off stage as “Haven” was playing.
This concert was the best experience of my life and I have never felt so much joy and happiness before. Also, post concert depression is real, as I yearned to go back to Prudential Center for weeks. I had the time of my life and now want to go to many more concerts, specifically K-Pop. Still, I doubt that any future concerts will top this one.