stray kids 2025 part one

Currently listening to: Lose My Breath – Stray Kids

Now all I think about is how
My world turned upside down
Ah, I lose my breath when you’re walking in
‘Cause when our eyes lock, it’s like my heart stops

I went to the Stray Kids concert with Maria, and it was everything. Maria actually surprised me with the tickets—she’s a huge fan of Felix (yes, the Korean-Australian one with the blond hair and voice that could make a girl melt). Not gonna lie, he’s my bias too. That deep, sexy voice? Yes, please. And he’s easy on the eyes.

Since Maria’s not super tech-savvy, we sat down together to look at seats. We wanted to avoid anything that required too many stairs because she’s still recovering from a heart attack she had about a month and a half ago. We managed to score really great seats—second level, clear view of the stage and the giant screens above. It was perfect.

Of course, I had to bring my lightstick. The fun part is syncing it with the app so it changes colors along with the rest of the stadium. Seeing tens of thousands of lightsticks in sync—is a vibe.

The concert was held at SoFi Stadium, which holds between 70,000 and 100,000 people depending on the setup. And it was packed. Sold out. Stray Kids were only doing two nights in LA before heading to Arlington, Texas, and everyone knew this tour might be the last before their military enlistment begins for most of the members.

From what I’ve read, military service will be staggered between 2025 and 2029, with Felix (Yongbok) and Bang Chan (Christopher) being exempt since they’re from Australia. The rest of the guys? Off to the Republic of Korea Army. Hopefully, like BTS, they’ll keep the momentum going with solo projects or unit promos during their hiatus.

The show itself? A full three hours. Thirty-eight songs. No opening act. It was electric. People were screaming, dancing, jumping—some crying. I spotted a dad with his teenage daughter just slowly shaking his head the whole time, probably wondering what he signed up for as she screamed every lyric.

Stray Kids have a total of 125 songs, which is quite impressive as they debuted in 2018, five years after BTS. They are known for their phrases, “Stray Kids everywhere all around the world” and “You make Stray Kids stay”. Their fandom, STAY, goes hard. They really encourage their fans to embrace their individuality and to find their own unique path.

They’ve had a lot of mainstream crossover lately too. Especially, when they hit the Met Gala in 2024, fully sponsored by Tommy Hilfiger. All eight members attended wearing Tommy Hilfiger and looked amazing. Also, was rare for an entire K-pop group to attend because each ticket costs around $75,000. Sadly, they were treated poorly by photographers, who hurled racially charged remarks and tried to make them “perform” on command. It was gross. K-pop stans did not let that slide, though. The backlash was real, and the offenders got doxxed and canceled fast.

Despite all that, they’ve been killing it. They collaborated with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman for a Deadpool x Wolverine promo, Felix is an ambassador for Louis Vuitton, and Hyunjin is literally Donatella Versace’s muse. She calls him the prince of Versace.

Felix had a back injury so he was a little gentler with the choreo, but I was just glad he still performed and going easier. It wouldn’t have been the same without him on stage.

Stray Kids is kind of like Gen Z’s BTS. Everyone from Boomers to Gen Alpha were in the house. The energy was contagious. It’s actually surreal because I’m standing in an arena with people from all walks of life, all singing along in Korean. That blew my mind. Most of the crowd wasn’t even Korean. To hear non-Korean fans belting out lyrics in my mother language? It really shows how far K-pop has come, and it made me emotional. I was so proud of them and all the STAYs.

Maria kept thanking me the entire night. She even FaceTimed her family during the concert, and I went live on IG for a bit too. After the show, traffic was an absolute nightmare—three other venues around SoFi were also hosting events and concerts—so it took us two hours to get back to her place. By the time I got home, I texted her to say I made it, washed up, and passed the hell out.

The next morning, I woke up to a message from Maria:
“It felt like a dream. The energy in the stadium made me feel alive.”
She wasn’t wrong. It really did feel like a dream. We spent the next hour just reliving the whole night through our videos.

The best part is that I get to see them again later this month at The District.